interactiveAmy.com » Blogging

New Year News

Amy — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:35:38 +0000

Happy New Year, friends!

In honor of 2010, I have a new profile picture… for now anyway, this avatar might have a shelf life. What do you think? Can I wear a Happy New Year hat all year long?

New Year, new avatar!

I am very excited to welcome 2010, in more ways than one! Even though interactiveAmy officially launched in March 2009, I can now say that I have been in biz since last year, yahoo!

Here are somethings I’ve learned along the way:

As it turns out, blogging is not my preferred method of communication. I much prefer micro-blogging – short bursts of updates, in 140 characters! I am not abandoning my blog, but you can follow my mirco-blogging adventures on Twitter, or on Facebook, which I update much more regularly than my actual blog! However, I have heard from many that they enjoy what I write, so for you, I will make a better attempt to update more often.

I really do look like my avatar! One of my favorite compliments to receive is when someone tells me I look like my avatar. I certainly hope so, since it really is me! Best of all is knowing that my voice comes through my tweets, blog posts and in person. I love it when people tell me that I am the same on & off line! I strive to be!

I need help from yoU! This is where you come in – what kind of things would you like to hear about on my blog, in my tweets or on the speaking circuit – a recap of networking events, projects I’m working on, conference summaries, life philosophies? Please let me know how I can best be of service to you!

Don’t forget – if you are planning a Chicago event, activity, conference, seminar, happy hour, etc. I would love to include it on my Chicago Networking Calendar, please email me details, and I’ll spread the word!

Hope 2010 is happy, healthy and prosperous for all!

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WordPress.com – Let's Get You Started!

Amy — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:35:56 +0000

Congratulations, you’ve decided to start a blog! Now what?

That was me, a week ago. I had the good fortune of attending WordCamp Chicago, a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. Well, everything except for getting started, that is. In a room of 200, I was one of a handful that wasn’t already a blogger. Intimidating? It could have been, rather I seized the opportunity to learn from my peers and decided right then and there that on day two I was coming back with a blog!

I had a website, interactiveAmy.com, but it wasn’t on WordPress and it didn’t have the capabilities to support the type of blog I wanted. So I issued a tweet for help.

My tweet for Blog help!

Jason Pelker was the first to respond, and we met up during a break. Jason listened to my dilemma, how to switch my static domain to WordPress, and assured me I could do it!
He also told me that he didn’t think I was ready to start a self hosted blog, so he directed me to WordPress.com to get started with a free WordPress hosted account.

Jason could tell that I was a smart cookie, so he pointed me in the direction of the WordPress.com support page, and then said to figure it out on my own. So there I sat, the last one to leave the WordCamp conference room – busy logging in and setting up my interactiveAmy.wordpress.com account.

And that was that! With additional hand holding from Dan Schulz, I was determined to go home and figure it out. And I did! Day two of WordCamp I came back with a blog!

Steps to getting started:
The WordPress.com sign up page is the place to begin. Simply sign in, register a blog domain and blog title and then wait for your confirmation email to arrive in your inbox.

After confirming your account, you can log back into to your newly created blog!

On the front page of WordPress.com you will find the link to your blog’s Dashboard. That is the hub of your blog’s activity. From the Dashboard you are able to set up pages, create new blog posts, modify your blog’s theme, and once you publish your work, you can access your stats including traffic, page views, etc.

Many people are using WordPress not only for their blog but also as their primary website as well.

What is the difference between a post and a page? Pages are category headings on the top of your webpage. Setting up a page is the same process as posting a new entry. Within the Dashboard you can Add or Edit new pages for your website. In my case my pages include a welcome letter, my bio, an overview of social media and a page for each of the services my company provides – social media consulting, digital publicity, personal branding. Since this information was already on my static site, setting these up was as simple as cutting and pasting my previous text and formatting within the page entry. I had 7 pages set up in about 2 hours.

Upon logging in, WordPress issues a “Hello, Word!” post and invites you to edit, approve or delete. I modified mine to let the world know that I have arrived in the blogosphere. To post a new entry simply go to your dashboard, select “add New” from the drop down menu and type away! WordPress allows you to save drafts as you go, and also lets you preview your post before publishing. I admit I was a little trigger-happy and over the course of this week I accidentally published HTML code as an entry, which I had to delete right away, no biggie it was easy to fix!

