2nd Edition
Bloggers Boot Camp Learning How to Build, Write, and Run a Successful Blog
Anyone can build a blog. It’s quite easy. The difficult part is keeping it relevant, technically sound, and popular. Bloggers Boot Camp shows you how to blog for success. It teaches you how to find a niche, find your unique voice, and how to hold a conversation with an audience. It provides information on all the right tools for the blog, and it offers best ways to promote your blog and content for maximum success and a profitable life.
Though rules in creating compelling content haven’t really changed, ways in which the world blogs has since the last edition. The authors have learned a lot about social media since writing the previous edition’s manuscript. They understand and know how social media can make or break a blog. Microblogging is a new trend brought on by the wide utilization of social media. To that same end, networking with other bloggers and content creators on the web is another form of building one’s blog and one’s reputation as a writer.
Chapter 1 The Niche
What’s Your Name, Private?
What the Heck Is Blogging?
What Is a Blogger?
NEW Blogging And The Mainstream Media
The Four Questions
The Two Rules
Chapter 2 Getting Started
Basic HTML for Bloggers
NEW Basic CSS For Bloggers
Pick a Domain
NEW Ready-made Platforms - Add new platforms here
How Do I Pick a Platform?
NEW Why Themes Are Important
NEW Buying Themes
Should You Hire a Web Designer?
Tools of the Trade. 42
Chapter 3 Target Practice
The 1,000 Words Rule
Enhance Your Writing by Reading
The Bloggers Duffel Bag: Essential Skills for Getting Through the Day
Blog Photography Tips
Videography
NEW Mobile Photos And Video
NEW Podcasting
Chapter 4 Hello, World
Introducing Yourself
Producing Intro Posts
Writing Your Contact Page
NEW Gaining A Social Media Presence
NEW Dangers Of Social Media
NEW Three Rules For Spreading The Word
NEW To Microblog Or Not To Microblog
Chapter 5 How to Write a Blog Post
Types of Posts
Deadly Headline Kills 200,000 Innocent Readers
To Capitalize or Not Capitalize. 106
Use Perfect Grammar or Your Credibility Is Shot. 107
Top Five Grammar Goofs
The Finer Points
Blogging Traps
Graphics and How to Use Them
When Should You Post?
Snark and the Single Blogger
Post Length
Being a Better Blogger
NEW Sourcing
NEW Writing So Someone Will Read You
Chapter 6 What to Write About
Need to Know
How to Decide What Matters to Your Readers. 81
Finding News
NEW RSS Readers
NEW Twitter
NEW LinkedIn
NEW Google Plus
More Sources: Press Releases from PR People
Conferences/Trade Shows
Dinners & Events
Tipsters
Dealing with PR People
Review Units
How to Snag Review Units
Review It or Not—Pan It or Skip It?
Should I Return Review Units?
Ten Questions to Ask Before Posting
Chapter 7 Mob Rule, Inciting a Riot, and Freedom of Speech
You’re in Control
Dealing with the Angry Mob
Understanding Spam
NEW Which Comment Platform To Use?
Rewarding Loyal Fans
NEW Should You Turn Off Comments?
Chapter 8 Building Traffic, Making Money and Measuring Success
SEO for Bloggers
Off-Page
The SEO Bottom Line
Social Media Sharing
Contests
Measuring Success
How To Make Money
Chapter 9 Blogging Ethics
Libel and Slander
Shield Law
Mr(s). Cellophane
Junket Junkies
Free Stuff
Caught in a Trap
Leaks and Trust
Stand Up Straight, Private
NEW Be Nice Or Be Right
NEW Blogging's Golden Rule
NEW Chapter 10 The Perks Of Being A Blogger
NEW The Job Hunt
NEW Networking
NEW Building A Brand
NEW Changing Careers
NEW Spreading The Word
Chapter 11 Building an Empire
Knowing When to Call in Reserves
How to Be a Blogger Boss
How to Find Bloggers
NEW Networking For Bloggers
Firing
Paying Bloggers
Group Blogging Workflow
Story Tips Via Email
Communicate!
Joining a Blogging Team
Be Careful What You Wish For
Appendix A Tips and Tricks of the Trade
Biography
Charlie White is an author and consultant who's been writing articles published in magazines and websites since the early days of the Internet. He's written for Wired and Popular Science magazines, was Senior Editor of Mashable, Senior Associate Editor for gadget site Gizmodo and Deputy Editor of NBC Universal tech site DVICE. He’s written more than 9,000 published articles, totaling more than 3 million words. Before he began writing magazine articles, blog posts and books, Charlie enjoyed a 30-year career as an Emmy award-winning television producer/director, directing five national television series for PBS
John Biggs?writes about technology for the?46 million page-view-per-month website?TechCrunch. He was former editor of Gawker Media's?Gizmodo. He has a Master’s Degree in Business and Economic Journalism from NYU and is currently completing a non-fiction study of Marie Antoinette’s watch (he’s also a watch nut). After spending four years as an IT programmer during the dot-com era, he became a full-time journalist. He’s the author of the book,?Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age.
Bloggers Boot Camp is packed full of fantastic strategies to help you get your blog off the ground, and keep it moving in the right direction after its launched. While it’s written primarily for those who are interested in full-time blogging, the vast majority of the advice is applicable to anyone interested in blogging.
- David Indish, Red Star Web Development
Charlie White and John Biggs are powerhouses when it comes to running successful blogs. Anyone who wants to build a business, a career, or simply bring millions of readers to their sites needs to read Bloggers Boot Camp. An invaluable reference for anyone!
- Stephen Schleicher, Executive Producer, MajorSpoilers.com
John Biggs’ blogging experience and his understanding of the social media environment is exceptional, and we’ve taken a lot of leads from him in the way we’ve developed our own media approaches for Raspberry Pi over the last few years. It’s great to have his and Charlie’s expertise collected in one place: if a fluency with social media is something you need to develop for your career; if you want to hike up your existing readership; or if you’re confused about what best practice is in what’s fast becoming a business essential, you absolutely need to read this book.
Liz and Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi Foundation
Blogger's Boot Camp isn't just a no-nonsense guide to what works online--write about your passions and know who you are--but a great introduction to the business realities that inform the modern practice of niche-interest journalism written on very short deadlines. From coding nitty-gritty to production protips, blunt truths and advertising, it has everything you need to go right ahead afterward and break every rule they tell you.
Rob Mullins, Raspberry Pi Foundation
