A New Learning Experience

Closed to New Experiences

Under construction!  too wordy

This is not how we want our brain to be, closed to new experiences. This new journey is going to be one that explores creating blog posts and how this fits into the world of communication today. In fact, this whole direction is also a new journey for me. While I have been writing blog posts for a while, creating a program to teach it is learning experience for me. Changes will take place over time as the program is created. 

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It seems like blogs are quite the thing.  Many individuals use blogs for sharing what they feel is special with others.This one is created on Blogger. Another popular one is WordPress. You do not need to know HTML in order to create it, but simply choose from one of the many templates available. The templates have many different layouts to fit specific needs. Some are for newsletters, photo galleries and most can be customized. The themes are endless. You just choose one that you feel fits you and start posting following their super easy steps. It is also to try out various thems and layouts to preview the overall finished appearance.

Who creates blogs and why.

• Families create blogs and often since they wish to share only with other family members their blogs require a passwords.
• Individuals supporting a special cause like a dog rescue site
• Businesses who wish to have a more interactive and personal communication with their customers. 
• Individuals who have a service to offer others.

The company or business website has the technical data within its pages. The blog, accessed through a link on the website, contains timely and shorter articles the company thinks may be of interest. . Interaction with the public is a good thing and comments can be easily made on a blog. When allowing comments it is often best to use the preview option. Unfortunately, there are those out there who just love to post outrageous comments aimed to upset the owner of the blog or bring attention to their own latest cause.

Two important points when it comes to blogging.

• SEO:
  

  SEO is short for search engine optimization or search engine optimizer.
  Search engine optimization is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) -- including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.

• Keywords: The use of the correct keywords for your site is what attracts the search engines. This is a part of the SEO mentioned above.
  

  Ranking for the "right" keywords can make or break your website. Through the detective work of puzzling out your market's keyword demand, you not only learn which terms and phrases to target with SEO, but also learn more about your customers as a whole.

In the article, 11 Things That You Must Include in Your Next Blog Post, written by Rachel Foster for the Business 2 Community, (April 19, 2013) she listed the items that she felt you must include when creating a blog post.

1. You have to have a strong title to attract attention. Your title needs to contain the main keywords included in your post, so when people are googling a specific topic, they will be able to find your post. A strong key phrase will also do. An example of this is, "How to fry fish,"or "Planning a business meeting."  The words "How to... " or "5 tips for" are good formats to use when creating a title.
2. A short summary, a to the point condensation of your post is a sure way to draw people in. If they like what they see here, they will read further. It is not needed, but it sure won't hurt. It is similar to that lead in paragraph of a newspaper article. Remember those?
3. A lead in question or story. Putting a question out front that your post is going to answer is a great help. "Do you know what SEO is? Perhaps including a personal story that you know others will relate to is good draw. "The time I tried to start my BBQ with a blowtorch...."
4. Do not go on and on with long paragraphs. When people are researching for an answer, they are not going to read long articles. The average person, jumps from one site to another, giving each a quick glance to see if it has the information they are seeking. For this reason, use sub-headers and bullet points.  Ms. Foster used this technique and that is why I knew her article was the one I wanted.The numbered list made easy for me to see exactly what it included.
5. If you have a goal to accomplish by your blog post, spell it out! This will be at the end of your post. You may have several links to share, perhaps to a part within your website where more detail information can be found. If your blog is for a cause you can put in links to sites that are involved in this same good cause.
6. Do you have a special sale or training session coming up? At the end, you can place a banner that ties in to your sale brochure, or to a white paper that has information on the subject. This is often something that can be downloaded.
7. Sharing with others is important. At the top or at the end, you often see icons that allow the reader of your blog to share what they have just read with others they know will be interested; Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin as well as Digg Digg and Flare. The last two, float along the side of your blog and may be more easily accessible.
8. "A picture is worth a thousand words" Some topics lend themselves to images and therefore it makes a lot of sense to include a photograph. A good graph or chart that fits the subject is also a good option.
9. Information about you. It is good to give credit to the writer of a blog, especially if it is a company blog. Credit builds morale and perhaps other employees will be encouraged to contribute to the blog.
10. The all important SEO. Many blog carriers like WordPress have plug-in like Yoast that will optimize your blog posts. Yoast will guide you into getting the keywords into the post. There are also free keyword search engines such as Google Adwords
11. All blog posts have categories and tags that can be added. This allows a blog post to be put into a category in the search engines. Note that more is not better.

