May 2009 media release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2009
Wade Kwon
mail[at]birminghamblogging.com
BLOGGING ACADEMY OFFERS CLASSES ON WRITING, TWITTER
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Award-winning blogger and Birmingham native Wade Kwon will teach intermediate classes through the newly formed BIRMINGHAM BLOGGING ACADEMY.
The May 26 session, “Writing Killer Blog Posts,” will show students how to make the most of their posts through stronger writing, better headlines and other techniques. The May 27 class, “Using Twitter for Dynamic Market Research,” will show students how to turn Twitter from a buzzword into a practical business tool with real-time data.
“I’m excited about these two new lunchtime classes,” Kwon says. “People really want to know how they can get more out of blogging and Twittering.”
The classes, $49 each, take place in the main auditorium of the Homewood Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road. The May 26 class runs 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., while the May 27 class runs from noon to 1 p.m. Students must register online at birminghamblogging.com ahead of time.
(Also, a $99 beginners class in blogging will be offered May 16. Registration ends May 8.)
Kwon started his blog, WadeonBirmingham.com, in 2005 after his employer, the Birmingham Post-Herald, folded. That site led to a new job at Southern Living magazine and an award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
For more information on classes, visit birminghamblogging.com.
Wade Kwon is available for interviews on how Twitter can help businesses compete in a tough economy. Contact him at mail[at]birminghamblogging.com.
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May flowers, if flowers = classes
As promised, a wide variety of classes for May.
First, we’ll (finally) have our beginners part 2 class on May 16. On the syllabus:
- Building an Audience
- Marketing Your Blog, by guest instructor Jen Barnett
- Social Media and Your Blog, by guest instructor André Natta
Register today. Hurry! Registration for the beginner class ends Friday, May 8.
And we’ll have two lunchtime classes on May 26 and 27:
Writing Killer Blog Posts
- Description: Stuck in a rut? Wondering why your posts aren’t driving traffic? Want to improve your writing and your blogging all at once. Let us coach you on powerful writing, compelling headlines and search engine optimization (SEO) tips. With just a few simple adjustments, you can take your writing from good to great.
Using Twitter for Dynamic Market Research
- Description: You’ve started a Twitter account, but now what? How do you find the thousands of people talking about your brand, your products, your competitors and your industry? It’s easy. We can show you how to conduct real-time research, start the conversation with potential customers, form focus groups and gain loyal followers. Make the most of your Twitter account and outpace the competition.
You can find out more about each class and register. Note: Class size for each intermediate class is only 25 students. Register today to save your spot.
Social Media Club workshop on April 27
What if you could learn all about Social Media in a single day? From among the best experts around? Right here in Birmingham?
It’s happening Monday at the McWane Science Center.
Social Media Club kicks off its worldwide tour of seminars with instructors Mack Collier, Scott Schablow, Ike Pigott and Chris Heuer. Scott offers a preview on The Schablog:
So roll up your sleeves, this isn’t a bunch of pseudo-celebrities trying to show you how great they are while talking about how many followers they have on Twitter, this is about you making social media an integrated part of your business strategy.
We are doing a WORKSHOP so that you can put social media to work for you. In fact, when you register, you can tell us what you are specifically trying to accomplish and we will work to tailor the final agenda and related discussions to your specific needs.
You can sign up online.
Intermediate classes and more on the way
Our first round of classes is half over. The beginners part 2 class for April 18 has been moved to Saturday, May 16. If you’d still like to sign up, please contact us by May 8 and we’ll make special arrangements.
The next round of classes should hit around mid- to late May, and we’re considering lunchtime workshops. Possible topics:
- Write Killer Blogs Posts (90 min.)
- Twitter: Your Instant Market Research Tool (60 min.)
Let us know if you’d be interested by leaving a comment below. We’re still bouncing around ideas, but these seem like the most timely topics.
