Real. Smart. Now.

Hey

I thought I would put this up for people who aren’t sure what the heck all this blog thing’s about.

Well, I was pretty new to blogs until very recently, so here’s what I’ve learned.

A blog is an easily update-able website. You’re on one right now!

Each update/article is called a post. This is a post you’re reading.

With most posts, you as a reader can place a comment on the post by scrolling to the bottom and typing one in. Your comment is then available to both the author (in this case me) and the world (in this case NOT me, but you – and everyone else).

This means that, rather than have articles clutter up your inbox, you can choose to come to the website and read them.

Below is a GREAT three minute video on what a blog is from the Common Craft show.

Just click and have your sound on.

There are three ways to read this blog.

Firstly, you can just put the address ( realsmartnow.net ) into your web browser (that’s the bit of software you’re using right now – might be Internet Explorer or Firefox) and check every day to see if there’s new stuff here.

Bit time-consuming and you might forget.

Alternatively, you can link to the automatic RSS feed (bear with me) for the blog. This means whenever there is a new post, you’ll know about it without coming to check the site. Much easier on you. And if you want to check out lots of blogs on a regular basis, it really is the best way.

For explanation of RSS, it’s back to the Common Craft people to explain. VERY simple.

What if you LIKE receiving the articles as emails?

Well, you can just go to the top right hand corner of this page and click subscribe. You’ll be asked for your email address. Type it in, and follow the instructions (you’ll get an email arrive with a link you have to click – this just checks that you really want to subscribe!). You’ll then get every article in your inbox as soon as I post it.

You can see the other articles on the blog (all written by me) by clicking on the links on the right-hand side of the page. Each post is categorised, so if you’re interested in a particular category of info, just click that link and you’ll only see articles (‘posts’) on that topic.

For me, a blog means I can write to my heart’s content about presentations, and not worry about bothering people. It also means new people who are interested in what I’m writing can find the articles and join the fun.

For you, it means more articles are available, and you can ask me questions and engage in a conversation not just with me but with other people interested in presentations

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers!

Andrew

ps If you have any questions, leave a comment below!