Bloggers Boot Camp

Charlie White is an author and consultant who's been writing articles published in magazines and websites since the early days of the Internet. He's written for Wired and Popular Science magazines, was Senior Editor of Mashable, Senior Associate Editor for gadget site Gizmodo and Deputy Editor of NBC Universal tech site DVICE. He’s written more than 9,000 published articles, totaling more than 3 million words. Before he began writing magazine articles, blog posts and books, Charlie enjoyed a 30-year career as an Emmy award-winning television producer/director, directing five national television series for PBS John Biggs?writes about technology for the?46 million page-view-per-month website?TechCrunch. He was former editor of Gawker Media's?Gizmodo. He has a Master’s Degree in Business and Economic Journalism from NYU and is currently completing a non-fiction study of Marie Antoinette’s watch (he’s also a watch nut). After spending four years as an IT programmer during the dot-com era, he became a full-time journalist. He’s the author of the book,?Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age.

Chapter 1 The Niche

What’s Your Name, Private?

What the Heck Is Blogging?

What Is a Blogger?

NEW Blogging And The Mainstream Media

The Four Questions

The Two Rules

Chapter 2 Getting Started

Basic HTML for Bloggers

NEW Basic CSS For Bloggers

Pick a Domain

NEW Ready-made Platforms - Add new platforms here

How Do I Pick a Platform?

NEW Why Themes Are Important

NEW Buying Themes

Should You Hire a Web Designer?

Tools of the Trade. 42

Chapter 3 Target Practice

The 1,000 Words Rule

Enhance Your Writing by Reading

The Bloggers Duffel Bag: Essential Skills for Getting Through the Day

Blog Photography Tips

Videography

NEW Mobile Photos And Video

NEW Podcasting

Chapter 4 Hello, World

Introducing Yourself

Producing Intro Posts

Writing Your Contact Page

NEW Gaining A Social Media Presence

NEW Dangers Of Social Media

NEW Three Rules For Spreading The Word

NEW To Microblog Or Not To Microblog

Chapter 5 How to Write a Blog Post

Types of Posts

Deadly Headline Kills 200,000 Innocent Readers

To Capitalize or Not Capitalize. 106

Use Perfect Grammar or Your Credibility Is Shot. 107

Top Five Grammar Goofs

The Finer Points

Blogging Traps

Graphics and How to Use Them

When Should You Post?

Snark and the Single Blogger

Post Length

Being a Better Blogger

NEW Sourcing

NEW Writing So Someone Will Read You

Chapter 6 What to Write About

Need to Know

How to Decide What Matters to Your Readers. 81

Finding News

NEW RSS Readers

NEW Twitter

NEW LinkedIn

NEW Google Plus

More Sources: Press Releases from PR People

Conferences/Trade Shows

Dinners & Events

Tipsters

Dealing with PR People

Review Units

How to Snag Review Units

Review It or Not—Pan It or Skip It?

Should I Return Review Units?

Ten Questions to Ask Before Posting

Chapter 7 Mob Rule, Inciting a Riot, and Freedom of Speech

You’re in Control

Dealing with the Angry Mob

Understanding Spam

NEW Which Comment Platform To Use?

Rewarding Loyal Fans

NEW Should You Turn Off Comments?

Chapter 8 Building Traffic, Making Money and Measuring Success

SEO for Bloggers

Off-Page

The SEO Bottom Line

Social Media Sharing

Contests

Measuring Success

How To Make Money

Chapter 9 Blogging Ethics

Libel and Slander

Shield Law

Mr(s). Cellophane

Junket Junkies

Free Stuff

Caught in a Trap

Leaks and Trust

Stand Up Straight, Private

NEW Be Nice Or Be Right

NEW Blogging's Golden Rule

NEW Chapter 10 The Perks Of Being A Blogger

NEW The Job Hunt

NEW Networking

NEW Building A Brand

NEW Changing Careers

NEW Spreading The Word

Chapter 11 Building an Empire

Knowing When to Call in Reserves

How to Be a Blogger Boss

How to Find Bloggers

NEW Networking For Bloggers

Firing

Paying Bloggers

Group Blogging Workflow

Story Tips Via Email

Communicate!

Joining a Blogging Team

Be Careful What You Wish For

Appendix A Tips and Tricks of the Trade