Introduction 1 About Blogging All-in-One For Dummies 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Conventions Used in This Book 3 What You Don''t Have to Read 3 How This Book Is Organized 3 Book I: Joining the Blogosphere 3 Book II: Niche Blogging 4 Book III: Corporate and Business Blogging 4 Book IV: Choosing a Blogging Application 4 Book V: Blogging Tools 4 Book VI: Promoting and Growing Your Blog 5 Book VII: Making Money from Your Blog 5 Book VIII: Microblogging with Twitter 5 Glossary 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Book I: Joining the Blogosphere 7 Chapter 1: Joining the Blogosphere 9 Welcome to the Blogosphere 10 In the beginning 10 Blogs today 11 What is a blog? 12 Finding Out Why People Blog 12 Blogging for fun 13 Blogging for networking 15 Blogging for exposure 16 Blogging for business 17 Finding and Reading Blogs 17 Why read other blogs? 17 Finding blogs 18 Deciding to Start a Blog 24 Blogging benefits 24 Blogging repercussions 25 Blogging success secrets 26 Setting your goals 27 Chapter 2: Preparing to Start and Write a Blog 29 Choosing a Topic 29 Reviewing popular blog topics 30 Determining the best topic for your blog 32 Going broad or staying focused 33 Choosing Your Voice 34 Deciding What to Write About 35 Knowing What Not to Write About 36 Writing Great Blog Posts 36 Writing meaningful and interesting content 37 Staying consistent 37 Being honest 37 Citing sources 37 Using images 37 Writing for the web 38 Understanding Types of Blog Posts 38 Avoiding Blogger''s Block and Finding Blog Post Ideas 39 Determining How Often to Publish Blog Posts 41 Chapter 3: Blogging Basics 43 Choosing a Domain Name 43 Understanding the types of domain names and extensions 44 Creating a domain name and making sure it''s available 46 Buying a domain name 48 Identifying the Basic Elements of a Blog 49 Home page 50 About or profile page 51 Posts 52 Comments 53 Categories or labels 54 Sidebar 55 Archives 56 Header 57 Footer 58 Blogroll or links 59 Trackbacks or backlinks 60 Pings 62 Tags 62 Template or theme 62 Chapter 4: Blogging Rules and Ethics 65 Avoiding Blogging Don''ts 65 Don''t plagiarize (Get permissions!) 66 Don''t commit libel against someone or something 67 Don''t spam through comments 67 Don''t publish spammy posts 68 Don''t steal bandwidth 69 Providing Attribution 69 Understanding Copyright and Fair Use 70 Using Creative Commons Licenses 71 Disclosing Your Policies 73 Creating a comment policy 73 Writing a privacy policy 74 Developing a Terms and Conditions of Site Use page 76 Book II: Niche Blogging 79 Chapter 1: Understanding Niche Blogging 81 Determining What Makes a Niche Blog 81 Finding Niche Blogs 82 Capitol Annex 82 The Glass Hammer 83 Small Biz Survival 84 The Purse Blog 84 67 Mustang Blog 85 Finding Out What Makes Niche Blogs Successful 86 Benefiting from the Positives of Niche Blogging 88 Loyal readers 88 Less competition 88 Long-tail search engine optimization 89 Recognition and exposure 89 Targeted advertising opportunities 90 Identifying the Drawbacks to Niche Blogs 91 Lower traffic and a smaller audience 91 The startup curse 91 The disappearing niche 92 Fewer advertising opportunities 93 Chapter 2: Benefiting from a Niche Blog Approach. 95 Finding Your Focus and Keeping It 95 Generating Traffic and Capturing an Audience 97 Search engine optimization 97 Link benefits 98 Organic growth 99 Establishing Yourself as an Expert 99 Gaining Online Exposure 100 Networking with Other People in Your Niche 101 Chapter 3: Choosing Your Niche 105 Determining Your Niche Blogging Goals 105 Building your expertise 106 Sharing your passion 108 Offering your opinion and sharing your knowledge 109 Networking and building relationships 110 Making money 111 Identifying Niches That Might Work for You 112 Researching Existing Niche Blogs 113 Technorati search 114 Google blog search 114 Google Alerts 114 Twitter searches 116 Determining the Audience Potential for a Niche Blog 117 Performing keyword searches 117 Understanding Monetization Opportunities for Niche Blogs 119 Using the Google AdWords Traffi c Estimator 119 Researching with the Google AdWords Keyword Tool 122 Chapter 4: Writing for Your Niche. 