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Bloggers Boot Camp: Learning How to Build, Write, and Run a Successful Blog
Bloggers Boot Camp shows you how to build a great blog from the ground up. This isn't a book about technology -- it's a book about engaging millions of readers. Starting your blog is easy, but building and maintaining a popular one is hard.
Blogging experts John Biggs and Charlie White (Gizmodo, Mashable and TechCrunch) share their secrets from the frontline showing you how to blog with quality and flair, find the best stories, and attract millions of readers to your blog.
Blogging goes way beyond writing. It's a conversation between you and your audience. Guiding you to blogging success Bloggers Boot Camp shows you how * Uncover a niche for your blog, and realize key factors about yourself that you need to know before you write a single word.
* Gather the ideal tools for blogging, without spending too much or approaching it underequipped.
*Discover the best ways to spread the word about your new blog.
* Find the most compelling stories to write about, and get the information before anyone else does.
* Transform your writing by learning the subtle art of constructing a compelling, engaging blog post.
* Stimulate your readers to directly participate in the two-way conversation, perhaps the most exciting part of this new way of communicating.
Blogging experts John Biggs and Charlie White (Gizmodo, Mashable and TechCrunch) share their secrets from the frontline showing you how to blog with quality and flair, find the best stories, and attract millions of readers to your blog.
Blogging goes way beyond writing. It's a conversation between you and your audience. Guiding you to blogging success Bloggers Boot Camp shows you how * Uncover a niche for your blog, and realize key factors about yourself that you need to know before you write a single word.
* Gather the ideal tools for blogging, without spending too much or approaching it underequipped.
*Discover the best ways to spread the word about your new blog.
* Find the most compelling stories to write about, and get the information before anyone else does.
* Transform your writing by learning the subtle art of constructing a compelling, engaging blog post.
* Stimulate your readers to directly participate in the two-way conversation, perhaps the most exciting part of this new way of communicating.
224 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 2011
17 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Charlie White
1 book33 followersCharlie White is the co-author of "Bloggers Boot Camp: Learning How to Build, Write, and Run a Successful Blog," the critically acclaimed and definitive guide for professional bloggers and online journalists.
In his 25-year career as an author, Charlie’s written more than 9,000 published articles, totaling more than 3 million words. He’s written for dozens of print publications, including Wired, Popular Science and Maximum PC magazines. Online, he was the traffic-leading author and Senior Editor of Mashable, was the most popular author at gadget site Gizmodo, and was the traffic-leading Deputy Editor of NBC Universal’s DVICE.
As a consultant, Charlie served as talent agent and personal manager for the world-famous illusionist Simon Pierro, known as “The iPad Magician.” Charlie introduced Simon to U.S. audiences, securing appearances for Simon on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, NBC TODAY, The Wall Street Journal‘s “Lunch Break” and Penn & Teller’s “Fool Us”.
In his 30-year broadcast career, Charlie’s experience included directing six national TV series for PBS. They included long-running directing assignments with The Nightly Business Report, Star Gazer, Dollar Signs, Sewing With Nancy and Techno@bytes, and executive producing and directing the hit national PBS cooking series, Ecole de Cuisine. His specialty was promotional spot creation, for which he won a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award. He also won the coveted Gold Medallion from the Promax/Broadcast Designers Association for promo of the year, as well as the First Place Award for Excellence from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association for writing, producing and directing the best promo of the year.
While beginning his television career, instead of starving Charlie was a radio announcer for classical and jazz stations in Miami and North Carolina. He was also a professional saxophonist, playing with small groups and big bands. The 15-year musical adventure included a seven-year gig with “Los Cumbiamberos,” a Latino orchestra with which he recorded five albums, and one of those was for CBS Records.
Charlie’s currently living an unusually happy life in a small village on the windswept prairie of the central United States, just outside Milwaukee. Nestled between the whispering evergreens and amber waves of grain — but not too far from a major airport and fast Internet access — is the Midwest Test Facility, where Charlie delights in enhancing the lives of readers, audiences, entertainers and entrepreneurs.
