Journalism Brand - Sally Duros

DIY websites for journalists

Here’s what my site looked like in 2002. My first site went live in 1997.

Luckily, setting up a website has gotten a lot easier than when I set up my first website. Back in 1997, I had to print a form downloaded from the Web, fill it out and mail it in with a check to retain my domain name. That domain name purchase was made from the agency that became Web giant Network Solutions, which today manages more than 7 million domain names.

By the early oughts, I was tapping into the sharing power of the Web by connecting with the Tech world, women’s networks, nonprofit community and others through a scrollbar on my site.

After purchasing my domain name, I then had to find a company that could “host” my domain on the Web- basically make it “live” on the Web. For a Web host, I selected a company called Pair Networks, which ultimately became too expensive for me. The first recorded image of SDuros.com in the Internet Archive was in August of the year 2000. By then I had learned rudimentary HTML, was a member of the International Webmaster’s Association and was reporting on venture capital and technology. I had ambitions to set up my own domain registrar for NPOs. Didn’t succeed or I’d be a millionaire now.

Now that I’ve told you all that, forget it.

DIY for journalists
Setting up a site so you can retain an archive of your articles is 1000% simpler today. Although there are many ways to set up a portfolio online with live links, I believe the best approach for a journalist is to set up an archive just like I have here in my WordPress site. I learned fairly quickly that I am not a Web designer and WP, SquareSpace and others take care of that shortage of talent.

Here’s what you need to know. Buy your domain name from a registrar. Also know that you are not actually “buying” your domain name. You are “renting” it for a period of time. Mosts registrars give you a discount when you rent for a number of years so that is what I’d recommend if you can afford it. Here’s the list of the largest domain name registrars from WebHosting.info.

The largest on this list are GoDaddy, Enom, Network Solutions, Tucows and Schlund+Partner. This list says nothing about price or reliability. I have had personal experience with GoDaddy, Network Solutions and Tucows.

These days, the larger domain registrars are also hosts. And many of them offer an easy user interface with WordPress, which is basically what your “design” on the Web will look like – no hand woven bad html design for lucky you! You can have an interface that looks like this site you’re reading on, which I’ve set up on WordPress.org, the commercial imprint of Word Press. Here’s a sampling of what the bare bones designs look like.

The basic designs are free but many folks choose to jazz them up by hiring a great designer to assist. My feeling is that site design for us sole proprietor/journalists is less important because the quality of information is what is important. And with the way information is read and distributed on the Web, I think less and less about my site as a destination. In fact, many journalists are experimenting with site-less news models these days.

One-stop shops aplenty
It’s easy to find a one-stop shop that provides domain registration, Web Hosting and WordPress interface. But buyer beware. A company like GoDaddy seemingly makes it simple to buy your domain name and put it on the Web. But I ask at what cost. Me, I dislike GoDaddy. Their early marketing was offensive (it was like Hooters) and they nickel and dime you for every little service you need. As your use and sophistication grows you might find yourself disgusted pretty quickly .

A couple of years ago I moved to MediaTemple. The $250 per year fee plus the cost of my domain name rental seemed like a good deal for me since I “play” on the Web a lot with various domain names and often establish and run sites and social media for clients. I’ve been pretty happy with them and their services. But now that Media Temple has been purchased by GoDaddy, I am preparing to flee if the extra fees get onerous. One option I have been considering is Bluehost, which is often played off against GoDaddy in articles like this from a site called WebHostranking.com (which by the way offers lots of useful info for those of you getting started.)

The important thing for a journalist to get from one of these services is 1-click set up for WordPress, which MediaTemple, BlueHost and GoDaddy all have.

Added kudos for Bluehost
When I asked my friend, colleague and digital expert Courtney Hunt who she would recommend for Domain registration and hosting, she said she is leaning toward BlueHost. “I typically recommend Bluehost (one of 3 recommended specifically by WordPress). I have clients who use GoDaddy (trying hard, but not the best option) and InMotion (seems to be good) as well,” she said.

I hope this is helpful. Courtney and I are discussing doing a joint session for journalists moving to the Web. Let me know what you’d like to learn about at SallyDuros AT gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do for you.

