What I learned at our 'To Blog or not to Blog class'.

I recently produced a class on, 'To Blog or not to Blog?", I think I was channeling Shakespeare or something? Anyway it was a pretty full house. This was not a class on how to make a career out of blogging, it was simply a class on how to set up a blog and what you could do with it, a very beginner's basics.

The students were comprised of adults, most of which are retired. Some wanted to learn to blog about their hobbies or art, others had a small business and some wanted to blog about life. The instructor uses Wordpress, so we based the class around that (sorry blogger!).

Here was the challenges, some expected, some not.

First was preparing a handout for the class (the middle to older generation still likes handouts). It was hard to come up with a step-by-step of even the basics, in Wordpress. Since there is so much to learn about Wordpress, I wanted something to give as a guideline . I was surprised though that even Wordpress didn't have anything online, no PDF's, nothing to download. I ended up just doing a document listing resources and some links on how to get started with Wordpress.

Second challenge (and this was a big one), keeping everyone on the same page, or at least the same chapter. Each student brought a computer, and what should have been done was have them log in using one site, one theme and then just walk them through it. Instead each student started their own project, used a different theme (which caused it own set of challenges) and was at different levels of doing their own thing and learning.

Usually when we teach a Photoshop class we have everyone working on the same project. We still have the issue of different learning levels but by having everyone working on the same project it makes it more manageable. When you have everyone working on different projects, especially beginners, you loose control quickly and it is harder to maintain and stay on the subject's course. Which is sort of what happened here.

What did I learn from all of this? 1. K.I.S.S. When I do this again, we will keep it simple, follow some basic steps, have everyone working from the same page. 2. Keep the class a little smaller. 3. Do like we do when teaching Photoshop Elements, break it down and teach in segments. We tried to cram too much into one day. 4. Maybe have a class in Blogger:-)

BTW - Here is a link to one our student's new blog (the one she started in class) - http://takenbyanne.wordpress.com. Some of the names of the blogs were very clever.

To Blog or not to Blog? Hmmmm

I took an online class the other day called, "9 Businesses doing Blogging right and what you need to know". Presented By Michael Stelzner, Rick Calvert & Dave Cynkin.

Why Blog?

Well according to: Michael Stelzner, Rick Calvert & Dave Cynkin

• 51% of internet users read a blog at least monthly and over 60% by 2014 (Technorati)
• Companies that have a business blog attract 55% more website visitors than non-blogging companies (HubSpot)
• More than 43% of U.S. companies will marketvia a blog by 2012, up from 34% in 2010 (eMarketer)

Blogging should not only be about what your business is, but stories within your business - like behind the scenes, employee stories, etc, stories about your industry, or maybe something totally unrelated but it is important to you.

Mix up your content, invite others to speak, let your employees/coworkers add a voice to the blog, customers, suppliers, complimentary industries, well you get the picture. Collaborate with others.

What you may be trying to accomplish with this blog:

To become "the source" for people interested in what you do, the authority in your area of expertise, to create value while introducing readers to your products/services, build up your brand, to educate, discuss topics that are important to your area, to have fun - but most importantly to stay in contact.

Things that are important in a blog:

• The theme, The look/design, The name, The presentation, The idea.
• The Value it provides to the readers.
• CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT!
• Trust. Stay true to who you are.
  
• Keep your blog from turning into a sales message. Keep the sales/promotions subtle. Address the interests and needs of your audience, even if it has nothing to do with your product line.
  
• Invite others of expertise to write on your blog.
• Have a personal connection. Know your audience and relate to them on their level, talk about what interest them, use their language.
• Educate, Inform and keep in touch.
• Add a variety of content - videos, photos, links to others and more.
• User friendly. Make sure it is easy to share your site, your blogs. Make sure that it is easy to subscribe to.
• Make sure that there is information/history about you, or the business on the site somewhere.
• CONTACT INFORMATION. This is so important but people tend to forget it.
  
• Allow interaction. Let others have the ability to converse on your blog (post comments).

What if you are not a business? Why blog? Why not? Maybe you have a passion, a hobby, you are an authority on something and you just want to share it. One of the largest and growing areas in blogging is 'stay at home moms'. Blogging has created an outlet for them, a way to share what they do, what they know, their frustrations, their triumphs and more. And for some moms a pretty lucrative income. So blogging is not just for businesses.

So should your blog? Come to our class on blogging and find out if you even want to. Uh Oh, did I just do a faux pas and violate one of the rules by selling on my blog? Oh well, it is something I am passionate about and I feel is important to my customers. After all I am in the industry of educating others.....

Click here to find out more information about our upcoming class on blogging, February 5th.

Keep on learning.