Become a blogmeister in seven simple steps

I have been asked by many people lately how I got started in blogging, how it is I maintain my blogs, and how I am able to constantly find things to write about. So, in honor of all those questions, I thought our seven simple steps for this week should be about the art of blogging.


1. Decide what the big picture is. What, in general, will you be writing about? Is this a casual blog about your life, just a way to keep your family and friends up to date? Is your blog a place for you to practice and showcase your writing skills? Do you have a business you want to promote via blogging? Are you a master of a certain craft or skill who wants to share their expertise with others? You need to decide what the central focus of your blog will be before moving on.

2. Decide a posting schedule. Now, I am not saying you need to layout a blog blueprint with specific daily subjects like I do (that is just my obsessive tendencies taking over), but you should have some sort of plan. This is a little more flexible if you are just writing to update your buddies about what has been going on in life-if there is nothing of note to mention, then there is no point mentioning it (still, you should probably work on being fairly consistent). If you are promoting a business or your own talents, then regular, consistent posting is a must. You are trying to reach out to an audience-in order for readers to keep coming back to your little corner of cyberspace, you need to give them something new to read.

3. Set up a blog account. I personally like Blogger for its ease of use and accessibility.  WordPress and LiveJournal are both decent options. There are more blog websites out there than I care to list off; a quick Google search will give you anything you may be looking for. Once you pick a site, setting up your own blog is a simple, painless process. The website holds your hand through the whole experience.

4. Dress your blog up. When it comes to this, I can only give my experience with Blogger, as it is the only platform I have used (I suspect any blog site has similarities). Blogger comes with quite a variety of pre-made templates to choose from. If you do not like any of the ones provided, you can always put your own background behind your writing (this and this are blogger templates, this is not). Never fear, you do not have to dive into the "scary" world of HTML to change your template-plenty of other people are willing to do that for you. Search for "free blog templates". You will come up with more results than you know what to do with.

5. Add gadgets. You do not have to do this, but it really helps add flair to your page. Blogger offers countless little goodies to add to your blog. In layout mode, just click the little "add a gadget" box, search or browse through the options until you find one that strikes your fancy, and add it where you want it. It really is simple. The text, pictures, lists, and boxes you see to the right and left of the main posts in blogs are these gadgets.

6. Write. This seems like the most obvious thing on this list, but the number of dead blogs floating around the internet make me think otherwise. There is no point having a blog if you do not write on it. This means you will have to do some research (not quite so true if your blog is an online journal of sorts). Even if you are an expert on a particular subject, there is only so much information you can personally share. Look into things that interest you; when you find one worthy of sharing, then share it with your readers. Keep your readers up to date on the subject of your blog-any revelant news is always worth publishing.

7. Attract readers to your blog. You can do this many ways: email friends, use social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Our Ladies Room (there is even a Bloggers group here), link your blog to others of the same "genre". As a writer, I tend to read a lot of author, publisher, editor, and agent blogs. The blog list on each of these often link to each other. In fact, it is not a rare occurrence for me to find a new blog I love on the blog-roll of another I read. Network with people who have blogs you believe would compliment yours. More often than not, if you link them, they will link you back. It will take some time to build up readership-keep on posting; if you are consistently putting good material out there, word of mouth (or computer screen) will travel and readers will come.

There you have it: blogging in seven simple steps. Have at it. I would be interested to see the blogs readers have come up with (both before and after this post). Comment away with your blog address!

* *Rae* *