In his 25-year career as an author, Charlie’s written more than 9,000 published articles, totaling more than 3 million words. He’s written for dozens of print publications, including Wired, Popular Science and Maximum PC magazines. Online, he was the traffic-leading author and Senior Editor of Mashable, was the most popular author at gadget site Gizmodo, and was the traffic-leading Deputy Editor of NBC Universal’s DVICE.
As a consultant, Charlie served as talent agent and personal manager for the world-famous illusionist Simon Pierro, known as “The iPad Magician.” Charlie introduced Simon to U.S. audiences, securing appearances for Simon on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, NBC TODAY, The Wall Street Journal‘s “Lunch Break” and Penn & Teller’s “Fool Us”.
In his 30-year broadcast career, Charlie’s experience included directing six national TV series for PBS. They included long-running directing assignments with The Nightly Business Report, Star Gazer, Dollar Signs, Sewing With Nancy and Techno@bytes, and executive producing and directing the hit national PBS cooking series, Ecole de Cuisine. His specialty was promotional spot creation, for which he won a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award. He also won the coveted Gold Medallion from the Promax/Broadcast Designers Association for promo of the year, as well as the First Place Award for Excellence from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association for writing, producing and directing the best promo of the year.
While beginning his television career, instead of starving Charlie was a radio announcer for classical and jazz stations in Miami and North Carolina. He was also a professional saxophonist, playing with small groups and big bands. The 15-year musical adventure included a seven-year gig with “Los Cumbiamberos,” a Latino orchestra with which he recorded five albums, and one of those was for CBS Records.
Charlie’s currently living an unusually happy life in a small village on the windswept prairie of the central United States, just outside Milwaukee. Nestled between the whispering evergreens and amber waves of grain — but not too far from a major airport and fast Internet access — is the Midwest Test Facility, where Charlie delights in enhancing the lives of readers, audiences, entertainers and entrepreneurs.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 19, 2019
The first blogging book I read, it informed without overwhelming, using a friendly not authoritative writing style. I've reread the book multiple times and will incorporate this writing style into my blog.
White and Biggs suggest blogging multiples times a day (10-20!) to get readers. Not me! It takes me hours to get one post out and it could put off followers. I unsubscribe when I get too many emails from a company. But it worked for them working on Gizmodo , Mashable , and CrunchGear.
"…blogging is about writing a lot
-producing videos, podcasts, and images
-making things quickly and making them great"
-coherent, clear, concise, and accessible
-entertainment value, understandability
-conversational
My favorite blogging kid does this well and is a joy to read.
Three more things:
1) Research and read one hour daily, first thing in the morning. I used to write first thing, but I always run out of time to read so this fits books in.
2) Write 1,000 words daily. Good challenge, especially since editing formatting, and picture-finding takes so much time.
3) Take weekends off.
I did not want to return this book to the library! The large size and encouraging subtitle reminded me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with "Don't Panic" on its cover.
<
This is the cover of the edition I read.
White and Biggs suggest blogging multiples times a day (10-20!) to get readers. Not me! It takes me hours to get one post out and it could put off followers. I unsubscribe when I get too many emails from a company. But it worked for them working on Gizmodo , Mashable , and CrunchGear.
"Bloggers take small stories and magnify them with research, opinion, and humor."
"…blogging is about writing a lot
-producing videos, podcasts, and images
-making things quickly and making them great"
-coherent, clear, concise, and accessible
-entertainment value, understandability
-conversational
"The best writers pour personality onto the page, making you feel the way they feel."
My favorite blogging kid does this well and is a joy to read.
Three more things:
1) Research and read one hour daily, first thing in the morning. I used to write first thing, but I always run out of time to read so this fits books in.
2) Write 1,000 words daily. Good challenge, especially since editing formatting, and picture-finding takes so much time.
3) Take weekends off.
I did not want to return this book to the library! The large size and encouraging subtitle reminded me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with "Don't Panic" on its cover.
<
This is the cover of the edition I read.