Your digital brand — journalism ethics

Committing acts of journalism— What’s that?

The Web and digital technology have made it possible for anyone to commit an act of journalism.

Today, more people than ever are participating in journalism. People are breaking news on Twitter, covering their communities on Facebook, livestreaming, distributing news via email and writing in-depth blogs on issues of civic and community significance. Some of these people are what we’d consider “traditional” journalists working on new platforms, but many are not. — Josh Stearns, when working at The Free Press. Read the Free Press Report on defining press freedom in the digital age.

That’s why as an independent journalist it’s important that you hard-wire certain attributes into your brand from the beginning.

Among others, these include:
transparency
trustworthiness
credibility

These attributes will become increasingly important if news outlets evolve into a platform for our talent as some of us are predicting.

Continue reading Your digital brand — journalism ethics

Your digital brand 101 — identity as journalist

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you’re doing it.

When your brand and your purpose are aligned, you have passion working to your advantage, pulling you forward and drawing others to you.

Getting started on your brand
If you haven’t established a strong Web presence yet, it’s a great time to get started. So many tools are available now to make it easy to establish your digital brand and identity. In addition, there’s a community of helpful people on the Web to assist. The biggest challenges these days for building your digital brand and identity as a journalist is doing the work upfront to identify your brand attributes — the kind of journalism you want to be known for, your beat and niche as well as the audience for your niche.

Your brand is about what the audience thinks. Writes Nick Bilton in his book, “I live in the future & here’s how it works”

“It’s an editors job to reduce what a readers brain has to wrestle with.”

That’s the work of your brand. It’s a short cut to the identity that you are co-creating with your audience.

A cautionary tale
Andrew Sullivan is an early blogger, a former New Republic editor – who started his blog, the Dish in 2000. Because his brand as a political commentator had earned him a following at an existing platform, The New Republic, Sullivan’s persona was solidly established when the Dish was hosted by TIME, The Atlantic and finally, The Daily Beast.

Prezi – Your digital brand as a journalist 101

Here’s a link to the Prezi.

Here’s the transcript.
Your digital brand as a journalist: Showcase your strengths, find your niche to stand out online authentically

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

That is really what a brand is about – how you make people feel. In real life and online, your brand is how people feel about you.

Steve Jobs hated the word “branding” but his brand as a creative perfectionist was iconic . The brand he created, Apple, continues to reflect his core attributes – smart, creative, genius .

To get started
Develop one word or a phrase — enthusiastic, passionate, energetic, confident — to express the best of who you are. Express that in all you do and say online and Continue reading Prezi – Your digital brand as a journalist 101

Branding on the Web 101 for Working Journalists

Chicago journalists, join me for a conversation about practical ways to move your journalism career online by building a personal brand and using the social Web.
The first step to getting found on the Web is knowing who you are and what you have to offer that is unique to you. These days, this expression of our identity, this knowing who you are, is called our “personal brand.” It’s basically how the world experiences us. Visit our event page on Facebook.

About Working Journalists

Working Journalists is a start up by the Chicago Newspaper Guild. Membership is Continue reading Branding on the Web 101 for Working Journalists

Your network is your life — Part 1

[prezi url=”http://prezi.com/luk4sz_iptuo/your-life-brand/”]

The way we appear to the world is an expression of our identity that some call our “personal brand.” Our brand is how the world experiences us. When we show up for a job interview it’s important that we present ourselves in a professional, appropriate manner. The same is true of our online identity. If we don’t show people who we are by what we say and do, they’ll make up a story about who we seem to be – that story could be way off from who you are.

The story of you

Both online and in real life, its important to express positive universal values while telling the true story of who you are. This is especially true online because your online presence will create a global impression that can last for a very long time.

In my first session talking with soon-to-be health care grads of Rush University here in Chicago, I discussed the concept of personal branding. A simple approach to this is to choose one word that expresses a trait that tells the world something important and positive about you. Because graduates in health care have very specific knowledge and use particular technologies, keywords in a resume or LinkedIn profile tend to be identifiable and universal. Although you want to make sure that you capture the correct keywords, an added way to stand out is to deeply understand your values and choose a word that embodies what you admire and aspire to professionally.

