Posts Tagged ‘What Is A Blog’

Is Blogging a Beginner’s Guide?

December 17, 2009 - 8:36 pm No Comments
Harveen singh asked:


Knowing “how” to think is much more important than knowing “what” to think. Those among us that understand how to gather knowledge, then how to use and apply what their small inner voice suggests are truly wise. The realization that our “inner voice” is our higher self (inject your own term, i.e., God, Angel, Spiritual Guide, etc.) asking to manifest itself can be a life changing event!

 

Okay, so what is a blog anyway? A blog is basically an online journal in which you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read or you can visit www.your-own-blog.com. Blogs come in different styles, formats, and settings, depending on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites, offer built in features such as hyperlink, straight texts, pictures etc. Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by using spoken word entries. This is called audio blogging.

 

Some blogging sites, even allow you to put video and mp3’s on your blogs. Blogging is popular all over the world. Blog is short for the term weblog. There are very few rules when it comes to blogging which means that bloggers have the freedom to express themselves in most any way they want. Perhaps the best thing about blogging is that most blogging sites are free. Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website of their choice. Once they’ve become members, they automatically become a part of that particular blogging community. They can browse through other blogs, and link them back to their own blogs. They can also make comments on other members’ blogs.

 

Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and comments with each other. Blogging is not just limited to personal usage. There are a lot of blogs that follow a theme such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. These blogs build on their specific themes. In this way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics.

 

Many groups exist within blogging communities. Of course, the members of the group have a common interest and the blogs provide a place for the group members to share their interest. Chats and forums are also contained within blogging communities.

 

A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs. With the rapid growth of blogging communities, entrepreneurs have found that this is a very cost-effective way to promote their products/services.

 

Some bloggers use their blogs as a means to advertise things such as ebooks, while other bloggers, and use their blogs to shed light on current issues, events, news and catastrophes. It seems the uses of this communication medium are limitless!

 

Blogs are also being used by many teachers and professors. Lessons that they have discussed and taught can be posted on a blog which allows students access to this information 24/7. This provides a way for students to keep up with assignments and projects.

 

One of the advantages of blogging is that it is made up of only a few templates. In comparison to websites that are made up of numerous individual pages this is a much simpler format. This make it easier for blog users to create new pages, because it already has a fix setting that include: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc. This is especially useful for first time users, since they can start blogging right away. They can choose from a number of templates that blogging websites provide.

 

But by far, the most popular blog type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives or go on www.profit-pulling-toolbars.com, share poems, rant about their issues or perhaps world issues, or simply post their opinions will find that blogging offers a place to do just that.

 

Blogs varying in topics, themes, and set-ups, can be found in blog directories. Browsing through these directories is beneficial for first time users. They can check out a number of blogs before deciding on any. This provides an opportunity to get acquainted with what these blogging communities are like. An educated decision can then be made about which blogging community better meets the needs and appeals to the interest of the newcomer…allowing a first-timer to get exactly what he/she is after. Blogging is fun, simple, and easy. If you haven’t tried it yet, do it now! You’ll enjoy it.

 


Why Every Artist Needs a Blog & How to Create an Artist Blog

November 4, 2009 - 11:37 am No Comments
Kristin Royce asked:


As an artist, the key to selling more artwork is maximizing its exposure. The internet is an increasingly popular tool for promoting original art, and if done properly, can be quite profitable.

One of the most effective (and free!) online marketing tools for artists is the blog. Artist blogs provide an easy way to display your art, discuss your creative process, post exhibition announcements and more. Best of all, blogs require no working knowledge of HTML and the search engines love their dynamic content.

What is a blog and how will it sell my art?

A “blog” is a web-based diary or journal. The author of a blog, also known as a “Blogger”, publishes content on a regular basis about a focused topic. These regular postings typically provide a “community” feel by allowing site visitors to post feedback to your journal entries. This mode of communication can deepen relationships with potential art buyers, leading to increased sales.

