I intend to have more Little Miss Honey Book Club posts every Wednesday, introducing some books I have read recently or I have recently reread (#nerd alert!). I just got a Public Library Card so I would be reading more books to my hearts content.
To start this week’s book club, I will introduce to you, not one but two books. This books are more for bloggers, more specifically newbie bloggers.
I recently resolved that I want to take blogging seriously so I try to read more about blogging. I may have been blogging intermittenly for years but I never tried to get on the “serious” side of blogging like SEO, Google Analytics, Page Ranking and Focus Keywords. What the heck is that?!! But to take on a title of being a blogger, one must at least have an idea of the technical side of being one.
Book 1: Branding Yourself by Erik Deckers & Kyle Lacy
Looking at the book you might think, This does look like a book of how-to’s for newbie bloggers?!” Hold your horses. Believe me it is. Did you remember that scene in Entourage (series) when Vincent Chase was looking for another manager and he was pitched by the new agency that He is a Brand? Well, that is what the authors of the book is trying to tell us. We all are brands. We have something special to offer to everyone. No need to be a big-ass celebrity. In this day of age, internet is the King. We could resist it (and miss opportunities) or join in and step up in the game. In the original Total Recall movie, we see how (we thought) the future is like. So it happens that this is the future. We have phone guiding us where to go, we communicate with people face-to-face miles away from us through applications and we can look for our long-lost friends with a few clicks on the computer, etc. We have the remote control on what to put out there and what not to divulge to the public. Social Media is an opportunity for growth depending on how you use it. I’ll give you examples. Julia Powell had a blog that chronicled her attempts to make all the menus that Julia Child have written in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. Her blog catch on to people and she gotten a book deal as well as a movie adaptation of her book. BryanBoy’s entertaining and racy blog has caught Tyra Bank’s attention and made him a correspondent in America’s Next Top Model. Instagramer “Nomyourself” posts pictures of her vegetarian food creations in Instagram. She got so many followers, she was offered a recipe book deal and several TV guestings. This book will teach you how create your blog, try to increase your traffic and how to use the other types of social media like Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. It is written in a very clear, detailed and humorous manner.
Book 2: Blogging by MIllion, Earn by Million by Laura Maya
This is actually an ebook. This is a very concise book teaching you the elementaries of blogging. Laura Maya would enumerate names of good web hosts, sites that would track ranking & SEO, affiliates and applications. She teaches you how to monetize through blogging. She also laid out steps in starting a e-commerce site for those interested in using a blog to sell items. It is straight to the point and best to have a copy for future reference.
I am still in the learning mode for all this blogging stuff. I am practically a baby in the blogging industry and I am willing to learn more. If you have any tips or suggestions for me, all blogger gurus out there, show some love and share with me some of your expertise please.. Appreciate it a lot if you do.