This will take some reflection and self exploration. In your professional life, remember your word, whatever it is, be it “compassionate,” “efficient,” “friendly” or all three and adhere to its standards as best you can as you go through your every day life.

Our brand is how the world experiences us.

Just as Starbucks IS good coffee. You ARE what you ARE to people. This has everything to do with the impression you leave people with. It is deeper than image. It emerges from your core. To understand the story of you, explore these “W’s.”

Who are you as you know you? What happened to bring you to this work — it can involve professional and personal inspiration. Where are you from and how did that affect your choices? What do you most look forward to experiencing in your new work?

The answers you come up with are unique to you. Understanding that story has nothing to do with being phony or deceitful and everything to do with knowing your strengths and working to them.

In recently considering my personal branding word, I asked a friend. She said “I see you as an Illuminator.” I liked that. So here’s my draft story of Sally as the Illuminator.

“I’m an illuminator. All of my life, my curiosity has taken me behind the scenes to learn and more deeply understand how things work. I am also drawn to understand solutions so that I can be part of making the world a better place. My findings often feel golden to me, so I am greatly motivated to share my happy discoveries with the world. I share through writings, photographs and multimedia. As important, I learn and share perspectives and insights through personal meetings.”

Once you’ve found your word or words, it’s time to combine that with your resume and create a branded profile online and use it for building your career. The first step is to understand and build your network. For this, I favor LinkedIn. As your network of professionals, it is the hub in a wheel of your career search. In my next post, I’ll explore how to use Linked In.

Useful Links about online privacy
An article from Wired about LinkedIn’s recruiter program
How online social behavior can work against your career
Links from the Wall Street Journal on online privacy.
Nothing is private online, especially messaging apps.

Learn more about personal branding
Google “personal branding”
The brand called you by Tom Peters
Career Distinction
Build your own life brand by Stedman Graham
Promote Yourself by Dan Shawbel

Can your trusted personal brand earn your pay?

via TED

Ask. Connect. Be vulnerable. That’s what Amanda Palmer says fuels her musical earnings in this moving and persuasive Ted talk.

Is trust the currency that will pay for local news? Can your trusted brand as a journalist pay for the work you do? Maybe the answer depends on some key things. Does your news come from the heart of your community? Does your audience value your work as much as you do?

If they do, maybe 1000 true fans is all you need. If not, how can you adjust to the needs of your audience?

Think about it — how has trust fueled your news site? How can you create more of it?

Or is Palmer’s talk another case of persuasive propaganda fueling a misty-eyed view of the Internet? News sites, you tell me. Are we just tilting at windmills here?

Brand, reputation and social media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MzcjC0_Wrk

Edward L. Bernays is said to be “The Father of Spin,” the creator of modern public relations. For his contributions, Bernays is both vilified and honored. He was a masterful manipulator of public image and wrote extensively about his ideas. During his long career, [Bernays lived to be 103] he profoundly affected the minutia of our spending habits in our daily lives while establishing standard practices for the public relations industry.

[Prior to World War 1] The pattern had been for firms to alter their product line or pitch to fit changing consumer tastes; Bernays believed that, approached the right way, consumers themselves could be made to do the adjusting. — Larry Tye in The Father of Spin.

This philosophy — consumers themselves could be made to do the adjusting— is shifting fast for businesses large and small. Customer review tools of the social Web are changing the equation of who is influencing whom. Now, because of services like Yelp, an unhappy knitting circle can gang up on your cafe. One poor hairdresser can cause an exodus from your salon. Or an increase in prices can shutter your dry cleaner. But just as your customers can walk with their feet and talk with their smart phones, you have equally amazing tools to continue the conversation with them after the cash drawer has closed and they have walked out the door.

You have Facebook, Twitter and dozens of other tools to attract potential customers, engage with the happy ones and hear the grumblers in the background and adjust if needed.

As a small business, you have the entire toolbox of social media at your command. And powering those tools is your unique brand, your reputation that you are painstakingly building over time. Branding is not a logo or an image imposed from above. Branding is your promise to deliver what is unique in your offering, whether product or service. Your brand emerges from the inside out.

