I've taken a brief hiatus between my last post and this one - mainly to go skiing for a few days and to tinker with the format and functionality of my blog. Frankly, despite my own base of knowledge and ample information on the web about how to set up and run a blog, it still takes lots of time and tweaking.
At any given moment there are thousands of people out there who want to hang a shingle in the blogosphere, which in turn is continually evolving toward new and better platforms and tools for bloggers to use. So, with the intention of adding to the existing pile of tips, tricks, "how-to's" and top 10 lists on the Internet, here's some perspective from me:
1. Use TypePad as your platform. Everyone has their own view on this, but its parent company, SixApart, just rolled out new infrastructure that leverages the best of its legacy TypePad platform as well as its Movable Type and Vox products. Its blog templates, in my opinion, have a sharper look than those of WordPress or Blogger and are easily customizable for the more technical crowd. (Don't underestimate good formatting.)
It is also commercial-friendly for those who want to take a crack at monetizing their blogs. (WordPress not only says it will shut you down if you run your own ads, but also charges its users if they want to prevent it from running its own ads on their blogs.)
Once subscribed, moving to different plan levels (up or down) happens in real time if you decide you need more robust functionality. If for some reason you decide to postpone your blogging career (even though I'd suggest you don't) and you've already signed up, you can cancel and then re-sign up using the same username and password moments later if you change your mind. I mention this because with WordPress, once you've signed up and and canceled, your username/password combo is forever trapped in cyber-purgatory. We're all indecisive at times, and who wants to be faced with coming back and having to remember yet another new username/password combo? (The only reason to go with WordPress, in the end, is if you want a 100% free blog with basic blog functionality.)
Integration with widgets from companies like Widgetbox (more on this below) to enhance features such as commenting, search, syndication and subscriptions is fairly seamless (although I'd recommend using typelists when possible, which you can read about in TypePad's Knowledge Base) and you can easily integrate with applications like Feedburner and Facebook. It also offers useful features like analytics, mobile blogging and search engine optimization.
While many of the above features are more or less commonplace, TypePad has done a good job of integrating them into one tidy package and helping introduce the layperson to all the tools one has at her disposal.
2. Should you choose to register a domain name, use GoDaddy. I think it's okay to use the default URL of your blog platform (i.e. user.typepad.com) - there are plenty of well-read blogs set up like this - but I also think it's more professional and satisfying to use your own domain. I've registered all my domains at GoDaddy and it is inexpensive and provides user-friendly functionality for all the permutations one encounters when registering and manipulating domains (not to mention that Bob Parsons and the GoDaddy team are somewhat entertaining).
By the same token, don't use GoDaddy's blogging platform. I made that mistake and repeatedly ran into glitches when updating and formatting the site. It doesn't integrate well enough with other applications either - the Facebook application, for example, doesn't work at all.
But use it for domain registration - that's its bread and butter.
3. Get up to speed on web basics. You don't have to have an engineering degree or be a programmer to do this. But you'll limit your success and enjoyment if you don't learn some basics. What do I mean by basics? Here's a short list:
- HTML and CSS
- WYSIWYG / rich text editing
- Atom / RSS 1.0 / RSS 2.0
- Feed readers
- Trackbacks
- Tags / Meta tags
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Domain mapping
- CNAME records
- Permalinks
- Podcasting
- eCPM
- Unique visitors / page views
The above isn't comprehensive but it's a decent start, and it doesn't take long to familiarize yourself with these terms. Nearly every platform you encounter will have tutorials and a glossary too.
4. Enhance your blog with widgets. Syndication and subscription widgets should be prominently displayed at the top of your blog. Loyal readership is the golden ticket to blogging success and you'll hurt your odds if people can't get email updates or see your content in their feed reader. Blogging platforms like TypePad offer this sort of thing but the functionality can be vastly improved by getting a widget. Functional search and commenting is also important and widgets can be helpful here too. I'd recommend browsing Widgetbox's blog widgets to get a feel for what's out there.
5. Use Google. I don't mean Internet search, but do echo many other bloggers when I say that Google offers lots of tools that you'll appreciate. AdSense will help you monetize your blog (although I suggest you set your income expectations low); Analytics will give you useful stats about your readership; Webmasters Tools will help you optimize search; Reader will keep you connected to the rest of the blogosphere and seed ideas for your own blog posts. And I would suggest using Chrome as your browser while you work - it's great. For those of you whose heads are spinning from this, there are good tutorials for each of these.
6. Post consistently and focus on delivering value to your readers. Nowadays you're competing not only with professional bloggers who post good content almost every day, but also with teams of professional bloggers who post good content many times per day. You must keep that in mind as you think about your blog. The competition for readers is stiff, especially if you're only blogging part time. That being said, consistency is important because your readers will be able to rely on regularly-scheduled content - kind of like how Seinfeld re-runs are broadcast at the same time each day. And, if you maintain a focus and post thoughtful, quality content that helps readers in some way, you'll do fine. It just may take some time. (Recall that Seinfeld was anticipated to be a flop - it was a show about "nothing," after all - but proved itself to be about "something" and was a hit over time. You can do the same.)
7. Let your personality come through. As you get into blogging it's important that you let your true self come through in your content, but doing so means not everyone is going to agree with you. You'll naturally have perspectives and viewpoints that are different from those of others, which will in turn generate both positive and negative feedback. Some people will love you and some will despise you. Some will fall in between. A minority will deliver feedback via the comment pages or by contacting you directly and, while it's important to respond in some cases, it's also important that you don't let it distract you.
8. Plan to build a web site, not just a blog. Most people differentiate between a blog and a website, but do they necessarily have to be different? Sure, when you first start you'll likely have a single page with a series of posts on it. And that may be true for awhile. But looking down the road you expect lots of traffic, right? And if you have lots of traffic you might have various pages such as a home page, an about page, a contact page, an articles page and so on. And if you want to monetize your blog you might do even more, such as set up related sites designed for different kinds of visitors, each with targeted content, ads and other items. The blogosphere is your oyster. Go big.
9. Write original content. There are all kinds of blogs, but on a basic level there are intermediaries and voice leaders. The former means the content largely consists of ideas and information written by others. There is likely some commentary by the publisher because she found the content interesting or thought-provoking, but generally the intermediary is increasing the distribution of someone else's content.
The latter means you are giving readers something they can't get elsewhere - your own ideas, opinions, beliefs and perspectives. This is harder and takes more time but rewards you and your readers in splendid fashion.
Both intermediaries and voice leaders are fine - they both serve a purpose and can result in a successful blog. But as I've written before, aim to create wheat pennies with every post. And that means original content.
10. Stay motivated. Statistics suggest that roughly 90% of bloggers burn out and that the highest incidence of burnout occurs 2-3 months after writers launch their blogs. Blogging isn't for everyone. You have to like writing, you need to want to help others, you should enjoy thinking about new ideas and must be reasonably intelligent. Those are just the prerequisites though. Every blogger experiences the abyss - as in, "Is there really an audience I'm writing to or is there just a big void?" My suggestion? Face the abyss, marvel at it, turn back and keep on writing. The audience will come.
