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Gevril and Haurex Italia dinner during Baselworld in March 2011 with Larry Brauner standing in the background.
Baselworld 2012 is right around the corner!
Aug
19
How to Start a Blog Made Easy
Filed Under Blogging, Ning Sites, WordPress
It’s simpler to start a blog than most people think. You do not need to pay for a fancy course nor buy some hyped-up e-book, so put away that credit card.
If I were to say that getting to the top of Technorati or Alexa is difficult, that would possibly be the understatement of 2009. However, believe-it-or-not, jumping in and getting your feet wet blogging will be easier than you imagine once you’ve completed this little article.
A new blogger faces two main types of challenges:
- Technical - how to start a blog
- Content - what to put on a blog
How to Start a Blog
There are three basic ways to start a blog:
- Start a customized stand-alone blog on web hosting that you lease from a provider such as Go Daddy or 1&1 Internet using software from Wordpress.org - most effective but the most difficult to implement
- Join a blogging community, e.g. Blogger.com or Wordpress.com - most popular and moderately easy to implement
- Join an online social networking community on Ning such as these two of mine, Beyond Business Coaching and Let’s Follow Each Other, and begin blogging immediately - least effective but adequate for beginners and very easy to implement
There are clearly trade-offs, but choose an option that enables you to start your blog right away. Remember what I learned from Mike Litman, “You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.”
If you strongly desire a customized stand-alone blog but don’t have the technical skills to set it up and maintain it yourself, help is always available.
Content Development
Developing good content isn’t easy. I suggested in Social Marketing for Non-Gurus that you could create videos instead of writing text, but perhaps creating a video isn’t a viable solution for you.
Here’s an idea: Why not use somebody else’s video?
Not only is it totally legit, it helps the video’s creator to promote it — a win for both of you.
Find a video in YouTube that interests you and copy and paste the cryptic piece of code that YouTube provides directly into your blog. Give your blog post a title. Write a very short explanation. Add a few tags to classify your post and publish it.
You’re finished! Wasn’t that easy?
Here’s another idea.
One of my favorite blogs is Who’s Blogging What, “a newsletter that keeps thousands of web marketing professionals informed, connected and productive.”
What do they do?
They digest and summarize other people’s posts.
What if you find one article at a time and critique that article on your blog? It’s done all the time, and you’ve probably seen it done more than once.
You Are a Blogger
I’ve removed the obstacles. You’re ready. You now have choices how to start a blog, so one way or another you’re going to start a blog. Right?
Learn and improve as you go, just as I have. And please… Have a blast!
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Tags: blog, Blogging, Go Daddy, how to start a blog, mike litman, Ning, WordPress, You don’t have to get it right, YouTube
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I haven’t read all your posts but those that I did… I find that they’re always filled with very useful ideas!
This is a great to-the-point tutorial. I have helped a few friends start blogs, and it is very easy. I would toss Blogger.com and Wordpress.com into the easy bucket.
It really is amazing how far blogging has come in the last five years.
Hi Larry! Thanks for the information. I’ve been adding new articles to my web site forum every day but I know I need to set up a stand alone blog. Deb
Hi, Larry, I definitely want to go to the self-hosted route, but am waiting a bit before doing so. I will most likely hire someone, as you have suggested, since I don’t have the time to do all the work necessary to master installing wordpress alone.
I can help you with that Steve when you are ready.
Hi Larry, great article and right to the point. I offer a tutorial but you certainly do write it and make it all sound so easy, which I know it is now but when first starting out I think it’s so overwhelming to the newbie that one can just feel like quitting after awhile. I also like the different ideas that you give in fact I must admit I hadn’t heard of the site “Who’s Blogging What?” great site and great idea. Thanks for the new site I picked up here. jj
A blogger should always look for valuable online resources and not always have to depend on some hyped ‘needs’ to start blogging.
You got great ideas here.
What I like about your style is that you are trying to be helpful and inspire people to get started, unlike other bloggers who act like gurus online who tend to intimidate other bloggers to offer their online ‘goods’ on purpose. 
Have a great weekend!
This is the inspiration needed to start new blog. How wisely you have explained things. Nice post.
Thanks for your tips on how to start a blog… keep sharing..
You are Top Entrecard Dropper in August on my blog… thanks..
I’ve found many more free resources on the web for starting a blog versus paid resources. And a lot of times, the paid resources might be out of date.
I just made the jump from a blogger site to an actual hosted blog. Thanks for the tips and information. It’s funny how I used to rely on my son for technical support but slowly I find myself understanding and doing things I wouldn’t have imagined a year ago.
I definitely have to say - a paid, self-hosted blog is the way to go. It is always annoying having to tell your friends “yea, my blog is at …blogspot.com or …wordpress.com”. It really isn’t that impressive if you can’t OWN your blog.
I have setup well over 30 blogs by now and have gone through the technical setup process so many times I could do it in my sleep : ). If you would like me to set it up for ya, I do it for free.
Happy Blogging!
- John
[…] readers have questioned the necessity of starting a blog, since a blog can consume more time than a business might be prepared to invest in their social […]
Hello Larry, I just subscribed. I have a site on Go Daddy, but how do I get everything setup. I have seen ads for bloggers, and I want to be a part of the blogging community.
Come join us, Bridget, on Small Business Networking, and we’ll see how we can help.
Larry,
I found the tip, “Find a video in YouTube that interests you and copy and paste the cryptic piece of code that YouTube provides directly into your blog. Give your blog post a title. Write a very short explanation. Add a few tags to classify your post and publish it.” very useful because most likely people would think that is copyright infringement or something similar and not do it.
But like you said, it is win win for both party’s!
Also, going to check out Who’s Blogging What to see if I could benefits.
Cheers mate.