So, finally you have decided to set up your own blog and express yourself. Congratulations! As i see that as your first step towards becoming an active netizen who can contribute and will be contributed back in due course of time.
"You will get your rewards the extent to which you are willing to contribute."
This is the fundamental principle on which the whole blogosphere is based on. If you are willing to take a plunge and develop a full fledged blog, here are few easy tips you can start with.
Apparently, if you benefit, you might want to thank my friend Kiran gulrajani. As i had mailed him this list as he was initiating his blog. So Kiran thanks a lot once again.
Suggestions or tips to build your blog
1. Select a good blogging platform. (Typepad.com is the best one if you are looking for paid service. Will suggest opt for paid service from longterm view)
2. Keep the lay out simple. Most successful blogs have simplest layouts.
3. Naming is very important. (For eg. depending on your preference you can choose with your name or in the name of your company)
4. Keys to successful blogging.
a. Keep atleatst 10 to 20 articles when you publish it the first time.
b. Share lot of links to other blogs or sites that you find interesting.
c. Keep your posts small and simple. Thumb rule : reader doesnt need to scroll to read the whole post.
d. Keep writing posts everywhere you go. Carry a small pad., or pda or laptop always to write your posts.
e. Getting people to comment on your blog is the key to make it interactive.
f. Easiest way to connect to people beyond your circle is visit other
peoples blogs. Write a genuine comment and ask them to have a look at
your blog. People reciprocate and leave a comment on your blog too.
g. Don't outsource any of the above at least till the time you know all technicalities of blog management.
h. Nowhere else but in blogging sharing is the most important virtue. If at all you cant create a post, make it a habit to share an article or a website you found useful with your readers.
5. Some internet tools you must have and use regularly.
a. Install Mozilla Firefox browser instead of Internet Explorer.
b. Get a Gmail id. To access gmail products like Google Notebook. Keep all your notes or surfing discoveries on that. Why? simple! you may not have your pc with you all the time so if for example you want to write a post or add a new story, if you have already added it to gmail notebook you can quickly access it. So excuse of not laptop crashing also gets taken care of.
c. From your blogging controlpanel subscribe for services like feedburner etc. People are now more interested in RSS feeds.
d. Subscribe to stumbleupon. Download Browser add on. Go to preferences, select your interests like spirituality, zen etc. Now everytime you have idle time, through your stumbleupon browser button select your pref and it will show you a site. If you like it store it on notebook for future reference.
e. Get into habbit of bookmarking sites as well.
f. Also download scribefire plug in. That enables you to directly copy paste an online article to your blog in a jiffy. Great tool for those days where we experience writer's block.
g. Use widgets to make your blog more interesting.
h. Open a facebook account and use a facebook widget which can show your latest post.
i. Also explore squidoo.com to promote your blog.
Hope this gets you started. Once you have started please let me know. Wish you all the best.
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