November 15, 2012
This was a very good book that I highly recommend. It is not meant to be a bible for blogging, but I was able to take some really good information from it. I like how they stated to try and blog 1,000 words a day minimum. Although I a am not quite there yet, as I still struggle to find things to blog about, I am definitely getting there averaging a little less than 200 words than their recommended threshold.
They give a brief but brilliant introduction to the Inverted Pyramid Style of news writing, which was also very helpful for me in having a layout to follow for stories in my blog. I am glad that I used this book to help me get started with my blog.
Cafe Con Leche
http://bit.ly/ZBRDKX
They give a brief but brilliant introduction to the Inverted Pyramid Style of news writing, which was also very helpful for me in having a layout to follow for stories in my blog. I am glad that I used this book to help me get started with my blog.
Cafe Con Leche
http://bit.ly/ZBRDKX
November 19, 2017
I wanted to find out some general tips and advice about which blogging platform to use and how to go about doing some basic blogging. Bloggers Boot Camp is the first book on blogging I've read and it covered all this and a lot more.
It includes a whole array of advice on things technical and how to go about writing the content of a blog. It is also aimed at people who want to go into blogging to make a living or earn some money from it. I skimmed some of this latter part - but it all looks like good advice.
There's also some interesting personal stories from the authors which help to add to the general interest of the book.
I found it to be written in an easy to follow format without having to be a technical wizard to understand it.
I think this is probably a good general book for most people - though with extra details for those who want to take things further. So I can recommend it for those purposes.
It includes a whole array of advice on things technical and how to go about writing the content of a blog. It is also aimed at people who want to go into blogging to make a living or earn some money from it. I skimmed some of this latter part - but it all looks like good advice.
There's also some interesting personal stories from the authors which help to add to the general interest of the book.
I found it to be written in an easy to follow format without having to be a technical wizard to understand it.
I think this is probably a good general book for most people - though with extra details for those who want to take things further. So I can recommend it for those purposes.
April 14, 2016
Other than repeatedly referring to things as 'out of the scope' of the book and not offering a further reading section, this was actually a pretty solid blogging book. Instead of focusing on monetizing the blog and ad revenue, there was a lot more focus on the content of the post and the writing style (my favourite section being on the Top 50 Grammar and Usage mistakes, which taught me a couple of things!) which is something I've been looking for.
Both John and Charlie have had extremely lucrative blogging careers with Gizmodo and others, and it was impressive to get such down to earth and helpful advice from blogging legends. Whereas some of the other blogging books I've read have seemed to want to keep the secrets under wraps, this was a very transparent and open book, and I feel as though I've learnt a lot from it because of that.
Both John and Charlie have had extremely lucrative blogging careers with Gizmodo and others, and it was impressive to get such down to earth and helpful advice from blogging legends. Whereas some of the other blogging books I've read have seemed to want to keep the secrets under wraps, this was a very transparent and open book, and I feel as though I've learnt a lot from it because of that.
February 21, 2017
Nifty! It gets right down to business with a serious bootcamp layout. The chapters are fun, relevant and start your blog from scratch. Page one gets you right down into the mud. By the end, you'll feel like Arnold with an empire! Highly recommended for newbs and as a refresher skinny, old folks.
Yes, this Arnold :)
Yes, this Arnold :)
November 11, 2011
A good book useful for all kinds of bloggers. Particularly for those interested in building a big corporate blog, from Gizmodo to Huffington Post. This means the direction the book progresses toward is to build a multiple-person blog for breaking news. Also good for those who see themselves as less diary-keepers and more writers.
August 11, 2017
This book was amazing. I would never ever write a blog likes theirs, but they definitely know what they are talking about. Lots of helpful suggestions that I can adapt to create a more reasonable blog for me. I may not make a hundred gazillion page views in five minutes, but I think I can create a decent blog with their help.
January 20, 2015
Some good insight, if you want to be a proper blogger it's a good start. Written by two writers from the biggest tech blogs in the world. They treat blogging as a digital form of journalism. No revelations for me personally. But worth the read.
July 30, 2024
The book maybe a little dated (copyright 2012), but for both old or new blogger; it is still a treasure.