Also, we’ll let you know when the WBHM interview airs (soon, we hope). Today, we’re talking with Carla Jean Whitley, an editor at Birmingham Magazine and blogger for the publication’s music-oriented Birmingham Box Set. Ah, it’s a fun life!
ProBlogger: 31 days to a better blog
One of the top blogging advice sites, ProBlogger, kicked off its biennial 31 Days to a Better Blog project Monday. If you want advice from a leading blogger, jump in and start doing the work.
Talk about speedy results: Follow Darren Rowse’s advice and do all the homework, and you’re sure to improve your blog/blogging immensely in just a few weeks.
What have you missed in the first three days?
- Day 1: Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog
- Day 2: Write a List Post
- Day 3: Promote a Blog Post
So sign up (it’s not too late), read the posts, do the homework, weigh in on the comments, and get ready for 28 days of more helpful tips.
Blogging, shilled the radio star
I visited the studios at WBHM (90.3 FM) Monday to talk with Tanya Ott about blogging.
Not having done radio in years, I thought we might just do a simple recorder, like in the field. Nope: in the booth I went, headphones on, mike in front of me.
I’m used to public speaking, but not necessarily sitting in a fish bowl answering an interviewer’s questions about various aspects of blogging. Fortunately, Tanya is kind to us novices.
And I remembered a very important rule of pre-taped interviews: Take as long as you want to think of a good answer. They edit out pauses, but they don’t always edit out stupid, blurted-out, half-witted answers.
We talked for about 30 minutes, which should boil down to a solid three- to five-minute segment. She had planned on talking with other Birmingham-area bloggers, which should add to the diversity and the depth of the information presented.
My thanks to Tanya for allowing me to ramble on about the pros and cons of blogging, whether for yourself or your business. The interview should run sometime this week during the morning drive. I’ll let you know when.
• • •
For fun, I asked my friends on Twitter and Facebook to suggest possible topics for a WBHM blog. I thought “Tapestry,” the station’s weekly arts program, would be a good starting point for a blog and a community conversation about local arts and culture.
Responses from the crowd:
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WadeOnTweets: If @WBHM903 were to blog, what should focus on? Local news? arts? fund-raising? issues? Reply w/ your take. I’ll RT best answers.
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OverCoffeeMedia: Local stuff — arts, news, politics. Anything we can get nationally is suicide. In two years, there will be no wire copy.
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tsutrav: at minimum they should post versions of on-air pieces with all the links intact. I’m always fumbling for a pen while driving
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jenniferhdaniel: Hyper local news us expatriated Birminghamians don’t get.
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tsutrav: and more solid local biz news. we have tons of local arts/events outlets already. but an indepth blog on local biz would rule
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insomniactive: I would think a team approach would work best: one person tackles local arts (subdivide further?), one local issues, etc.
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kristenmstewart: I’d also like to see @WBHM blog posts on how Birmingham fits into stories from the national news programs.
Should WBHM start a blog? What would drive you to read it on a regular basis?
Fun with branding
We’ve been having fun getting the word out about the Birmingham Blogging Academy.
We started with business cards, because we like sticking them in fish bowls for free lunches. Oh, and handing out to networking contacts. You know, the standard fare.
Thanks to Alabama Press for printing these cards for free.
Of course, since we’re a school, we had to have those obnoxious “My child is an honor student at Acme Elementary” bumper stickers.
Fortunately, Emily at Vulcan’s Muse came up with a far superior idea. Thanks to her for the excellent graphic design work.
Next up: We hack those gaudy I-65 electronic billboards. And sponsor the next City Stages. And free balloons for the kiddies.
I started my blog because …
We asked Birmingham bloggers to finish this sentence: “I started my blog because …” (We’ll add their answers as they come in.)
Sometimes, when you’ve been blogging for awhile, you forget why you’re doing it in the first place. Or you need a reminder as to what got you excited about having your own site to begin with.
My story
For me, I started my first blog, Wade on Birmingham, in 2005. My company had just folded, and while I was looking for work, I wasn’t looking very hard.
