New All-Day Class On Photo Blogging!

Introduction:

I'm sure that, by now, you are familiar with blogging - a web-based diary of a person's thoughts, ideas, musings, rantings, arguments, comedic prose, and so on. I read several blogs on a daily basis and write a weekly (sometimes more frequently) blog post.

Some may say it's a vanity exercise and they are, to an extent, correct. Others may say that it's an integral part of their communication strategy (whether to clients, fellow artists, to the world…) and they also are, to an extent, correct. Yet others may say that blogging is just one of the ways that they get to present their art and photography to the world. Yes, to an extent, they too are correct.

As photographers, we want to get our imagery to the world. Be it to tell a story, stir up passions, turn peoples' world on its side... we all share a deep-seated need to show the world what we've produced. And why not? We've worked hard to develop our skills and we feel that we have something to give back.

A particular type of blogging is called photo-blogging. Its purpose is to communicate thought and and express feeling and emotion - tell a story - through the use of photographs. While text and writing is certainly important, the written word merely serves the purpose of supporting the photograph. In a traditional blog, photographs are used to emphasize what the author has written. As photographers, the photo-blog is our most effective communication tool.

As a tool, it can feed your Facebook, LinkedIn, Diggit, Twitter profiles and more. The blog is, in fact, a core piece of any plan to effectively use social media.

Who Should Attend?

This class is for anyone and everyone who wants to create and maintain an effective photo-blog. Whether you are well-versed in technology and blogging or if you are a rank n00b and have always wanted to start a blog and you just don't know where to start, you will learn how to start your own blog.

What You Need to Bring:

It is suggested that you bring a laptop computer (Mac or PC) so that you can install and build your blog throughout the day. However, if you don't have a laptop, all the materials, including separate "How To" instruction sheets will be provided if you prefer to follow along and take notes. If you do bring a laptop, please also bring 10-12 photographs that you would like to publish on your web.

Remember, a laptop is suggested but not required!

What Will Be Covered:

• Installing WordPress (the software we'll use to create your blog)
• Customizing your blog with Themes, Widgets, Plug-ins, and Pages
• Optimizing your photographs for inserting into blogs
• Basic writing tips for blogs
• How to come up with topics to blog about
• How a blog is different from a traditional web site and why both are important
• Integrating your blog with social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others.
• The top 3 critical mistakes that 99% of bloggers make
• Getting word out to the world that your blog exists
• Using Google Analytics to track traffic (and what those numbers mean)
• Monetizing your blog with Google AdWords and other affiliate programs
• Effective use of link exchanges to increase readership
• Making it convenient to read your blog through RSS and feed daemons

Notes:

• For the class, if you've not already created a blog, please create a new account at www.WordPress.com. If you decide to have your own domain name, we will discuss how to get a domain name and find a web host in the class. If you would like to get your own domain name and web host before the class, please email Rob (the instructor) at least a week before the class starts.
• In the class, we will be using WordPress. However, if you would prefer to use Blogger from Google, the concepts of blogging will be identical but the section on customizing will be different- some WordPress features may not have something equivalent in Blogger. But 99% of the class is still applicable to any blogging platform. However, if you are looking for the "free" blogging platform, you can sign up with Wordpress.com.
• This is very much a hands-on class!