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the why: why you should blog

By albert on November 4, 2010 in why the blog with 0 Comments

so we started up a little series here at 6MOB titled “why the blog” and let me just say, it’s been a runaway success. we started at the very beginning, with a  little introduction to the series, then gave you the what, what is a blog that is.

this week we’re going to dive into part one of the the why: why you should blog. there are many reason not to blog, and that’s just fine, but we’ll save that for another week. below you will find the full throated argument of 6MOB of why you should blog.

1. allow your voice to be heard

maybe you have something to say, maybe you don’t. anywhere from sharing some good old fashioned family photos and information, to your introduction to writing, a blog is a great way to start. blogs are great for sharing some personal information to a select group of friends and family (most blog platforms have privacy options), as well as sharing information with the general public.

2. increase your learning curve

just by diving in to something new, like blogging, you’re opening up your brain to a world of possibilities otherwise shut off to you. new information to process, new experiences to be had, and more people to share your life with. if you don’t think you’re a techie person, try blogging, you will learn more than you bargained for! many people automatically dismiss the idea of writing a blog because they do not know enough about the internet, or they don’t understand “how it all works” or they just do not take the time to learn. if you give a shot, you will learn. trust me.

3. discovery

it can help you discover if you have a real gift for writing, or even just an idea. you will find out very quickly if you are a good write or not. that’s not really the important part. the important part is to discover your niche. if you have an idea, a thought, a niche you can write about, do it! your writing will get better the more your write.

4. build an audience

maybe you’re thinking about writing a book, but you don’t know where to start? well a blog is the perfect opportunity to start laying down some thoughts and building an audience. but this won’t happen overnight. jon accuff, author of stuffchristianslike.net, recently said:

“The secret to writing is that there isn’t one.

You write.

A lot.

I wrote 500k words for free to publish a 50k word book.”

5. it’s free

there’s nothing you have to pay to get started! so what’s holding you back?

well folks, there’s the basic information for WHY you should start a blog. blogging is not for everyone.

but it can be.

the what: what is a blog anyway?

By albert on October 22, 2010 in why the blog with 0 Comments

alright folks, so our in our first post of the why the blog series, we just gave a little introduction to what we’re doing here. but today, i figured a good place to start exploring the blogesphere is talk about what a blog is anyway.

the base definition actually starts with the proper name, weblog, which according to any dictionary is “a journal written on-line and accessible to users of the internet.”

pretty simple right?

it’s simply an online piece of paper. seriously, that’s it. what should fill that piece of paper will come in later posts, so let’s keep it simple today. so what we’ll do, is define some pretty important terms that bloggers use, and would be helpful for you to know.

DASHBOARD – your home base. this is where the magic happens. this is a page that your potential readers will not see, this is your private space for exploration and implementation of your potential brilliant ideas. this s where you will write posts and share them with the world. get to know this page very well, it will be your best friend.

POSTS – this is the key! this is what you’ll be writing. every blog update will be called a ‘post.’

TAGS – a specific set of words you can use to help your readers search your posts.

CATEGORIES – just like tags, categories will be a way for your readers to search your content, but unlike tags, which search for specific words, you can place each post in one or more categories to help organize your posts.

RSS – the feed in which readers can subscribe to your blog. they can do it via email, or other readers like google reader.

PLATFORM – when you get started with a blog, by far the easiest way to do it will be to start up with a platform, or simply a website to blog through. the most common platforms out there are wordpress, blogger, and tumblr. what i use here at Six Minutes of Banter is wordpress, but it’s a self-hosted wordpress account. with wordpress, you get a few options with how you’d like to run your blog, the easiest way to get started is start a wordpress.com account which will be hosted with them, a self hosted one, through wordpress.org, would be using wordpress’ software on your own hosting account (for advanced web users).

THEMES – every blog platform has its own set of themes you can choose from to get started ranging from basic, clean layouts to the option to upload your css or php theme.

PLUGINS – extra features you can use with your blog. most likely this will be more with a wordpress blog, but other platforms to have some similar features. there are variety of different plugins, at least in wordpress, and some will improve your functionality on the back end, and some will help your readers. either way, this will be something differently to explore as you get to know your blog a little bit better.

COMMENTS – comments are a great way for your readers to interact with what your writing, whether it’s a blog set up for you small community of people or the general public. there are many different ways to set this up, but most platforms will layout how to go about this. it’s best to set up some sort of ‘captcha’ or spam filter or you’ll be filtering spam comments all day. what i would recommend is to actually disable your comments section until you are able to drum up an audience with those wanting to participate with your content.

LINKS – links, simply put, are a word or picture you can select to redirect to another website or location on your blog. it’s great to have a ‘blogroll’ or set of links on your blog to other blogs similar to your content, or just others in the same community to which you are blogging. links can be helpful tools for your readers to get to know you as a blogger and what you are interested in.

WIDGETS – this is where it gets fun. these are tools to personalize and enhance your front page of your blog. this could be anything from a tag cloud, to a page count, to an archives list… the possibilities are endless!

now that we got some of the basics out of the way, we can start having some fun! stay tuned…

the five w’s or the art of blogging

By albert on October 21, 2010 in news and blues, why the blog with 2 Comments

first of all, i was always confused by this. there are actually five ‘w’s’ and one pesky little ‘h.’ the power of simplicity wins again i suppose. irregardless, everyone is familiar with the five w’s: who, what, where, when, why, and how. if you aren’t, you are now.

what’s this have to with anything?

well, over the last few months, i have entered into some interesting dialogues pertaining to to art of blogging. this has been fascinating for me, although i cannot speak for those with which i have had said conversations. the most recent question brought to my attention, via facebook message, was from a friend, bryan, who asked two very important questions:

1. what’s the point of blogging?

and

2. how do you get people to read it?

the first questions could have been answered fairly easily, but the tricky part comes in with question two. based on some discussion i’ve had with some very fine folks, and my fascination with the inter workings of the weblog phenomena, we here have 6MOB have decided to to start another facet the wildly acclaimed Six Minutes of Banter: why the blog.

here, we will explore the five w’s (and the ever important ‘h’) to blogging.

i’m hoping for not only a chance for you, the prudent reader, to learn something new, but for this to be, in fact, a dialogue. how will we do this? there are a few ways:

1. comment on this post, or any subsequent “why the blog” posts to get rolling.

2. post your ides/questions/thoughts on the official Six Minutes of Banter facebook page.

3. email me directly. send your thoughts via electronic mail to: info@albertalcorn.org

remember no question is too dumb or too silly, all inquiries are welcome.

this should prove to be a very fun experience for all present.