I wanted to keep writing, though, but I needed deadlines to push me forward. No deadline, no motivation.
So I figured I try out blogging. I had been working with an exploratory committee at my job, and we were thisclose to launching, so most of the homework was done. I had even done some practice blogging on the clock.
And with help from my friend Kenn, I set up the site and started writing, nearly every day. For the last four years.
Since then I’ve created blogs for myself, my employers and my friends. It never ends.
So I started my blog because I wanted to continue what I love doing most: writing.
Your stories
Food Revival: “I started my website at first to be a resource for other folks in the community looking for local food resources and information and my website ended up being a gift to me — keeping me sane through a layoff, keeping my interests alive, and fostering an amazing sense of independence and creativity.”
Lessons from an 80’s Alumna: “I wanted to blog about personal and professional issues related to women. I am trying to get a book published that includes these topics.”
giornalista, Skirt Birmingham: “I have ideas. … I like to share. … I’ve got to keep up with my craft.”
Kenny Smith: “I write about things that interest me — and much interests me — in the hopes that some of these things will interest you. That’s what you should do too. If you’re not writing to your own joy and for your own reasons you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Passion shines through. Your audience will see it.”
The Horse: “It boils down to a few reasons for me: Blogging can bring in a small profit if done professionally, you know what you’re doing and you’re willing to stick it out for a year or so. I’ve always been on a quest for new knowledge. It gives me a certain satisfaction to know that I’ve helped someone learn something new that they can use to improve themselves or their business. I also use my blogs as a personal journal or diary.”
My Scoop: “Recognizing that there was not a website out there targeting southern women, I felt it was important to stay true to their needs and wants.”
• • •
If you’re a Birmingham blogger who’s posted an answer to this question on your site, share it by sending the link or adding a comment below.
When a blog isn’t right for you
I can think of lots of reasons to blog, or start a blog, or use it for nefarious marketing purposes.
But I also know when a blog isn’t the right fit for you or your company. Trust me.
Now, you would think I would try to sell you on classes and site development, but I know that only certain people should be blogging. Why waste your hard-earned money and precious time on something that will go nowhere?
So when is a blog not the right solution for you?
1. Your company has reservations, big reservations. I encourage companies to take risks, smart risks to move forward. But not every company likes risk, no matter how small. Sometimes, it’s fear of the unknown. That’s a fear that can be cured. But if it’s fear of customer feedback, fear of technology, fear of brand distortion, those are crippling fears that blogging certainly won’t cure.
In fact, a company that starts blogging without resolving to swallow the risk is headed down a familiar but doomed path: Blog mildly, market timidly, wonder why no visitors are showing up, flinch at criticism, blog even more mildly, and eventually let the thing die a slow, public death.
Don’t be that company.
2. You’ve heard all about social media and want a piece of the action. Blogs have been around awhile, and will be around a lot longer. I thought they were over in 2005, shows you how much I know. Technorati was tracking 112 million blogs in 2007.
So don’t rush into blogging or Twitter or Facebook just because it’s trendy. Use the tools to fit your current and future needs. The right tools.
Sometimes, companies worry that they’re too far behind to start blogging. Nonsense. We’ll always have fantastic new movies, new TV shows, new books, new CDs, even though millions of works have preceded them. And we’ll always have fantastic new blogs to read and share.
3. Your company can’t sustain it. It’s fine if you want to blog to document a short-term project, say 6 months or less. It’s a great way to set up something easy and quick, either for internal company use or for public consumption.
But in most cases, you’re setting it up for life, life being the life expectancy of your company. The Internet is littered with dead blogs, ones abandoned after an initial burst of creativity and enthusiasm. What happened? Maybe the plan was bad. Maybe they had no plan at all. Maybe the company began to fail, and the first thing to go was “extracurricular” projects like blogging. Layoffs will do that, you know.
In rare instances, the blog grows so popular, it becomes a beast to manage. Even that can be a troubling situation, though one many companies would kill to have.
