A Wrap Up

A Wrap Up: What I've Learned in My First Months of  Blogging

Only starting my blogging venture a few months ago, you could say I'm still in the novice area of the blogisphere. However, I have learned--and gotten down pat--a few key things to keep in mind when blogging. My top five tips are below.

1. Stay Relevant.
Your readers want to know what you're saying, of course. But if you post and pride yourself as a "Chef Blogger," don't go ranting about the last political letdown--except if you can somehow tie in that red-and-blue chicken cutlet recipe. Relevant? Of course. Tasty? Not so sure.

2. Keep Your Audience in Mind.
See tip number one, for starters. Secondly, it's important to understand who your readers are and what information they might be missing from your posts. An easy way to figure this is by responding to feedback. Encourage notes and comments from readers and make sure to respond rather quickly. If you want to bump it up a notch, check out your readers' blogs or web pages--I'm sure you would find not only interesting tidbits about them, but also a little more information about what they'd like to see/read. Give it a shot, give 'em a shout out.
 
3. Opinions Are Respected.
Let me emphasize, educated opinions will be (or at least should be) respected. If you can back up what you type up, all should be good n' well. Keep it researched, easy on the ears and if at all possible--kid friendly. Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it, just make sure to respect others' when expressing yours. 

4. Short is Sweet, Long Can be da Bomb.
So I like to rhyme. Depending on subject, the depth of your post can be at just about any given length. Just make sure to stay on track and please, no rambling. Long or short, just make sure to stay on point.

5.Linking, Linking, Linking.
Can't stress this point enough. Whether it is a video, photo or related website, linking adds credibility and depth, and creates added interest, to any post.

Well, there you have it my Top 5 Tips for Newbie Bloggers. What have you learned as a blog reader and author? Let me know below or tweet me here.

My Top Pick for 2011: It Might be a Good Bet

A mezcla of late-night television and E!’s the Soup, meet Tosh O. Tosh.O is a social-media driven improv laughhouse that premiered in June of 2009, placing a screeching halt on modest humor in America’s television sets. With a taboo sense of humor and swagger to match, Tosh O. presents a topic-to-topic weekly series that challenges the Internet’s viral videos.

The first season was more than good—it was a smash hit, averaging more than a million viewers per episode. But the show’s success has only grown from there. The show was originally scheduled for just 10 episodes, but proving to be such a good'n in a dry market, Comedy Central extended the first season to 16 episodes. The second season has just recently wrapped up. And yes, Comedy Central has confirmed that the show has been renewed for a third season, beginning on Jan. 12, 2011.

So you might want to ask, “If the show is so popular, so ‘in-demand’ then why in the world is it your ‘Top Pick for 2011’?”

Glad you asked. I’ll let Wikipedia battle that out:

- Within 10 weeks of its premiere, Tosh.O became the second most watched cable network show in its time slot among 18–34-year-old males.

- In June 2010, the summer season premiere of the show was the No.1 show on its timeslot among men within the ages of 18-24.

- The July 7, 2010 episode held the attention of 2.4 million viewers

- The July 28 episode attracted 2.7 million viewers, winning the time slot and also being the most-watched show on television that day among men 18-24, 18-34 and 25-34.

- The July 28 episode was also the top cable show that night for adults 18-49.

So what does this tell us? It tells us that Tosh.O’s market is growing—and that 2011 will be Tosh’s year. If 2010 allowed for such an expansion in the adult market, it shouldn’t take long for those numbers to start affecting younger viewers and a more female-friendly audience. What’s next? A doll? Lunch pail, maybe?

According to on-camera-audiences.com, Daniel (Tosh) is one of the most requested headliners in the country. He has also quickly evolved into one of the most popular and successful college acts, having performed at more than 700 campuses in his career.

OK, so I’ll be honest: I’ve never seen the show. Just hold it! While perusing through Facebook, I came across a friend’s “Pages” and found Tosh.O’s. Twenty-five of my friends “Liked” the page—a small number compared to the show's overall “Likers,” which was at 3.291.929.

I want you to do my homework, I want you—the reader—to be the guinea pig *figuratively speaking. Watch this show, or a plain Bing clip *there are pleanty and let me know what you think. I’m not
at fault if you don’t care much for Daniel or Tosh O. – I’ve never seen the show, remember?

Social media, I believe, has a lot to do with this show’s success. Not only is it premised on online videos, but also interacts with a live audience. According to the Web, on the live broadcasts of the show, Host Daniel Tosh invites viewers on the East Coast to join him in "live tweeting.” He tweets-it-up with many of the viewers through his Twitter account, @danieltosh. And I’m sure this method works—he has more than  850,792 followers, with 12,646 listed, on Twitter alone.

This show is ahead of the trends, in fact, I may be brazen, but I believe this is the future of reality television. Tosh keeps enlarging his presence on Twitter and Facebook, and the show just released its free iPhone app. Google? About 3,320,000 results.

Improv, bathroom humor and social media have led to Tosh O’s success. Check out the show here.

Vlogging.

So, to show you guys just how easy it is to make your own vlog, I made one myself.

It's short, to the point---just a few good tips on how to make a vlog of your own. Hope it helps.

VIDEO



*Sorry, guys, my allergies are going nuts in this video. I hadn't been crying--I promise! * 


Please share your vlogging experiences with me right here! Comment below!