Chapter 1 notes

Blogging for Business
Everything you need to know and why you should care…
Authors: Shel Holtz + Ted Demopoulos

Chapter 1: What is a blog?
• A content management system (CMS)
• A very simple Web site that has some features “traditional” Web sites will have once they mature
• Organized into short posts or articles

How does a blog differ from an E-zine or Newsletter?
• An e-zine or newsletter is a document periodically emailed to its subscribers
• Blogs furnish new content more often, are less formal, and often less tightly focused
• Both mediums have valuable content for their readers

How does a blog differ from a Bulletin/Message Board?
• A blog has more control as opposed to a Message Board
• Blogs tend to have one or two authors and people are allowed to comment
• Message Boards act as more of a collage of authors posting various things
• A blog inherits its authors personality

How does a blog differ from a Wiki?
• Wikis allow a group of people to collectively work on documents without the need to download and create copies of documents
o Anyone can add / edit content
• Wikis have info organized according to the needs of its readers
o Ideal for organizing info that is not time sensitive
• Blogs have info organized according to the time of the post
o Ideal for providing a flow of time sensitive info

The Blogosphere – the community of blogs
• A term that refers to all blogs and their interconnections
o Blogs are connected to each other via comments, trackbacks, links, blogrolls and more.
• There are also A-list blogs
• How do we know if a blog is credible?
o Blogs build credibility from the people that read them
o Readers tend to trust blogs that they frequently read
o Blogs should build credit just as any other publication could (i.e. Wall Street Journal)

How are blogs different from Podcasts and Vlogs?
• Podcasts are audio posts on blogs with 2 key characteristics:
o A show-like structure
o Users can subscribe and download new content automatically
• Podcast blogs are blogs that contain podcasts and supporting material
• Blogs are easy to browse, Podcasts are not
• Podcasts can be listened in some situations that blogs cannot be read
• Vlogs – blogs in which the main content is video
• Both podcasting and Vlogging are in their infancy today

The anatomy of a blog
• Blogs are simple web sites, or parts of web sites, with some defining characteristics
• The typical blog:
o Name of the blog
o Blog description
o Author’s picture
o Sidebar on the right containing misc. info
• Elements of a blog
o Name / Title – blogs tend to have names that make one think “Anything goes”
o Description – a descriptive sub-title is usually included
o Posts – also called articles, contain the content. Dated and displayed in reverse order
o Comments – key distinguishing feature of a blog. Without this piece, there would be no interactivity with the blog’s readers
o Trackbacks – allow a blogger to automatically know when another blogger has commented on a blog
o Permalink – a permanent link or URL to a blog post. Allows bloggers to know that the URL will not change when linking to another address
o Sidebar – narrow areas containing misc. info on the right or left side
o Blogroll – a list of other blogs
o Archives – a list of the most recent posts, usually 10
o Categories – allow organizing posts by content, each post can belong to more than one category
o Search – often on the sidebar, the capability is common for most blogs
o Syndication – allows us to track more info in less time. Info can be syndicated into a feed (a file that contains a list of what’s new on a web site

Summary
Blogs are powerful tools because they are easy to use and offer a range of features.

Ideas from this chapter for our presentation:
• To list all the different information mediums and briefly describe how they differ from blogs
• Describe how blogs can gain credibility (to me very important, can even describe how things are cited for credibility)
• List the elements of the blog
• Discuss the writing style of the author(s) – a little different to me is how Holtz always speaks for Demopoulos, and you really never hear from Demopoulos in first person.