But starting a blog and sustaining a blog are two different things. The puppy looks so cute at the shelter, but he seems much less cute when you’re getting up at 6 a.m. to walk him in the freezing rain, or he’s chewed up an expensive pair of shoes, or you’re taking him to the vet for multiple (and expensive) treatments. Blogs can seem like puppies — until you actually own one.
4. Your company has nothing to say. Writing is an art. Read enough bad writing out there, and you’ll agree. And writing online is a specialty. I’ve worked with some great writers, true geniuses who could make you weep with their words. And yet, they could post the least read, least interesting musings that could make you weep with boredom.
Do you really want the wrong people in your company blogging for you? Even the best ones might be hit or miss at first, until they develop their voice. And it’s a voice tempered by company culture and common sense. Face it, Acme may make the best widgets around, but it may not produce a terribly interesting blog.
Do the world a favor: Don’t subject us to your pointless blog.
• • •
Still want to start a blog for your company? Great! Set a goal, and get blogging.
What are other situations in which a blog isn’t the right solution? Sound off below.
Is blogging part of your marketing tapestry?
Lisa Isbell with Business Alabama magazine likens strong marketing to weaving a fine tapestry:
The key to unlocking the puzzle is to stop looking at each medium as a stand alone vehicle for your marketing efforts. Any of them taken alone might not result in a single sale for you. Then again any of them might bring some flicker of activity or present a range in varying levels of return on investment. Some of you are probably well on your way to learning this after spending big money on a website, event sponsorship, TV campaign, print schedule or whatever.
She’s doing a good job using a combination of social media tools — Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn — to drive traffic to her blog, which naturally elevates the Business Alabama brand.
But she goes beyond the tools of the moment to talk about traditional advertising, and why some companies use a combination of diverse methods to attract customers.
What do you think? What kinds of marketing are you doing, and is it working? Is blogging part of your marketing strategy?
The Ultimate Goal of Not Having a Goal
One of my oldest and dearest friends Kenn has kept his blog, Dairy of a Madman, since 2002.
Two thousand and two. Seven years.
His first post discusses films, both ones he’s watched and one he’s about to make called “Goodnight, Moon.”
A recent post mentions me and this whole teaching blogging notion.
I’m guessing he’s written hundreds if not thousands of entries. Some short, some long, a few achingly beautiful.
He does it for fun. That’s his blog, take it or leave it.
For those of you who want to get “serious” about your blogging, I would strongly recommend thinking about and then defining your goal. But it’s perfectly OK to just blog for the hell of it. Mothers-to-be sharing the excitement and fear of popping out a baby. Disgruntled cubicle monkeys venting safely in anonymity about horrid bosses and jobs.
Blogging should be fun, whether you have an ultimate goal or not. I’ve seen too many dead blogs, in which the blogger lost steam, ran out of things to say. It wasn’t fun anymore. When they opened that window to post, all they felt was dread.
If you haven’t posted to your blog in awhile, don’t worry. Open the window, and start writing. Take a step, then another.
And see if you don’t rediscover why you started the darn thing in the first place.
Kudos to Kenn, for seven years of sheer whatever. When the blogger’s having fun, I’m having fun, too.
Getting Started in Low-Cost, No-Cost Social Media Marketing
I presented an hourlong seminar on “Getting Started in Low-Cost, No-Cost Social Media Marketing” for the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce this morning. The slides here tell part of the story. Feel free to share, embed on your site or visit SlideShare and click Get File to download the Powerpoint presentation.
Thanks to the Chamber and WilbanksElam for allowing me to attend and participate! And thanks to a great audience for good questions and feedback!
If you have a question that we didn’t get to, please leave a comment below.
April 2009 flyers
Why should moms take classes to learn to blog?
I received this question today via e-mail from someone curious about why she should take a blogging class. F. wrote:
Hi,
[My sister-in-law] was telling me about your blogging academy the other night and that you were specifically interested in “mommy” bloggers with interesting content.