Be clear on that and you can’t go wrong.

For a great read on navigating this power shift between customers and business, pick up The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk.

Accentuate the positive when using social media

Follow the advice of Johnny Mercer‘s great song when it comes to working social media channels like Yelp.

Continue reading Accentuate the positive when using social media

Work from the core

[This month’s Carnival of Journalism asks how organizations like the Knight Foundation and the Reynolds Journalism Institute can encourage innovation in journalism. My humble thoughts follow.]

Because journalism has been removed from its swaddling of newspaper advertising, we now have the opportunity to discover the essence of journalism and what it truly contributes to our society and to Democracy.

The tools of the digital age are revealing blind spots in our previous vision. What we face is the discovery that what many of us thought was journalism actually is not.

Helping us sort things out with their grants, programing and activism are you, the Knight Foundation and the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

At this key moment of change, I would urge you to crystallize your missions in your mindset so you can work from the core and jettison what is superfluous.

I’ve taken a stab at what this crystallization looks like. To me, you share a similar core: your mission is about social change that supports Democracy. You would prefer systemic social change, the kind that sticks and evolves. [View Knight’s mission. View RJI’s mission.]

Both of you see information and community as essential parts of an equation leading to social change that will strengthen Democracy.

But what happens when you uncouple journalism from its traditional role as the messenger that delivers information to the community and instead begin to see journalism as a catalyst, an agent that provokes or speeds change, among community?

And what happens when you uncouple journalism from the tangible hard media of newsprint and instead couple it with the intangible streams and flows of the digital sphere, including data movements and agile multimedia reporting?

Variables are unleashed and recombined in unforeseen ways. [In understanding what these variables might look like, consider the beat areas for the RJI Fellows, and the KDMC program categories.]

What arises out of this mixed-and-match chaos will continue to look very different from anything we have had before. As the entire online world struggles to find a sustainable revenue model — strange and alien revenue forms will undoubtedly appear.

So Knight and Reynolds, you must continue to do as you have been doing: track and map the relevant variables as they emerge. You must be nimble in collecting and vetting operational categories and ideas as they fly your way.

So how can you best operate to encourage inovation?

Map the principles of journalism as they emerge in new forms. Cease worrying about the appearance of journalism. Instead connect with the principles and see how they could play out.

Be open. Like a baby in its first months of life, be open to the stimulus that comes your way and divide it broadly into buckets of information, assigned along your principle map.

Look for bright spots of activity and life. Look to the edges of change because the configuration of what will work has not shown itself yet.

Thrive amid uncertainty. Look for leaders but understand the principle of social proof. Understand that promising ideas will emerge from the crowd, and within them might be a kernel for success but not necessarily the full plan.

Shatter the silos. Look to other domains of business, Web technology, economists, anthropologists, non-profits, government and communicators who have been building the online world for two decades now. Note the conferences and learning opportunities in the maturing online world and make them available to Journalist entrepreneurs. [That’s what I do as a service every day on my Twitter and Tumblr streams]

Don’t be wedded to your ideas. Hold them loosely — like a dove that has alighted on your hand — and let them go. If they have wings they will leverage on your behalf and bring many iterative returns and successes.

Be courageous. Stand out from the crowd of philanthropy. To the best of your ability while still being responsible, cast off the shackles of foundation-think that judges “safe” as being equivalent with “success.”

Support our entrepreneurs. One concrete possibility: Knight, Reynolds take the lead and join together with affinity foundation partners to create an entity dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship among journalists and their creations.

More than a decade ago when I first started reporting on entrepreneurship as an independent journalist [and learning to work for myself], I came across the Kauffman Foundation whose mission is:

To help individuals attain economic independence by advancing educational achievement and entrepreneurial success

It was after the dot-com bubble had burst in 1999 and before entrepreneurship was a field of study at business schools. It was not nearly as ubiquitous as it is today. I was helping entrepreneurs write books about their experiences and learning the ropes of the angel and venture capital worlds.

Today, Kauffman says it is looking for partners to leverage resources and capability.

Maybe you and Kauffman and others could talk about how to jointly create a home for training, experimentation and comradry for the emerging new class of Journalist entrepreneurs.

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