Sutter Communications

We’re wild about words!

Want to learn to blog or grow your blogging audience?

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Blogging is a great way to express yourself.
Blogging is a great way to express yourself.

Just as my motto for Sutter Communications is “We’re Wild About Words,” I should also add that I’m wild about blogging. I started blogging in 2009 when I worked at the Democrat and Chronicle, and I think it’s a great way to express yourself and share your expertise.

In the last two years, I’ve developed two classes for Writers and Books. Blogging 101 is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. Blogging 201 will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15.

 

In Blogging 101, we cover these five topics:

  • Mission statement for your blog
  • Elements of a good blog
  • Importance of a great headline
  • Spreading the word via social media
  • Determining if the blog is successful
  • Blogging software

This will be the fifth time I’ve taught this class for Writers and Books, and I’m limiting the class to 10 participants. That allows us to sit around a table and easily discuss blogging. I’ve had some classes of 15 or so people, which has necessitated moving into a small auditorium, and that seems to inhibit interaction.

Blogging 201 is a more advanced class. It’s meant for people who already have a blog or who have taken Blogging 101. In 201, we dive into these areas:

  • Being consistent is job No. 1
  • Following the footsteps of two successful ROC bloggers
  • Developing your tribe
  • Making the most of social media
  • Helping search engines find your blog
  • Making money from your blog

In both classes, I show examples of blogs done well. I find it’s great fun to talk to the people who take my classes to  find out what they are writing about or are interested in writing about — topics have ranged from parenting to spirituality to travel to mental health counseling.

These classes won’t be  offered again until at least March, so if you’re interested, please sign up soon. Just click on the links above.

Keeping your emails off the front page

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Don't write emails you'd regret seeing in a newspaper.
Don’t write an email you’d regret seeing in a newspaper.

In the aftermath of Election Day, a lot of random thoughts are colliding in my brain.  A big one has to do with email.

“Never put anything into an email that you don’t want to see on the front page of the newspaper.”

I don’t think Hillary Clinton’s colleagues ever heard that and they certainly didn’t abide by it. I don’t think her email fiascos (notice the plural) are the main reason she lost to Donald Trump, but they didn’t help.

That timeless advice about emails was given to me by Margaret Buchanan, then publisher of the Star-Gazette newspaper in Elmira, N.Y., when she was my boss and I was the executive editor. This was around 1998, and email was just starting to become a standard form of communication.

I have never forgotten what she told me, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job over the years abiding by it. But just think of all the people who make the news, who get caught doing criminal or immoral acts, who now regret those emails.

Three prominent email cases

  • Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign her post as head of the Democratic Party after emails revealed the party plotted against Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton.
  • Two of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s staff were convicted of all charges in a bizarre political scheme that resulted in huge traffic tie-ups. Emails were key to that case.
  • Then there’s Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, whose emails were released by WikiLeaks. Those emails showed the inner workings of the campaign and its dealings with the controversy over Clinton’s private email server while she was secretary of state.

Election loss due to emails?

I don’t think Clinton lost to Trump solely on her email issues but it certainly cast doubt in people’s minds as to whether Clinton committed a crime, what with the FBI investigation and all.

Still, anyone who writes an email should heed that advice: “Never put anything into an email that you don’t want to see on the front page of a newspaper.”

I know I will continue to do so!

What rules do you follow with regard to email?

5 must-read articles to grow your blogging audience

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Some of my Internet research on ways to grow your audience for your blog.
Some of my Internet research on ways to grow your audience for your blog.

Are you spending hours blogging but the response is crickets? I’m going to help Rochester area bloggers with that dilemma in my class Blogging 201 at Writers and Books on Nov. 1.

I’ve been looking for best practices and tips to share with my students, which has meant digging through the Internet (or the “black hole” as I’ve been calling it).

So I thought I’d share links to five articles I’ve found that I consider must-reads for bloggers.

Here they are:

How to write headlines that drive traffic shares and search results by Nathan Ellering. Ellering wrote this for the CoSchedule Blog. He writes about CoSchedule’s amazing headline analyzer, in which you can paste in your blog headline to see how it scores. The analyzer looks at word balance, length of headline and headline type and Ellerby explains what each part means and gives tips on writing better headlines. I am definitely going to start using this tool for all my blog headlines.

Blogging gone bad: 7 mistakes you don’t want to make by Michael Hyatt. Hyatt is my guru on so many topics related to business, blogging and leadership. In this post, he offers ways to fix common mistakes of bloggers including creating posts that aren’t scannable and being inconsistent in your blogging schedule. I always recommend Hyatt as resource to my Blogging 101 students.

3 free tools to help you understand your online audience by Larry Kim. In this blog post for Social Media Today, Kim writes about how so many businesses don’t understand their target audience. That goes for bloggers, too. He gives brief summaries of Google Analytics, Facebook Audience Manager, and Twitter Audience Insights.

How to market with email newsletters posted on the SCORE website. A great way to gather a following to your blog is to collect email addresses, and then send out an email newsletter on a regular basis, which includes links to your blog postings. This posting walks you through how to get started, including explaining how to comply with the the CAN-SPAM Act. The post also includes a link to download a guide. I’m a volunteer mentor with Greater Rochester Chapter of SCORE and the national website of SCORE is a treasure trove of helpful information and webinars.

Facebook Page or Group: The Definitive Answer by Andrea Vahl. I stumbled upon Vahl in one of my “black hole” searches on the Internet, and I’m glad I did. She works with small businesses on their social media. Her posting confirms what I’ve grown to realize: A Facebook Group can be a great way to interact with people of similar interests. Sounds perfect for bloggers, while a Facebook Page is better for branding your business.

If you’re interested in taking Blogging 201, call Writers and Books at (585)-473-2590. Only a few spots were available as of today but I’ll teach the course again in 2017.