6 lessons The Big Bang Theory can teach us about blogging

Source: ambernightdvd.com via Debra on Pinterest

 

 

I love this show. Not only for its humour, or the fact it seems to be the Friends for the 2010′s, but for the lessons it can teach – even about the seemly unrelated topic of ‘blogging’. “Really?” I hear you ask. Well, read on…

1. Geniuses walk among us.

This is a fact. Regarding our blogs therefore, we should ensure that our posts have high quality content.  That being said however, a genius may never read your blog. Therefore, it is not absolutely imperative that every sentence contain words of more than four syllables.
2. Have a love interest.

There’s Leonard and Penny. Sheldon and Amy. Howard and Bernadette. Even Raj and, um… Siri? The developments in these relationships make us want to watch the show over and over and over again. So, what’s the love interest in your blog? What are the topics or themes that you write about so well, that people keep wanting to return to your blog to read them? Write about your passions, and keep on doing it.

3.  Soften your criticism.

“Penny (arriving): Hi, guys. Hi, honey.

Leonard: Hey.

Howard: Ooh, we’re honey now, are we?

Sheldon: Yes. Since their relationship became carnal, Penny has upgraded his designated term of endearment, thus distinguishing him from those she calls sweetie, usually in an attempt to soften a thinly-veiled insult.

Penny: You’re boring people sweetie.

Sheldon: Although, sometimes, she omits the veil entirely.”

(Series 3, Episode 4 – The Pirate Solution)

Blog nicely. Blog politely. But if you must write critically, soften your message with some meaningless nothings.

4. Don’t be afraid to dream.

Sheldon wants his Nobel prize. Leonard, Howard, and Raj want successful relationships with women. Penny is an aspiring actress. Each main character has a dream that keeps them motivated. What is your dream for your blog? How many readers do you want? What type? Are you writing for yourself? To influence others? To successfully monetize?

5. Don’t worry too much about that ‘check engine’ light.  

Sometimes, warnings and advice don’t apply to us as much as others think that they should. When you blog, you will discover countless pieces of advice about how, why and even when, you should blog. Take this advice with a grain of salt. Yes, even the advice you’re reading right now! Sometimes, these things just don’t really apply to you. Make up your own mind, and stick to it.
6. Comic books and Star Trek can teach us lots of things.

Well, this one is pretty self evident, wouldn’t you say?

So – 6 lessons on blogging, as taught by The Big Bang Theory. Did I miss any?

Top ideas from #iPadexplore – Part 2 of 2

#iPadExplore – more good stuff that I didn’t get to in my last post…

1. Apps, and App-cessories

Time Timer

Explain Everything

Puppet Pals

DropVox

Camera+

PhotoMess (pictured – using the images I took today at the conference)

WaterMyPhoto

Videolicious

iTimeLapsePro

Prezi Viewer

Disney App Mates

Game Changer – Game Board for iPad

Piano Apprentice

iBooks Author

iMovie

dotEPUB

QR Codes

Tattoo You

Creative Book Builder

Book Creator for iPad

Avid Studio

Reel Director

Popplet

2. Links

Todaysmeet.com

Prezi.com

Edmodo.com

simple.wikipedia.org

3. Lists (well, it should actually be in the singular…)

Presenters at the conference – definitely worth following on twitter. They’re at:

http://twitter.com/#!/KRidwyn/ipadexplore-presenters/members

(and deepest apologies to Liz Ratcliffe – Sorry, but I couldn’t find you!)

Top ideas from #iPadexplore – Part 1 of 2

Last week I attended the “iPad Exploration” mini-conference run by Lutheran Education Queensland. It was chock-full of brilliant ideas, resources, and (of course!) Apps. Here is just *some* of “the good stuff”…

John Burns, Apple Education Development Executive, presented on Day 1 on some absolutely BRILLIANT apps now available. Links below. They’re categorised using the ‘SAMR model’ (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redesign).

SAMR - http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000025.html

Basically; substitution is where you use the tool to substitute what you would normally do with the ‘old’ tool’; augmentation is where you ‘add’ to the task at hand; ‘modification’ is where the task is partially modified through the use of elements in the tool that allow such modification, and redesign is where the task becomes something not even conceivable before with the old tool.

