Table of Contents
I know what you’re thinking: The BlackBerry is lame. With the iPhone and Android sitting atop the mobile world it’s easy to forget about poor old BlackBerry. My advice: don’t let the reputation sway you. The BlackBerry is still an excellent platform for certain business uses. If you’re reading Techgyo, chances are you consider your blog a business. Therefore, the BlackBerry can come in handy for your purposes. You just have to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Why the BlackBerry? Really, it’s all about the keyboard. The organization system helps, but you can find many of those organizational tools on other smartphones. The physical keyboard on the BlackBerry is unmatched in the smartphone world. It can help you do more while you’re away from your computer. What follows are ways you can use the BlackBerry, and it’s fast-typing keyboard, to your advantage in maintaining a successful high-traffic blog.
Stay up to date
Every smartphone worth its weight will have some sort of RSS interface. The BlackBerry has a quality news feeder built right into it. Social Feeds combines RSS feeds with your Twitter, Facebook, and instant messaging applications, so you’ll know exactly when news breaks. That knowledge can help you get a head start on your next blog post.
Update your readers
Not only can you find the latest news and rumors while you’re out of the office and away from your computer, but you can also provide instant updates on your blog. The WordPress for BlackBerry application works with any WordPress.org powered blog, and it lets you do almost anything that WordPress can do. You can write up a post instantly, adding images and tagging it right from the BlackBerry app.
This is where the keyboard comes in handy. Have you ever tried to type more than a paragraph or two on a touchscreen? It’s possible, but it becomes a pain. Even with a quality autocorrect you’re still going to make a number of errors, which slows down everything. The BlackBerry keyboard makes your typing faster and more accurate. That can come in handy when you’re blogging from the road.
Jot down ideas
The WordPress application is also great for capturing ideas. If you suddenly come up with a post idea, you can write a quick draft and then save it. That way, when you return to your computer and check your blog, you’ll see the draft on top of your posts lists. No idea gets lost that way.
Even better, you can use the built-in Memo application to record quick ideas. What’s the advantage here? By listing ideas in one document, you’ll see the list every time you add a new item. You can forge new connections and maybe come up with an even better post idea than you’d imagined.
Keep a schedule
Do you keep a schedule for your blog? If you don’t, you might be missing out on a big opportunity. People value predictability, and therefore you should strive to deliver on a consistent basis. Using the BlackBerry calendar app can help you lay out a schedule of posts for the next week, or even the next month. That way you’ll always have an idea of what you need to do each day to make your blog better.
Keeping a schedule is even more important if your blog takes guest posts. High traffic blogs might have trouble fitting in guest posts. By keeping everything in the calendar app, you can see exactly where a guest post fits.
Promote your blog
Using SEO and other simple marketing methods might be essential for a blog, but you can’t stop there. There are many other promotional tools that are becoming just as important. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter continue to grow, and many people find their news from what people share on these sites. That means you have to get active within these communities.
The BlackBerry has high-quality apps for both Facebook and Twitter. In fact, its Faceboook application is on par with the iPhone and Android. But make sure not to just share your own posts. Share useful links and stories, too. Those will keep readers coming back for more — and yes, they will come back and click on more of your content as well.
Communicate
Every smartphone has email. It is at the center of the smartphone experience. Yet even after both Android and iPhone overtook the BlackBerry, neither has as perfect an email system. BlackBerry still reigns supreme here. Their email system can help you keep up with everyone who is important.
I use these tools every day in promoting my blogs. In fact, one reason I have yet to get an iPhone is because the BlackBerry serves my blogging purposes perfectly.
Joe Pawlikowski is the editor of BBGeeks.com, a site that helps BlackBerry users get the most out of their devices.
