Tech Blog

[#1]

Earlier today Laura, our awesome-est community manager, posted that Future Shop is looking for Guest Bloggers -- which I think is a great idea! New blood, new ideas and all that.

Now I can't speak for the Laura and the Future Shop management team, but I can tell you a bit about why and how I blog.

It works like a toaster - the why
I've always been interested in tech. In my early years I was involved with the Amiga users community in Edmonton, developed and managed Global Edmonton's first website, and had a weekly tech segment in the morning newscast.

As you can tell, I've not only been interested in tech, I've been interested in *talking about* tech. My mission, as I saw it (and still see it today) is to make tech simple, easy to understand, engaging and entertaining. To my way of thinking, tech should be as simple as a toaster -- an appliance that works as you expect it to.

Big on Blogging - the how
Since I'm already interested in tech, and enjoy talking about tech, it was a fairly logical leap for me to blog about it. The hard part was to actually figure out how to do it.

I`m not going to get too deep into the mechanics of web page design and various Content Management Systems (CMS), as every blogging platform is different. Rather, I`m going to overview the content development process that works for me. Strap in, sit back and enjoy the flight.

1. Find a the topic
   This sounds logical, yet can be the hardest part of the whole process. Developing a blog post really isn't all about you and your interests. Instead, your interests simply provide you with the technical knowledge to accurately write about your subject.
   
   Selecting your blog post is about your *audiences* interests too. There's no point in writing something if nobody's going to read it - you're just wasting resources - so you'd better be sure you're writing about something that's current, topical, interesting, or controversial, in other words something that has or will attract an audience.
2. Rough it out
   Ok, you've got a topic, now it's time to build a frame upon which to hang your lovely and poetic prose.
   
   It's the frame that really helps me make sure I stay on topic, cover all the points I want to cover, and don't miss any important points.
   
   When I write, the frame I use really depends on the subject. If I'm writing a review, I'll likely want to write about features, pros, cons, benefits, pricing, maybe my experience with the unit, and other anecdotal points of interest. If I'm writing a how-to, I'll likely want to craft it like a recipe; a list of ingredients, followed by a step-by-step process description.
   
   
   
3. Flesh it out
   Ok, now that I've got the frame, or bones of the post, it's time to flesh it out. This is where I take the points I've selected, and write specifically to them. I better develop ideas, add in colour or points of interest, and make sure I've addressed each point, and only that point.
   
   Often, as I'm doing this, I'll get an idea or thought that would go great in another part, or I notice that one point isn't working out as well as I'd like. No matter. I leave it in, for now, and keep on going. I prefer to edit and polish after I've completed my work, rather than as I go -- that's too distracting.
   
   Once it's fleshed out, you've got your basic blog post. The rest is just gravy.
   
4. Get some images and supporting links
   If you've not captured them prior to writing, now is the time to do it. Since you've got your post done, you have an idea of what areas would benefit with a little visual help -- an image is worth a thousand words, etc.
   
   Now's also the time to review your post, plop in additional supporting links. Wikipedia can be your best friend here
   
5. Layout the final post
   In my case, I work in Google Docs for the previous steps, then past it into the blog Content Management System. Your work-flow may be different, but this lets me work offline, sort-of, develop the post with additional text creation tools, spell check and finish polishing/editing the piece.
   
6. Publish
   The next-to-last step.Cut, Paste, insert relevant tags, verify links work, and any other final touch-ups. Done.
   
7. Follow-up
   Now that your post is out there in the wild, you have to support and maintain it. Comments will come flooding in. People may agree or disagree with you. You have to have an approach to responding appropriately. A blog post is not a one-way broadcast. It is a conversation.

Wash, rinse, repeat. This is my basic blog posting workflow. Sure, there are other ways to do this, and I`m sure my fellow Future Shop Techblog-ers will have their own tweaks to my process (and I`d love to get your comments on it guys!), but this is what works for me.

Message Edited by bgrier on 11-24-2009 09:14 PM