Blogging has never been on the forefront of my radar. I’ve never found myself following bloggers (even if their content aligned with my interests), writing my own blog entires, or watching as my friends blog. Despite this, I have studied them in a couple of Interactive Media Studies classes and have come to realize that they are a great marketing tool in some circles.
The readings provided were great introductions to the world of blogging. Even though I’ve never been a blogging enthusiast, I’m surprisingly excited to use this tool for the next eight weeks for a variety of reasons:
- To supplement the value of the readings by discussing them here
- To express my opinions pertaining to the course content
- To watch and see how my classmates utilize their blogs
- To research popular bloggers that write about topics that interest me
- To discover more about how to utilize this tool for marketing purposes
- To become more familiar with this technology
I started with the “Nobody Wants to Read a Stupid Blog” reading and my favorite parts of the article were when the author talked about how blogs are content management systems and how they allow people to become thought leaders in their industries. One of the most important aspects of a blog, and all social media platforms for that matter, is that it should be structured like a conversation. Brands, businesses, and people should be able to throw ideas out there for the community to discuss and latch on to. That’s the foundation for building brand recognition and a great marketing tool.
The second article I read was “Five Keys to Successful Small Business Blogging” and it was filled with solid suggestions but was also a little bit trite. Maybe trite isn’t the best word; what I’m trying to get at is the content was pretty predictable. Blogging often, not hiring people to write for you, being yourself, maintaining credibility, and practicing honesty I would assume show up in the Blogging 101 handbook. Regardless, I look forward to practicing on my own blog and keeping in mind how my skills and these tips can be applied in a business setting.
Lastly, I looked at “Business Blogging for Fun and (Hopeful) Profit” which was a great piece! Helpful information can be found all throughout this article but my favorite quote was, “Simply put, blogging helps to brand you as an expert and sets you apart from your competitors by educating your prospects and your clients” because so many people (including myself) overlook how effective this marketing technique can be. I also learned from this article that practice makes perfect and that learning a new skill is work in progress. So many times I find myself stressing over the little details because I want everything perfect before I begin practicing. For example, I probably spent over 30 minutes just deciding what to name this blog. Who cares what my blog’s name is?! I can always change it; naming a blog isn’t a life or death situation. That time would have been much better utilized writing, researching or learning. People learn from failures and hiccups and I have to practice in order to run into those so I will definitely keep that in mind. I could go on and on about this article but I think the key takeaways included making the blog interactive, always keeping the audience in mind, and remembering to tell a story. I will probably reference this as we move throughout the semester.
I also wanted to do some additional research about blogs (see the links below) and I found some pretty cool stuff:
- A lot of great bloggers read the same websites as me such as Huffington Post and TechCrunch
- 51% of bloggers say that they are receiving a salary for blogging
- 39% of US companies that are using social media blog
- 33% of all bloggers are from the United States
- WordPress is by far the most popular platform to blog on (looks like I made the right choice!)
- A list of popular bloggers that I can follow
Of course there’s always more but overall I’m excited to practice and learn more about how blogs can be effectively utilized in the business setting and for my own personal use.
Assigned Readings:
“Nobody Wants to Read a Stupid Blog”
http://blog.duoconsulting.com/2008/11/08/nobody-wants-to-read-a-stupid-blog/
“Five Keys to Successful Small Business Blogging”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tykiisel/2012/11/13/5-keys-to-successful-small-business-blogging/
“Business Blogging for Fun and (Hopeful) Profit”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/denakouremetis/2013/01/14/business-blogging-for-fun-and-hopeful-profit/
Additional Readings:
“Past, Present and Future Blogging: 3 Infographics”
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/09/16/past-present-and-future-of-blogging-3-infographics/
“13 Infographics to Understand the Blogosphere Better”
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/blogging-blogosphere-infographics/
Perfect Timing 