This was sent to me from Association of Women Journalists for an Event at Community Media Workshop.

If you have a blog, but it’s not going anywhere, we have an answer. If you want to begin a blog but can’t get it going, don’t worry. And if you haven’t figured out why you need to blog in addition to what you do, we’ll explain.

Come to our workshop on blogging for the ethnic news media on Wednesday
Sept. 8th. We’ll meet from 9 to 11 am at our offices at 218 S.Wabash, 7th floor. Avis Weathersbee, a former Sun-Times editor now an editor/and web consultant at Jet Magazine, will lead the session.

But we have limited space so sign up soon.

http://www.gifttool.com/registrar/ShowEventDetails?ID=1253&EID=7555

All of our training with the ethnic news media is free thanks to supportfrom the McCormick Foundation.

Steve Franklin
Ethnic news media project director
Community Media Workshop
steve@newstips.org or 312 369 7782

Zeal
Blog with zeal.  Your enthusiasm and energy will transfer to your readers, which will greatly enhance your blog traffic and your excitement about blogging.

Zap Away Negative Thoughts
Zap away any negative thought that creep in.  This brings on fear, lack of productivity and procrastination.

Zoom toward your destiny of blog success!!

I look forward to reading your blog.

You.  Yes, your blog should be a reflection of you either in design, writing style, or topics.

Yield before responding.

Ok, this really means think before you speak, but I could not think of a “Y” to complete my ABCs.  See Wisdom.

Yearn for Fresh Content

Bloggers have to year for fresh content.  That’s the only way to stay interested in what you’re doing and to keep your readers interested.

eXpert
You become an expert when you blog.  Sometimes it’s part of your action plan, other times it happens by accident. Either way, it doesn’t happen overnight.  Becoming an expert makes you the “go-to” person on particular topics; it may even give you star status.

Spirit of eXcellence
Persistent bloggers possess a spirit of excellence.  There are times when you will be disgusted and discouraged, but you can’t stop.  Just keep pressing forward even when you don’t feel like it.  And, your work will never show how you truly felt.

Widgets
Widgets are applications that enhance the functionality of all blogs.  These come with all CMS systems.

Wisdom
Wisdom is needed when writing blogs.  There are things that just should not be said and there are things that must be spoken.  Choose wisdom in each individual situation.

Wit
Wit is always welcome.  It gives your reader an unexpected twist to an otherwise routine topic.

Vent
It’s totally O.K. to vent on your blog as long as you are venting about a situation and not the people involved.  If you do offend, just be ready to face the consequences that are sure to follow.

Video
Video can enhance your messages or be the subject of your posts.  You can create your own or borrow from others.  YouTube is the largest video sharing site.  However, there are dedicated video sites where you can upload and share videos.  Make sure the tags used for videos are the same for the posts, and give credit for videos that are not yours.

Variety
Add variety to your blog through post lengths, multimedia tools, types of posts and the types of fonts used.  Don’t forget your own personal style and tastes.

Vivid Stories
Share vivid stories to get your point across.  The more colorful your stories, the more quickly you can draw your audience in.

Useful information
Thoughts and opinions are nice, but sharing useful information lends to your expert status and credibility as a resource.

Update often
Update often has two meanings for bloggers. First, it means to save your posts often.  Your feelings will be hurt if you lost a post you worked so hard on.  Second, it means to post often.  I know I said to post once a month if you have to, and I meant it. But, your online visibility will increase on search engines when you post frequently.

Uniqueness
Express your uniqueness through your posts, photos, videos and avatars.

Tags
Words used to define individual posts are called tags.  Tags complement categories which are used to describe general blog topics.  Think about terms you would use to conduct a search on the blog topic and use relevant tags for those posts.  Both categories and tags help your blog to be found on search engines.  It is advised to use the same tags over again if they apply to blog topics.  Also, use as many tags you to need to define that post.

Topics
All blogs have central themes.  All subsequent topics should be related to this theme.  Topics can be specific or general depending on the blog, but should be related to the central theme.  It’s OK to veer off the subject every now and then.

Themes
Themes are the designs for blogs.  They differ from temples because they come with the design plus features to make applications work; templates are designs only.

Traffic
Traffic is the number of new and returning visitors to your site.  Although you want people to read your quality content, you also want them to leave comments.

Technorati
Technorati is the ultimate blog directory.  It provides details about what’s happening in the blog world through its annual “State of the Blogosphere” report.  If you are a blogger, your blog needs to be listed here.

Transparency
Since transparency is the buzzwords these days, I decided to use it, too.  It describes the level of openness and accountability by leaders.  This applies to bloggers, too.  The more you share of yourself, the more open you appear.  The more you respond to feedback and questions, the more customer service oriented you appear.  The more often you admit and correct errors, the more you come across as a human with flaws.

Sidebars
Sidebars make navigating your site easy for visitors and add to the blog’s visual appeal.  Categories, recent posts, recent comments, archives and ads are just a few of the elements that can be found.  Facebook fans and Twitter tweets are the newest, most popular additions to the sidebar family.

Spam
Spam is unwanted bulk messages.  Even though they are most known for creeping into e-mail boxes, they have found their way to blog sites.  Fortunately for bloggers, most blogging software come with spam programs to protect your sites.

Spellcheck
Be sure to check the spelling of your work before publishing.  Your readers will appreciate it

SEO
Improve the online presence of your blog with search engine optimization.  This is done through quality content, headlines, and relevant categories and keywords used for your blog

Support other bloggers
You can support other bloggers by listing them in your blogroll, linking to posts on their sites that you like, and stopping by and leaving comments.  You can also share their information on social networking sites.  They are likely to do the same.  If not, someone who appreciates you will.

RSS
RSS or really simple syndication (see feeds) uses feeds to publish updated information in formats that can be read by anyone using feed readers or newsreaders.  Feeds are used for blogs, podcasts and video blogs.

Reviews
You can share opinions about people, products and services for free or a fee.  You can sign up with sites that pay you for opinions; request products and services to review; or solicit business.  Just because someone pays you doesn’t mean your review have to be positive.  Be as honest as possible.

Research
All bloggers research information at some point in their careers.  Usually research is conducted to find stories, to enhance current information or to confirm information.

Resourceful
Bloggers have to be very resourceful.  This is necessary in order to provide quality and accurate information to their readers.   Other bloggers are often sought for their expertise.  Or, you may just want to find ways to engage readers.

Report the story first
Depending on the type of information you are sharing on your blog, always try to be first to report information.  Make sure the information is accurate, though.