Steinar Knutsen » blog

3 Lessons on Blogging this Week

Steinar — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:40:31 +0000

I had a great week meeting with several clients, all of whom are new to blogging or have a blog but still have yet to find their rhythm. It is not surprising that many people think blogging is either nerve-racking, a waste of time or difficult in terms of finding something to say. Add in the concept of SEO and people really start to shut down.

So, in my discussions there are three main lessons I reinforced with my clients:

1) Start small. It’s not necessary to write every day and your posts don’t need to be very long. Find your voice over time and see blogging as a journey.

2) Get over your fear. People may agree or disagree with what you have to say, but if you’re honest it’s unlikely that people will criticize you. Of course, depending on the subject and tone of your post this may vary. The point is, if you’re new to blogging don’t be afraid to get started and put your ideas out there. You may learn something in the process and meet new people as well.

3) Be optimistic and keep a postive mental attitude. I hear so many excuses why people don’t want to blog. For me it’s about helping others and reinforcing the learning I’ve had in my journey. No one likes a complainer so, look on the bright side and people are more likely to continue reading your blog and engage with you along the way.

That’s it – something to chew on for a couple days.

What do you think? Are these lessons you can relate to?

Publish audio to WordPress post with iPhone via email (Audio)

Steinar — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:39:55 +0000

This is a follow up to my previous post in which I surface a series of questions to consider when publishing audio to your blog or website.
Publish Audio to Wordpres with iPhone

UPDATE: Here are full details on
How to post audio directly to WordPress from iPhone

In this audio post I describe how I am posting audio to WordPress with the following applications:

- VR+ iPhone application to record in MP3 format
- Posterous.com to forward the incoming audio file
- WordPress as the final posting location of my audio file

This results is a post that is both browser and mobile friendly. Time to post from start to finish takes about 2 minutes and is automatically shared via Ping.fm on Twitter and my other social media networks. Have you experimented with audio on your blog? What’s working for you?

How do you post audio to your website – some questions to ask before you start (Audio)

Steinar — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:18:08 +0000

Some of us would like to post audio to our blog or website, either from the computer or from a mobile device such as the iPhone.
Post Audio to Your Website

UPDATE: Here are full details on
How to post audio directly to WordPress from iPhone

In this post I give you a few questions to consider, such as:

- how to post audio
- what tools to use to post audio
- what quality settings to use
- where and how visitors listen to your audio
- where audio files are stored

In my next audio post I will provide you some insight into the latest techniques I’m using.

9 Ways to Find New Content Ideas for Your Blog, Podcast or Videos

Steinar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:32:54 +0000

Searching for new content ideas for your blog, podcast or videos? I just listened to a great podcast from Jason Van Orden and here are my notes and personal comments.

First, set up a capture system to catch ideas when they happen.

MindMap – I use http://bubbl.us/ which is a great free online tool for collaborative mind maps.
Notebook – I use my Pulse Livescribe, which also captures audio. Voted one of the best new products in 2009.
Mobile Recorder – I use my iPhone Recorder app to either capture ideas or create podcasts on the fly
Google Docs – this is great especially if you are working with a team. I use Apple Works (Pages, KeyNote, or Numbers).
or whatever other system works for you

Categorize your ideas. For me these include video, audio, stories, blog post, etc. Don’t get stuck trying to figure out what to write when it’s actually time to sit down and type it out.

9 Ways to Find New Content Ideas for Your Blog …

5 x 5 – what are the 5 questions people always ask me within my niche? What are the 5 questions people should ask me? Create content that answers these ten questions. Better yet, make this 10×10 or more …
Keyword research tools - goal is to create content that people want, especially when searching on search engines. A good tool, for example, is the Google search-based keyword tool. Find out which terms are being searched most often, but have little competition.
Fill your feed reader – sign up for a free Google Reader account and start subscribing to popular bloggers or podcasters in your niche. Use the information you find to generate new ideas and create new content either in response to or in addition to relevant discussions you run across.
Ethically borrow – see what content is popular on other blogs and adapt that approach to your niche. Do not copy their content, but seek to understand what it is about that content that’s engaging and borrow what works. If you can, give credit to the author with a link back to their site.
Technorati – this is a great RSS aggregator that has a vast collection of blog posts in one place – all categorized and searchable.
Google Alerts - this allows you to save a search from Google and receive an email whenever your search returns new results. The frequency can be as it happens, daily, weeekly basis. Check out Google Alerts.
Pre-filtered content - find what’s hot, what is most popular. Check delicious for example. If something has been bookmarked frequently then it might be content to consider. What’s trending in your niche and what do you have to say about it? Another choice might be Digg.
Re-purpose content – do you have old content that can be reformatted or repackaged and redistributed? Maybe an old blog post you can turn into a podcast episode or a few slides for a video on Youtube? Find your oldest, most popular content and post an update or reflection on what’s changed since the original post.
Ask your audience – ask on Twitter, Linkedin Answers, etc. Put together a quick survey on Survey Monkey and ask customers what they want. Send a simple email – “hey, I’m thinking about such and such … please reply and let me know your thoughts.”

Based on my experience this looks like a very good list. Pick one or two and see if you can come up with a list of 20 content ideas right now. I bet it’s easier than you think.

What do you think? Are these ideas you can use? How do you come up with ideas for new content?

Get Over It and Start Blogging (Audio)

Steinar — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:27:56 +0000

The most common question I get from business people is “What should I blog about?”. In this audio post I’ll talk about tactics to overcome your fear of blogging and how to leverage audio to create a library of ideas.

What Should I Blog About?

How do you come up with topics to blog about? What’s holding you back from blogging?

Does Audio or Video Really Engage Blog Readers? (Audio)

Steinar — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:20:11 +0000

In this audio post I discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using audio and video on your blog.

003-audio-versus-video.mp3

Advantages of Audio Blogging
•   Quicker to record and post
•   Fewer tools required
•   Faster download
•   Greater reach with MP3 players

Advantages of Video Blogging
•   Great to put a face with your name and voice
•   Good for presentations or tutorials
•   Good to leverage YouTube channel network
•   Most engaging web content according to studies

In either case, audio and video both add color to the standard text based blog, much like photos make your posts pop. Experiment with both and find which works best for you. You may find that video works in some cases, while audio is better for others.

What are your thoughts? Are you finding success with audio and/or video. Which seems to work best given the topic or situation?

Drive More Traffic to Your Blog and Engage Readers (Audio)

Steinar — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:10:25 +0000

In this audio post I’ll touch on a few techniques to drive more traffic to your blog and engage readers in a more meaningful way.

002-more-blog-followers.mp3

Topics Covered:
• Creating unique and compelling content
• Search Engine Optimization and long-tail keywords
• Commenting on third-party websites
• Leveraging Social Media

How are you attracting more readers? Which tactics are getting the best results?