Blogging for Beginners

Although the World Wide Web has an abundance of information about advanced blogging techniques, there it little information about blogging for beginners. Since many of your friends and business contacts probably have their own blogs, you might be interested in jumping on the bandwagon. While the information seems overwhelming at first, blogging is one of the easiest things you can do online, even for those with limited technical skills.

The word "blog" is actually an abbreviation for the word "weblog." It is literally a log on the web, which presents a chronological series of articles, known as blog posts. For some people, blogs are the diaries of the millennium and represent a means of publishing their deepest thoughts online. Others use blogging as a means of promoting a business or an event.

Blogging for business has many benefits. It allows you to create your own personal brand and build brand loyalty. Because most blogs have a space for comments, you can interact with potential customers. Since a blog does not require any technical skills, you can update your business information without needing to pay for a web developer. In fact, since most platforms do not require a registration fee, blogging is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote a business.

Blogging not only provides a means of self-expression; it gives you the chance to share your feelings and insights with an online community and receive feedback from other readers. In some cases, readers may even share advice or offer insight about personal dilemmas.

Since blog posts can be archived, they allow you to look at posts you wrote a year ago, and observe your personal growth. Additionally, blogging lets you share updated information with friends and family, without having to send individual emails or make phone calls.

Once you are convinced of the benefits, you will need to choose a free blogging platform. A platform is simply a website that hosts your blog. Examples of free services include:

• Wordpress: Wordpress offers a diverse variety of blog themes, which range from professional to whimsical. The platform also offers a product called Akismet, which blocks spammers from leaving comments on your posts.
• Blogger: Blogger has a useful spell check feature that catches those pesky typos. When you sign up with Blogger, you get a free Picassa Web Albums account, which lets you upload your photos from your pictures file to your blog.
• Twitter Twitter is a perfect choice for anyone who does not enjoy waxing poetic on a given topic. Twitter is a micro-blogging site, because all blog posts must be 140 characters or shorter.

Unlike traditional journalists, bloggers do not need to follow the rules of the Associated Press style of writing. In fact, when writing a personal blog, many people write in the first person. However, if you are interested in developing a following, a certain amount of grammatical polish is advisable. If you want to be taken seriously, you should avoid using text-message language and posts written entirely in lower case or all caps.

While a business blog can be chattier than a traditional business website, it should still contain a certain degree of professionalism. The blog theme, background colors and fonts should be carefully considered when creating a business website. Whether you are blogging for business or for personal reasons, try to create posts that inspire interaction amongst your readers. Ask them questions, and always respond to comments, even if you simply reply "thank you."

Popular blogs are like a weekly television series. They can only gain a loyal following if they get updated on a regular basis. Try to create at least blog posts a week, and avoid mundane subjects. For example, a post that talks about going to the supermarket and then coming home to clean the apartment won't attract followers. On the other hand, if you see an elephant outside the supermarket, or if you happen to find a 19th century diary while cleaning out the attic, you might have an interesting blog post.

Blogging for beginners if very easy once you have all of the information necessary to get started. When it comes down to it, all you need to do is find a blog platform and start writing!

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