Ultimate Blogging Tool Box

The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit : 

The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit How to become a citizen journalist.

Who is Floyd Brown? And why should you listen to me? : 

Who is Floyd Brown? And why should you listen to me? I am a writer I am Chairman of Western Center for Journalism I am a commentator and activist I am a blogger or “citizen journalist” And I earn my living blogging

Why do you want to become a citizen journalist? : 

Why do you want to become a citizen journalist? To have your voice heard? To promote a business or cause? To market products ? To make additional income? Other reasons?

To have my voice heard I started ExposeObama.com : 

To have my voice heard I started ExposeObama.com

To encourage Citizen Journalism I started WesternJournalism.com : 

To encourage Citizen Journalism I started WesternJournalism.com

For my columns and Investment writings: FloydBrown.com : 

For my columns and Investment writings: FloydBrown.com

These tools will have you up and running in no time for under $200 : 

These tools will have you up and running in no time for under $200 For blogging I recommend WordPress Free For photo editing I recommend Photoscape Free For RSS reading I recommend Google Reader Free For ads I recommend Google Adsense Free For donations I recommend Pay Pal Free For video I recommend Adobe Premiere Elements $139 For html code I recommend MS Expressions Web $89 For email icontact.com $Vol. For additional revenue I recommend an Amazon acct. Free

Find a custom URL : 

Find a custom URL In computing, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a type of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that specifies where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it. In popular language, a URL is also referred to as a Web address. Try WEBKEYDOMAINS.COM or another service provider with whom you are comfortable .

Decide WP hosted or self hosted : 

Decide WP hosted or self hosted Wordpress.com will host your blog, and they will handle all of the back up, server questions and get you up and running in an 15 minutes or less. (recommended for first time bloggers) I prefer to host my own blogs and so I use BlueHost.com for hosting most of my sites. They are not the cheapest solution, but you will get great support. Finally decide if your want an dedicated server for your Blog. This is the best solution only for the most advanced users with large volumes of traffic.

Next open these web accounts at a minimum : 

Next open these web accounts at a minimum Online video posting www.youtube.com Online picture posting www.flickr.com Online polls www.memedex.com Social networking www.facebook.com, www.myspace.com, www.plaxo.com, and www.Linkedin.com Blogging networks www.technorati.com, www.blogcatalog.com Micro blogging www.twitter.com RSS feed www.feedburner.com

Write a clear simple statement of purpose : 

Write a clear simple statement of purpose

Now start posting : 

Now start posting

WP is as easy to manage as a word processor : 

WP is as easy to manage as a word processor

My websites all combine original and aggregated content : 

My websites all combine original and aggregated content Six days a week ExposeObama.com posts portions of at least 5 aggregated news articles. We post a new original video 0nce or twice a week. We send an email newsletter 6 times per week. We post two or three original articles per week. We run polls to encourage reader feedback. We have an advocacy campaign at least twice a month.

Soon you will have a beautiful, easily updated, flexible website : 

Soon you will have a beautiful, easily updated, flexible website

Three effective ways to build traffic : 

Three effective ways to build traffic Email Campaigns Online Video Earned media

Effective Email should move reader to action, never spam : 

Effective Email should move reader to action, never spam

EO sends a news digest six days a week : 

EO sends a news digest six days a week

Online video can generate thousands of hits : 

Online video can generate thousands of hits

Youtube.com is an excellent for posting videos for your blog : 

Youtube.com is an excellent for posting videos for your blog

Promote, Promote, Promote : 

Promote, Promote, Promote

How do you monetize your website : 

How do you monetize your website Advertising Sales Google Adsense Direct sales of ads Sales of Products Books sales Gift sales Lead sales and affiliate marketing Donations List Rental income

When creating original content be brief, funny and unique : 

When creating original content be brief, funny and unique Blogs generally cover breaking news. You should strive to add value, in the form of analysis, links to related items, and other original information when using recently-published material. Warning, Keep use of quotations within Fair Use copyright guidelines. There is no need to reproduce copyrighted wire service photos, and do not quote AP stories at all. Respect the intellectual property of those who provide yeast for your own thinking. If you rely on the original reporting of others, credit them by name, and use a hyperlink to the source you used.

More Blog rules : 

More Blog rules Word Limits: Blogs can vary in length. Articles should be 200 to 800 words in length. Beyond 800 words you start to lose people. Block Quotations: Block quotations should be clearly formatted and in a different font than the main text. Do not place quotation marks around block quotes. Do not use the space bar to indent text. Font Style: Use italics and bold face font sparingly. Do not italicize the names of publications, but do italicize the titles of books. Links: Hyper linking to a source (rather than using an endnote) is the preferred method for fact verification. Source all your quotes and any important factual contentions. Embed hyperlinks if possible. (this also helps with Google)

Rules, Rules, Rules continued : 

Rules, Rules, Rules continued Link settings: Always set your links to open in the same window. This is a mater of courtesy to the readers. If they want to open additional windows they can always do it themselves. Verification of sources: Writers should source, verify and then double-check all facts in posts. Wikipedia, something you heard on the radio, and other bloggers are not good sources. Do not  destroy your credibility with speculation. Do not guess or approximate unless you have expert knowledge. Style Guide: Write in clear and direct sentences whenever possible. Avoid run-on sentences. Focus on fact and logic more than your own opinions. Grammar and punctuation should conform to The Chicago Manual of Style.

Let us be a resource : 

Let us be a resource Western Center for Journalism 4109 Bridgeport way West Suite E-2 University Place, WA 98466 Phone: 202-370-6366 www.westernjournalism.com