Starting a Blog in 5 Easy Steps and Keeping at it!

Recently, Tumblr reached 10 Billion posts mark. Tumblr is a microblogging platform that started in 2007 and went from 1 billion to 10 billion posts in just one year! A study by Universal McCann reports that over 77% of Internet users read blogs. In US alone, this 77% would conservatively mean more than 54 million readers. It is also reported that there are 900,000 blog posts posted every day in 81 different languages. All these statistics point to the power of blogging.

My friends and family often ask me about the best way to start blogging. Do you also want to start your own blog but don’t know where to begin?

I started blogging in 2008 and consistently publish atleast one post every month (My posts are usually long, descriptive and based on best practices, therefore 1= many!).  After 55 blog posts, more than 15,000 visits worldwide, and 43 visits in the last 24 hours (as of 14 September 2011), I think I am a fairly successful blogger. I think I am now equipped to share some of the best practices, tips and traps about blogging!

So, here is a short how-to guide that can help you start your blog in 5 easy steps.

Step 1: Identify what you want to blog about.

A blog can be a personal dairy of thoughts and feelings or it can be a professional collection of articles, notes, and ideas. The first step is to identify what you want to blog about and why. Remember to pick a topic that you are passionate about. Writing a blog is all about self-motivation and if you don’t like what you are blogging about, you won’t be able to sustain your energy and keep up the blog.

Step 2: Sign into a blogging service

Before you decide to spend money on hosted services for a blog, experiment using one of the free services available including:
·         www.blogger.com
·         www.wordpress.com
·         www.typepad.com
·         www.Tumblr.com
·         www.livejournal.com

All these services offer free registration and options to customise the look and feel of your blog. You can compare the feature set of these services and then choose the one that works best as per your requirements. Here is a website that offers a comparison of blog services.

Step 3: Select a theme and layout

Most blogging services allow you to customise the theme and layout of your blog. Much of this is really about selecting options and does not require technical knowledge about codes and tags. After signing up, you will be able to select from a gallery of available themes and layouts. To begin with, use the standard themes available and then personalize the theme as you get comfortable with using the blogging service and the idea of blogging.

Step 4: Add generic content

Before you publish a post, you must include some generic content in your blog including information about you, how readers can get in touch with you, comments and feedback boxes and other hyperlinks perhaps to your twitter, facebook or LinkedIn pages. You can think of this as the ‘About’ page for your blog. Feel free to control the amount and type of information that you’d like to share with people. Use the generic layouts that offer ready-to-use templates to add this information easily.

Step 5: Write a post and publish it

Now that the blog is set up, it is time to write your first post. In the beginning, it may be difficult to write about your chosen topic and you may also undergo the writer’s block. But as you begin to type your thoughts, the task will become easier. You may save drafts and continue to work on posts over long periods. After you are convinced that you are ready to publish a post, if available, click on the preview option to see what the post will look like after being published. The editors are usually WYSIWYG. So, it is easy to make the necessary adjustments and then publish the post. Different services offer various publishing options including the date-time stamp, key words, and whether readers are allowed to post comments etc.

As you walk the blogging path, use the following tips:

Tips:

1.       Market your blog by sharing the URL of your blog with colleagues, friends and family in an email and publish the url on other social networking accounts such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
2.       Network with bloggers in the blogosphere, visit other blogs and leave meaningful comments with a link to your blog.
3.       Update your blog frequently and consistently and always spell-check before publishing a post.
4.       Keep your posts interesting and thought-provoking to invite participation. Always remain true to the main idea of your blog.
5.       When you receive a comment or a compliment, be sure to acknowledge it.

Here are some traps that you should avoid:

Traps

1.       It is easy to copy content from the web. But please write original content. If you like another post or want to quote a website, use appropriate references, citations and hyperlinks.
2.       It is easy to get demotivated when blogging. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t have visitors in the first few weeks or months. The more useful your posts, the better the chances of people dropping by.
3.       It is easy to get spammed when blogging. So, avoid posting anything personal or divulging too much information about your own self.
4.       It is easy to get into arguments with readers especially when you can’t clarify your point in a verbal conversation. Avoid it. Also, don’t criticize others or pass judgements about specific people in your posts.
5.       It is tempting to share ground-breaking news about your company that was just announced in a company meeting. But please avoid posting any content related to your company unless you are writing the official company blog post on the company website.