Apps (Categorised by SAMR model)

Substitution

Pages for iPad on the iTunes App Store

iThoughtsHD (mindmapping) for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Evernote for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Graphing Calculator HD for iPad on the iTunes App Store

App Store – Word Wizard – Talking Movable  Alphabet with Spell …

7notes HD Premium for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Augmentation

March of the Dinosaurs for iPad on the iTunes App Store

The Elements: A Visual Exploration for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Muscle System Pro II (NOVA Series) – iPad edition for iPad on the …

Our Choice for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (3rd generation …

Superstash for iPad on the iTunes App Store

When You Grow Up – a you’re-in-the-story book! for iPhone, iPod …

Qwiki for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Google Earth for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Virtual History - Roma for iPad on the iTunes App Store

App Store – Wind Tunnel

String™ Augmented Reality Showcase for iPhone, iPod touch (4th …

Modification

Dragon Dictation for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes …

Home Design 3D – By LiveCad for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Dragon Search for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

iMovie for iPhone 4, iPod touch (4th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi and …

Coaster Physics for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App …

sling Note for iPad on the iTunes App Store

App Cooker – Design, Mockup & Prototype App Interfaces for iPad …

Codify for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Redefinition

Aurasma Lite for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (4th generation …

iBooks for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard for iPad on the iTunes App Store

Talking Tom Cat for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App …

Word Lens by [?] – Download Word Lens in the iTunes App Store

And…

VidRhythm by [?] – Download VidRhythm in the iTunes App Store

He also briefly commented on some great work done by schools with iPads:

Redlands College - http://ipad2.redlands.qld.edu.au/

Victorian DET - http://www.ipadsforeducation.vic.edu.au/

Kolbe Catholic College - http://sswiki.kolbe.wa.edu.au/groups/ipadstory/

No longer are we ‘old school’, guys!

Source: tvtropes.org via Johna on Pinterest

So – link away and knock your socks off!

Tweeting a conference

Last week, I attended my first conference in a number of years. In fact, I have a feeling that the last one I attended was the Middle Years Schooling Association (MYSA) conference at Jupiters Casino, back in 2007. I was (just) pregnant with my middle child, who is now 4. Wow! That really *was* some time ago!

A lot has changed as conferences go. I read somewhere a couple of years back that “conferences can be awkward – but never for a twitterer”… and I realized the truth of this today.

I shook hand with people that I had interacted with online, but had never met face to face. I laughed as people recognized me from my twitter photo, or my handle (let’s face it, “Ceridwyn” is rather a unique kind of name!) and I felt as though I was more comfortable in a strange situation than I had been at such events in the past.

Then it came session time, and workshop time, and I was finally able to engage in tweeting the conference happenings to my followers… again, something I had never before done, as this was my first conference since I joined twitter. (Come to think of it, twitter didn’t even exist during my last conference! That’s pretty bad, hey, that it’s been so long ‘between drinks’!)

So back to my story, I tweeted away madly and probably bored my followers stupid with my #iPadexplore tweets. I wondered later at the whole ettiquete thing with regard to tweeting a conference. How much is too much? When does it become spam? Or if you don’t tweet enough, is that indicative that the conference is a bit of a dud one? Questions for which I don’t have any answers. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on the matter?

A little lonely…

It’s been a little chilly here on the Bloxham Marketing blog. A little forlorn. Due in a major part to a little oversight on my part. Unfortunately, I’d been forgetting to change the post settings from ‘Private’ to ‘Public’ prior to scheduling them!

Source: oneoffmag.blogspot.com via JoJo on Pinterest

So, those of you who are subscribed readers, may have discovered quite a few emails in your inbox over the past day or so, mentioning my sudden number of posts. Sorry!

I guess that’ll teach me to check, check, and check again!!!

Using the tools to teach the ‘illiterate’…

As many of you are aware, I run the website GoodOldTalk.com – a space for people over 50 which is part  Computer Help Guides, part Forums, and part Social Network.  It’s been online now for just over two years, and in that time it’s grown a membership of well over 500. My main aim behind the site was to help Seniors understand more about their computers, in particular, the internet. And what has evolved is this – Seniors, some of whom have never used Web 2.0 skills before, now post regularly on their own blogs, and interact on a daily basis with other Seniors in the GOT Forums.  My oldest blogger is 94, and has posted about his 70^th wedding anniversary; and in the forums we have gardeners, crafters, lawnmower racers and Grey Nomads all sharing opinions and swapping stories and photos!

In a world where many are marginalised technologically, I think that we often don’t place enough importance on the need for people to be digitally literate. Soon after GOT was launched, U.S. President Barack Obama designated October 2009 ‘National Information Literacy Awareness Month’. (He was probably unaware of GOT at the time, though!)

