Some takeaways from the readings

Content

People go to certain blogs and websites for their content. I’m not going to any website about Kim Kardashian because I really do not care to learn a single thing about her life. You’ll always find me on ESPN or reading the latest “Unearthed Arcana” from DND Beyond. People get hooked onto certain websites because they WANT to go to that website. I got drawn into a website (https://associationsnow.com/2020/01/what-star-wars-can-teach-you-about-talent-management/) because it’s about a life lesson and how it can be compared to Star Wars. Obviously, force choking your employees for not listening is a good way to make a lot of people angry. As Ms. Childress states, the Jedi’s version of talent management involves mentoring and guiding is the best way of handling that.

Pictures

Nobody wants to read a massive block of text, correct? Unless you’re a supermutant, no you probably don’t. What better way to change that up then to add pictures! Above, I hopefully hooked you in with that lovely picture of my dog, Sully. Pictures can be used in many different ways for the blog. Not only can they be used to get your point across, like in this website (https://havecolorwilltravel.blogspot.com/2018/09/perfectionism-is-big-jerk-train-your.html) but also they can be used to grab people’s attention to read what they have to say, like myself when I read about the top 10 books in 2020. (https://booksbrews.home.blog/2019/12/31/my-top-10-most-anticipated-books-of-2020/)

Design

The design of the blog as a whole is huge. I would hate to read 20 paragraphs of writing with only black text on a white background. Yeah I know, this first post here is gonna be pretty similar to that, but bear with me. This is my first post. Ever. The fact that I managed to get this thing work is a miracle on it’s own. I really liked this post by Century Link. (https://blog.centurylink.com/how-to-up-your-game-with-centurylinks-dynamic-connections/) I like how easy and accessible the blog as a whole is. The pictures are nice and there are hyperlinks for just about everything. Don’t worry, I’ll figure out how to add the hyperlinks pretty soon (hopefully).

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Follow My Blog

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.