Blogs also have the ability to archive all of your previous posts, dynamically creating an individual page for each journal entry. The feature is great for art buyers using search engines to find original art. For example, if you have a blog post describing a painting that you just completed of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset and an art buyer in Florida goes to Google and searches for “painting of Golden Gate Bridge at sunset”, there is a very good chance that your blog entry will appear pretty high in the rankings. Cha Ching!!

Many artists have felt the pain of email marketing losing its effect due to spam filters, junk email overloads and virus paranoia. Blogs provide a new way to communicate with clients, fans and industry professionals. This trend can support your email marketing efforts by allowing blog subscription options for site visitors so that they are notified whenever your blog is updated along with providing a permanent place on the web for all of your postings as opposed to newsletter emails that are typically deleted.

How to start a blog

Blog Publishing Tools

To begin, visit some of these free blogging sites, all offering unique template options that even an artist can appreciate, image uploads and syndication ability.

Blogger.com (Simple to set up and multiple authoring ability) MSN Spaces (Create your own mini site, with an exceptional blogging feature) Live Journal (Requires a bit of ‘blogging knowledge’ to get it set up) Blog Drive

If you’re interesting in reviewing additional blog features, these sites require a small monthly fee to maintain.

Typepad (starts at $4.95/month)

Tripod Blogs (starts at $4.95/month)

Note to artists with MySpace accounts: MySpace provides members personal blogs, but it is important to know that MySpace blogs are not currently listed in search engines, which as noted above, is one of the main reasons to get a blog. While MySpace works to remedy this issue, it is recommended that you blog using a tool that is accessible to search engine spiders.

Decide on a title for your blog

The title of your blog should be brief and to the point. You can get creative with your language in the blog description / tag line. A focused title will help with higher search engine rankings and make it clear to visitors what the blog is about.

For example, the title for ThePauper.com blog is “Diary of a Pauper”. The blog description is “Rants and raves about the careers and lives of starving artists.” The title is concise, stating exactly what it is, while the description is a bit more creative.

Blog theme

It’s important to establish yourself as a professional working artist if you want to use your blog as a vehicle to sell your art. Blog theme involves the layout and color of the page, quality of the artwork images displayed and verbiage used for blog postings. Select your blog template carefully and make a habit to review your blog from the perspective of a potential client. Is the page visually appealing? Do the images of your artwork provide a link to an extra large version to see detail? Does your content have a consistent theme? Here’s a good example of a working blog by mix engineer, Ken Lewis: http://protoolsmixing. com/blog.html The content theme is exceptionally consistent, plus the colors and page layout match his website.

What to write

What’s beautiful about blogs is that there are no rules on what to write, but if you want to attract and keep an audience, you might consider some of these suggestions.

Keep your posts creative and interesting. Move and inspire your readers by being completely honest about your creative process.

Use keywords in your blog title and post. Using the example mentioned earlier – if your post is about a Golden Gate Bridge painting, be sure to use that exact phrase in the title and body of your blog. Think about what people might type into search engines to find your content and then use those keywords in your blog. This technique will help increase the ranking of your web page on search engines.

Post daily, or at least twice a week. If you publish blog entries frequently, you will see more return visitors, subscriptions to your blog and comments from site visitors.

Proofread and preview your blog entries before posting. Some blog HTML editors have a way of creating weird symbols out of certain characters and a quick spell-check never hurts. (Note: be sure to create your blog entries using Word or some other text editor. Many blogging tools tend to “time out” after a certain amount of time and you could potentially lose hours of work.)

Publish your blog Finally! Your blog looks great and has unique content. Now, depending on the blogging tool that you selected, follow the steps to publish it to the World Wide Web. Test the live URL that now houses your blog. If all of your graphics appear correctly and the copy is flawless, then you want to make sure that you promote your blog on your personal website, in your email signature and by word of mouth.

Using the tools you already have to spread the word while testing your dedication to frequent posting is the best way to get started. Part 2 of will unveil tons of ways to promote your blog online