Under30 Rock Star Business Series

Part 1 - Blogging

Having a blog is essential to building a personal brand and it is also easy! A blog can acthowever you want it to. That's the great part is can be as serious or as informal as youwant. It can talk about anything and shape into anything you desire. It's all about YOU andwhat YOU want it to relay. It's about showing off what you know and your passion for atopic.

There are 100's of millions of blogs out there talking about just about anything you canthink of. How are you going to standout from all of these people? That's the big questionhere and the great part is it is not as hard as it looks. Most bloggers don't know what ittakes to get to the top. They don't take their blog or brand seriously and wonder why itdoesn't go anywhere. This is not a problem you will have after going through this course.

The first step is getting in the right mind set. Your blog is a business. Treat it like one.This means getting serious about it and taking pride in everything it does. Everything thatgoes into your blog is a reflection of you and your brand. How will people see you when theyvisit your blog?

1. WordPress setup• Setup a hosting account with GoDaddy.com• Go to "Manage Account" then "Your Applications"• On left side click on blogs and then Wordpress then install! (as seen below)• Leave the directory names as the default "wordpress"

• Once Installed you can start blogging right away!

Wordpress can be customized in a million ways. There are almost no limits and they make itvery simple for you to do things yourself. At first its not important to have the best lookingblog in the world. Keeping things simple is best and it can be fine tuned over time. Pluginsand themes can be easily installed and managed from the left side of your wordpressdashboard under the tabs "appearance" and "plugins".

Below are a few resources to help shape things up a bit.

ResourcesWordpress Forums10 Essential Plugins Every Modern Wordpress Site Should Have

2. Quality ContentWrite what you love!!! Don't start writing about something just because you think it will dowell or other people will like it. Write what you like and love everyday! A blog requires notonly quality but quantity. You need to be making multiple posts each week. This will be easyif your talking about something you love.

• Write how you speak. This is not a college term paper.• Revise and proof posts. Most bloggers FAIL on this one!• Structure still matters. Define your beginning, middle and end.

ResourceChrisbrogan.com - Watch how he writes about many different things yet makes it all flow.

Types of Content:-Solve problems-Ask questions-Start debates-Provide news-Provide Entertainment

Treat your readers like customers. What do they want? How can you serve and help thembetter?

With every post ask yourself what the purpose of it is. What do you want to come from it?ie. do you want it to solve a problem? Start a debate? Its important to understand thepurpose you want in order to create a focus in your post.

Be Unique: This does not necessarily mean be original

The best way to achieve this is to read and research the other blogs in your niche. Carveout sub-niches or simply create a new angle. The same information can be used butattacking it at a new angle or putting a new edgy opinion to it can distinguish it from thecrowd.

Understanding your competitors is key. If all the blogs in your niche provide news on thetopic maybe you want to start solving problems. Look back to the types of content and see

whats lacking in your niche.

Key: Make yourself uncomfortable. Try new things and push your limits. This is the onlyway you will generate reactions (good and bad). You have to learn what works and doesn'tby trying things and that's how you will continue to grow.

ResourceProblogger.org - everything about blogging

3. Viral Content

Its all in the Title!• Spend time on titles. Think of what you see when browsing the web...I bet its titles

◦ Twitter◦ RSS Feeds◦ Search engine results

• Make them short yet descriptive• Attract attention - Could be making a big claim, a buzzword, controversy, or even

confusion. (use caution as your content needs to then deliver)• Use keywords - If your blog is about fishing use related terms in as many titles as

you can.

ExampleWhat Megan Fox Can Teach Us About Writing Compelling Blog Content - Megan Fox = Sexsells = Great title for a post about blogging

Lists Rule: Top 10 lists simply work

It's no accident that most posts on Mashable.com are in some kind of list format. Or thatMashable has an entire section dedicated to just lists.

Look at the the tops articles on these sites to get an idea for what content and formats rock.• digg.com• mashable.com• tweetmeme.com• stumbleupon.com

Example10 People you Won't See on Twitter Anymore - A list about breaking news on the buzzworthy topic of twitter - The perfect storm of blogging

Formatting: The attention a post gets directly relates to its format.

Posts should be scannable. Even if its not a list have strong headers as intros to paragraphsso people can see what they are reading about.

Format types:• Lists• Paragraphs• Combination - best method

Always use in moderation - Just like anything else. Lists should not be every post nor shouldin depth and complicated research articles. Lists will generally attract more attention in thesocial media world and should be used to drive traffic. Supplement lists with in deptharticles that involve more time and research.

ExampleCommunication Tools and Levels of Interruption - There is a sharp/funny/intriguing picture.2 strong bolded headers but also more bolded list formatted titles. Makes for very easyscanning and also provides a lot of possible words that will catch your attention whenscanning. There is then more detail and developed paragraphs if your scan convinced you toread the post.

Pictures and Video:

Pictures should be inserted into EVERY post.

Think of your audience and what they are attracted to...Women, Fast cars, Huge Fish,Flowers etc. Whatever it is find pictures that will stir that attraction or desire. Pictures addflavor to posts. Many themes and aggregators of your posts will also grab thumbnails if theycan from your post. Making this a picture that hits hard with your audience is key!

Video is another great way to spice up posts. Grab videos from youtube or if your bravemake your own.

Before making your own videos remember:• Are you made for video?• Get a decent quality camera• 2-4min max• Be direct - Its not "scannable"

ExampleVideo - Garyvaynerchuk.comPictures - Perezhilton.comBoth - ChrisBrogan.com

5. Create and Grow CommunityThe best bloggers out there did not simply do everything above and bam they got huge.They did not do it alone! They built community. The built a following that always tweets outtheir posts or diggs everything they write. You can too!

• Respond to EVERY comment on your blog. It doesn't matter how big or small. Saysomething back, let readers know you are listening.

• Comment on related blogs. Start forming relationships with other bloggers in yourniche.

• Engage these bloggers on twitter. Tweet their posts out. In time they will return thefavor.

• Let people contact you. Give out your email or phone number and let everyoneknow you would love to hear from them.

• Give anywhere you can. Put everyone else first.

CARE:Nothing can replace simply caring about your community and the people around it.Everything above will happen automatically if you really do care.

ResourcesMashable Wordpress - articles on everything wordpressProblogger.org - everything about blogging

Remember this is a marathon not a sprint

HomeworkIf you don't have a blog yet

1. Get your blog up and running!2. Create your 1st post that describes you and what you hope to achieve with your

blog

For Everyone1. Make a list of the top 10 blogs in your niche and what their purpose is ie. deliver

news, solve problems1. Define the purpose of your blog2. Engage all of the authors using any method3. Subscribe to all the blogs with RSS or Email and learn everything about

them2. Make a list of 5 things you have NOT talked about on your blog. ie. sex, made a

video, yourself. The idea of doing these 5 things should make you a littleuncomfortable. So now do them! And analyze the reactions.