Would you like to start your own blog or website? Are you worried about the commitment? Do you really have enough content to make it happen? Yes, you do. Does the technology scare you? It shouldn’t. Here a few tips and tricks to get you started.
With a free WordPress account, it’s easy to get started creating your own professional quality blog site. You can create your own professional quality blog site. No, we’re not talking about some cheapo looking blog from Blogger or something on Facebook, but creating a quality blog you can be proud of and present to millions of readers online.
If you are in sales, as many of my readers are, think about the advantage you create by publishing you point of view. Inevitably, your buyers will Google you. They should see consistency in the ideas you presented in the boardroom with what you present online. You can make that happen with a blog.
For anyone who has ever said they should write a book, start with a blog. It is a fantastic medium to collect your ideas, get feedback from readers and begin to assemble a narrative that could end up in your book.
WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms, powering numerous high-profile websites and blogs around the world. It’s both powerful and easy to use, which makes it great, whether you’re just starting out or are a blogging pro. To start out with your blogging project WordPress is completely free, and you can use the online interface.
You can start a blog in just a few minutes. Head over to WordPress.com and click Sign up now on the right-hand side of the main page.
If you are still hesitant, let me give you a few tips for developing posts that I have learned.
Make the title of the post fun: It should be 5-7 words in length and excite the reader.
First paragraph must entice: The opening paragraph is the teaser. It should offer an overview of the content and help the reader decide if they need this information.
This is a post, not a thesis: The total length should not exceed 450 words – That’s about 1 page in Word. I sometimes break this rule when I get excited about a topic like this one.
It’s OK to have multi-part posts: When you do have too much content for a single post, find a good way to break into multiple posts.
Make it engaging: Try to include an interesting story/factoid/anecdote to support you topic.
Quick tips are hot: I have found this is very popular in blogging community. For example: 5 Rules for Storytelling. A lot of people search for rules/tips/guidelines when they need advice about a topic.
Minimize hyperlinks: This is a personal preference, but I hate it when I am reading something and every other word is hyper-linked. I really try to only hyperlink words that I think my reader may want to read more about.
Be sure to let me know when you start you own blog, I will be the first to subscribe and begin commenting.