And the crazy thing is, that as soon as I published my first posts, I tweeted about it and invited people to check out my new blog. The best part was, people came and they left wonderful comments congratulating me on launching my blog and engaging in conversation. When blog post comments come in, you receive email notification and then are directed to approve and publish or ignore the comments. Comments are a sign that you are engaging your audience, so if you stop by let someone know you were there: say Hi, offer advice, express your point of view, share an experience, I invite all of my visitors to leave me a comment!

I have been posting diligently every day so far this week, and the more I play around with WordPress.com the more confident I am that I can handle self hosting and site maintenance on my own! I am allowing myself one week on WordPress.com, and then everything will be rolled over to a self-hosted version of InteractiveAmy.com, my home on the World Wide Web. I hope you’ll come visit!

** Thank you to Nile Flores, who invited me to write this guest post for her blog Blondish.net!

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WordPress.com is the Gateway Drug!

Amy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:31:48 +0000

Matt Mullenweg - WordPress.com is the Gateway Drug!

InteractiveAmy blog was born on Saturday June 6th, 2009. The very next day, I got a shout out from Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp Chicago. Now, less than a week into blogging, I am ready to make the move to WordPress.org, a self hosted version with many more tricks and customization options.

In my first five days as a WordPress’er, I have been relieved at the simplicity of getting my blog up and running, but I want more pizazz!

I have been asked to write a guest post at Blondish.net recounting my experience getting started on WordPress.com, so I am not going to steal the thunder for my guest blog debut, just know that I will have more to say on that subject in a few days.

Matt Mullenweg is a visionary in more ways than one.

I am hooked on WordPress, and can’t wait to get started on WordPress.org! You will know when I’ve made the switch…I’ll make sure of it.

Did you start blogging on WordPress.com and then make the switch to WordPress.org? If so, please share any transition tips, or pointers to make my switcharoo as smooth as possible! Thanks, in advance!

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To Blog or Not To Blog

Amy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:26:56 +0000

Do you find yourself wanting to write about the things you enjoy? Do you have something of value to share? Will your expertise in a certain topic help others?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you or your business may want to consider starting a blog.

What is a blog?

A blog, or online journal, is a powerful communication tool that can help you engage your site visitors, deepen relationships with your readers and customers, and increase repeat visits to your site.

The word “blog” is a contraction of the term “web log.” It is a type of website featuring entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

As of June 2008, blog search engine Technorati indexes over 112 million blogs!

How do you know if blogging is right for you or your business?

There are hundreds of reasons why starting a blog would be beneficial to you and your business.

A few potential benefits of blogging include:

A blog allows your business to engage with current and potential new customers in a direct, informal, no-pressure way, allowing people to get to know you, your products and services and gain a better understanding of your company.
Blogs are collaborative in nature, and will provide insight into customers’ needs, concerns and interests. That information can be used to develop new products or services, or tweak existing ones.
Blogging will give your company a personal voice, and is a great platform to share the expertise of top executives, division leaders, all the way down to interns! Getting to know company personnel can help boost customer loyalty and become more approachable.

What do I write about?

I can’t help with that, but I can encourage you to write about what you know, what inspires you, what interests you, share your experiences and takeaways, teach people about your products and services, etc. Most importantly, pick a topic that excites you, and make sure you are passionate about your chosen subject!

Some basic tips for developing blog content:

Provide useful information and resources on your chosen topic.
Include your personality, and your experiences to make the information come alive, and reflect your voice.
Mix things up – include photos, videos, links to other sources, and offer your interpretation
Not every post has to be a novel – offer How-To tips, Top Ten lists, etc,

Remember – The goal is to write often so that you can create a long lasting readership for your blog visitors.

How to Be a Successful Blogger

You will not know if you are successful unless you define what success looks like to you.

If you decide that a blog makes sense for you or your business, keep the following in mind:

Start by setting goals. Decide what you want to accomplish with your blog, and let that influence your content strategy and tone. If you are a business, establish policies upfront.
Make sure to keep it relevant. Your audience wants to know who you are and what you are up too. It is OK to make posts personal and speak directly to your audience. Readers want to know your thoughts on industry trends, what type of projects you are working on, what events you are hosting/attending/sponsoring, and how you feel about them.
Use relevant keywords throughout your blog. This will help with search engine optimizations, frequent content updates will keep readers coming back for more, and many times shorter and more frequent updates are preferable to longer, infrequent ones.
Stick with it! If you decide to start a blog, make a commitment to keep it going! An abandoned blog looks worse than no blog at all!

So, to blog or not to blog, what are you going to do? Are you a blogger, please share what you are writing about and what inspired you to get started! Don’t forget to tell us where to find you, leave your blog address so we can come visit!

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