Exercise: Getting familiar with blogs and blogging | Pre-Academy | Compulsory
Blogging can fit into the marketing mix in many different ways, and as part of the Digital Blogging Academy we’ll be looking at different solutions. Blogs on your own site are a great way of firming up the voice of the brand and ensuring that your message gets out just the way you’d like it to. Independent blogs in your industry can be a powerful way of letting people know about what you - or the projects your company is linked to – are doing, but it comes with an ethical dilemma about transparency that marketers need to be particularly savvy about. If you’ve never commented on a blog before, then try this before your join us for the face-to-face part of your Academy.
Exercise instructions
1. Find a blog you are comfortable commenting on: as your tutor I’ve set one up that we use for training – you can comment on any of the posts, and I if you are nervous then I can edit out the comments later if you don’t feel comfortable. The test blog is at http://meadows-klue.blogs.com
2. Think about what you want to say: maybe it’s a comment of endorsement to the point, maybe it’s something you disagree with, maybe there’s an alternative perspective you have, or maybe there’s a link to something else on the web that you’ve seen.
3. How long? Comments can range from very short one-liners to extensive posts of several hundred words; maybe try just a couple of short comments first of all.
4. Use a word processor first if you like… Many blogging engines will not have spelling and grammar checkers built in, so if you’re uncomfortable about writing straight into the posting fields then copy and paste from a word processor.
5. Manners: just remember these are other people’s spaces you’re commenting in, so always be courteous, stay on-topic and treat other participants with respect.
Aim to make five blog comments before the face-to-face part of your Digital Training Academy, and remember that the http://meadows-klue.blogs.com is a safe environment where content can be removed afterwards. For example, there’s a post we’ve written here, about Snowbooks: http://meadows-klue.blogs.com/meadowsklue_on_media/2007/09/snowbookscom-sm.html and one here, about how blogging is changing newspapers: http://meadows-klue.blogs.com/meadowsklue_on_media/2007/05/is_this_the_fut.html and the role of blogging in micro firms: http://meadows-klue.blogs.com/meadowsklue_on_media/2007/03/should_sole_tra.html
Comments (1)
Use this space to post any questions about the instructions or the aims of the exercise. Focus your energy on the blog pages we've listed (or others if you prefer) to explore how they work in practice.
Posted by Academy Manager | October 17, 2007 3:24 PM