Blog basics for beginners: Interview with Nathan Bowers

I get a lot of questions about blogging from people who are considering starting a business and are new to the social media world. 

So does my friend Nathan Bowers, who is a web developer by trade, and also an artist/musician and all-around renaissance guy. 

Nathan and I connected on Twitter recently and started a whole series of offline conversations which resulted in this 2-part podcast interview. We wanted to reduce anxiety for new bloggers, and also draw the connection between the importance of good technology crossed with good content.  As we both noted, there are plenty of popular blogs with crappy designs, mine included.

Part 1 of this interview covers: (Listen here - 24 minutes)

1. Defining a goal for your blog
2. Securing an effective domain name
3. Choosing a blogging platform
4. Choosing a blog host
5. Measuring the success of your blog
6. Design basics

Interview notes for Part 1:

Seth Godin's advice on naming
Neutron LLC naming case studies

Part 2 of this interview covers: (Listen here - 24 minutes)

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Creating compelling content

Interview Notes for Part 2:

Wordpress All-in-one SEO plugin
Art and Fear Anecdote from the book Art and Fear

As a side note, Nathan walks his talk and recently redesigned Fred Wilson's popular blog avc.com. He made the connection with Fred by commenting on his blog frequently, and suggesting improvements.  Fred was so intrigued that he hired Nathan, proof that valuable business connections come from social networking done with integrity.

Oh, and for regular podcast listeners, I did something different this time and used Skype.  How does it sound?  Thanks Matthew for patiently explaining to me how Skype recording works!

(Update later this evening:  so sorry I messed up a few of the reference links when I originally posted this - fixed now!)

Comments

[keef]

I'd love to review all the notes but the Art and Fear Anecdote is blank...

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Sorry bout that keef! Fixed now.

-Pam

[Brenda Glover]

Loved it, Pam. Great information from both you and Nathan. Perfect for me who is now thinking of starting a blog. And...it reminded me to let you know that there are many people -- many of them silent to comment like me -- who follow your blog and enjoy it. Keep up the great work.

[Daniel Hunt]

Hi, great post and interview .. I've been developing my own blog for beginners and have posted My Top 10 must read Blogging Articles for Beginners which you can access from my website.. hope it's ok to post my URL link to this, otherwise please click on my name... http://technicalarticles.co.uk/index.php/my-top-10-must-read-blogging-articles-for-beginners/