Lorelle on WordPress, who gave the Kicking Ass Content Connections talk at Wordcamp, sent out a free copy of her book Blogging Tips: What bloggers won’t tell you about blogging to conference attendees. I got my copy this past weekend and of course I’ve been reading it for the past few days. I’ve been looking for a simple book that described the basics of blogging to present to others, as well as give me some ideas on how to improve my blog (got to find the right header images, among other things). However, while I know this book was meant to be general in terms of blogging (and thereby make it more for novices and help it stand up for the future), I couldn’t help but wonder if there couldn’t be more specific tips like plugins for WordPress, Movable Type, or Firefox to make some of the recommended things like XML sitemaps. The general approach works, though, and therefore makes Blogging Tips a recommendable tome for the would-be-blogger.
What do you want in 100 pages? The bible for all blogging platforms? 😀
There are books, indepth and otherwise, on WordPress, Typepad, etc., as well as plenty of great websites and manuals filled with tons of tips and information on how to use these programs. I was asked to write a book on blogging tips, something not done before.
While the blog can help the blogger, I think that blogging – good blogging – exceeds the program they choose. It’s about the content. It’s about what the blogger says, how they convey their ideas, how they connect with readers, and how readers connect back, that makes or breaks a blog, not the Plugins they use.
It’s the blogger, not the gimmicks, that makes a successful blogger.
I have no WordPress Plugins on my blog. Nothing fancy other than what WordPress.com users all get. I think that says a lot about the art of blogging, don’t you?
There is mention of sitemaps, and the more important site maps, in the book, by the way. There is also a ton of information on SEO techniques, not tricks.
I’ll be interested in what you think after you’ve finished it.
And thanks again for the fun at the WordCamp conference. That was an amazing meeting with the best of the best, wasn’t it!
Lorelle,
I liked the basic approach and I’ve been blogged pretty barebones for much of my early forays into blogging. It seems as though more and more people are coming back to it as well with Twitter and Tumblr. I did, however, learn to like WordPress with all the extra features it provided, especially the plug-ins as well, but it does seem like I forgot how important content is.
So if it seems like I put down what you say in the book, I don’t; it’s a good reminder of what makes a good blog is not what system you use.
And yes, I’m still thinking about how fun Wordcamp was. I especially liked that I got a photo with the bloggers from Icanhascheezburger.
Love the photo!
I understood that you liked the book. I’m thrilled. And glad you get the point that content makes or breaks a blog, not the gizmos. There are a lot of blogs out there with too many whizbang gizmos aren’t there? We need to get back to basics and put the content first.