Posts Tagged "how to"

16
Jun 10

Bloggers We Love: Adelle McElveen

Posted by Esther Brown in Bloggers We Love / General / Tips & Tricks — View Comments

BLOGGER: Adelle McElveen

FEATURED BLOG(S): Fashionista Lab

TWITTER: @FashionistaLab

FACEBOOK: Fashionista Lab

Full disclosure: I’ve known Adelle McElveen, the woman behind the San Francisco-based blog ‘Fashionista Lab,’ for well over a decade now. In fact, it was actually Adelle who suggested I apply for the open Community Manager position at Outside.in, a job I am now lucky enough to call my own (good call, Adelle!).

Still, those are not the only reasons Adelle is a ‘Blogger We Love.’ What I find most inspiring about Adelle and her blog (besides the drool-worthy fashion photos she posts, obviously!) is that her blog exemplifies the idea that a local blog can take many different forms. By spotlighting her, I hope to diversify our ideas about what a local blog could or should be – and just maybe inspire a person or two out there to join the conversation by launching a ‘local’ blog of their own.

So, without further ado, I give you…

The Top 10 Things I Learned from Fashionista Lab

1. Trust Your Instincts

“I had a personal blog for years – and basically it functioned as a travel blog. Then one day I blogged about tank tops and how much I loved them – and I thought to myself: maybe it’s time I just blogged about fashion, because I realized I had a lot more to to say about fashion. I knew I wanted a different audience, so I started the fashion blog.”

2. Give in to Your Creative Impulse

“One of the biggest benefits of blogging is just starting the blog and acknowledging that creative desire and giving in to it — and then, once you give in to it, it just opens you up to so many other things.”

3. Don’t Sweat the Blog Stuff (‘Cause It’s All Small Stuff)

“There’s always this tension [between work and blogging], because I [blog] for fun, but it’s really what I love — and I’ve networked with a number of other fashion bloggers who do it and do it well and have big audiences… and I want that, too. But then it’s like, OK, they’re students, and they have all this free time – or they work in the fashion industry and it’s part of their job. My job takes up most of my time — but sometimes I feel myself naturally competing and trying to achieve what they’re achieving, and sometimes it gets stressful and I have to realize: OK, this isn’t my job. My job is my job. This is my hobby – I should do it and do it well, but at the same time, I can’t let myself get stressed out about it.”

4. You Don’t Have to Be an SEO Guru to Get Started

“Oh, um… I don’t know how to optimize.”

5. Blog What You Know

“The original Fashionista Lab [was a blog] run by a friend of mine and I when I lived in Tokyo. It was called Fashionista Lab because it was for ideas. We decided: we don’t want to tell you what’s ‘HOT’ or what’s ‘NEW,’ or to compete with that area because it’s already saturated. [Instead, we're] going to tell you our unique perspective on Tokyo fashion: this is what we see, living in Tokyo. I just kept the name because [the blog's purpose is the same] in San Francisco. It’s a lab – it’s for ideas.”

6. You Can Start with a Simple Blog Design or Platform

“I use WordPress.com. I’m slowly building it. Like: I have my own domain now. Eventually, I want to have my own custom WordPress.org blog so I can change themes and add widgets and stuff – those are all things I want to do. I have so many aspirations for the blog – but my time-line is just a lot slower.”

7. You Have to Be Your Own Biggest Fan

“I was featured a month and a half ago on this site called Independent Fashion Bloggers. It’s a really great fashion blogger resource – they did a conference during Fashion Week in New York, for example – and every week they have something called ‘Links à la Mode,’ which is like 10-15 of the best fashion blog posts from the world’s fashion blogger community that past week. I look at their links every week, and I’ve submitted blog posts for consideration like three times, and finally, the fourth time, they chose one of my posts – and that was really exciting.”

8. Shorter = Better

“I volunteered at a benefit fashion show in San Francisco recently – part of it was this silent auction and live auction. The live auction was really exhilarating and really crazy, and I wrote this really long post and I thought it was really engaging, and then one of my friends read it and talked to me about it, and I realized she hadn’t finished it. It was just too long. Short things are better. That was a post I could have easily broken down into two parts.”

9. To Be a Good Blogger, You Have to Be a Good Reader

“Once I started the blog and realized how much I had to say, I really started to pay more attention to other people who were saying things, and seeing what they were doing and where they were going and where they were getting their information – and that was just the beginning [of the evolution of my blog and blogger network].”

