About the Authors

Amy Lupold Bair: Named one of the most powerful women in social media by Working Mother Magazine, Amy Lupold Bair is the owner of Resourceful Mommy Media, LLC (www.resourcefulmommymedia.com), a social media marketing company that includes the blogger network Global Infl uence as well as her own site, Resourceful Mommy (www.resourcefulmommy.com), which was named to Working Mother Magazine’s Best of the Net. She has loved the Internet since she fi rst heard the whir-whir-click of a dial-up modem, her fi rst home online was a Geocities community, and she still maintains a Prodigy e-mail account for sentimental reasons. Amy’s primary digital addiction is Twitter, where she is always available in 140 characters or fewer as @ResourcefulMom. Over the years, she has contributed to a variety of sites, and currently writes as part of the Disney Voices team at Babble.com.

Prior to her career as a social media consultant, writer, and speaker, Amy taught middle school English and drama. She and her social media–averse husband live in the D.C, suburbs where they are raising their two bloggers-intraining.

Susannah Gardner is the co-founder and creative director of Hop Studios Internet Consultants (www.hopstudios.com), a web design company specializing in custom web solutions for content publishers. Hop Studios brings an insightful concern for community building and editorial workfl ow to bear on each project — backed by solid design and interface interaction skills. The company builds many types of sites, but specializes in those with copious, rapidly changing content or with a strong journalism, education, or editorial component (like blogs!). Susannah is also a freelance writer and author; she is the author of Blogging For Dummies, 2nd Edition, Blogging For Dummies, 3rd Edition, and Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies; and co-author of BitTorrent For Dummies, Dreamweaver MX 2004 For Dummies, and Teach Yourself Visually: Dreamweaver MX 2004, all from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 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 technology and journalism. She was a senior editor of the Online Journalism Review, the media industry’s only Internet-focused journalism publication.

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 technology and was LATimes.com’s single largest revenue source in 1998. Susannah earned bachelor’s degrees in Print Journalism and American literature at USC. To learn more about her web design company, visit www.hopstudios.com.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Shannan Powell, without whom I’d likely have given up blogging years ago.

Author’s Acknowledgements

Thank you fi rst and foremost to Wiley Publishing for giving me this opportunity and making me part of the For Dummies family. It is an absolute pleasure and a highlight of my blogging adventure.

Special thanks to Ellen Gerstein, who changed my life with the best Twitter direct message ever, as well as to Amy Fandrei, who continues to keep this very grateful blogger around. Your support and encouragement through this process has been incredible.

Susan Christophersen, my project and copy editor, thank you for your patience and support through this ever-changing process. Thanks to the rest of the editing team, including my technical editor, Paul Chaney, who took the ideas on the page and turned them into something For Dummies worthy. Jennifer, Chantal, and the rest of the marketing team, thank you for your part in bringing this book to its readers.

I am grateful, always, for the love and support of my husband, Jason, and our children, Emma and Noah. I am also thankful for Tigger, the home offi ce cat who has been by my side — or on my lap — every step of the way. Mom and Dad, thank you for not rolling your eyes too often when I told you I was becoming a blogger and for getting me through many crazy deadlines over the past fi ve years.

Thank you to the blogging community for your friendship, encouragement, inspiration, and trailblazing. The sticker on my laptop says “All my friends live in here,” and although that may not be quite true, it is certainly where I’ve found some of the best friends of my life.

Publisher’s Acknowledegments

Acquisitions Editor: Amy Fandrei

Project and Copy Editor: Susan Christophersen

Technical Editor: Paul Chaney

Editorial Assistant: Annie Sullivan

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Cover Image: © iStockphoto.com / mrPliskin