Customer Reviews

Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At my place of employment, I'm getting more and more questions about blogging. What exactly is it, how do you do it, what do I need to know, and can I blog within the company? If I had my way, I'd buy about 25 copies of Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them by Bob Walsh and start handing them out. This is a perfect mix of details, concepts, and guidelines, all packaged up in a very readable (and enjoyable) format. I even picked up a few gems myself...

Content:

Part 1 - Revolution in Progress - Please Make Noise!: Why Blog?; Hooking into the Blogosphere; Getting Started

Part 2 - Building Your Blog: What Do Good Blogs Share?; Building Your Personal Blog; Professionally Blogging, Blogging Professionally; Building Your Company Blog

Part 3 - Secrets of Influential Bloggers: Power Tools for Bloggers; Successful Blogging; The New Fourth Estate; Adding Podcasting to Your Blog; Monetizing Your Blog for Fun and Profit; Building Readership

Part 4 - Blogging Towards the Future: Blogging from the New Front Lines; Welcome to Your Future;

Index

From the technical perspective, he covers how to start a blog in a few of the mainstream offerings... Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, and TypePad. Keeping in mind that these packages can change on a weekly basis, he is clear and concise on how to create the blog and post content. Even if things change, the concepts are pretty much the same, and you can follow along. But fortunately, he doesn't spend a lot of time on the "follow the menus" material. It's the other stuff that is so elusive to explain to newcomers. What makes a good blog? Who's going to read it? What do I write about? And of course, can I make lots of money at this? :) Parts 1 and 2 are the foundations for just about every question I've been asked lately, and Walsh covers it all with a flair. If you could convince rookie bloggers to read and understand things such as voice, audience, and consistency, the long-term success rate of their blogging would rise dramatically. I've made a number of the mistakes that Walsh cautions against, and it would have saved me a few hairs had I known this all three years ago. And if you're not a newbie blogger? Part 3 goes into what I call "power blogger" mode, and discusses more advanced topics like how a blog can generate income, and how you can add podcasts to your blogging repertoire. You don't *have* to do all these things, but they are directions that are worth considering. Again, reading this first before diving in could mean the difference between stepping up to the next level and alienating your audience.

There were a few things that drew me to this book. One is the writing style. I enjoy conversational writing that isn't afraid to have fun and be a little edgy. He definitely fits that criteria, and he's not afraid to offer up his own opinions alongside the facts. The second thing involves the interviews. There are a number of question/answer sessions with big name bloggers, those who have defined the field and who are leading the pack. Learning from them what works and what doesn't is invaluable towards improving your own writing. And finally, each chapter ends with a "Your Action Task" section. It's the "call to action" to actually take the next steps to apply the chapter's material and do it yourself. That focus on practicality and "do it now" drives the reader along and should make for some successful blogging efforts.

If you've been getting the blogging questions coming your way because people know you do that blogging thing, point them towards this book. Between your explanations and the material here, there shouldn't be much left over that your questioner doesn't understand. And I'll venture to guess they'll even have fun getting there...

I was involved in the production of this book...and I was not supposed to be reading it while I was doing the layout. But I couldn't help it! It's so well-written and interesting that eventually, I just read the chapters as soon as they were sent to me.

Creating a blog wasn't something I ever intended to do, but Bob's writing is so compelling that I just had to give it a whirl.

His writing style is clear, pleasant, and entertaining; and his advice about posting and publicising is uncomplicated, but effective.

I have to say that this book changed my life. Blogging has introduced me to a wonderful group of people and opened doors I didn't even know were out there.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to enter the world of blogging.

One of the greatest things about blogging--whether you want to change the world, your life, or just have fun--is that it's totally hardware and software independent. If you can connect to the Internet, you can blog. The "World of Blogging" doesn't care if you have a mainframe, PC, Mac, or mobile device. It doesn't care about your operating system, your browser, or your connection--whether it's by landline, broadband, or wireless. And, best of all, it's FREE! What more could you want?

