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Winter ABC Day 9: Blogging 101 from the School of Life

The beauty of being a Gen Y or millenial is the fact that we relate so well with Gen Z.

I relate with my siblings born in the mid 90s and early 2000s in the same manner that I relate to children born in the noughties (2010s). With that said, what can I teach a class of centennials about blogging or the internet?

If anybody needs a masterclass, it's me. But life is a good teacher so maybe I can school y'all from that angle. Let's start with the internet! The internet is like a box of Quality Street sweets. There are multicoloured wrappings for different flavoured sweets. You can shop, learn, be entertained or entertain, socialise all in one space. Just like the box of Quality Street sweets, you have an assortment all in one space. Wreck it Ralph Breaks the Internet is the PowerPoint presentation for this section.

So let's move on to blogging. This is a creature that I educated myself about. I previously shared an article about why I started blogging? I was inspired by a character from a TV series. There is so much to blogging including video blogging. But if you aren't really into vlogging (video blogging), you can still say your piece behind text.

Remember what I shared about over 3.8 billion people globally using the internet? Imagine how many people you can share your thoughts, ideas and knowledge with through your blog. The first step to blogging is to know your niche. Sounds delicious but it's not some type of French food. A niche is a segmented group of people who share the same interests. For example I'm a mum with a pre-teen daughter. I can  start a blog about raising a pre-teen that speaks to parents with pre-teens and teenagers. The specific people that I'm talking to are my niche. Say with me, "NICHE". Merci beaucoup!

You can now create your blog name which must be catchy and relate to your niche. Please do cross check for the availability of that name online. There are so many songs that have the title 'I Wish' or 'Baby'. In that same manner, chances are high that another blogger could share the same title or name that you want for your blog.

Professional bloggers have what is called a content plan. This is where you plan the topics of discussion on your blog. You also include the day, and time of publishing as well as the platforms to distribute the blog. You can add some pizzazz to your blog with really cool images, preferably your own. I told you about how Canva is my go-to designing application. You can use Canva to design your blog artwork using the templates. Bit.ly is a good application for shortening links to your blog. According to marketing research, shorter links have higher number of clicks than a long links like this one: https://therealladye.blogspot.com/2019/06/winter-abc-day-6-thank-you-carey-hart/.

Building a good blog doesn't happen overnight however it is key to start. Start blogging and continue building your blog. You will get to the point that you want to buy a domain. Depending on the number of visitors to your blog, you will monetize it. And then you can afford tools from applications to gadgets that will improve your blog.

To summarize this lesson, your take away should be your DIGITAL FOOTPRINT. Remember the internet never forgets. Ask Kevin Hart and the Oscars. Whatever you search, or use the internet for, let it be the reflection of how you want to be perceived. The margin between your online persona and real personality should be a thin as thread. Ain't nobody got time for catfish!

Now go on and be your ancestors wildest dreams.

P.S. Always write your own love story!

Ciao!

Lady E 

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