10. San Francisco is Home to Unique, Edgy Fashion

“It is really creative. As I was telling a friend in New York: New York women are really chic, especially in Manhattan, but I’ve noticed that San Francisco is a little bit rougher, you know? It’s not as put-together, per se – but there’s just lots of creativity and lots of different outfits that you see. It’s not just ‘hipsters,’ either. It’s temperate all year round, so you can play more with jackets and layering tops and leggings. I never understood the appeal of those open-toe booties, but then I got a pedicure in January and I was like: this is perfect! I can cover my foot and have my toes showing!”

There you have it: you don’t have to only write ‘hard news’ to be a ‘local’ blogger, nor do you have to make your blog into your life’s work (though both of those things are totally awesome things to do!). As it turns out, a local blog can also be comprised of fashion-related musings (some of them locally-oriented, some of them not).

So, would-be ‘local bloggers,’ please know: as far as we’re concerned, blogging more casually doesn’t make the contributions you do make to the local content pool any less valuable than the contributions of a more ‘professional,’ blogger. It’s OK to blog without an agenda.

P. S. Local bloggers, don’t forget to register your blog here. It’s quick, simple, and will help drive traffic to your blog.

P.P. S.: If you’d like to be featured in our ‘Bloggers We Love’ series (or you’d like to nominate your favorite local blogger(s) for inclusion), we’d love to hear from you! Simply send an email to esther@outside.in

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8
Jun 10

Bloggers We Love: Natasha ‘Tasha’ Ball (Part 2 of 2)

Posted by Esther Brown in Bloggers We Love / General / Tips & Tricks — View Comments

BLOGGER: Natasha ‘Tasha’ Ball

FEATURED BLOG(S): Tasha Does Tulsa

TWITTER: @TashaDoesTulsa (Tasha Does Twitter)

FACEBOOK: Tasha Does Facebook

FLICKR: Tasha Does Tulsa on Flickr

TASHA’S TOP TIPS FOR BLOGGERS

Last week we introduced you to another local Blogger We Love, Tasha Ball of Tasha Does Tulsa. This week, we’re bringing you her top tips for local bloggers!

1. FOCUS GROUPS.

“My advice would be: before setting up a blog of any kind, spend a couple of weeks writing, thinking and talking about your blog idea. Talk to people who would care about what you’d be writing about and ask them: ‘what do people want to know’? You can get an idea about what your site should look like that way.”

2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

“As I was starting out, I read The Pioneer Woman a lot. Her site is pretty and I admire her, really—the way she’s so lighthearted. If you visit her blog, it’s guaranteed that you’re probably going to smile, at least a little bit. In the middle of a lonely day,  you can go to The Pioneer Woman and get that goofy, funny thing. I’ve enjoyed watching her photography improve and I aspire to that myself. I like to think I’m teaching myself photography, like Ree Drummond. I do a lot of reading of Oklahoma blogs—that’s something I’m passionate about.”

3. LOOKING TO GO PRO? DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY.

“I do make some money off of my blog – but it’s just like writing: your money comes from a lot of little different places. Some of my income comes from local ads, some of it comes from internet ads, and some of it comes from freelance blogging projects: for instance, I contribute to a local TV station that has a mom site. When you’re a writer, you very rarely have one income source—that’s something I always remind bloggers of when they start out: they should diversify.

It’s really tough to make it happen any one way—and, as a blogger, you have to straddle the editorial/advertising divide, which are usually separate in traditional media. It’s a full-time job in and of itself to sell ads.”

4. ESTABLISH A ROUTINE.

“I think it’s pretty important to post something every day, or at least to establish a consistent posting schedule so readers can rely on that and know when to check back on your blog.”

5. OFFER INSIDER TIPS.

“If you’re a local blogger, you want your readers to be that guy at the water cooler who knows everything that’s going on in town– especially the underground stuff—because he read it on your blog.”

6. LISTEN TO YOUR READERSHIP (& DON’T FORGET THE ‘BURBS!)

“I use Twitter and Facebook to connect with my audience, but I see a lot of people who don’t use them as an interactive tool but rather for SOAPBOXING, which doesn’t work. Oh my gosh, I don’t think I would have gotten to meet half of the interesting people I’ve met through blogging if it weren’t for Twitter. I love to ask all kinds of questions, like: ‘what’s the best make-out spot in Tulsa?’

