How To Write For Blogs
May 20, 2010 at 11:48 am
I’ve made it to WordPress TV – wow!! Featuring *newly coined* words that came straight out of my head on the day, such as:
- “Easily cognicized”
- Blobby bullets
- Scannability arsenal
Note that this was a totally adlib affair. I had spent ages on preparing a lovely Flash show, but the projector wasn’t working, so this was a flipchart and marker affair out of my head! Watch the vid.
View the slides:
Tags: how to write for blogs, wordcamp ireland, Wordcamp Ireland Kilkenny 2010
WordPress Person Of The Day
March 19, 2010 at 10:54 am
is Me! Yes I’m extremely honoured and delighted to be number 23 person of the day.
Tags: wordpress person of the day
What are you doing this weekend?
March 1, 2010 at 10:18 am
Yes I know it’s Monday and the weekend may seem far away, but if you haven’t got any plans yet, you’d do well to get yourself down to Kilkenny for Wordcamp.
Like the name suggests, Wordcamp is a two day camp for WordPress. If you’ve heard of WordPress and how great it is for constructing (all types of) sites, then go. If you’re thinking of perhaps setting up a website of any size, shape, or form in the next while, go – as you’ll meet all the brightest and the best from the Irish web scene… all in one place… talking about what we love – WordPress.
Tickets are extremely reasonably priced at just €50 for the two days including your meals. There are three tracks: intro, bloggers, and tech. I’m giving a little talk on the Saturday morning. It’s my online copywriting day course distilled into 40 mins! I’m really looking forward to hearing some of the other talks both from local heroes and international guests being flown in especially for the event.
Hope to see you there. This Saturday and Sunday, Kilkenny: Wordcamp.
Tags: wordcamp kilkenny 2010
I Got A Gold Medal
February 26, 2010 at 10:41 am
Last night this here blog won gold!! A very pleasant surprise indeed. We’d made it to the finalists at the 2010 Digital Media Awards in the Best Blog Category, but I really didn’t expect to get anywhere. Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw on the wires that we’d won a Gold Medal – came second.
The award went to Ronan Lyons and well deserved too. Check out his blog – it’s economic commentary and analysis – bleak reading, but tells it like it is. I commend Ronan because it must take a fair bit of time to put the thought and research in that he so obviously does. I also have a little snigger every time I see his name in print because my madser nephew who is 5 is also called Ronan Lyons. His larger than life personality kind of supercedes any impression of thoughtful economic analysis!
I was also glad to see Kavaleer win in the Best Animation category. I’ve been working with them recently on developing a social media strategy for their kids cartoon Garth & Bev. Check out the blog here. All design lovingly created by CookieWeb.
Tags: digital media awards 2010, social media strategy garth & bev
Is 2010 the Year You Start Blogging?
January 7, 2010 at 2:14 pm
If it is, and you’re itching to put that new year’s resolution to good use, then put Wed 20 January in your diary.
That’s the day of the first Brightspark Blogging Training of 2010.
It’s not about blogging, and how great it is, and other tihings like that. I’m assuming that everyone who comes to the blogging training to be held in Dublin city centre already knows all that.
What we will be doing is setting you up with your own blog which you will be working on over the course of the day. By noon you’ll have written your first blog post. By the end of the day, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t do this years ago.
Other important and meaty topics we’ll be covering include:
- Blog etiquette – how to engage with other bloggers
- How to keep on top of things – using RSS to save time
- Promoting your blog
As always, any questions you may have will be answered knowledgeably and you won’t feel stupid for asking them. There’s great coffee and cakes from The Cake Cafe (no less!) available all day.
All this and it’s just €295. There are only 6 places left, so if you want in – book your place now.
Read more about blog training from Brightspark.
Tags: blog training dublin, Blog Training Ireland, blogging training, how to blog
Next Training Dates
December 3, 2009 at 8:43 am
Due to the general mayhem of work before Christmas, I’ve decided to put all the training courses off until after Christmas. Next training dates for Web Copywriting Training, Blogging Training, Internet Marketing Training, and the Social Media Widgets will be announced as soon as the training rooms are booked.
