Today’s post will focus on a particular person, place, or event related to your field. This post gives a outline and provides information for your readers.

Here’s some more information about your profile post:
Profile posts are similar to case studies but focus in on a particular person. Pick an interesting personality in your niche and do a little research on them to present to your readers. Point out how they’ve reached the position they are in and write about the characteristics that they have that others in your niche might like to develop to be successful.

This description outlines a profile of a person, but it applies just as aptly to a place. Here’s some examples –
• If your subject is mountain biking, perhaps you could outline the characteristics of a particular course, explain why bikers like to race there, and highlight the special features that make that course unique.
     o If this is your subject, you could also talk about a particular mountain biker!
• If your subject is food, you could discuss a restaurant that specializes in a particular food or drink. Talk about the atmosphere, the varieties of food, and the location.
     o If this is your subject, you could also talk about a chef!
• If your topic is video games, you could focus on a particular “world” or level, discussing the challenges, the landscape, or the chanracters involved.
     o If this is your subject, you could also talk about a specific character!

Make sure that you differentiate – this is not a review (that’s another type of post)! Save your critique for later, this is a fairly impartial look at the person or place. Let your readers make up their own mind.

After you choose your topic, take some time to do some research. You should be able to provide some detailed desciptions to your readers, and chances are that you don’t know everything about your topic. Get the info and then put it into your own words – plagurism is a BIG DEAL in the blogosphere.

You post should be 500 – 700 words.

Here’s some examples of great profile posts:

A profile of blogger Gary Vaynerchuk

A profile of pianist Al Haig

A profile of the Nikon d5000 swivel screen dslr camera

A profile of Latin Jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader

Think back to your first blogging assignment, “Blogging, Part 1” – at that point, I asked you to find two sites on your niche topic. Go back to those sites and look for two things – forums or the ability to comment upon a post. If you can’t do either of those things on these two sites, look for some other sites.

Once you’ve got at least 3 sites with an interactive ability, its time to start making your point.

On sites with forums: Create an account on the site and find the path to edit your forum signature. In your signature you want to include your name, your blog’s name, and a link to your blog. Find a thread that you’ve got an interest in and make a comment.

On blogs with the ability to comment: Find a blog post that interests you and make a comment about it. When you sign into the blog, you will be able to leave your name, URL, and sometimes site name – make sure that you fill in these areas with your blog’s info!

A few rules for leaving comments on blogs or forums –

BE USEFUL! Contribute something to the conversation that moves the point forward. This makes you look less like a spammer and more like an intelligent person that cares about their topic.

ONLY INCLUDE LINKS TO YOUR BLOG WITHIN THE COMMENT IF IT MOVES THE CONVERSATION FORWARD. You’ve already got a link to your site in your signature, you don’t need to put one in the comment just for the heck of it. If one of your posts illustrates your point in the comment, then by all means include a link.

DON’T BE PITHY. Avoid making comments like “good post” or “ I agree.” These comments don’t say anything useful and they look spammy.

Once you’ve made your comments, e-mail me links to the pages where you commented in order to get credit . . .

Today you will create the third post on your blog. This post will be one of the most popular types of articles in the blogosphere – the “list” post.

Bloggers love list posts – they are easy to write and they are VERY popular with readers. See some reasons why in this post:

8 Reasons Why Lists Are Good For Getting Traffic To Your Blog

Here’s a more detailed explanation of the list post:

One of the easiest ways to write a post is to make a list. Posts with content like ‘The Top Ten ways to….’, ‘7 Reasons why….’ ‘ 5 Favorite ….’, ‘53 mistakes that bloggers make when….’ are not only easy to write but are usually very popular with readers and with getting links from other bloggers. One last tip on lists – if you start with a brief list (each point as a phrase or sentence) and then develop each one into a paragraph or two you might just end up with a series of posts that lasts you a few days.

Brainstorm ideas for your list post before getting started – here’s some possibilities:

After you come up with your list topic, make a rough draft of your list. Once you’ve got your list, write a short paragraph about each point. Give your list an introductory paragraph and there you go- instant list post.

Your post needs to be 500 – 700 words.

Check out some examples of list posts:

8 Tito Puente Albums To Kickstart Your Record Collection

10 Ways To Be Useful On Twitter

The Force Is Strong With This One: Ten Ways To Be A Direct Response Jedi

Sinatra: Top 10 Rock Swingers

Make sure that do a spell check and preview the post before hitting publish – sloppy posts with lots of spelling and grammar errors turn readers away very, very quickly. Let me know that you have finished this post with an e-mail . . .

Next week, Megan Gordon will be our guest speaker in class. She is the owner and creator of A Sweet Spoonful and blogs about her “culinary life”. Her blog features recipe and restaurant review as well as “thoughts on local food culture, (and) chef profiles.” Check it out HERE.

