Lean, Mean Blogging Machines

If you think your blogging gut is getting a little flabby, today is the day to whip it into shape.  Issues Dynamic, Inc. put together a "Beltway Blogger's Boot Camp" scheduled for today, November 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.  For more information on the event, click here.  The event will feature several guest speakers from the blogging world, and attendees  will receive  basic training in Communications, Public Relations and Governmental Affairs.  Participants will also be trained to make an impact in their blogs and on other Web sites such as Youtube, Myspace, Digg. We'll report back in a few days. For now, it's off to Boot Camp!

Update on Friday, November 17, 2006 at 02:59PM by Jordan Wait

Well we did it - we managed to tough it out and graduate from Blogger Bootcamp.  For those of you who are interested, here's a sampling of what we learned:

 1.  Familiarize yourself with blogging lingo.  Know words like Blogroll, Permalink, and Tags.  Once  you know what these terms mean, learn how to utilize these features in your own blog. 

 2.  Make sure you blog on a consistent basis.  This doesn't mean you need to blog everyday, or twice a day, but try to blog on a scheduled basis.   If you blog one a week, blog once a week.  If you blog once a day, blog once a day.  The idea here is to establish consistency and get your reader into a rhythm.   Readers tend to get into a habit on checking blogs when they know for sure when they will be updated. 

 3.  Know why you are blogging.  Are you blogging as a way to brand yourself, or are you attempting to simply drive discussion about a certain subject?  No matter what your reason is, establishing your purpose will guide your content and establish rapport with your audience. 

4.  Make your blog personable.  People want to feel like the blog is speaking to them and they want to feel connected to the article.

5.  In most cases, you should allow for reader comments.  In essence, blogs are conversations open to anyone, and you are starting it.  That being said, you need to determine some sort of policy on what type of content will be allowed on your blog.  This will aide in a better dialogue flow between you and your audience