The 5 Steps Guide For New Bloggers

By Lior Levin

It certainly doesn’t take long before something hot on the Internet spreads like wildfire then the newbies joining the web only get to see the smoke. Take blogging for example, it has become so sophisticated that a newcomer interested in blogging is almost overwhelmed with all the information and where to start.

It is true that one can find anything on the Internet, and how to start blogging advice is no different. Another problem that arises though is that the interested party is often so enthusiastic about all there is to learn, that many times they are reading advice and information that dates back several years and they don’t even realize it.

Then when they go to apply what they have learned, it makes no sense and doesn’t work. This creates the makings for a real dilemma. What ends up happening is the would be blogger gives up and looks for something else to become confused about.

So what is the moral of the story here? Start at the beginning and say hello to blogging. Here are just a few basics to get the ball rolling. Once a newbie gets past this stage then they can consider themselves a blogger and leave some smoke behind for the next novice that comes along.

Step One:
Read some current articles and information that has a date on it about what blogging is about in general. Get a feel for it, then you will immediately start to generate your own blogging ideas about what you want to blog about.

Step Two:
Now you need to find some place to put your blog, so you need a blogging provider. Again do your homework. There are lots of them around and some are easier than others to use. Once thing you want is ease of use. This means they will have templates that you can use which is basically just filling in the blanks. Once you become a pro at blogging then you can progress onto the more elaborate concepts.

Step Three:
The easiest way to learn about blogging is from the pros. Once you have determined what it is you want to blog about then visit blogging sites that are in this niche. See how these established sites do it. If you have never posted to a blog before then now is the time to get your feet wet. You have a virtual voice so use it.

Step Four:
Once you get your blogging site set up then go back and visit the ones you were at in the above step and invite them to visit your blog, provided it is not a private blog site. Do it via comments, contact forms or messaging through twitter or facebook.

Step Five:
Research all the innovative ways to get your blog known. After all, blogging is not much fun if you are only blogging to yourself, its like a one way conversation.

When you look at it this way, blogging is not quite so overwhelming. There is a whole world out there waiting to hear about what you have to say, about anything you want to blog about, so go for it, here is your chance. Welcome to the world of blogging!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO company working with a nursing wear brand called Milk Nursingwear and also working with a task management start-up.

Matt’s Mailbag

Q. I just began to write articles for a new client and their editor has been marking up everything I’ve written so far and returning it to me to correct. Never before have I had so many problems getting work approved so what gives here? — Rose, SC

A. Thanks for your question, