We now have 2 Seminars!

The original Blogosopher- or “Blogosphere” (for those with Dyslexia), is a 3.5 hour seminar on how to make the Internet work for your business. At the bottom of this page is an outline of some of the subjects we cover.

It’s new name is Websitetology 101

You will leave the seminar able to build an effective site- that you can maintain yourself, and knowing the tricks to search engine optimization so that your site will be found.

If you wonder if the seminar is for you- see this post:http://blogosopher.com/?p=9

The new seminar- is all WordPress- Websitetology WP advanced

We spend 3.5 hours learning all the tips and tricks of WordPress- a very cool and easy to use Open Source (free!) Content Management System that is designed for Blogging- but offers so much more, it’s really a fantastic way to build and maintain a website for business.

Each seminar is $79 if you register 12 hours in advance (you can do that on this site- at the sign-up page) If you walk in, it’s an additional $15 for onsite registration- cash or check only.

We highly recommend taking both classes- the first one is the big picture course- where you learn about the web, types of sites, how search works, how to compete with the big boys- and outsmart them, and be highly visible online- as well as an intro to a really great piece of software- WordPress.

While we concentrate on using a Blog (short for weB LOG) to build traffic to your website- you will learn how to analyze site stats (and all sites should have stats- you just may not know about them) to refine your content. We will teach you how your site design can be optimized for search engines- which will drive more than 70% of your traffic to your site (without having to pay for it) if you do things right.

Internet novices to people who already have successful web businesses have come to learn about how this Blog technology is changing the web. The Blog software we demonstrate, Word Press, is very smart, server side software, that makes it easy for anyone- to build and maintain a professional looking website- that can be updated at will. The code it generates meets all W3C standards, it notifies search engines and your customers that you have new content with out you doing anything other than adding content. We introduce you to RSS which will change your online relationship with your customers- and how you use the web.

If some of this didn’t make sense to you- don’t worry- it will after the seminar.

The WP Advanced site- was developed because some people just want to learn about the WordPress application in depth. We cover each part of the software in depth- including multiple authors, trackbacks, pings, password protection, dissecting themes, key plug-ins, and how to get help when things go wrong. While some attendees feel very comfortable with the interface and the program, many asked for a more relaxed look at WordPress so we created the WP advanced class for them.
If you have a group and want to arrange for short introduction to Blogs and how they win the search game- we can work a group rate- or if you want to host the seminar for your professional organization (ad club, Chamber of Commerce etc.) we can split revenues with you.

Instead of giving away trash and trinkets- or “promotional items” to your clients- help them grow their business by hosting the seminar for them- as a sponsored event- or by buying them admission at a discount. Please contact the chief Websitetologist at [email protected]

Websitetology Topics
What is the internet:

• Types of servers
• Domain name
• Hosting
• Mail

Types of sites:

• Static/dynamic/live
• W3C, 508 (screen reader)
• HTML/Flash/CSS
• Communities: AOL, Yahoo groups, Wikis, BB’s, NewsGroups (Etiquette)

Software:

• Browser wars
• Why Firefox.
• What is open source?

Hosting basics:

• Serving platforms
• Control panels
• Stats
• Connectivity/redundancy
• URL registration
• How to look things up

All about E-mail:

• E-mail broadcast
• What is SPAM/ CAN SPAM
• HTML e-mail
• Opt-in
• Good e-mail etiquette

Search:

• Search=Use=commerce
• Google, Yahoo, others
• “Search Engine optimization”
• How search ranks
• How web stats can unveil business for you

Blogs:

• What they are- and aren’t
• Web Log=BLOG- journal
• Active web site- Back end database
• Content management system
• Interaction- live.
• RSS

Why Blogs are important:

• Updated frequently
• Good clean code
• Low cost
• High interactivity
• Interaction
• Integration into a static site

Blog Options:

• Blogger, Moveable Type, TypePad, WordPress
• Themes- CSS
• Extensions/Plug-ins

Content:

• The holy grail of the Internet.
• Writing for an audience
• Style
• How to attribute content
• Links
• Format
• Promoting your site
• Inviting your reader in.
• How to analyze your content
• How to analyze your keywords

What is a blogosopher?

• How do you contribute to the community?
• How do you get started?

some student feedback:

http://calmphotos.com/?p=33

Shel Holtz is showing more video with bad audio. Showcasing what shows up on youtube- and stays online forever.

Talk about User generated content- as spec work.

Embrace tools of Dialog- conversation- walls between PR and marketing are crumbling. But don’t fake it.

Leverage is with he who seizes conversation- not who starts or controls it.

Our server went down- or I was blocked by the firewall- Switched to writing in Word- instead of in WordPress in real time.

Probably due to one client who goes overbandwidth at the end of the month- every month.
Secondlife- crayonville has a Thursday morning meeting on new marketing at 9am.
Most companies think building an island- and it will solve everything-
But- what it takes is to have things that vend- the coca cola brand experience- machinima- uploaded to you tube- virtual thirst.

He’s not a gamer.
Not sure if Secondlife is the answer.
Open source software- and Open source marketing- James Cherkoff change this manifesto.
Beastie Boys- camera experience. 50 cams- shoot video- then “awesome, I Fuckin’ Shot that.
5 action steps.