127 Creating Content 127 Writing different types of posts 128 Choosing your voice and style 130 Linking 132 Finding inspiration for new content 133 Branding Your Blog 134 Networking and Commenting 136 Creating Off-Blog Content for Your Niche Blog 137 E-mail campaigns 137 Newsletter subscriptions 138 E-books 139 Social networking and content sharing 142 Book III: Corporate and Business Blogging 147 Chapter 1: Starting a Business Blog 149 Revealing Why Companies Blog 150 Finding Companies That Do It Right 152 Southwest Airlines 152 Whole Foods Market 154 Dell 154 Google 156 Zappos 157 Benefiting from a Corporate or Business Blog 159 Building an online presence 160 Marketing and publicity 162 Brand building 165 Customer relations versus customer service 167 Employee retention 169 Employee referrals and new hiring 170 Knowledge, experience, and expertise 171 Search engine optimization 172 Chapter 2: Developing a Business Blog Marketing Plan 175 Researching the Competition 176 Finding business blogs to benchmark 176 Differentiating your business blog from the competition 178 Understanding Your Readers and Delivering Content They Want 178 Finding your customers online 179 Researching what consumers talk about and want from your business blog 183 Getting involved in the online conversation 184 Answering consumer demand with meaningful content 185 Driving consumers to your business blog 186 Creating a Business Blog Marketing Strategy 187 Setting long-term goals 188 Developing short-term promotional campaigns 188 Advertising opportunities 189 Blogging with Multiple Writers 190 Developing a team blog 191 Choosing a team blogging application 192 Chapter 3: Choosing Business Bloggers 195 Knowing When You Need Outside -- or Inside -- Help 195 Knowing the Skills to Look for When Hiring a Blogger 198 Blogging experience 199 Ability to use blogging applications and tools 199 Writing skills 199 Social personality 199 Understanding of search engine optimization 200 Existing social networking, social bookmarking, and other social sharing sites presence 200 Active participation on Twitter 200 Knowledgeable about finding and attracting visitors to your blog 200 Self motivated and dependable 201 Understands your business or industry 201 Publicizing Your Open Blogger Job 201 Hiring a Blogger 202 Employment status 203 Pay model 203 Defining Blogger Guidelines 205 Writing a style guide 206 Training Bloggers 208 Communicating and Collaborating with Bloggers 209 Knowing what to communicate and why 209 Using tools for communication and collaboration 210 Chapter 4: Writing a Business Blog 213 Discovering the Types of Business Blog Posts 213 Turning a Business Blog into a Direct Sales Tool 216 Finding Out the Tips for Business Blog Success 218 Avoiding Things Blog Readers Don''t Like 219 A blog that reads like an employee manual 220 An impersonal tone 220 A blog that lacks transparency 221 Corporate rhetoric 221 PR posts with no real content 221 Engaging with Your Audience 222 Providing content the audience wants 222 Encouraging comments 222 Making the audience feel special or exclusive 222 Creating relationships with key influencers 223 Leveraging word-of-mouth marketing 223 Chapter 5: Keeping Yourself and Your Company out of Trouble 225 Learning Rules and Laws 226 Following blogosphere rules 226 Staying within the law 227 Maintaining private information 229 Knowing when to hold your tongue 229 Responding to Negative Comments and Attacks 230 Ignoring the negative 230 Defending the business 231 Engaging the source and audience 231 Understanding Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM) 232 Responding to and acknowledging mistakes 234 Burying the untrue or reputation threats 234 Building an audience of brand advocates and brand guardians 234 Using SERM techniques 235 Book IV: Choosing a Blogging Application 239 Chapter 1: Choosing a Blogging Application 241 Getting Familiar with How Blogging Applications Work 241 Defining Hosted and Self-Hosted Solutions 244.