Comms School #1: Blogging 101
Tonight, Stephen and I hosted the first Comms School webinar on the Facebook community. Here are the key takeouts from the session.
#1 Benefits of blogging
We started off by showcasing the benefits of blogging. These, among others, include:
Networking
Learning and development
Career portfolio
Building digital footprint
Blogging can help get ahead in your career. It can be the first step in creating a valuable network. As such it's a valuable asset for students or anyone starting out in their career.
#2 What platform should I use?
There are a variety of ways to start blogging. The easiest ones are the social networks. You can post on Facebook or Medium. LinkedIn's tool is also fairly advanced and neat. It also helps you with distribution as it automatically shares the post with your network.
Hosted services are another great way to start your journey with blogging. WordPress is great for beginners, SquareSpace can be brilliant tool, as well. We'll explore options in detail in the next session.
No matter how which platform you choose, it's important to take this first step and start blogging!
#3 Finding your voice
This is one of the most important parts of the process.
When starting out a blog, you first have to identify what topics you're passionate about and what you'd like to learn. Is there an area you'd like to become expert in? Think of who you'd like to target with your posts. What's the last thing that inspired you?
We've also recommended taking a look at the below student blogs:
On top of that, edited by Richard Bailey PR Place is a brilliant resource for anyone looking for inspiration. The site selects the best content about PR, marketing and comms.
#4 Writing for screen
During our webinar, Stephen shared some brilliant advice on writing for screen.
A provocative headline and first sentence will draw readers in, so you really have to ensure these are on point
Sentences should be short and tight. No paragraph should ever be more than two or three sentences long
Content should be clearly signposted with subheads. Images are helpful
Don’t get hung up on word count
Print out your work and proof it
#5 Brainstorming ideas
Finally, we've shared some ideas for posts.
The whole point of blogging is to learn openly and publicly. Don't be afraid of sharing and making mistakes
Share best practice. Be it during internships, dealing with journalists or ethics in your industry
Share an opinion and don't be afraid to be wrong
Interview someone. People love talking about themselves and it's flattering for them. You'd be amazed how easy it is to get hold of some of the industry leader
Report on an industry event. Stay on top of these and analyse them thoroughly.
Review a new piece of technology
Review a book, film or event
Write a top 10 list
📚 HOMEWORK
We've also set a homework for the Comms School community.
Identify blogs that you admire
Write a #CommsSchool welcome post and share it on LinkedIn or Medium
Share with @wadds @marcelkl on Twitter or in the Facebook community
We’ll feature some examples during the next webinar
Contact us if you’ve any questions
You can see the replay of the session here. You've to be part of our Facebook community in order to access it. (Joining is free -- see the link below)
Make sure you join us on 19 March 2019, 6:30pm GMT for the second webinar, Blogging 102: Building a blog, making writing a habit, listening and distribution.
Join our Facebook community here: facebook.com/groups/CommsSchool
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If you have any suggestions, would like to guest post or give me a feedback, feel free to email me at kl.marcel [at] gmail.com, tweet me @marcelkl or connect with me on LinkedIn. Thanks for stopping by, have a splendid day!