"Twiter Quickstart"
"Blogs, Facebook, and Social Media - A plain-english explanation of Web 2.0
- 5th Annual UP Nonprofit Management Conference
October 23rd
Marquette, MI
Register here
- NEW 1st Friday Social Media series
November 5th
Farmington Hills, MI
Register here
- NEW 1st Friday Social Media series
December 4th
Ann Arbor, MI
Register here
|
|
Hosted blog services
The following is a list of free blog services.
- Blog Drive - A weblog publishing service that is easy enough for a beginner and advanced enough for an expert.
- Blogger A free, Web-based blog service from Google supports multiple authors, allowing for group blogs.
- LiveJournal.com - LiveJournal.com is a free private journal, blog, discussion forum, and a social network.
- MyBlogSite.com - Free blog hosting site for all.
- Thoughts.com - Create a free blog and online journal site at Thoughts.
- Wet Paint – Create a blog n three easy steps. Choose from many looks. No code required.
- WordPress.com A Web site that hosts free blogs written in WordPress.
Server-based blog software
The following is a list of popular blog engines you can install on your own server.
- b2evolution (http://b2evolution.net/) This free, open source content management system (CMS) supports multiple blogs, news feeds and other social-media features, and runs on Web servers that have PHP and MySQL installed.
- Blogtronix This enterprise-level integrated social media platform can be used to create text, audio and video blogs, plus wikis, RSS, and networked communities on Microsoft’s .Net 2.0 platform. Blogtronix offers a free 25-user Express version with limited functions and paid support, and a 30-day free trial of its complete enterprise platform.
- Joomla Version 1.5 of this free, open-source content management system (CMS) includes blog software, forums, chat, and many other features.
- Movable Type Movable Type is Six Apart’s enterprise-grade blog publishing platform. Prices for the MT Enterprise Solution start at $295 for a five-user license.
- MTOS 4.1. free, open-source version of Type.
- Roller (http://rollerweblogger.org/project/ ) Version 4.0 of this Java-based, open-source blog software from Apache Software Foundation includes custom blog themes.
- SuiteTwo Another social-media platform bundle that includes blogs, wikis, and other applications from Intel, SpikeSource, Simplefeed, Moveable Type, and others. Prices for software only or a hosted version start at $990, and for a hardware/software suite at $2,495 for a 10-user license.
- TypePad TypePad is Six Apart’s entry-level, Web-based blog service that’s based on Movable Type’s publishing platform.
- WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org/) This free, open-source blogging software can be hosted on any computer server running PHP version 4.2 or later or MySQL version 4.0 or later.
Blog directories
- http://blogs.botw.org/
- http://blogspace.com/rss/resources
- http://dir.blogflux.com/
- http://fplanque.net/Blog/itTrends/2004/01/10/rss_rdf_and_atom_in_a_nutshell
- http://sixfigureblogging.com/purchase/
- http://www.blogarama.com/
- http://www.blogcatalog.com/
- http://www.bloggapedia.com/
- http://www.blogged.com/
- http://www.bloggingfusion.com/
- http://www.bloghints.com/
- http://www.bloguniverse.com/
- http://www.smarter.com/---se--qq-Rss+Content.html
- http://www.syndic8.com/feedcat.php
Blogging Resources
 |
Blogging appeals to every demographic that has access to a computer-if you know how to do it right. This one-stop resource shows readers how to publish their ideas, get feedback, and create their own worldwide networks!
With this book readers will:
- Create buzz marketing for their business.
- Get amateur poetry, short stories, and prose published
- Create a worldwide network of people
- Share unique hobby ideas with thousands of other hobbyists
With The Everything Blogging Book, readers will learn all that blogging can offer-and more!
|
 |
As all these people become publishers – and even more become blog readers – the nature of the material being produced has moved into the realms of politics, professions and consumerism. For example, “Engadget” is one of the more popular blogs, a daily review of newfangled and exciting gadgets.
Blogs and Blogging in business are relatively new, so new that there simply are no rules. If there were rules, they would be changing and evolving too rapidly to codify. The best anyone can say is “here is some advice based on what is working today, combined with a good dollop of common sense.” As a result, this topic fits the What No One Ever Tells You series format perfectly!
Despite their “newness,” blogs have rapidly proven themselves in business. They serve several functions valiantly, including: communicating with customers, potential customers, and other stakeholders, as a research tool to help uncover what is being said about you, your company, your competitors, and your industry, and even as a type of broadcast medium as some are making significant money by monetizing blog traffic through advertising and other means. Instead of offering our advice on blogs and blogging in business, in this book we offer advice from 101 people who are successfully harnessing the power of blogging.
|
 |
Want to break into blogging but don’t know where to start? Dynamic duo Joelle Reeder and Katherine Scoleri of The Moxie GirlsTM show you how to start your first blog, polish your prose, get involved in blogging communities, make sense of RSS feeds, podcasts, photos and more — all with fun, humor and attitude!
Inside you will find the need-to-know info to get your blog noticed: How to choose the right blogging platform or content management tool, select a web host, dress up your blog, manage blog content and keep your privates private! When you are ready for more, The Moxie Girls will treat you to insider dish on blog etiquette, analyzing blog traffic, blogging for business, creating podcasts and adding bling to your blog with plugins, add-ons and more. Throw in the refreshing cocktails, beauty tips and gossip with the Girls at the end of each chapter and you’ll be Blogging with Moxie in no time. So, what are you waiting for?
The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging With Moxie is packed with the content you need wrapped in casual, engaging dialog and a cheeky, bite-sized format.
- Bargain-blogging with tools such as WordPress®, TypePad®, and Vox
- Choosing a content management system like Expression Engine or Movable Type
- Managing blog content, using tags and moderating comments
- Selecting a professional designer and choosing from off-the-rack templates
- An introduction to podcasting and videocasting
- Finding, joining and managing blog communities
- Protecting your online identity
- Using a blog to better your business
|
 |
While personal blogs take up much of the blogosphere, blogs are quickly gaining popularity in business as an inexpensive and amazingly effective marketing tool. It’s time for a practical book about business blogging: this is the first book to demonstrate how businesses are blogging and how you can use blogging technology to converse with your customers to build your brand and sell your products.
Written from the business person/designer’s perspectives, this book shows how businesses can leverage current, real-world blogging techniques, tools, and platforms to promote and enhance their ventures. The key idea is that the conversation with your market is stronger and more meaningful with a blog. Filled with practical information and a how-to approach, this book provides case studies of companies as large as Boeing or General Motors and as small as Clip-’n-seal. Readers will learn about the types of business blogs, how companies use blogs, how to sell blogs to management and IT, effective blog design, content, and conversation, pitfalls to avoid, how to develop Web presence, and more
|
|