Actually, there is one more thing you'd really want, and it's Bob Walsh's _Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them_. This is a "must read" book. After reading it, I think it's going to become THE authoritative text on blogging. It's NOT technical. It's a "How To" manual about blogging and the "World of Blogging." He answers the questions you may be asking, and shows you the way, the best way, to not only enter the blogosphere, but to become a success.

Wondering about blogging is like wondering whether you should buy a computer. The question to ask, in both cases, is "why?". Why would you want to? What do you want to do with it? Walsh starts off by answering that question and then moves on to "what" to blog about, "how" to do it, and how to use your time most effectively researching your topic.

Chapter 4: "What Do Good Blogs Share?" is THE most important part of the book philosophically. If you don't understand these fundamentals, all your hard work will be for nothing. Read it, re-read it, digest it, do it. And if you're already blogging, but not as successful as you wish, you'll definitely want to pay especial attention to the 140 pages in Part 3: "Secrets of Influential Blogging."

Just to get an idea of how Walsh writes, his publisher (Apress) put a free download of Chapter 9: "Successful Blogging" at their web site:
[...]. (Look for the button on the far-right side of the page.) It explains how you can find topics, on a regular basis, for your posts (entries on your blog), plus advice on writing well, turning a good post into a great one, and helping readers find you.

As far as the physical layout is concerned, the type-face is easy to read with plenty of leading (white-space) between each line. The screen-shots aren't shrunken-down and thus unreadable--amazing for computer-related books nowadays! The chapter name and number are printed at the top of each page--a useful addition. Finally, the last section in each chapter consists of "Your Action Tasks," things for you to think about or do.

Table of Contents for _Clear Blogging : How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them_, by Bob Walsh

Part 1: Revolution in Progress: Please Make Noise
* Chapter 1: Why Blog?
* Chapter 2: Hooking into the Blogosphere
* Chapter 3: Getting Started

Part 2: Building Your Blog
* Chapter 4: What Do Good Blogs Share
* Chapter 5: Building Your Personal Blog
* Chapter 6: Professionally Blogging, Blogging Professionally
* Chapter 7: Building Your Company Blog

Part 3: Secrets of Influential Blogging
* Chapter 8: Power Tools for Bloggers
* Chapter 9: Successful Blogging
* Chapter 10: The New Fourth Estate
* Chapter 11: Adding Podcasting to Your Blog
* Chapter 12: Monetizing Your Blog for Fun and Profit
* Chapter 13: Building Readership

Part 4: Blogging Toward the Future
* Chapter 14: Blogging from the New Front Lines
* Chapter 15: Welcome to Your Future

Index (pages 331-351)

_Clear Blogging : How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them_, by Bob Walsh, is definitely worth 5 stars from gobbysreviews.

ENJOY!

gobby
Book Reviewer at Marathon Library

Although there are hundreds of blogging books in print, from my surveying this one appears to be the most relevant practical guide -- so I gave it an extra star. I liked it for the following reasons:

(+) good tips on building readership (plus some SEO)
(+) explanations of importance of garnering and giving referent links
(+) practical tips on monetization
(+) coverage of some useful tools I might not have otherwise discovered
(+) highlighting some popular blogging platforms
(+) engaging writing style
(+) accessible as a book you could give to a co-worker, or even less-technical family member
(+) gets reader excited about blogging

However, it has the following problems:

(-) some material highly subject to aging (e.g., blogger how-to steps could have been omitted)
(-) promotion of some obnoxious tools (e.g., White Smoke grammar helper, user-unfriendly Microsoft Live Spaces)
(-) very little mention of WordPress (you wouldn't realize its popularity by reading this book)
(-) not enough emphasis on blog *reading* (Google Reader got one sentence, but its features and best practices could been expanded to a whole chapter). Optimizing your reading habits/patterns is a critical skill for surviving blog-bombardment
(-) no mention of the role of pinging (and necessity by some services)
(-) too many interviews (police wives and military perspectives didn't add anything for me)
(-) a number of grammar and spelling mistakes
(-) audience target may have been too broad (I would expect Apress to have had a better techie focus)

Overall, I thought the book could have been half the length and still had the same impact. But as a new blogger I got quite a bit out of the book, and I still recommend it to anyone who is not already a pro. Just be prepared to do a lot of skimming, and try to get a library/used copy that has important points highlighted.