(It turns out Woodward Park is a top spot for romance in Tulsa)

I also have a lot of readers in Tulsa’s suburbs [and I'm careful not to neglect them]. I figure if an area is in the metropolitan statistical area, they deserve coverage. There are really cool, unique, independent businesses in the 6-7 surrounding counties.”

7. TRY NEW THINGS.

“I just want to be able to continue to offer readers inside information into what makes this city interesting. And whatever enables me to do that— whether it’s reader submitted content, an events calendar, an exclusive calendar, different types of media such as a podcast or video—I’m looking into all of those things.”

8. GIVE YOUR READERS A TASTE OF THE REAL THING.

“Make your local blog a one-stop shop for your town or city. Tell your readers the best place to eat – just don’t tell me it’s Ruby Tuesday or Red Robin! Give them the night life, a true taste of your city and what makes it special. Write about it and publicize it not just for visitors, but also for locals that live there, too.”

9.  BE PREPARED FOR SKEPTICS & STRIVE TO ENROLL THEM.

“I still get the ‘what is a blog?’ question here in Tulsa. I STILL get that question! Or, ‘What’s Facebook? What’s Twitter?’ People will say ‘I don’t do those things.’ The internet freaks them out. I tell people I run a website and they look at me kinda like I have leprosy or something. I have this challenge to not only tell these people about the technology but I also have to say ‘Did you know that Tulsa is this really cool place and you should let me tell you about it? Oh, and I post 4-5 times a day!” Those two things are kind of tough.

10. VISIT TULSA!

“I do think we’re the greatest city in the world! For instance, in what other city…
- Could you find an art and food scene to make the snooty snoots take notice?
- Find two world-class museums (one of them has the largest collection of Western American Art IN THE WORLD)?
- Find one of the largest collections of Art Deco buildings in the world?
- Visit ‘America’s Favorite Zoo,’ (and hang out with a rhino and his keeper on Rhino Awareness Day)?
- Go to one of the largest BBQs in the state?
- Go to a gunshow and a rodeo IN THE SAME WEEKEND?”

Like we said last week: Tulsa, OK is, well, kind of a big deal — and so is Tasha Ball.

P. S. Local bloggers, don’t forget to register your blog here. It’s quick, simple, and will help drive traffic to your blog.

P.P. S.: If you’d like to be featured in our ‘Bloggers We Love’ series (or you’d like to nominate your favorite local blogger(s) for inclusion), we’d love to hear from you! Simply send an email to esther@outside.in

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3
Jun 10

Bloggers We Love: Natasha ‘Tasha’ Ball (Part 1 of 2)

Posted by Esther Brown in Bloggers We Love / General / Tips & Tricks — View Comments

BLOGGER: Natasha ‘Tasha’ Ball

FEATURED BLOG(S): Tasha Does Tulsa

TWITTER: @TashaDoesTulsa (Tasha Does Twitter)

FACEBOOK: Tasha Does Facebook

FLICKR: Tasha Does Tulsa on Flickr

TASHA DOES TULSA

Natasha Ball thinks Tulsa, OK is, well, kind of a big deal, to use the parlance of our times.

Actually, more accurately, Natasha Ball – or, simply Tasha, as her readers know her – thinks Tulsa, OK is the GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD!

Tasha in Downtown Tulsa, OK

While that may sound pretty audacious to some of us big city dwellers, after reading Tasha Does Tulsa and having a wonderful telephone conversation with Tasha last week, I can honestly say that I have a newfound desire to visit Tulsa, and I’m confident that when I do, I will have an awesome time (and an amazing tour guide!).

TASHA LOVES TULSA

Seriously, though– I don’t think I’ve spoken to many people who are as enthusiastic and genuine in their love for their town or city as Tasha Ball. As a Tulsa native, her love for the city is contagious, exciting, and completely authentic:

“I’ve lived in Tulsa my whole life, except for when I went away to school and a few months here and there that don’t really count. My family has been here since before Oklahoma was a state, before Tulsa was a city.  It’s this huge thing in my life: there is nowhere else.  I have this huge sense of place.  It’s my whole life.”

Ball says she got her first job fresh out of college, right after she moved back to Tulsa and fell in love with the city all over again. She simply walked into the local news office of the Tulsa Business Journal, handed her resume to the editor and said something to the effect of “hire me, please!”