The value of GOT lies in the fact that Seniors are supported in learning more about their computers, and through the computer, about other digital technologies. Since discovering the whole concept of screencasting, I have been inspired to convert each of the GOT Computer Help Guides into this format, as I believe that this particular tool holds immense potential for enhancing the effectiveness of their learning, due to its ability to record demonstrations on the computer screen, and enhance these with audible narration.

So now all I need is a tool to give me 48 hours in day…

And there’s one more thing…

And I’m adding one more entry to this series on ‘Designing Successful Website Layouts’ - because although this isn’t technically what’s ON your website, it IS about the success of it…

Source: Uploaded by user via Aqila on Pinterest

Your website’s success will grow – slowly for some, faster for others. But growth is inevitable if you’ve designed for your audience, streamlined your navigation, vetted your content, and created links where links should be. So now you’ve got your website as good as you can get it. Or have you?

People are inherently social. They like to talk, to share. And this is great news for you, as the potential exists for your website visitors to share your website with others. And that was the point in the first place, wasn’t it?

The trouble is, you need to make such ‘sharing’ of your content as accessible as possible. Think of the blogs you’ve read – each of them gives the reader options to share the content they’ve just read, with their friends.

You need to do the same.

Work out which social networks your target market is predominantly on – and add share buttons wherever appropriate. (Go back to the earlier entries in this series to check if you’re adding too many / not enough / not in the correct places…)

Completing this final step – making your site content easily sharable by your readers – could make a significant difference between a slow successful growth of your website, or a fast one. And which would you prefer?

The Top Four Layout Hints that will keep your Website Visitors from leaving

The first think I look at, when checking the analytics of a website, is the bounce rate. This is the percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave again without viewing any other pages, often within a matter of minutes. My aim is to keep the bounce rate as low as possible. And to do that, the site needs to engage with each and every website visitor as quickly as possible.

Source: teachingmycalling.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

 

So – how do you optimise your website for visitors? Below are four hints to help you achieve a successful website design for your business.

1. Design with your audience in mind.

2. Make your site easily navigable.

3. Ensure that your information is clearly communicated.

4. Leverage your site’s content with links.

I’d like to think that I can create something worthwhile. Maybe not a Colesseum that will stand for thousands of years, but perhaps the online equivalent, with an effective website that will stand the test of time. And the way to keep it effective is to ensure my vistors don’t leave at the first available opportunity.

Now, let the sun shine in!

If you’ve been following this series on Successful Web Site Design, you now have a site that is in tune with your audience, has clear navigation, and the content of each page is optimised to engage your readers both visually and informationally. Great. But what are the chances of its being discovered by your target audience?

Source: flickr.com via Kristen on Pinterest

 

 

Yes, this is where ‘traditional marketing’ strategies can help, in the advertising of your website’s existence. But what can you do in the online world to assist? The answer – links, links, and more links.

The developer of GoodOldTalk once explained links to me this way. “Think of a bucket,” he said. “Your website is a bucket, and every link is like hole in that bucket. The more holes, the more chances that traffic will leave your site and go elsewhere. So the idea is – to have more incoming links (as in, holes in other people’s websites that link to your site) than outgoing links.” These inching links are also known as backlinks, inbound links, or inlinks. I don’t know about you, but that makes a lot of sense to me. Why else would Wikipedia articles only link to Wikipedia articles?!!

So,  backlinks are good. But how do you generate them? In my experience, there are two main ways.

1. Reciprocal links. This is where you promote another site (by adding their link on your site – ie. putting a hole in your bucket, to them) and request a reciprocal link to your site (i.e. they put a hole in their site, back to you). This may work well with your business partners.

2. Online advertising. The aim is to get links to your website in as many places as possible out there on the web. Yes, you could pay for these ads (use Google AdWords or AdSense, Facebook ads etc) or you can use the power of the digital realm itself to aid in your site’s discoverability. Add a photo and / or review of your business at your location on Google Maps. Create a Wikipedia page. Use social media in your own business’ name. Leverage Facebook and twitter – or even YouTube, flickr, and the like – to get the word out, and link your updates to a variety of interesting content on your site. On social media, there is a chance that your tweet or Facebook update may be shared by your followers, thus increasing your potential audience.