Quite a bit of good information is included in her article. You do not have to include all of the items all the time, unless they truly fit.

The goal that we have for the coming year, is to learn how to create a good blog post. You will be given key words to research. After completing this you will put it all together in your own words. A good word count for a blog post is 300-350 words. Some prefer a 500 word count and if the subject is an involved one, this might be necessary.

Copying and pasting large amounts of information from your research is not allowed. It is called plagiarizing. Even though I paraphrased the 11 points in Foster's article, I still ran a check to make sure that this post was basically written in my own words. A quote is allowed, but it must be noted as such. It must also have a link to the original source.

You will be given various links to use to check grammar, plagiarizing, translating to British grammar if needed and more. It will truly be a new adventure for most of you. Reaching out to the community for customers, those interested in your cause, via the Internet is how it is done now. In order for it to be effective, it has to be done correctly.

Looking at this post, I can see several areas that could use some improvement. What do you think they are?

#blogwriting  #writingblogs

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Some points to consider when writing:

Since you only have 300-400 words in which to get your point across, look carefully at the words you choose. Your writing style should remain simple, using terms that fit the audience you are reaching out to. If you are after a well-informed techie audience, go ahead, use all the terms needed!

That SEO, while it is important, its place should be at the front of the post and in the title. Do not use it over and over. That is not needed. Links that reach out to other posts with similar content, or served as your source for information are good. Always document your source. Giving credit to others often comes back in a positive way for you!

How you come across is vital. You want your post to be knowledgeable, show that you are familar with the subject.

Our Path in Life...

Our path in life, is not always simple. There are times the map of our life may resemble this monstera leaf. There may not be a smooth road for us to follow. That road may be filled with potholes, or obstacles of various kinds: job loss, health issues, family difficulties. The list can go on and on. In fact. our life at this moment may seem to be a monstrous disaster, just like the name of this leaf.

It is up to you to figure out how to navigate this strange map with all its potholes. Just know that you are not alone. There are people, agencies and networks out there to help you. The main thing is to keep moving, one step at a time. One auto worker who had lost his job said "You cannot be afraid to change directions" He went from working on an assembly line to studying to become a CNA. This was his first step in a new direction. He found out that he loves it!

All of us in the Office Administration Department, will do our best to help you find your new direction. It may be learning new skills to move up in your chosen field, or to totally change gears. IRSC also has tools for you to use. Check out the Career Center link.

Also check out the job links further down this blog. By clicking on one of the tags, you can make the blog show specific subjects. Try it... Explore and learn.

New Links to Try

Thanks to Deanna Foster from down Chastain way... we have some new links for you to try. The first is an interactive link so you can experience the process of the interview.

The second link that Deanna sent is a video that shows the impact of a first impression

Thanks Deanna!!

Simulated Interviews

We had our first simulated interview, complete with a video recording. The brave first interviewee, Melissa King, was interviewed by a panel of three instructors. She received feedback from both the instructors as well as being able to see how she came across via the video.

This is a valuable tool for our students to use. We are not always aware of how we sound, look or act in certain situations. Sign up now. The sign up sheet is on the long table by the teachers work station.

The Most Positive Job Hunter...GOOGLE IT!

There are many good sites. This one here was put up by the State of Georgia's Department of Labor. There are articles that you can download as PDFs as well as other resources. Of course the job fairs are in Georgia... but do not let that stop you from checking out the articles.

Here is the site I found at MyFlorida for those looking for jobs. On the right are links to a number of informative sites including our familiar WorkForce commonly known as One Stop.

Now for our own local county site. St. Lucie County has a listing available to government jobs at this link.

Web & Newspaper Sites Like TCPalm, Career Builder, Yahoo Hot Jobs, Monster Jobs, have a wealth of information and job links. One last link to Jobing.com You just put in your ZIP and off you go!

Labels being created for your use

The labels added to this post are for future use. Blogs are interesting creatures. Those of you who have had to go through the 'joy' of inserting page numbers with section breaks, citations or mail merge, should understand that computer applications sometimes have a mind of their own.

I need to get these labels on the blog and the only way is to 'fudge' a bit :-) When dealing with software you have to keep your attitude in a positive mode! You have to be persistent! You also have to 'believe' that you can accomplish the goal that you have set out to complete.