If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog, don’t let fear that you don’t know how to blog, or enough about technology, or that you might not be a good enough writer keep you from taking the plunge. Everything that you need to know about blogging and blog tools is available for free on resource sites like this guide to how to start a blog, and frankly all over the Internet. In recent years setting up a blog has become much easier, and many web hosts offer free installation software that is pretty much one-click. Once you’re set up, remember that you can move at your own pace; no one says that you absolutely must post every single day to have a successful blog of which you will be proud.
Maybe the expense of creating and maintaining a blog has put you off from getting started. Well, aside from hosting costs and registering your own domain name (if that’s something you desire) there is virtually no expense at all that you must necessarily undertake. The fact is that many bloggers have very large and very popular blogs that not only cost next to nothing to own and operate, but that bring in much, much more than hosting costs! In addition, if you’d like to start a blog and literally spend nothing, blogging platforms like blogger and WordPress offer free hosting, without having to register your own domain. Most people would prefer to spend the $10 or so per year to register their own imaginative personalized domain name, and the few dollars a month that it will cost to self host a site, but it’s really up to the blog owner.
As far as technological know-how goes, hosting companies like GoDaddy and hostgator offer the aforementioned one-click blog set up, and if you get stuck there as 24/7 customer support waiting to help walk you through. It really is quite simple though; you’ll most likely be very surprised. Once you’ve got your blog set up, almost all of your interaction with it will be through your own password-protected backdoor to the administrative control panel. Here you will create posts, add photos and video, manage comments that others leave on your blog, and make changes to your blogs functionality and appearance. If all this sounds very abstract, not to worry; dive in and you’ll see how easy it is. If you go with WordPress, you will have a lot of fun choosing the theme that you install on top of your basic WordPress installation. It’s incredible the range of looks for your blog that you can test out with a couple clicks and switch over to literally with one click. I want to emphasize that it is not necessary to spend any money for an excellent WordPress theme, however one that I use on several of my own blogs is The Thesis Theme for WordPress, and although it is not free, it has many features that make it easier for you as a new blogger to quickly change the look of your site with zero tech knowledge. Just something to think about.
If you’ve been wondering if you have what it takes to create posts on your blog, known generically as “content”, I cannot advise you strongly enough to put the doubts aside and get started! This is not school and no one is grading you on the quality of your production. Regardless of the theme, style and subject matter of your site, believe that the world will be a better place for your publication of your own thoughts, flights of fancy, political diatribes, tributes to children or spouses or automobiles, or whatever else inspires and drives you to either write about what you’re interested in, or take photos or video of it, or all of the above. Case in point: that was a ridiculous run-on sentence, but it didn’t hurt anyone!
Part of the beauty of the blog form is that there are very few rules. Most people approach their blog as a sort of public diary, less personal than a private daily journal, and hope that introducing themselves and their thoughts to the world will provoke responses from others, usually in the form of comments in the comments section of each post. Your blog will be found over time by people who either share your interests or who enjoy your attitude or writing style, and trust me they will leave comments for you. The amazing thing is that the geography that formerly separated people with common interests suddenly becomes less relevant when other people discover your blog, and you will be astounded at the places in the world from where you will gain readers, if you post regularly. People come together almost as if by magic, because of their genuine commonalities, despite traditional barriers.
Many people conceive of their blog as a commercial platform of one kind or another, whether it be as an online multimedia resume, or to sell specific services or products. Even if you don’t think you have anything to sell, at least right now, just creating a regular readership can indirectly become a source of income. You’ve probably heard of bloggers who make a full-time living from their blogs, and this is most certainly something that happens. Blogging has become a sort of informal journalism, a meritocracy of ideas where people who can regularly produce interesting or valuable content are rewarded by having enough regular traffic so that their blogs become online billboards for third-party advertising, or as platforms for a the blogger to sell his or her own products or services. There are a million places on the net that will help you learn how to blog for money, should you decide to purse it.
Asking how to communicate successfully is exactly the same as asking how to blog successfully: the answer is sincerely and thoughtfully. Regardless of your subject matter, this approach will serve you well. Don’t be too self-conscious and most definitely don’t allow any doubts regarding costs, the technical know-how required, or your own ability to communicate restrict you from getting started today with your own blog.