There are other ways to generate back links – purchasing, going with backlink directories, and so on. If this is your style, then great. Personally, I prefer to not use these, but rather to form ‘genuine’ relationships, through your business partners, social media. and the like.

Finally, think about how to optimise your use of links-within-your-website. Obviously every page that has a call to action, whether it be sign up for a webinar, place an order for a free eBook or actual online purchase, submit an online enrolment form or even just an email subscription or RSS feed for your site, should have multiple links pointing at it. On the other hand, don’t overwhelm your site with these links. This not only is visually distracting, but could make you seem overly-needy. And the same holds true if you have a blog either on, or pointing to, your site. Putting a link on every second word is like hashtagging every second word in a tweet. You can do it, but it’s not particularly good netiquette.

So – that was Hint #4 in this series on ‘Successful Website Design’. Use links to ‘let in the light’, as it were. Have you seen examples of websites which use links well? Or ones which do this badly? Please feel free to share in the comments!

Clarity is key

I love this diagram ‘explaining’ the well-known Apple logo. On the surface, the logo seems so simple, right? But the diagram below shows that a lot of thought went into it. Unseen thought. Unseen planning. The same kind of thought, the same kind of planning, needs to happen on your website.

Source: acsoc.kylelamar.com via Paul on Pinterest

Assuming by now that you’ve checked over your site from your readers’  point of view, and that your navigation makes as much sense as it possibly can, let’s look at the clarity of each page, shall we? Because really, clarity is key. And by ‘information’, I don’t just mean your text, but your images as well. Let’s look at images first.

1. A picture ‘tells a thousand words’

I’m sure you’ve all heard that one. And it’s pretty true, right?! So if you want your visitors to remain on your website, looking for the information they need, enhance the look of EACH PAGE by adding a good quality image that relates to the text of that page. It’s going to be worth it to pay a photographer, and get your business a ‘branding photo’ library. If you’re planning on retaining the interest of your website readers, high quality images will ‘hook’ them much more effectively than just any old photo.

And don’t skimp on the image size, either. Any smaller than 200 (either in height or in width) probably isn’t large enough. That being said though, you don’t want to overwhelm your page with its image. Think of some websites (or blogs) that you like the appearance of, and match the size of your images accordingly. And always think about the impression you’re leaving in the minds of your readers. Balance each image out with text that clearly explains it. Don’t leave it up the the image itself – this just makes you look lazy, or that you don’t have anything to say. So… once you have some great images up on your website, look at the text that accompanies it.

2. The text. How are you writing your information?

Yes, this is where we go back to the High School English classroom, and look at our grammar. Do the sentences on your site make sense? Are they structured correctly? Do you have spelling errors or typos?

You may think I’m being pedantic, but if you can’t write clearly, then your website visitors aren’t going to bother trying to decipher what you’re attempting to communicate. They’re just going to leave, and find someone else’s site, which can give them the information they need. Make it as easy as possible for them to get what they need from your site! And what will help is ensuring that your information is up-to-date.

3. Currency – are you with it? Or behind the times?

Many websites roll over information from year to year. School websites almost always do this. So have you clearly archived your ‘old’ stuff? Or is it in amongst your current stuff? Nothing annoys me more than reading something that I think is current, then discovering that it was in fact months (or maybe even years!) old. Archive – and make this archiving clear to your website readers!

And keep your website information current, too. If you’re not posting new information on your website – say, at least on a weekly basis – then you’re giving your existing customers absolutely NO reason to return. As I wrote in “Design for Your Audience“, you need to keep your existing customers happy! Perhaps you could include a blog on your site, updated regularly? Yes, this will also mean regular maintenance of your site – but I’m yet to see how this is a bad thing.

4. Does your content accurately reflect your business – as it stands right now?

It’s funny, but this is often an overlooked part of a business website. But it can easily give your website visitor the wrong impression of your business. Make sure that the content on your site reflects the workings of your business – and in its correct proportions, too. If your school has a big ICT program, then the amount of website content should reflect this. Having dozens of pages covering incidental information, such as the past several years’ annual reports, or discussing the governance system of the school, is going to be counter-productive for you. And finally…

5. Is your site easy-on-the-eyes?

What’s your colour scheme? And font size? Because there are some shockers out there, and you don’t want your site to be one of them. Make it easy on your readers’ eyes, not hard. That way, they may stick around and keep reading.

This was Hint Number Three – Keeping your information clear – in the series on ‘Successful Website Design’. Ready for the next hint? Let the sun shine in!