Thursday, April 7, 2011

Blogging for Success - How to Start Blogging

by Ramlit Navarro

You are reading this article because you want to blog for success. Yes, success is in the making as you read this. Don't worry if you are a newbie in this field. I was once like you who believed that there's nothing in the online world that cannot be learned. And mind you, blogging can easily be learned. If you can surf the internet or use a word processor, then you can start a blog. And before you start a blog, ask yourself these questions: Do I enjoy writing? Am I passionate about a certain topic? Do I have specialized knowledge I want to share? Do I want to start or grow my business? Do I want to create an online journal to share with family and friends? What about a career journal? Do I have a portfolio of photographs, artwork, or web designs I want to market? Do I want to earn money online? If you have favourable answer to these questions, then you've got the starting right mindset that will propel you to success.

There are many benefits to and reasons for starting a blog - informational: sharing news, information, photos, videos; professional: enhancing your business, as a career journal, to display your writing skills, market yourself or your business; personal: personal or family blog, thoughts and musings, as a family photo or video journal; as a business: internet marketing, consulting, brand development etc. So, why tardy. Here are some fundamental tips for you to start you blog. Now!

First, make sure you have a niche picked out. A niche can be thought of as a category, usually a broad one that can then be broken down into further categories. I suggest that you pick out a niche that you know and are passionate about, something that you love researching on or writing about. You need to be interested in what you are posting otherwise you will get tired along the way and give up blogging. If you love what you are doing, then convincing your readers to follow your posts will become almost natural. For example, if you are keen on photography, it is expected that you share things that you have learned about taking pictures, types of camera and the like. Of course, you will share your knowledge in a way that it becomes equally interesting to your readers and followers. In short, knowledge and passion are fundamental elements in blogging. Without these, your blog is doomed to fail.

Second, give your blog one main theme. It is recommendable that you focus on one topic or a set of related topics. For example, if you blog about Travel to Brazil, you should focus on "travel to Brazil" topics. These aren't exactly the same topics, but they point to the same overall theme. Obviously, it doesn't make sense to write on the same blog about travel today, then soccer tomorrow, then depression on Saturday, then... Ok, you know what I mean. Your readers follow your blog because of a particular interest in a topic or theme. It will be logically easier to grow you blog in terms of subscribers and traffic if readers know what to expect.

Third, go hands on! For this, you need to sign up for an account. To get started, simply go to Google Blogger at Blogspot and click the "Sign up Now" button and fill out the information that is presented to you. It is quick and easy to follow. When you sign up, the Google Blogger will take you through a process that will lead you along the way. In addition, signing up for a blog is free, so don't worry about any startup costs or monthly fees.

Then, after you have signed up and created your blog, you now have the option to go in and pick a theme, or template, for your blog that will determine how your blog looks. You'll then be presented with the many free themes. Browse the themes, and find a theme according to your preference. Now that you already have your theme, begin to organize your widgets. What are widgets? These are little sections of your blog that display different types of dynamic information. For example, there are widgets that help readers search your blog, widgets that display links to your favorite blogs or lead to recent blogs posts, and more. Once you are into hands on mode, you will discover some more widgets to your blog.

Finally, start blogging. Share your thoughts with the world by clicking on New Post. You'll find a page where you can enter the title of a post, then input the body of the blog post. You can write your post directly or simply copy and paste text from another document. You'll also find tools below for adding categories and keywords to your blog. And now, are you ready with your post? Click the Publish button, and your post will be published to your blog for the world to see. Wow!

Just follow these and your blog will surely find its way to success.  If you want more tips, just visit http://onlinesage.blogspot.com.  So, get out there, blog, and share your blog address with all your friends and family!