The editor liked her approach so much that he hired her on the spot (get this: she still freelances for the publication today). One of her beats at the paper was tourism, but because the Tulsa Business Journal is a B2B publication, Ball felt she wasn’t getting to proselytize her love for Tulsa in the way that she wanted:

“There’s something about downtown Tulsa right now that’s just magical. There’s a big time revitalization that’s been underway for a while, and there are always new things going on. It’s really easy if you work downtown every day to get on fire about everything that’s happening and to get really excited about it, which is what happened to me.  I would go home and hear my grandmother talk about how she used to ride the trolley to downtown Tulsa to do her Christmas shopping in the snow – I could see the historic aspects of it coming into play and I wanted to tell EVERYBODY about it, but the paper wasn’t really the right platform.”

TASHA BLOGS TULSA

The right platform, it turns out, would be a blog – which is how Tasha Does Tulsa was born:

“I’d just heard this refrain throughout my whole teenage life: ‘Tulsa is a boring, Mid-western city — Tulsa is Fly-over country — anywhere-but-here,’ – and that always kind of teed me off. I never understood why everyone wanted to leave. I wanted to challenge that refrain. I say: if you say Tulsa is boring then you’re probably not looking very closely at what the city has to offer. A couple of coworkers and I were at a bar downtown one night, trying to think of ways I could talk to people about this passion I have for Tulsa and I thought, wow, this would be funny, I’ll start a blog – let’s call it ‘Tasha Does Tulsa,’ – and then everyone agreed and encouraged me to do it.”

She started slowly, but when she got pregnant with her first child, Ball found the time to get serious about blogging. Today she spends approximately 20 hours per week on blog-related activities.

TASHA KNOWS TULSA

When she’s not blogging, Ball is a full-time mom as well as a freelance writer. She writes regularly for both the Tulsa Business Journal (as their food and entertainment writer), as well as for Oklahoma Magazine (FACT: she landed that gig after meeting the magazine’s publisher at a social media panel where she was speaking on behalf of her blog).

Clearly, Ball’s love for Tulsa is not an unrequited one – not only is she an award-winning blogger and regular freelance writer, but she’s also a weekly staple on KRMG talk radio each Friday morning. Keeping busy is just one of the by-products of being a successful blogger and freelancer, Ball says, adding that meeting interesting Oklahomans and Tulsans is one of the highlights of hyperlocal blogging:

“The people I have met because of blogging—that part has been absolutely incredible. I love getting to know people who are passionate about our city. Since it has improved – I hate to say ‘improved,’ because Tulsa has always been a really cool, weird little place anyway— people want to make it their own by starting new projects and putting their stamp on the city. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people like that.”

For instance, Ball recently helped to found the Tulsa Blogger Meet-Up, which is in its fourth month. She says they usually invite a speaker, and then she and the rest of Tulsa’s top bloggers meet at an independently-owned Tulsa restaurant to drink beer and talk blogging:

“When you write a local blog, it tends to get you out of the house a lot. Naturally, I normally like to sit at home on my butt, but blogging makes me practice what I preach: getting out and about in Tulsa. I’ve discovered all kinds of really neat, on-the-inside-track things. Things my parents and grandparents didn’t know about – and I get to share it with people. Then someone writes to me and says: ‘I saw something on your blog and I went and tried it – your memories are with me.’ People are taking time to do the things I suggest: that’s pretty huge, and that’s what keeps me blogging. There’s no higher compliment than that for me as a blogger.”

Just another day in the life of a fabulously cosmopolitan, unabashedly Midwestern, enthusiastically hyperlocal Blogger We Love.

Check back next week to read Tasha’s Top Tips for Bloggers!

P. S. Local bloggers, don’t forget to register your blog here. It’s quick, simple, and will help drive traffic to your blog.

P.P. S.: If you’d like to be featured in our ‘Bloggers We Love’ series (or you’d like to nominate your favorite local blogger(s) for inclusion), we’d love to hear from you! Simply send an email to esther@outside.in

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27
May 10

Bloggers We Love: Lee Frank and Rachel Anderson

Posted by Esther Brown in Bloggers We Love / General / Tips & Tricks — View Comments

BLOGGERS: Lee Frank (Managing Editor) & Rachel Anderson (Senior Correspondent)

FEATURED BLOG(S): NachosNY

TWITTER:

@NachosNY

@LeeMFrank

FACEBOOK: NachosNY on Facebook

FLICKR: NachosNY on Flickr

12 Steps To Building a Better Blog

(or a Delicious Plate of Nachos)

Rachel, Esther and Lee at Outside.in

This week we sat down with roommates Lee Frank and Rachel Anderson of the hyperlocal blog NachosNY. We took the liberty of using the knowledge and experience they shared with us to create a 12-step program for building a better blog as if you were building a plate of delicious nachos. Buen provecho!