My question to her, which she told me to ask you, was why would you say a limited income mom such as myself would need to spend $200 for a class to learn how to blog? What is the incentive behind being a “professional” blogger?
The reason I ask is because most of my friends who are “mommy” bloggers, as you are looking for, are stay at home moms with very limited incomes. I was curious what the financial payoff would be, if any, for having a blog with a high flow of traffic. As you can imagine, most folks I know would not look to be professional at this just for fun. 😉
Thanks!
F.
My reply:
That’s a great question.
As you pointed out, millions of mommy bloggers are already out there, with hundreds more starting each day. One payoff in learning how to blog more effectively is to stand out, whether by focused content or smart marketing.
It’s not necessarily about high traffic. That can be a losing game. It’s about finding your audience. I’d rather have 1,000 loyal readers rather than 1,000,000 “drive-by” readers who aren’t coming back.
What does that mean in terms of payoff?
For a mommyblogger, it depends first and foremost on her goal. It could mean:
- access to products and services to review (clothes, books, appliances, toys, etc.)
- compiling content for a book
- networking with other moms to share helpful tips and information
- strategies for blogging over the long haul (how many blogs fail/stop within 6-12 months?)
Notice how none of the things I’ve listed have to do with ads and payment. You can do that, too, but again, it depends on your goal.
Maybe professional is the wrong word. Many people with cameras take photography courses, not to become professional photojournalists, but to take better photos. Here, we want people to make better blogs.
You should note that it’s a risk-free opportunity. On the site, I offer a double-your-money-back guarantee.
I do hope you can attend, or pass it along to friends at those organizations already blogging.
Thanks for your interest!
Wade
March 2009 media release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2009
Wade Kwon
mail[at]birminghamblogging.com
ACADEMY TO OFFER FIRST-EVER BLOGGING CLASSES IN BIRMINGHAM AREA
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Award-winning blogger and Birmingham native Wade Kwon will teach beginners’ classes through the newly formed BIRMINGHAM BLOGGING ACADEMY. The April 11 and April 18 sessions will show students how to get started in setting goals, creating sites, brainstorming content, and building audiences.
“Many people tell me they’re curious about blogging, but don’t know where to get started,” Kwon says. “We can help, because we’ve been there before. And nothing like this has ever been offered in the Birmingham area.”
The classes, starting at $99, take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the main auditorium of the Homewood Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road. Students must register online at birminghamblogging.com ahead of time.
Blogs provide an easier way for individuals and organizations to start and maintain a Web site, keeping connected with others in a timely fashion. With the turbulent economy, blogging can provide ways to be creative, to escape, or to develop a career Plan B.
Kwon started his blog, WadeonBirmingham.com, in 2005 after his employer, the Birmingham Post-Herald, folded. That site led to a new job at Southern Living magazine and an award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
For more information on classes, visit birminghamblogging.com.
Wade Kwon is available for interviews to discuss easy ways for readers, listeners and viewers to get blogging, and how it can help them in this tough economy. Contact him at mail[at]birminghamblogging.com.
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A crash course in Blogging 101
One of our guest instructors, André Natta, spoke at a national conference in Chicago earlier this month. The topic: how to blog.
Take 3 minutes to look through these slides, because you’re bound to pick up something new.
Sign up for April classes for beginners
We’re happy to announce our classes for April 11 and 18. They’re both three hours and will take place in the main auditorium at the Homewood Library.
If you’re a beginner and want to start power-blogging, this class is for you. We’ll cover the basics of getting started, setting goals, writing great posts, and marketing your blog. Each class will cover different topics, so we encourage to pick the one that’s right for you (or both!).
It’s going to be fun, and you’re going to learn so much. Plus, I’m sure we’ll come up with a couple of fun surprises for our dear students.
So check out the class syllabus and register today! Don’t be left out, because space is limited.
Birmingham Blogging Academy 