Now’s your chance to ask a pro-blogger questions about blogging. Everyone needs to ask at least one question by the end of classt today. You will submit your questions by posting in the comments section at the end of this blog. The forum is open; some topic ideas: making money from blogging, getting traffic to her blog; topic ideas; time dedicated to blogging; her start in blogging; her future plans – there’s lot of possibilities, so ask away!

Dont’ forget – everyone needs to post at least one question by the end of class today. Megan will check them out over the weekend and address them on Monday when she joins us!

Today, you will write an “informational” post.  This provides an in-depth look at one aspect of your topic

Here’s a broader definition of this type of post:

Informational – This is one of the more common blog post types where you simply give information on a topic. It could be a definition post or a longer explanation of some aspect of the niche that you’re writing on. This is the crux of successful sites like wikipedia

Here’s a couple of good examples of informational posts:

“Introduction To White Balance” from Digital Photography School

“How html5 Will Change The Way You Use The Web” from Lifehacker

Alright, time to get writing. Start by brainstorming the angle that you might pursue.  Here are some ideas-

• History of your topic
• A definition and examples of one aspect of your topic
• Demonstrating the differences between diverse approaches to your topic

Choose the angle that you would like to pursue, and write everything that you can about it. 

Step back and take a look at it, and have someone else in class read it – are their any aspects of the topic that you are missing?  Do some online research to fill in any gaps. 

You post needs to be 500 – 700 words without exception.

Don’t hit publish until you are completely done!  Once you do, e-mail me and send me a link to your 2nd post!

In order to start blogging and create a significant presence online, you need to pick “niche” topic that interests you.  A “niche” is basically an area of interest that you want to pursue further.  This could be anything from music to mountain biking to video games, fashion, and more.  You don’t need to be an expert, you simply need to have a strong interest in your subject matter.

Once you decide on your “niche,” the more specific you can get, the better.  So instead of music, you might create a blog about Heavy Metal.  Instead of Video Games, you might create a blog on Games for the Wii.  Instead of Fashion, you might create a blog on shoe styles.  The possibilities are endless . . .

In order to get started, you’ve got to narrow down your topic and focus on your niche.  There are two things to consider when doing this:

Will I have enough things to write about on this topic?

You’ll be writing a blog post just about every class through the end of the semester – that puts you at about 10 – 12 posts.  Do you think that you could have enough ideas to do that?  Just imagine if you had to write a post everyday for the next five years – would you have enough ideas around your niche?

Read this blog post about finding a niche before you move one:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/how-to-choose-a-niche-topic-for-your-blog/

Is there an audience for your topic?

In today’s world of specialization, you can find an audience for just about anything.  Yet, blogs are a lot more fun if you get some sort of interaction.  So you need to know that there are people out there for you.

You’ll do a few things to narrow this down:

Write a list of five post ideas around your niche

Give me five post ideas below – great posts are informational and give your readers something that they need.  What sort of information would your readers want?

Read this blog post before you write your list:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/11/29/20-types-of-blog-posts-battling-bloggers-block/

Give me five ideas below:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

If you can’t think of at least five ideas for blog posts, move to a different niche . . .

Consider your audience through 2 activities

Describe your ideal reader – who do you picture reading about this topic? In a few sentences, describe that person:

Now, find at least three places where those people hang out online – forums, social media, and other blogs are all great sources of information about your readers. List the site name and URLs below:

1. Site Name

• URL:

1. Site Name

• URL:

Read this blog post about finding readers for your blog:

http://www.copyblogger.com/how-to-dominate-your-niche/

SET UP YOUR BLOG

You’ve got your niche, go ahead and set up the blog!

• Go to http://www.wordpress.com
• It’s a blog hosting site that we’ll be using to host your blogs
• Press sign-up in the upper right hand corner of the screen
• Enter the necessary info and select “gimme a blog!”
• You’ll need to confirm your registration via e-mail; if you don’t have an e-mail address, let me know, I’ll help you set it up
• Enter your profile information
• This will appear online – I would recommend using a “Writer’s Name” instead of your own

Once you verify your account, login – this will take you to your dashboard

• Click on the “Change Theme” button
• This will take you to a page to choose the theme for your blog – this can be changed later, just pick one that looks good to you now
• Go back to your Dashboard and click on “New Post”

Write your first blog post!

• This first post should introduce yourself with a few background details (don’t get too personal . . .), an introduction of your topic, what your think is important aobut your topic, what you are planning to discuss around your topic, and an invitation for your readers to come back and visit often!
• Your post should be 500 – 700 words
• Once you have written your post, click publish
• Click the “Visit Site” button – this will take you to your blog

E-mail Boaz (cboaz@tamdistrict.org) with the URL and I’ll check it out!