01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page i Buzz Marketing with Blogs FOR DUMmIES‰ 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page ii 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page iii Buzz Marketing with Blogs FOR DUMmIES‰ by Susannah Gardner 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page iv Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2005921607 ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-8457-2 ISBN-10: 0-7645-8457-X Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1O/RR/QT/QV/IN 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page v About the Author Susannah Gardner is the co-founder and creative director of Hop Studios Internet Consultants [www.hopstudios.com], a Web design company spec- ializing in custom Web solutions for content publishers. Her partner in life, crime and work, is Travis Smith, former editor of Variety.com. Susannah is also a freelance writer and author; she is the co-author of “Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Dummies,” from Wiley Publishing, and “Teach Yourself Visually: Dreamweaver MX 2004,” also from Wiley Publishing. From 1997 to 2003, Susannah was an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School for Communication, where she taught in the School of Journalism. Her classes in online publishing took students from zero to Web site in a semester. Prior to running Hop Studios, Susannah worked in the Online Journalism and Communication Program at the University of Southern California, writing curriculum, teaching, and conducting research at the intersection of technol- ogy and journalism. She was a senior editor of the Online Journalism Review [www.ojr.org], the media industry’s only Internet-focused journalism publi- cation. Susannah also spent four years at The Los Angeles Times, one of six editors responsible for launching that newspaper’s Web site. During her time at LATimes.com she established the site’s multimedia lab, which produced ground-breaking Web audio, video and animation. She also launched and edited MetaHollywood, an online-only publication that covered new Hollywood tech- nology and was LATimes.com’s single largest revenue source in 1998. Susannah earned bachelor’s degrees in Print Journalism and American literature at USC. Today she is pursuing a master’s degree in Public Art Studies, examining issues that cross the traditional of boundaries of Internet publishing, journalism and art. To learn more about her Web design company, visit www.hopstudios.com. She keeps a personal blog at www.unfavorablepink.com, and a blog for this book at www.buzzmarketingforblogs.com. 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page vi 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page vii Dedication This book is for my partner and husband, Travis Smith, who supports me even when I make it impossible for him to do so. Travis, I would not be who I am today without you. Author’s Acknowledgments I have so many people to thank for making this book possible, and for having patience with me while I wrote it! First, hugs and thanks to my husband, Travis. His eagle editing eye and vora- cious appetite for blogs was a huge help and has improved this book to no end. It has fallen on Travis to keep our lives running smoothly when dead- lines loomed, and he has done it all with quiet aplomb. Travis is also respon- sible for signing me up for my very first email account, and quite possibly for everything that followed. Thanks are also due to Janine Warner, friend and colleague, who invited me to co-author “Dreamweaver MX 2004 For Dummies” with her and started me down this road. Whenever I had questions, no matter how neophyte, Janine shared her expertise with patience and grace — and despite her own book deadlines! My long-suffering editor Beth Taylor has kept me on time, and fixed all those late-night typos, run-on sentences and general stupidities. This book would never have been possible without the persistence and determination of Melody Layne, acquisitions editor at Wiley (and a blogger!). Thanks also to my technical editor, Paul Chaney of Radiant Marketing, who kept me on the straight-and-narrow. There are many at Wiley Publishing whose names I don’t know but who nonetheless played an important role in making this book possible: Thank you to all of you. I owe much to my friends, family and colleagues, all of whom were wonder- fully patient as I shifted work and life around in order to write. Thank you to my parents, Jan and Phil Gardner, my brother Matt, my sister Debbie, my mother-in-law Pat Smith, and my sister-in-law Virginia Smith. Thanks also to Lance Watanabe, Jae and Karin Sung, Elaine Zinngrabe, Zipporah Lax, Jason and Noriko Manikel, Deborah Nathanson, Tracy Dominick, Robin Rauzi, Amy Leach, Dorothy Ingebretsen, Jordan and Michele Raphael, and Martin and Tracy Spedding. Most of all, I’m grateful to you, the person reading this. An author is not an author without readers. 01_58457x ffirs.qxd 2/23/05 1:21 PM Page viii Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Maridee Ennis Project Editor: Beth Taylor Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Andrea Dahl, Acquisitions Editor: Melody Layne Lauren Goddard, Stephanie D. Jumper, Copy Editor: Rebecca Senninger Barry Offringa, Heather Ryan Technical Editor: Paul Chaney Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Carl William Pierce, TECHBOOKS Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron Production Services Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 02_58457x ftoc.qxd 2/23/05 1:22 PM Page ix Contents