Blogging — getting started

So you wanna blog?  How do you get started?  I'm certainly not an authority here.  I've tried to start a blog a couple times but never stuck to it.  However, I've been reading blogs for a while and have been giving the subject some thought.  Tom Merritt, who hosts c|net's The Real Deal podcast and is co-host of Buzz Out Loud (these are great podcasts — check them out), recently asked listeners for their thoughts on his upcoming podcast about blogging.  I sent him an e-mail with my thoughts that actually kind of turned out to be an article.  Tom gave me an unofficial co-writer credit during the podcast. (BTW:  It totally made my day when I heard it).
 
What follows is the e-mail I sent him — with a little editing.
 
1.  Where to blog?
    — Myspace?
2.  What to blog about?
    — Beware about what you blog
3.  How often should I blog?
    — Not everyone is Scoble
4.  How do I get people to read my blog?
    — Be interesting and fresh
    — Be original
    — Be easy to find
    — Don't be desperate
   

1.  Where to blog?   There are tons of sites on the net that host blogs.  Geekswithblogs, Livejournal, Blogger, Typepad and WordPress are but a few.  If you're geeky enough to host your own web server, you can even host your own blogging site — WordPress offers their binaries for you to download and install on your own server. Blogger has been mentioned as being an easy place to get started.  Livejournal is an option but I've generally looked at them as more of a personal diary host.  In Tom's blogging podcast, he referred to them as more of a social networking site.  I've liked what I've read about WordPress relative to other blogging hosts so I've decided to start my blog here.  I could set it up on one of my servers at home, but I'd rather my time was not spent dealing with technical issues when they arise.  Let's face it:  no matter how good software is coded, there's always something to go wrong.  And like Murphy says, it usually does.
 
However, there are certainly other options.  If you have a particular subject you're going to blog about, you might be able to find a blog host that caters to that audience.  For instance, Geekswithblogs is a blog host for people blogging about Microsoft technologies.

You also might want to consider where not to blog.  That would be sites like Myspace.  This isn't meant as a knock on Myspace — I have an account there myself.  My best friend just reconnected with one of the best friends of his youth — who he hadn't seen or heard from in over a decade — because of MySpace.  Myspace does have a blogging feature but you probably want to chose a host that's geared primarily for blogging.  Myspace is more for social networking than blogging.  It just happens to also include blogging.  Choose a site like MySpace for more personal blogs directed to your circle of friends.  It's OK to have more than one blog for separate purposes..

2.  What to blog about?  This is probably one of the toughest things for a potential blogger.  This actually should be relatively simple.  Determine what topics interest you and make your blog about that.  Why does this topic interest you?  Is there something you've really wanted to get off your chest?  Check the news and comment on a news story that piqued your interest.  Share blog writing duties with a friend and riff off each others' posts.  Though it's a podcast, I think Buzz Out Loud  is probably infinitely more interesting and the hosts have more to talk about because they have each others' contributions — along with the e-mails and voicemails from their listeners.

However, beware of what you post.  Don't post anything you wouldn't want your friends, family, or employer to see.  What you write can come back to bite you at any time.  Stuff on the Internet tends to hang around.  Take a good look at search results at Google.  See where it says "Cached?"  That means Google has a copy of that page saved.  Your blog posts end up there.  And guess what:  they back their servers up so there's a copy of what you've written on a tape somewhere — just waiting for somebody to find it.  Also, check out the Wayback Machine.  They save web sites at various points in time.  So, even if you delete a post or totally edit it, there's a chance they've saved a copy of the original version of your post.  There's no telling when your online past will come back to haunt you down the road.

3.  How often should I post?  There's no definite answer to this.  The simple answer is to post whenever you have something to type about.  What happened to you today?  What happened in the world today?  What was the news of the day concerning your topics of interest?  The thing to remember is you want to keep your content fresh and updated.  New content is keeps people coming back.  Posting three or four times a week is probably enough.  However, there's nothing stopping you from posting as much as you want. 

What you need to keep in mind that not everyone is Robert Scoble.  With as much as he posts, you'd think it's his job.  Well, what do you know:  it is his job.  OK… his job isn't just to blog.  However, he's a Microsoft evangelist which is primarily PR.  Blogging has become a fairly effective tool for public relations.  You don't have to be nearly as prolific with your blog.  If you're worried about keeping up with new content, you can always invite a friend to share blogging duties — as mentioned above.  Robert Scoble recently had someone fill-in for him when he decided to take a week off of blogging.  Alex Eckelberry, President of Sunbelt Software, frequently has other Sunbelt staffers post on the Sunbelt blog .

4.  How do I get people to read my blog?  Make your blog interesting and fresh.  Blog frequently enough to keep readers coming back.  If your blog get's stale, people will come back less and less until they finally just stop caring.  Post comments in other popular blogs and link back to your blog.  However, don't be annoying.  Don't post just to get your blog linked — actually add to the discussion with your comments.  You don't want to annoy your potential visitors.  Plus, if you have something valid or interesting to say, a reader might get curious about what else you have to say and visit your blog. 

Make your blog easy to find.  Give your blog a memorable name that's easy to remember and type in.  On the other hand, depending on your audience, there's a certain cachet in being exclusive and hard to find.  You'll have to gauge that for yourself.  Also, make sure your blog indexed by sites like Technorati.

Be original.  Don't parrot every other site you see out there.  People don't want to see the same thing over and over again.  Write about an under served topic.  Provide a new perspective.  Don't steal others' posts and claim them as your own.  You will be found out.

But don't look too desperate for attention.  Anyone with any kind of brains will see through your attempts and it will look pathetic.  On the other hand,  the Internet is not exactly known as a bastion of high intelligence so it just might work.
 
 
Getting started blogging really isn't all that difficult once you have a little information.  The hard part is keeping it going.  It's easy to get lazy and just let it sit.  Sign yourself up.  Make your first post.  Contribute in community forums.  Get yourself noticed.  Make yourself heard.