Definitely full of suggestions, guidance, and reflections on the world of blogging. A valuable tead.
Definitely full of suggestions, guidance, and reflections on the world of blogging. A valuable tead.
February 15, 2014
Lots of great info.....makes me think....
August 12, 2017
Concise authoritative instructions from authors who are clearly at the top of their game.
November 9, 2019
I love the book. The one book that teaches me blogging.
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link: https://aarifbillah.com/blogging-blog...
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link: https://aarifbillah.com/blogging-blog...
September 15, 2021
Good information and insight into how well structured blogging endeavors function. Main takeaway: blogging is hard work.
September 10, 2021
Decent blogging advice from experienced bloggers (they've worked for Mashable, Gizmodo, and CrunchGear). The book was published in 2012, so a lot of the advice is dated, particularly about technical aspects.
Notes
Target Practice
Always Be Posting. Try to post at least 1000 words per day, in one or more posts.
Hello, World
Your bio
• Who you are you
• What you do
• Why that's important
• Why you are uniquely qualified to write about your topic.
• Good to have a "mix of mirth and cold, hard facts."
• Work/educational experience: list of pertinent jobs/degrees
• Play experience: list of pertinent hobbies
• Location history: something to give you character and encourage local news to pick up your story
• Notable facts: pertinent things no one knows about you
What to Write About
10 questions to ask before posting
1. Is it new? Ensure what you think is a new really is.
2. Is there something fascinating and different about it?
3. Does anybody really care about this?
4. Is there something hilarious, quirky, or unbelievable about it?
5. Have you had a personal experience with it?
6. Is there a good graphic or photo available?
7. Is everybody else in the world covering it? You should cover major stories even when everyone else is, but skip minor stories that everyone else is covering, if you have nothing to add.
8. Is it a world's first?
9. Is it a hot topic of considerable controversy that will lure comments from readers?
10. Do you have a unique opinion or spin on the topic?
How to Write a Blog Post
Headlines should entertain and give a good sense of what post is about.
Types of headlines
• Ask question
• "The secret to …"
• Include numbers if it's unusual, never before done, a key fact, or a breakthrough
• Weird or unusual
• Amazing
• "Finally …" when writing about something people have been waiting for
• Lists (e.g., "Top X"
• Shock: outrageous, controversial (use sparingly)
• Rumor
Capitalize first letter of each word in headline, unless it's an article or coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, not, for).
In first sentence or at most second, plainly tell readers topic of post, giving a good reason why they should care.
Feel free to occasionally write off-topic posts. This can entertain regular readers and attract new audiences.
Types of posts
• Short post
• Review
• Feature: an in-depth article about a specific subject or news item; "posts bring pageviews, but features bring readers"
• List
• Infographic
• Commentary
• Poll/quiz
• Caption: adding your caption to one or more photos or videos
• Interview
• How-to
Building Traffic, Making Money and Measuring Success
Monetization
• Google AdSense
• Affiliate sales (e.g., Amazon, Google, Commission Junction)
• Ad networks (e.g., Federated Media, Chitika)
• Personal ad sales
• Merchandising (clothes, bags, etc.)
• Donate button
• Indirect monetization (freelance writing, book deals, speaking engagements, consulting)
Ethics Problems and How to Solve Them
In most cases, you're obligated to send review units back, and company that provided unit usually pays shipping both ways.
FTC Revised Endorsement Guides say affiliation must be disclosed in writing if you stray from "just the facts" reporting to sharing your opinion. You should say if you used a review unit.
Building an Empire
If you hire bloggers, don't pay per post, which encourages low-quality post. Play a flat monthly fee.
Notes
Target Practice
Always Be Posting. Try to post at least 1000 words per day, in one or more posts.
Hello, World
Your bio
• Who you are you
• What you do
• Why that's important
• Why you are uniquely qualified to write about your topic.
• Good to have a "mix of mirth and cold, hard facts."