1. CHIPS : CONTENT

Ultimately, the test of a great plate of nachos comes down to the chips: are the chips high quality (good enough to get noticed and keep people coming back for more)? Are they fresh and plentiful? Do the chips hold up under all the toppings, or do they get soggy? Just as all of these factors matter with chips, they matter with blog content. Are your posts innovative, interesting, compelling? Do you post often enough to keep your blog fresh? These are all questions you should ask yourself as a blogger (and especially as a local blogger). NachosNY, for example, finds that their blogging niche — the quest for the best nachos in New York City — provides them with a deep well (a veritable all-you-can-eat nacho buffet!) of quality story ideas to draw from :

LEE: My favorite spot is El Maguey y La Tuna, it’s on East Houston and Attorney. They have like 8 different kinds of nachos, even nachos with broccoli, which are awesome. They also have a really awesome jalapeno margarita. Nobody else likes it, because it’s a little painful – but that’s why I like it. But we’ve also eaten these bad nachos so you don’t have to go and eat them. New York is NOT known for its Mexican food by any means, but in New York you can still find all kinds of great food all over the place. I know there are places that we haven’t uncovered that that probably have really great nachos that we just haven’t gotten to yet.

RACHEL: After a nacho crawl we’ll stop for a couple of days – but we’ll never be finished.

2. MEAT & BEANS : PASSION

Meat and beans (think ground beef, grilled chicken, black beans or refried pintos) are what make nachos into a meal: the protein packs a real energy punch. The same is true of passion and blogging – passion is what gives bloggers their initial jolt of energy, as well as the fortitude and staying power to keep on bloggin’:

LEE: I love nachos. I used to talk about nachos so much that the girl I was dating at the time made me a ‘I <3 Nachos,’ T-shirt. I wasn’t even in New York yet. I was living in China, and I was blogging there about the city I was in. When I came back I wanted to start another blog because I really enjoyed it – and my friend was telling me how it had to be niche, how I had to find something I knew and liked. Nachos was, like, the first thing I could think of – I love nachos.

RACHEL: Learn to be confident in what you’re doing, whether it’s nachos or a cause or something – you have to be able to talk about it and be proud of what you’re doing.

3. SOUR CREAM : MERCHANDISE & SIGNATURE EVENTS

Sour cream can only make nachos cooler, right? The same goes with signature events and merchandise sold on your blog, particularly if they’re conceived and branded just for your blog and its audience (making some extra money on the side? Super cool, especially if you can spend it on… more nachos!):

LEE: We have the merchandise, we have three T-shirts that we sell. They do pretty well, especially at the events – we’ll do nacho crawls and then we just had the Guactacular, which was completely sold out – 370 people showed up. This year’s Guactacular was our first successful event, money-wise.

4. CHEESE & SALSA : COMMUNITY

Salsa and cheese are the elements on your nachos that really tie the whole nacho experience together. The same can be said of your blog’s readership: nearly every blogger we’ve spoken to has said their blog’s community is what ties the whole blogging experience together for them and gives it meaning. Blog communities are as varied and diverse as types of salsa, but the best of them are always fresh, lively and full of local flavor — though of course there’s also nothing like a blog community that has ripened and matured, like a beautifully aged cheddar:

LEE: We like how it’s a shareable thing: there are so many people we can meet and so many people we can talk to about nachos. I actually really like getting emails from people where they’re like, ‘um, my family, like, really likes nachos that are made with Doritos. Do you know where we can find some of those in New York?’ and at first I’m, like, flinching, because, you know, that sounds gross— but then I try to figure it out. I like getting emails like that, or tweets about things like that.

RACHEL: I want more people to feel more comfortable commenting and being more involved in the process. We’re really interested in seeing what other people have to say and getting formal nacho reviews from other people, or just interacting with others on Twitter, trying to get more of a solid community.

LEE: … You should come eat nachos with us.