Always remember, it is fairly easy to start a blog but it is difficult to maintain it. So, keep at it and happy blogging!

Top 5 Tips to Become a Better Listener

We cannot underestimate the power of listening skills at any phase of our lives – as children, young adults, and mature professionals. I personally believe that success and failure depends on how well we listen to everything around us - the voice of our parents, teachers, leaders and nature. 

Here are my top 5 tips to become a better listener:

1) Be quiet  - To really listen, you have to be quiet first. I ensure that I spend quality 'silent' time with my own self. I usually do this during my evening walks in the park. Sometimes, I just sit down and meditate in my room. >> You must learn to listen to your own self before you can listen to others.

2) Observe - I once read somewhere, 'Words have no meaning, people have meaning.' I think listening really means to engage with the other person. In order to do so, I do observe their background, mood, concerns, body language etc. in the light of the conversation goal. I try to project a positive body language and use the technique of mirroring to observe and resonate. >> Listening is about two entities. So, it is important that you understand and respect the other person and their background.

3) Take notes - I know that everything can be recorded and heard again but taking notes helps me stay engaged with the conversation and listen actively. I do this when I am in professional meetings either online or face-to-face. Taking notes also projects a positive outlook and a commitment towards the conversation or discussion. >> Taking notes is not about flattery. It is about being truly interested in the conversation and its outcome.

4) Avoid reactions - I consciously try to listen without overbearing the other person with my reactions. I can't say I succeed every time but I try to be as non-judgmental as I can be. This is very important in both personal and professional settings in order to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts. >> You need to suspend your disbelief and listen without preparing your response or thinking about what you are going to say next.    

5) Ask questions - One sure way of listening actively is to be prepared to ask questions at the end of the conversation/talk. It could be a clarification or a question. I use this strategy to become more attentive in conferences and seminars and be more curious and interested in the topic. Besides, relevant questions also help the audience at large. >> To complete the listening process, you must summarize and clarify any doubts. Good questions will fuel learning.

For more tips, you can view an inspiring talk by Julian Treasure on Ted talks. Julian shares with us the importance of listening and how we can listen better. I agree with the state of affairs as described by Julian. I do believe we are losing our ability to listen. But I hope with these tips, we can work towards becoming better listeners.

Making Learning Fun!

This month’s LCBQ is “How do you make e-learning fun?” 
I begin with a quote by British novelist, Arnold Bennett who said, "There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul."
I believe this quote sums up all the reasons why we should include emotions – not just fun - into our learning interventions – e-learning or any learning for that matter.

But before I explore the idea of including fun in learning, it is important for me to share that poorly designed learning with lots of fun is never a good learning object. Point being, including fun does not lead to a powerful learning impact, if all other design principles are not adhered to. Also, all types of learning need not always be fun. Other emotions should be explored and included that allow the designer to teach the subject in the most sensitive and realistic manner.

Assuming that we have the right subject and the correct instructional design principles in place, fun can be the missing ingredient that our audience looks for. But we need to appreciate that everyone's idea of fun may be different. Perhaps, in this post, I am focussed on 'engaging my audience' and therefore attempting to make the training fun for them.

Here are my top 5 methods of creating engagement and ensuring fun in the training I design and deliver. Since much has been written about these topics and none needs explanation, I share my views here using quotes that sum up the methods brilliantly!

1)   Use stories. "Thought flows in terms of stories -- stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions and achievements. The best teachers are the best storytellers. We learn in the form of stories." - Frank Smith

2)   Use emotions. “Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.” - Gail Godwin

3)   Make learners do activities. "What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand." – Confucius

4)   Make learners think. “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.”  - Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

5)   Motivate and inspire learners. "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward

 

There are many tools and technologies available to an e-learning designer that can help implement these methods. Scenario-based learning, Gaming, Second life, Web 2.0 tools are all options that can be utilized effectively.

In my opinion, making any learning fun is more about the use of underlying instructional strategies than the front-facing tool. Yes, it can perhaps be a little more challenging in e-learning than in face-to-face instruction, but it is possible!