HOW TO MAKE A WEB SITE THAT REPRESENTS YOUR PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY: CREATING THE DIGITAL PRESENCE THAT WILL GET YOU NOTICED Presented by the SUNY Oswego Writing Fellows

Greetings! Kenneth Nichols Great Writers Steal

The Genesis of this Presentation Smart and cool students who should really spread the word about how cool and smart they are. Big-time writers who have no presence on the Internet.

The Purpose of Great Writers Steal To shine a spotlight on underappreciated works and journals To help readers learn about writing craft To build a community of writers To bring a little attention to my work To demonstrate my love of writing and to teach in a new way

Why Establish an Internet Presence? You can make connections with other people in your field. Searching for your name on Google will be a fun and rewarding experience. Colleagues and prospective employers will be impressed with your accomplishments or your dedication to your field People will have easy access to your work. Networking! Who knows who will read your stuff?

Who Needs an Internet Presence? Everyone!

Okay, More Specifically… Chemists Actors Writers Public Relations professionals Lady Gaga Butchers Bakers Candlestick makers

Blogs vs. “Web Sites” BlogsWeb Sites Personal?Subject-oriented DynamicStatic InteractiveAuthoritative More FleetingMore Evergreen

Basic Resume Site

Basic Resume Site

Content-Oriented Site

What Are You Kind Folks Thinking?

What Will You Do With Your Presence? Comment upon news stories in your field? Post periodic updates about your work? Establish a digital resume or CV? Develop a creative outlet? Invite collaborations for personal or professional projects? Showcase your creative and/or professional works?

What Are You Kind Folks Thinking?

Tone Your web site and its connected social media accounts should reflect a common tone… Mine certainly does…

Community Given enough time, a digital presence will foster a community around your work and will allow you entrance into other communities. Web site comments Mentions on other sites Social media connections Invitations to interact with others

Getting Started Don’t be scared!

WordPress A free content management system 15% of the Internet runs on WordPress Numerous free options, many reasonably priced options Relatively easy for beginners to use Allows use of widgets and plugins for enhanced function Did I mention it can be free?

Signing Up for WordPress Simple and free.

Signing Up For WordPress

Dashboard WordPress Command Center

Posts and Pages Posts are the regular updates you might make. Pages are the static “sections” in your site.

Pages

What Are You Kind Folks Thinking?

Categories and Tags Help your visitors find specific pages on your site

Search Engines Search engines privilege sites with: Fresh content Original content Others linking to them Higher traffic High keyword density...but you don’t have to worry about this unless you want to. People will find your Web presence because you will use…

Dedicated Social Media Sure, you can use your already-established social media accounts. There are, however, advantages to using accounts that are dedicated solely to your Web presence: 1.Less of a chance of…embarrassing personal mistakes.

Dedicated Social Media Sure, you can use your already-established social media accounts. There are, however, advantages to using accounts that are dedicated solely to your Web presence: 1.Less of a chance of…embarrassing personal mistakes. 2.Allows you to remain “on message” and to maintain the tone you’ve chosen. 3.Prevents people from avoiding you and your site because of irrelevant personal disagreements. 4.Helps you build your “brand.”

The Vast Great Writers Steal Empire

Sigh…So Many Social Media Outlets… Facebook Twitter Google+ Tumblr Ello YouTube LinkedIn …………………………….. At the very least, you should reserve the relevant accounts so no one else can have them…

Free Programs WordPress Paint.NET Windows Movie Maker Audacity…

What Are You Kind Folks Thinking?

Brainstorming! What are you going to call your web site? Kenneth Nichols Kenneth Nichols Writing What We Can Learn From Different Creative Works Writing Craft Advice 4 U K-Dawg’s Writin’ Help Please Like Me; I’m So So Lonely… =(

Visual Imagery Logos and complementary images

Beware the Copyright Police

For the Next Session Complete the worksheet I’ve distributed. I’m really just trying to get you to start breaking down some ideas.

See You Next Week! And thanks for coming! Any questions?