• Start a blog
• Set up a linkedin profile
• Start reading feeds
• Get a secondlife.
• Subscribe to podcasts- he likes forimmediaterelease.biz

Resistance-

• People will say bad things about us
• We can’t have negative opinions on our site
• We’ll lose control of our image
• We’ll lose control of the audience.

Guess what- it will happen on your site- or elsewhere.
Brand is how I feel when I see your trademark- brand is owned by consumers.

Afternoon session: Begins with RSS.

Really Simple Syndication
no spam, no need to surf or visit sites- distributes web content to other publishers.
Still takes the same amount of time to read-

He reads 275 must read feeds daily.

Originally developed by Netscape- for the MyNetscape service. Dave Weiner developed rss 2.0, an aggregator.

He uses feed demon, it costs. We use the Sage plugin for Firefox. Feed demon uses bold and a number in brackets to show new content (2) as opposed to the star of Sage. Shel never goes to the site- he just reads the feed- on the edge.

Example of Davis California having content about the city. Asks how many people go to the City of Dayton site daily.

Siemens uses RSS for employee communications.

Using blog software as a content manager- for the rss feeds as information for clients. SharpReader which requires .net stuff.

How many people are subscribed to your RSS: it’s a file on your server- but pings will mess it up- feedburner will let you know as well-

Discussion of RSS vs downloadable desktop notifiers. I suggest you don’t want to install something on your customers desktop that could interfere with their software.

Bandwidth of feeds- if you have so many people receiving your feed- you may not want to pay for bandwidth for the whole post.

Microsoft calls them webfeeds instead of RSS

Blogs: the software-

• lightweight CMS
• reverse chronogical orders
• flexible design via templates
• Can be used for regular websites

What makes it a blog instead of a site- because you are using commenting. Turn it off- and it’s not a blog anymore. Shortening of the word WeB LOG- as opposed to the server log-

Dave Wiener- developed RadioUserland- doesn’t have commenting on- he says comment on your own blog (just like Seth Godin).

He showcases Moveable Type (on your server) from 6part- and Typepad (on their server) –

explains that University of FL got tired of waiting for IT department to post content for them. Saves money- and works.

OpensourceCMS.com to compare and use cms systems.

His blog- a shel of my former self–

Informal – emphasis on voice- many approaches to writing posts: Quick pointers and reports, longer thoughtful advice- and video etc.

External:

• Build a network of connections
• Human Touch points
• Increase search engine visibility
• grow brand visibility
• position executives

lost content again. not doing this in WordPress live anymore. So links will have to be built later.

• Employees have web access at home
– External experiences translate internally
• Faster dissemination of news
• Automatic internal RSS feeds
• Knowledge sharing
• Collaboration/brainstorming
• Institutional memory

Cathy Sierra – Creating passionate users – death threat.-
Sun about leaks: http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/a_simple_request_to_sun

Blog search tools-
Technorati only gives first page results-
Sphere
Ice rocket
Blogpulse

Subscribe to the search tools using RSS.
Thenewpr.com has blogging policies on the web.
http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Resources/BloggingPolicy

group knowledge sharing

monitoring using technorati- he uses google news feeds- a podzinger service- which transcribes podcasts- plus technorati searches- and sphere custom feed.
For company names, product names, service names- very helpful.

 Well, if you are the king of the Internet, and have a market cap higher that the GNP of all the developed countries in the world plus Bill Gates and Warren Buffet (well- almost) you have, well, at least 45.

Official Google Blog: The wisdom of orkut

1. More Google Blogs
2. AdWords API Blog
3. Blogger Buzz
4. Blogs of Note
5. Dentro de AdSense
6. Dentro de AdWords
7. El Blog de Google México
8. Google AJAX Search API Blog
9. Google Analytics Blog
10. Google Checkout API Blog
11. Google Code – Featured Projects
12. Google Code – Updates
13. Google CPG
14. Google Librarian Central
15. Google Polska – oficjalny blog
16. Google Talkabout
17. Google Testing Blog
18. Google Web Toolkit Blog
19. Google Webmaster Central Blog
20. Google 黑板报 — Google 中国的博客网志
21. Google 한국 블로그
22. Il blog ufficiale di AdSense in Italiano
23. Inside AdSense
24. Inside AdSense – Das offizielle deutsche AdSense-Blog
25. Inside AdSense: Het Officiële Nederlandse Google AdSense Blog
26. Inside AdWords
27. Inside Google Book Search
28. Inside Google Desktop
29. O blog do Google Brasil
30. Official Google Base Blog
31. Official Google Blog
32. Official Google Checkout Blog
33. Official Google Data APIs Blog
34. Official Google Docs & Spreadsheets Blog
35. Official Google Enterprise Blog
36. Official Google Italia Blog
37. Official Google Japan Blog
38. Official Google Mac Blog
39. Official Google Maps API Blog
40. Official Google Reader Blog
41. Official Google Research Blog
42. Official Google Video Blog
43. Por dentro do AdSense
44. Webmaster-Zentrale Blog
45. Официальный блог – Google Россия

Still not convinced blogs are great business tools? If I hear one more “I want a website- not a blog” from someone who can’t tell a browser from a broaster- it’s time to leave Dayton OH for somewhere where people want to learn how to win at business.

The word Blog needs to go away. It’s a very smart, backend for a sophisticated content management system that can get to the top of Google without having to pay for your position. Blogs can also allow anyone to manage content for a site.

If Google is doing it- why aren’t you? Take the Websitetology seminar and become a brilliant asset to your company.