Tags: blogging training, internet marketing training ireland, social media training, web copywriting training
WordPress Lovers
November 23, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Lovers of the world’s finest content management system and blogging platform unite this March in Kilkenny.
Wordcamp Ireland is a two day extravaganza where you can learn all about our favourite blogging software, network with top Irish bloggers, and party on til the wee small hours in that great party town that is Kilkenny.
I’ll be giving a little talk about how to make your blogs be read online. I’ll be up on day 1 right after Sabrina Dent. If anyone has ever heard the great lady speak, she should moonlight on “Saturday Night Live”. If there are any comedians or presentation skills people out there who can counsel me through until March – I’d love to hear from you.
Tags: Wordcamp Ireland Kilkenny 2010
iQ In The Nick Of Time
July 23, 2009 at 8:00 am
I’m delighted to be one of the 4 bloggers who were selected to drive a Toyota Iq around for the next 6 months. Call me a blog whore if you want, but for me this opportunity came exactly at the right time.
Take a look at my insurance disk:
Note to my MX5: my beloved, you won’t be neglected. Angel has a nice warm garage and will mind you. I’ll come visit on weekends when I want to go far far away.
This Is How To Use Twitter
July 13, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I’m asked the question at least 5 times a week: “Is Twitter any good? Why would I use Twitter? I logged on to the site and frankly I don’t see what all the fuss is about”…
I usually point people to my blog post of a few weeks back – Advice for New Twitterers - but now I’d like to draw your attention to a nice use of Twitter from Toyota.
* * YAY I GOT PICKED * * Picking up my new motor on Monday 27 July.
To promote the new Toyota IQ, they are offering 4 bloggers the chance to drive around one of the IQ’s for 6 months. In return they must blog about their experiences of it. They require at least 1 blog post a week and pictures of you in the car. How did I hear about this? On Twitter. Someone posted a link and it’s been retweeted.
This is really very smart.
- Create a buzz about your car using bloggers (opininated connectors)
- Promote the whole thing on Twitter
- Generate sales through word of mouth (assuming that the bloggers like the car)… assuming that they don’t, at least they’ll tell Toyota why not and give the car company a chance to respond or readjust
- Link love will aid the search engine ranking
- Another first from Toyota. PR plus. If another car company tried this now, it wouldn’t work as well. (Unless of course you’re Jaguar
)
I’ve put myself forward for it.
Anyone who knows me will know I love my little car – it’s an MX5. Here’s a picture:
I have been thinking of changing car. Someday I’m going to need to update my motor and there’s no way I’m going to go for a ubiquitous looking generic model. The iQ is groovy and cool just like my MX, and it’s got the added benefit of not being 17 years old like my car is! I feel awful guilty every time I fill it up; carbon emissions were not on the agenda when my car was being made.
I’d love the idea of getting to test drive a potential buy for 6 months! So watch this space around 20 July and see who gets to drive the Toyota iQ.
Tags: Toyota IQ, Twitter Business Use
Great Value Training Courses
June 8, 2009 at 5:12 pm
My top three training courses are:
- Writing for the Web
- Internet Marketing
- How to be a good Blogger
I run these as public courses from time to time. I also run them on behalf of industry bodies. And now I run them in association with Europa Training Academy. That’s the one that Bill Cullen is involved with. It’s a really smart venue located just off the M1 and, importantly, they do a really good lunch as well!
Europa is offering some amazing value right now – check out all its training courses here.
The really great news is that you can get ME for just €195!
I normally charge way more than that; Europa are much more generous than me!
Check these dates and if you’re up for increasing your knowledge in these areas, book your place now:
- 25 June: How to be a good blogger
- 26 June: Write for the web
- 29 June: Internet Marketing
Tags: Blog Training Ireland, internet marketing training, Write for Web Training
