MusTech.Net!

Six Eight brave, fearless, and expert music bloggers have joined the ME Blogger Campaign and are off and running with their new blogs.  If you haven’t noticed the really COOL java graphic in the upper corner of the mustech.net site that says “click me”, click it and you will see an awesome JAVA effect that entices people to join our campaign. 

If you’re a current ME blogger, I encourage you to check out the new ME bloggers and add them and anyone else in the ME blogger campaign (don’t forget us!) to your blogrolls.  It’s a great way to give others your support and build our growing network of music education experts!

For this post, I’m going to only list the site author and their new blog site.  I plan on posting the official list of ME Bloggers on March 1st.  The updated list will include your name (if I have it), your site, and your site title.   I also plan on writing an official letter of invitation to the ME blogger campaign for everyone to distribute in any way that can be thought of!  This campaign needs another “jolt” and I think that an official letter that could be sent out via snail-mail, publications, MEA newsletters, or e-mail is just the ticket.

It takes a while for people to find your blog, that is why it is so important that you all use the blogrolls to create a linked network.  If I could jump up and down and you could see me and shout about the the importance of building these links between all of our sites, I would.  Do not underestimate the importance of this simple step.  In bold: The more legitimate sites that link to your site, the more your site will be found by others in the search engines and through browsing our ME network.  Don’t be stingy on these links, it will only work against you in the long run.

Also, make sure that you tell people that are currently in your email lists, myspace friends, facebook friends, whatever friends lists about your blog.  They will read it and you will find a base of others that may become frequent commenters on your site or even want to build their own blogs…  Tell your students if your site is appropriate for them.  I don’t write anything that I wouldn’t want anybody to see, including all of my students.  Your students are very web savvy and you will find them very interested in your new online persona and activities.  Many of them no doubt call you all role models.  Let them see what you are up to!

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I’m writing this post to the new ME bloggers, but it’s relevant to any new blogger starting out.  In the beginning blogging can be a little confusing, exciting, depressing, and overwhelming.   Here are a 10 tips to help you get the word out about your blog among other bloggers and friends:

1. Comment on other sites!  This is the fastest way for you to become noticed by others in your “circle”. 
2. If somebody comments on your site, moderate it quickly (if so required) and comment back to the commentator as soon as you can (Why not after you moderate it?). 
3. Add as many sites/people with related topics or topics you think your readership (future readership?) will be interested to your BLOGROLL.
4. Write a post linking to another bloggers post (make sure you include the link to the other blogger’s post in the body of your post).  This will create a trackback on the other blogger’s post linking back to your site and notify the other blogger about your post.
5. Write content that is interesting, informative, innovative, and newsworthy on your site.
6. Set aside two days a week, one day a week, two days a month, WHATEVER, to blog on your site, read other sites, and comment on other sites.  Be consistent.
7. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from other bloggers!
8. Make sure you have an “about you” page on your site that gives your readers the chance to know you a little better
9. Realize that you can’t know everything about everything and always treat other bloggers and commenters with respect.
10. E-mail your current friends and colleagues about your new site.  Tell everyone about it anyway you can!

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Hey all,

       I’ve taken a tip from Will and am going to embed the PowerPoint presentation I spoke about in a previous post into this post.  If you are interested in the “power” of R.S.S. or even “what it is”.  This PowerPoint is a good start.

 
To find this PowerPoint directly and/or view it in a larger format visit this link:
http://www.authorstream.com/User-Presentations/pisanojm/  You may also, email this and find other ways to share it at authorstream.com. 

This PowerPoint is licensed under a creative commons 3.0 license.   You are free to share it for non-commercial use as long as you don’t modify it and attribute authorship.

Please let me know if you have any comments.