Northern Voice - Tim Bray

Northern Voice - Tim Bray

What's in that Soup Pot

Blogging conference to audience participation is compulsory.

Why to blog - what are we trying to accomplish.

Blogging Objectives

Make money
Reach the right people
Some people just can't not write
If I con't get this off my chest I'll kill someone!
Getting information out there
Creating relationships
Bragging
All my friends are doing it
All my friends aren't doing it
Understand the practice of blogging
Learning
Brain dump
Change the world


Show of hands - most current bloggers are happy an will continue, but there were some who wer not happy.

Generic blogging advice:

Write what you know - experts are more likely to be interesting and correct. Most people are experts on at least something.

Listen - Blogging is not only a good way to talk to the world, but also a good way to listen to the world.

Link often - important in forming a community - Technorata and Pubsub

Post often - Get good by practicing. Readership increases with the number of posts for some reason.

Correct yourself - put the update near the top so it shows up in the RSS feed.

Generalize - move from the specific to the general.

Spell-check - quality matters.

Look good - watch your template. Find a friend who can design.

Balance hubris and humility.

Be brief - it seems to be easier to write a long entry rather than a short and concise entry. Add headings if your entry is long.

Be intense - be passionate Most people talk in a colourful way so why not carry this into the blog.

Be sincere/authentic

Write for pleasure.

Never lie.

Don'ts

Don't tell secrets. The word gets around in a hurry. The internet never forgets.

Don't ruin your life. You can write blog entries that you don't publish.

Don't blog on command.