------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 1, Issue 18 It's a bit gray and gloomy outside my window this afternoon. It's not that I don't enjoy this type of weather, but it does make me want to curl up in my cave with a blanket and a nice cup of hot cocoa. Of course, as an entrepreneur, I can't afford to hole up for long, so I have to get out both physically and electronically. This week we're going to focus on one way of doing the latter: Publishing a Blog. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue... ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: What's on your Mind: Blogging 2. Blog Posts 3. Shameless Self-Promotion 4. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: What's on your Mind: Blogging ---------------------------------------------------------------- If "writing is the basis of all wealth", then blogging is where you can start putting some loose change in the piggy bank. Blogging, for those who've been too busy to pay attention to the evolution of the online world, is the practice of publishing regular written pieces on the Web ("blog" comes from the shortening of "Web log"). The trick with a blog is that it is easy to start and difficult to maintain (though it doesn't have to be). First of all, though, why would you even *want* to start one of these blog things anyway? * Publication. Not all of us have access to more traditional forms of publication, such as writing books, newspaper columns, or magazine articles. A blog is a good way to get your ideas out there. * Practice. Maybe someday you'd *like* to be published on one of those venues. Until your writing style is up to that level of quality, though, a blog gives you time and space to perfect your writing craft. * Exploration. Even if your writing is of a high quality, sometimes you just need a place to try out some new ideas. This is especially helpful if you've developed any sort of audience. Quite often they are more than willing to point out the rare flaw in an otherwise excellent concept. * Communication. As you develop an audience, assuming you grant them the privilege, the will begin to comment on your blog entries. Many of these folks can end up being valuable assets and potentially even clients, customers, or even friends. * Authority. By focusing your blog on a single topic and positioning yourself as an expert therein, you develop a reputation of expertise in that subject. Of course, this doesn't happen overnight, but even Michael Arrington, author of the popular and prolific TechCrunch blog (www.techcrunch.com), had a first post at some time. Assuming you find any of these reasons compelling, the first thing you must do is start. If you already have your own website, then quite frequently your site will include access to blogging software. Check out your website's control panel or check with the folks from technical support to find out how to activate the feature. For those who don't have access to such tools, never fear! You still have access to a variety of possibilities. * Blogger (www.blogger.com). This is the one that I use on my blog (clearing-confusion.blogspot.com). It takes about five minutes to set up a fairly decent-looking blog. In general, the tools are clear and easy to use. You can either host your blog on their servers (which gives it a URL like http://weasel-hunter.blogspot.com/) or host it on your own web server. * WordPress (www.wordpress.com). Another popular service/tool, you can either choose to use their free hosting service for your blog or host it on your own site. Many Web hosting services offer WordPress as a part of their basic features. I've also heard that the standalone version works fairly well as a content management system for a relatively simple site. * LiveJournal (www.livejournal.com). This one is fairly popular with those maintaining a personal (as opposed to a company) blog. * TypePad (www.typepad.com). TypePad is more focused on professional and business blogs. I've never used this one myself, but a know several folks who swear by its sophisticated interface and capabilities. They like it enough that they're willing to pay the nominal monthly fee. I won't go into the details of how to write a good blog or how to gather an audience for your blog. Those topics have been covered in a variety of books and online tutorials. If you are interested, do a quick Google search on "how to write a blog" or "blogging tips". The resulting overflow of information should keep you busy for days. Once you actually have your blog up and running, the big thing is to keep writing on a regular basis. Pick a frequency, whether once a week or once a day and stick with it. As of April of this year, Technorati (technorati.com), a blog tracking service, reported that it tracked over 70 million blogs. Of those, though, only about 15.5 million had been updated within the last ninety days. Do you think those other 55 million blog authors are getting much out of their sites? I've been blogging now for about a year and a half and have written over 250 posts. I've turned some of those have into longer articles to be published elsewhere. I've had folks from all over the world read my work. One or two have even taken the time to comment and give me feedback. And for me, little gives me more thrill than to know that my ideas have reached out and touched somebody. Copyright 2007, Greg Peters ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Blog Posts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Links to posts on the "Clearing Up the Confusion" Blog from the last year: Thursday, October 11, 2007 -- Long Distance Radio http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/2007/10/long-distance-radio.html Saturday, October 06, 2007 -- Looking at Things from All Sides http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/2007/10/looking-at-things-from-all-sides.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Shameless Self-Promotion ---------------------------------------------------------------- The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: You can subscribe to the "Clearing Up The Confusion" E-zine at: http://www.cyberdatasolns.com/ezine Questions: If you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding the Clearing Up the Confusion E-zine, please email Greg Peters at: gpeters@cyberdatasolns.com This content may be forwarded in full, with copyright and contact information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Greg Peters is required, with notification to the original author. We never send the "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-zine uninvited, and we NEVER share, sell or rent our mailing list to anyone. Your privacy is safe with us.