5. GUACAMOLE : CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS

Guacamole: the luscious, buttery dip made from avocados, joy, and a few other ingredients (usually onions, tomatoes, lime juice, salt and perhaps some spices). We think guacamole is mostly joy, though — and the same can be said of corporate sponsorships for your blog and/or blogging-related events. NachosNY was certainly joyful upon securing an amazing corporate sponsorship for this year’s Guactacular:

LEE: There’s a company called Avocados From Mexico. One of the people that was competing [in the Guactacular] works at Ketchum PR, and they represent Avocados From Mexico, and they were really interested in the event, so they approached us and gave us all 720 avocados. Every avocado used in the event was from them. So it really came in handy.

6. CHILI: NEW SKILLS

Chili is a magical dish: you find it all over the culinary map: beans, no beans, meat, no meat, red, white, you name it. You can make chili however you like it, and when you do you may notice that your particular chili recipe is pretty special — kinda like the new skills you’ll learn as a blogger. Not every blogger will learn the same skills — whether you’re mastering HTML, video blogging, podcasting or photography, you’re making your own unique brand of chili, and it will only improve your blog, and ultimately your skill set as an individual. Plus, even if you’re not crazy about chili on your nachos, if you eat ‘em often enough you’ll find that chili can’t always be avoided — just as every blogger will inevitably pick up new skills, whether they were intending to or not:

RACHEL: I have my undergrad in Gender Studies, so it’s kind of not really focused on any sort of career path, but now I work at a women’s non-profit and I do web design and IT and I’m in charge of all of their social media. I’ve been able to kind of tailor my blog experience to my job now.

7. PEPPERS & HOT SAUCE : THE HUMAN CONNECTION

Just as chili peppers and hot sauce add heat to your nachos, human connections made via blogging adventures will add heat to your life and fuel your passion for blogging. In fact, the effect can be life-changing. Real friendships, business contacts, even romantic relationships are forged every day via blogging adventures:

LEE: I met my girlfriend at the last Guactactular, a year ago. The night of the event she was there, and we were closing down the event, and we, like, just made eye contact and it’s been a fairytale ever since.

8. ONIONS : SOCIAL MEDIA

Ah, onions. Some of us almost can’t live without them – they’re in the base of so many cuisines (mirepoix, sofrito – it seems like every holy trinity has ‘em). I won’t go so far as to say that every great dish of nachos must contain onions, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that many of the best nachos wouldn’t be nearly as delicious if they weren’t flavored by onions in some way. Whether they’re found in the salsa, in the seasoning of the meat, or as a simple topping, onions of all types can be found in nachos the world over. The same can be said of social media tools: not all of the best bloggers use them, but most do – and for most, they’re indispensable:

RACHEL: Twitter has been really great for us – we love interacting with readers on Twitter.

LEE: I have a Google Alert that I have for ‘nachos’ that I get every day and I’m like, “oh, that’s a funny tweet to send out.”

9. OLIVES : MOBILE BLOGGING

Not everyone loves olives on their nachos, but those of us that do also know that they’re a pretty great snack in a pinch. You’ll often find them in a martini or as a snack at the bar, plus you can always pack them up for a picnic. They may not be the MOST portable snack, but they’re pretty good — a lot like mobile blogging tools (such as the iPad, cleverly compared to nachos here). Blogging on-the-go isn’t ideal, but for some of us, it’s really useful:

RACHEL: The WordPress iPhone App is actually kind of awesome. I use that now, whenever I eat at a restaurant, I try to do it on the subway on the way home, because you can just do it and save the draft to your iPhone, and then I publish it later.

10. CILANTRO & LETTUCE: CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT

Some of us love cilantro with an undying passion, while for others, cilantro is as repulsive as a mouthful of soap (literally). The same kind of gulf exists between the lettuce/no lettuce schools of thought in the nacho world. That said, it must be pointed out that even if some of your readers may disagree with you vehemently, one sure way to engage your readership is to experiment with controversial content. NachosNY does this annually on St. Patrick’s Day with their Irish Nachos. Sometimes it works and others… not so much:

RACHEL: [Irish Nachos are] supposed to be some sort of potato product, cheese and bacon. The first year was actually thick slices of potato – it wasn’t even fries or anything, you had to eat it with a knife – and it was gouda and bacon and sour cream.

LEE: It was delicious.

RACHEL: And then this year was really kind of gross – it was loaded cheese fries.

