The document provides advice for bloggers to improve their blogging by learning from 300 years of experience from traditional media like newspapers and magazines. It recommends that bloggers (1) gather information systematically from sources like alerts and events, (2) select only the most relevant content and write concisely to avoid wasting readers' time, and (3) expand on and improve content by adding context, opinions, and multiple perspectives rather than just excerpting others' work. Bloggers should also write for skimmers by using headlines, photos, clear sections, and simple language to engage more readers.

1. Improve your blogging – Learn from 300 years of blogging experience! Navin Kabra http://punetech.com @ngkabra and @punetech on twitter

2. Those who blog for readers NOT: those who blog for self-expression Target of this talk

3. A blog is a mini-newspaper /magazine

4. Gather info Select Improve/Expand Opine Publish, rinse, repeat What does a newspaper do?

5. Gather: Constantly thinking about what to blog Select: Deciding if something is appropriate for blog or not Expand/Improve: Collecting further information Opine: Add own opinions Rinse, Repeat A blogger does the same

6. Traditional media has perfected some aspects of this Learn from them Traditional Media =300 years of blogging!

7. Media spends much more time/effort (as a percentage of their total effort) on this aspect. Most bloggers don't focus so much on this aspect Blogger: I'll blog about whatever I think about. Not good enough! Gather: Media vs. Blogs

8. Newspaper reporters can't say we'll write about whatever news we run into as we go about our lives. They have to seek out all news that their readers interested in. Same with your blog. meetu/wogma can't review whatever movies she happens to see. Must watch all Hindi movies and review them Gather: Blogs should do more

9. Google Alerts (subscribe for keywords related to your area) Twitter (use “search columns” on tweetdeck or seismic desktop) Mailing lists (join as many relevant lists as you can) Events (attend all relevant offline events) Syndicate content (seek out content by other bloggers and ask permission to republish on your blog) Gather – How?

10. Don't blog everything that comes to your mind Think about what your readers are interested in Reader more important than Writer Select

11. Newspapers have a space crunch Blogs have an imaginary space crunch Can’t waste readers’ time with too much content Can only fit limited stuff on first page Select – Space Crunch

12. Don’t blog everything – drop less relevant content Reduce size of each blog post Have subsections Relegate some stuff to subsections Front page has just links to subsection articles Get an editor for your blog (friend, spouse) Someone who brutally tells you which posts are boring Select – Space Crunch – Ideas from newspapers

13. Newspapers/magazines don’t just excerpt another publication’s article with an excerpt & link Neither should you! Don’t just echo Add value Simplify Check for accuracy – confirm info independently Add alternative points of view Add more info (wikipedia, etc) Improve / Expand

14. You’re already doing most of this! But consider: Opinions by guest bloggers Posts containing your opinion & and one opposing opinion Imitate Newspaper Columnists Develop a distinctive style Have a consistent opinion Opinion Pages

15. Other things to learn from traditional media

16. No-one has time to read all your blog posts Even those reading your post, don’t read each sentence in detail Everybody skims! Write so as to hook the skimmers Write for skimmers

17. Newspapers spend lots of time on headlines Sometimes headline writers are different from the reporters Headlines grab attention Good for SEO Spend lot of time thinking of an interesting (clickable) headline Which should also contain appropriate keywords (for SEO) Write for skimmers - Headlines

18. Newspapers give a quick overview in first paragraph And then fill in details in rest of article So those who read just one para still get the whole story Try doing the same Your content reaches more minds Write for skimmers – First paragraph

19. Photos most “looked at” parts of newspapes/magazines Skimmers can’t “avoid” photos Then high probability of reading captions Tell your story in photos and captions Write for skimmers – Add photos and captions

20. Break up long articles into sub-sections Give useful sub-headlines to subsections Use “excerpt boxes” This hooks reader “just glancing” over article Study how magazines do this Write for skimmers – Sub-headings

21. Which is correct? Write to show your command over language Write to be easily understood Write to NOT be misunderstood!! Small sentences Simple words Avoid ambiguous constructions Get an editor! Radical Clarity

22. Links “Quotes” Further reading Cite Sources

23. Much more effort into gathering data Be selective about what you post Expand/Improve: Dig into the story Write for skimmers (headlines, pics, sections) Radical Clarity Links Summary

25. Background: Computer Science - B.Tech, IIT-Bombay, Ph.D., U-Wisconsin, USA

26. Currently: Co-founder at BharatHealth.com

27. But: Better known for my websites!

28. http://punetech.com, http://smriti.com

29. Twitter: @ngkabra, @punetech

30. More info: http://punetech.com/navin

31. Email: navin@punetech.com

32. Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/navinkabraAbout the author(aka blatant self-promotion)