• Work/educational experience: list of pertinent jobs/degrees
• Play experience: list of pertinent hobbies
• Location history: something to give you character and encourage local news to pick up your story
• Notable facts: pertinent things no one knows about you
What to Write About
10 questions to ask before posting
1. Is it new? Ensure what you think is a new really is.
2. Is there something fascinating and different about it?
3. Does anybody really care about this?
4. Is there something hilarious, quirky, or unbelievable about it?
5. Have you had a personal experience with it?
6. Is there a good graphic or photo available?
7. Is everybody else in the world covering it? You should cover major stories even when everyone else is, but skip minor stories that everyone else is covering, if you have nothing to add.
8. Is it a world's first?
9. Is it a hot topic of considerable controversy that will lure comments from readers?
10. Do you have a unique opinion or spin on the topic?
How to Write a Blog Post
Headlines should entertain and give a good sense of what post is about.
Types of headlines
• Ask question
• "The secret to …"
• Include numbers if it's unusual, never before done, a key fact, or a breakthrough
• Weird or unusual
• Amazing
• "Finally …" when writing about something people have been waiting for
• Lists (e.g., "Top X"
• Shock: outrageous, controversial (use sparingly)
• Rumor
Capitalize first letter of each word in headline, unless it's an article or coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, not, for).
In first sentence or at most second, plainly tell readers topic of post, giving a good reason why they should care.
Feel free to occasionally write off-topic posts. This can entertain regular readers and attract new audiences.
Types of posts
• Short post
• Review
• Feature: an in-depth article about a specific subject or news item; "posts bring pageviews, but features bring readers"
• List
• Infographic
• Commentary
• Poll/quiz
• Caption: adding your caption to one or more photos or videos
• Interview
• How-to
Building Traffic, Making Money and Measuring Success
Monetization
• Google AdSense
• Affiliate sales (e.g., Amazon, Google, Commission Junction)
• Ad networks (e.g., Federated Media, Chitika)
• Personal ad sales
• Merchandising (clothes, bags, etc.)
• Donate button
• Indirect monetization (freelance writing, book deals, speaking engagements, consulting)
Ethics Problems and How to Solve Them
In most cases, you're obligated to send review units back, and company that provided unit usually pays shipping both ways.
FTC Revised Endorsement Guides say affiliation must be disclosed in writing if you stray from "just the facts" reporting to sharing your opinion. You should say if you used a review unit.
Building an Empire
If you hire bloggers, don't pay per post, which encourages low-quality post. Play a flat monthly fee.
December 12, 2014
This book defined blogging as basically being citizen journalism, and sort of discounted any blogs/blog ideas that wouldn't be writing about breaking news every day. The book definitely reads like a boot camp. The authors are unforgiving of anything less than writing 1,000 words per day and posting AT LEAST once per day. There is, however, a lot of good information in here. And in truth, they are right about a lot of the things they're drill seargenty about. Blogs that are updated once a day or more are usually more popular than blogs that only update once a week. So I'd recommend this for anyone thinking about starting a blog, or thinking of taking their blog to the next level.
August 2, 2013
Looking for some hints and tips. The writing style was bloggeresque with main emphasis on journalism and blogging. Much of the info is stale dated as it talks nuts and bolts that include what platform to use, tools and specific web sites.
The good bits were more about how to think and come up with posts. If you wish to make a profitable blog, this may be a good way to do it. The authors recognize that some of their success is luck and suggest that this method is reproducible.
The good bits were more about how to think and come up with posts. If you wish to make a profitable blog, this may be a good way to do it. The authors recognize that some of their success is luck and suggest that this method is reproducible.
Want to Read
January 3, 2012I'm looking forward to reading this book. I've been searching for a "good" beginners blog book for a couple years now.
January 16, 2012
Decent introduction to blogging. Tends to focus on tech news blogging but there was decent general info. The tip on twitterfeed.com was worth the price of admission for me.
September 11, 2012
Was not relevant to me at all- very consumer led and cold.
May 8, 2016
This is a great starter book for the inexperienced blogger. If your looking to begin read this book to gain insight and knowledge for success with your blog.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews