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Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro

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Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro

Book

  • Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
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Description

  • Copyright 2010
  • Edition: 1st
  • Book
  • ISBN-10: 0-672-33065-2
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33065-0

Want a personal or business blog of your own? It’s easy! In this simple guide, one of the world’s most experienced bloggers walks you through every step, from getting started to building a worldwide audience. Tris Hussey covers it all, from low-cost blogging tools to high-powered writing tips! Get this book, and get started fast–with a professional-quality blog that meets your goals, whatever they are!

Build great blogs like these, the easy way!

  • Personal Blogs
  • Business Blogs
  • Blogs for Podcasting
  • Video Blogs
  • Portfolio Blogs for Artists
  • Lifestreaming Blogs

Learn from a pro! Discover tips, tricks, and great solutions for:

  • Setting up your blog the right way–in just minutes!
  • Writing blog entries people want to read
  • Handling comments–even nasty ones!
  • Creating a conversation and building a community
  • Publicizing your blog
  • Choosing the right free or low-cost blogging tools
  • Avoiding beginner mistakes
  • Earning cash from your blog!

You won’t believe how easy it is to create your own blog… or how much fun!

Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

Writing and Creating a Conversation in Your Own Blog

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)

Table of Contents

Introduction: It’s All about Storytelling    1

Wait, You’re a Professional Blogger?     2

How to Use This Book    3

1    Welcome to the Blogosphere: Planning Your First Blog    5

A Brief History of Blogging     6

The Blog Heard Round the World: Blogging Gets Mainstream Attention    8

The Blogosphere’s Giant Dysfunctional Family     9

Blogs, the Mainstream Media, and Journalism–World Turned Upside Down    10

Blogging: Pet Rock or New Foundation?    11

Starting Your First Blog     12

Choosing a Topic for Your Blog    13

What’s in a Name: Picking a Name for Your Blog    14

Summary    18

2    Installing and Setting Up Your First Blog    19

Choosing a Blog Engine    20

Getting Started     26

Signing Up for a Hosted Blog     26

Setting Up a Self-Hosted Blog     28

Touring Your Blog’s Dashboard     34

Content block: Posts, Media, Links, Pages, and Comments     34

Administration Block: Appearance, Plugins, Users, Tools, and Settings    36

Tweaking Your Blog Setup     39

Tweaking and Tuning a WordPresscom Blog     40

Setting Good Permalinks     45

Anti-Spam     46

SEO Tuning     47

Categories and Tags    48

Blogrolls     48

Comments and Trackbacks     49

Security    49

About Page    49

RSS Feeds     50

Themes and Colors     51

Tracking Your Blog’s Stats     52

Improving Your Blog’s Search Capabilities     53

Summary    55

3    Writing and Creating a Conversation    57

Turning an Idea for a Blog into Blog Posts     58

Capture Inspiration Whenever and Wherever It Strikes     58

Finding Your “Voice”    61

To Anonymously Blog or Not: The Line Between Public and Private     62

Write Until You’ve Said Your Piece    65

If You Post It, They Will Come:Posting Frequency Answered    65

Your First Post    66

Drinking from the Information Fire Hose: Using the Internet to Power Your Posts     71

Other Bloggers     71

”Real” World     74

Reader Comments    74

Writing with Search Engines in Mind     74

Keywords     75

Writing for Search Engines     77

Categories and Tags    77

Summary    78

4    Building Community    79

Encouraging Comments and Discussion     80

Commenting on Other Blogs     82

Spam, Trolls, and Vermin: The Comments You Don’t Want    83

Spam     83

Trolls and Other Vermin    84

Finding Other Blogs in Your Niche    86

Linking to Other Blogs    88

Connecting with Other Bloggers     89

Twitter, Microblogging, and Lifestreams     90

Facebook and Social Networks     91

Summary    92

5    Creating a Personal Blog    93

What to Put in a Personal Blog     94

Writing     95

Privacy    97

Comments    98

Multimedia    100

Pictures     100

Podcasting    105

Video     111

Hosting Your Personal Blog     118

Summary    118

6    Creating a Business Blog    119

Content    121

Writing     121

Privacy    124

Comments    125

Blogging Policies     126

Multimedia    128

Pictures     129

Podcasting    131

Video     134

Building and Hosting Your Business Blog    138

Choosing a Template for Your Business Blog     138

Stats     139

Summary    141

7    Creating a Podcast Blog    143

Content    144

Recording Your Podcast    145

Tools     145

Your First Recording     147

Editing Basics     151

Mixing in Music    152

Exporting to MP3    155

ID3 Tags: Like Dog Tags, but for Music    156

Internet Radio Renaissance     158

Hosting and Promoting Your Podcast     160

Where and How to Host Your Podcast Blog    160

Posts with Your Podcast     161

Submitting Your Podcast to iTunes    162

Summary    165

8    Video Blogging    167

Content    168

Recording Your Video Blog Posts     169

The Camera     170

Your First Recording     172

Editing Basics     174

Using Copyrighted Works in Your Videos     176

Mixing in Music, Titles, and Extras    177

Exporting, Compression, and Video Formats     178

What Does YouTube Say?     178

Hosting and Promoting Your Video Podcast    180

Submitting Your Show to iTunes    181

Posts with Your Episodes     182

Hosting Your Blog     184

Summary    185

9    Creating a Portfolio Blog    187

What Makes for Good Content on a Portfolio Blog     188

Picking the Right Tool for the Job    189

WordPresscom     190

DIY or Self-Hosted Blogs     190

How Do I Choose Between WordPresscom and DIY?     190

Making a Site a Site     191

Picking a Good Theme for a Portfolio Blog     191

Plug-Ins for Portfolio Blogs     194

Pulling It All Together    196

Gathering, Exporting, and Presenting Pictures    197

Adding Documents of All Shapes and Sizes    202

Final Word on Content     203

Summary    203

10    Creating Your Online Lifestream    205

What Goes into a Lifestream Blog?    206

Why Lifestreams? Wasn’t Blogging Enough?     207

Starting Your Lifestream Blog: Inputs     208

Quick Posts    210

Twitter     214

Flickr and Other Photo-Sharing Sites     216

Your Blog(s)     217

YouTube and Other Videos     218

Sharing from Your Feeds    218

Pulling It All Together    219

FriendFeed     220

Cliqset: The New Kid in Town     222

DIY Lifestreams     223

The Comment Conundrum     226

The Problem: Comments, Comments Everywhere!    226

The Solution: More Services!    227

Summary    228

11    Making Money Through Your Blog    229

Nuts and Bolts of Making Money from Blogs    230

Making Money Directly    231

Making Money Indirectly     236

Final Word on Ads     242

Pulling It Together on Your Blog     243

Ad Codes 101     243

Optimizing Your Blog’s Template     245

Tracking Your Performance     246

Summary    247

Index    249

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