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Blogging — there may be no better way to start branding yourself or simply enjoying the internet.
Why? Because it’s written by you, for your friends and family, with your own personal flavor.
How to get started blogging? It’s unbelievably simple. Everything is virtually done for you except the ideas, pictures, and videos that you can share.
I usually recommend for those with no prior blogging experience that they choose either one of two blogging platforms:
- Blogger – extremely simple format and structure. Great if you want to promote your business in your blog or simply want a personal blog to share with friends and family. Not very flexible in terms of themes and plugins though.
- Wordpress.com — the beginner’s form of Wordpress for those who basically are interested in staying in touch with friends and family, this is a great blogging platform that allows a lot of flexibility in terms of plugins and themes. But a word of warning though – DO NOT blatantly promote your business or product on Wordpress.com if you have one or decide to get involved in one, as they will DELETE YOUR BLOG. Take it from my experience!
There are more advanced options for those of you with more expanded blogging requirements, but that is for another post. For more information, I recommend you go to Wordpress.org.
One of the best way to discuss how to get started blogging, is to answer the most frequently asked questions I get from internet surfers:
#1. What should I talk about? Well what shouldn’t you talk about is the quite possibly the better question. Basically you can talk about anything, but my advice is to — MAKE IT PERSONAL. What I suggest is to, let people get to know you. Make it about you, your dreams, your goals, your experiences. Make it about something new you just recently learned. Make it about a book you read, a movie you saw, a video you saw on youtube, or new home you are looking at. Basically, just let people get to know you.
#2. But if all I do is talk about me, how will they know about a business that I may have? Remember, you DO have a choice. You can go to Blogger and promote your business. Or you can use wordpress.com to promote YOURSELF by letting people get to know you, or you can do both and simply link to your Blogger site from your wordpress.com blog.
You can always discuss the latest mindset or self-help book you are reading (I recommend that you always be reading one) and how it relates to your life, dreams, goals, or experiences.
#3. What do I put in my profile/About Me section? THIS is where you work on getting people to take a look at your business. Where you tell more about yourself, your story of how you got to where you are today, and provide that link to your business or, for that matter, wherever else you want to send them.
Don’t skimp on the profile, as people naturally want to learn about who is writing the blog. You would be surprised how many people click on a profile to see who is writing it. I do it when I read someone’s blog. It’s only human nature and it’s also where you’ll get them to take a look at your business. TIP: ALWAYS be sure and include a picture in your profile. People want to see the real you.
#4. How will people find my blog? Great question and one of the most basic questions too. Basically the answer lies in your ability in writing good content for your blog. But you can also help it along by every time you write a new article or content for your blog, you should “ping” it, which means notifying the blogging index tools that you’ve added to your blog using the pinging process.
I prefer Pingomatic, as it is not at all complicated to use or understand, althought another good on is Technorati. Either one is easy to use, and either one will notify the other index tools that it is time to index your blog.
#5. Another tip: Be sure you have a way for your readers to subscribe to your blog. The most common way to do this is to have a Subscribe button on your blog. This comes standard on Blogger, and can be added to your Wordpress.com blog without much problem. Just be sure and do it. This allows people to subscribe to your blog, be notified of your new posts, and now you’ve got yourself a loyal follower.
#6. How often should I blog and when is the best time to blog? There aren’t really any rules for this, but I recommend blogging at least 3-4 times per week although at times I will put out several blogs at one time or at least write them and then post them periodically over time. The key is really consistency, something that I myself should take note of. Truth is, it is best to set a schedule and stick to it. Once a week, twice a week, whatever works best for your schedule. But stick to a schedule as best you can, or like myself, you could find yourself going weeks or even months between blogging posts, and your momentum can be lost very quickly.
Building that Momentum with your blog is really the key. That comes with adding content or articles on a regular basis, and keeping your readers interested in what you’re saying and doing.
Blogging can be a great source for developing a loyal following and getting free leads for your business too, so don’t under estimate the benefits of blogging.
Finally, if you like to write and enjoy sharing your experiences with others, Blogging could be just what the doctor ordered for you and your future!
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