LEE: Disgusting.

11. LIME JUICE : INNOVATIVE EVENTS

The acidity of lime juice balances the richness of the cheese, sour cream, meat and other delicious ingredients that give your nachos heft. Think of new, innovative events as the thing that can give your blog that extra squeeze of freshness that it needs from time to time. NachosNY peppers their calendar with events throughout the year, and they’re always trying zesty new things:

RACHEL: July 19, 2010 is actually our first Guactac Boat Cruise. We’re doing a boat cruise through Rocks Off Concert Cruises. We just finalized that last week, so we’re making plans and booking bands for that right now. We’re hoping to put on a great concert and have good food on a fun boat cruise. We’re also going to hopefully do a Salsa Slam competition in September.

12. BACON : BLOG + TUMBLR

Bacon is that little something extra on your nachos that might seem counter-intuitive to some of us, but when we finally give it a try, we realize it’s actually a pretty nice addition (as bacon tends to be). NachosNY‘s is thinking of creating a Tumblr to supplement their already-popular WordPress blog [JULY 2010 UPDATE: Nachos Nation is here!]. The idea sounds overindulgent, but — like bacon on barbacoa nachos — it could turn out to be a welcome topping:

LEE: We like hearing from people, so one of the things I want to start is a Tumblr to go along with the blog that would be more of a nationwide thing so people could send us a picture of the nachos they just ate and what was on it or why they liked it, or whatever. We never wanted to say that we’re the best people to be doing this: everybody can be eating nachos and telling us about it. If more people were talking about it, everybody would find the best ones even quicker.

P.S.: Local bloggers, don’t forget to register your blog here. It’s quick, simple, and will help drive traffic to your blog.

P.P.S.: If you’d like to be featured in our ‘Bloggers We Love’ series (or you’d like to nominate your favorite local blogger(s) for inclusion), we’d love to hear from you! Simply send an email to esther@outside.in

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17
Apr 07

So you signed up for outside.in – now what?

Posted by chrysanthe in General / Tips & Tricks — View Comments

We’re not ones to brag, but new Neighbor sign-up numbers have gone up these past few weeks, so we’re welcoming lots of new users into our fold. I want to highlight just some of what you can do as a registered Neighbor on outside.in for all you newbies (and as a refresher for the old-timers).

Let’s start with submitting stories. When you’re reading your local paper online, or if you see a review of a local restaurant on a message board, you can submit these neighborhood-specific links to outside.in with this tool. As a registered user, you can keep track of any stories you’ve submitted to outside.in on your Neighbor page, which brings me to the next feature…

…your Neighbor page. This is your personality on the site. Upload a photo, write a brief bio, enter your website’s URL and tag yourself with keywords of your interests. Once you’ve created a Place page (with this tool), it will show up here on your Neighbor page with any comments you’ve written. Any stories you submit to the site will also show up with the comments in the center column on your Neighbor page.

You can also tag any story on the site, using the simple categories of “what,” “where,” and “when.” If you read a post that’s about, say, the Red Sox season home opener, you could tag the story with “what” tags sports, Red Sox, baseball, Fenway Park, and spring. For the “where” tag, you’d put the address or zip code the post refers to (in this case, that would be 4 Yawkey Way, Boston, MA). You can also add a “when” tag in the instance of an event, which would be the date and time of the home game.

And for those of you who don’t remember to visit outside.in every day, try out your neighborhood’s RSS feed. If you’re already familiar with and use a feed reader, try adding the feed for your favorite outside.in URL. My feed reader grabs outside.in/11211 (where I live) and outside.in/11217 (where I work) so I can keep up to date with goings-on in the neighborhoods I frequent. Click here if you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about, or e-mail me with questions. You can also subscribe to feeds for specific tags in a given neighborhood, so if you want to be alerted to any crime news in your neighborhood, you can subscribe to the RSS feed at outside.in/11211/tags/crime.

And lastly, you can add local blogs. If you know of a blog that is hyperlocal (meaning that its content pertains to an address, zip code or city) but not yet in our system, submit it here. We know you have lots of great personal and subject-based blogs you’d like to submit, but unless they are about local issues, we can’t include them in outside.in at this time.

So, welcome, new Neighbors. See what’s around you and learn from the old Neighbors at outside.in. If you have questions or comments about what you’re discovering on our site, contact me via e-mail or IM: Chrysanthe@outside.in.

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