A vitally important addition to highschool, university, and community library collections, "Clear Blogging: How People blogging Are Changing The World And How You Can Join Them" by software developer and blogging expert Bob Walsh is an ideal introduction for the non-specialist general reader to what blogging is, how it is done, and why ordinary people should engage in it. "Clear Blogging" is an ideal 'do-it-yourself' manual for aspiring bloggers and offers real-life examples of four successful bloggers in the form of interviews with financially successful blogger Darren Rowse, blogg marketing expert Steve Rubel, business-to-business blogging consultant Richard Edelman, and internet marketing guru Seth Godin. "Clear Blogging" is throughly reader friendly and user friendly. If you want to be a part of this latest development in computer-based communication, read Bob Walsh's "Clear Blogging".

1. It was too long. There was lots of filler material that I saw as fluff, such as the interviews that often were not helpful to me. I think half of the book should have been edited out. Sometimes I felt like he copied and pasted emails for 1/4 of the book. Another 1/4 of the book was screen shots.

2. It was a VERY broad look at blogging - too broad for my purposes. It looked at history of blogging, the wide range of uses for blogging, how to do it for personal use, how to do it for businesses. I did not need an entire chapter on News Blogs. It even had a chapter on podcasting.

3. The Action Tasks at the end of each chapter were very useful.

4. There was almost total avoidance of all things Mac (what about Safari, iWeb, .Mac, etc.)

In the end it was not want I was looking for. The book I was looking for should be called: "How to Become a Power Blogger even if you know nothing about Blogging" .

I ended up skimming over about half of the book because it did not apply to me.

Still, it did introduce me to blogging and I'm surging ahead.

To put it succinctly, Clear Blogging is the kind of book I would give to a boss or manager to educate them about what blogging is, can be, and a hint of technicalities on the back end. While a good book and a great overview of what is entailed with blogging, there are not enough nitty-gritty details to satisfy someone who is of a technical nature or someone who has been blogging for a while.

However, for someone who needs to know what this blogging thing is about and how they might be able to use it for their business, either directory or indirectly, this is the perfect place to start. I would estimate that at least half of the book is made up of interviews with either bloggers, people who run blogging companies, or marketing type folk. These interviews, though they get a little long and predictable after a while, lend real life examples to the lessons being taught.

Additionally, there is sufficient attention given to topics such as podcasting, monetization, and social networking to give you a good start on finding out more about these areas.

All in all, for any body wondering where to get started, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Clear Blogging. And if you are already in to blogging, I will bet this book can still teach you a few things.

I've been blogging in a ho hum way for over a year - but this book has opened up blogging for me in a whole new way.
I would recommend this as an intro... middle and advanced book. It has tons of stuff for every level. Of course I'm at the beginning level so maybe I'm not the perfect judge but I can say it has enough stuff for me to follow up with for at least a year!
What I really like are the interviews, the links and the detailed information (step by step) to do or check things out. And... besides the book I'm getting just as addicted to his web site... http://clearblogging.com

If you are going to recommend just one book to someone who wants to get started reading, following and creating a blog, this is the book. Author Bob Walsh goes far beyond the usual treatment of the topic and gives you tons of practical tips, suggestions and information about resources. I've been blogging for over a year and I learned a ton from Bob's book. Don't waste your time with other books, go right to source and read this one. I highly recommend it.

I'm already blogging, and I've been making Web sites since 1994, so a lot of this was too newbie-esque for me, but there was some useful info in there from my point of view. I'm going to give this book to my parents, it might get them started blogging, and certainly, if it does, it'll get them started right. Too newbie-focused for me, but a good book all the same.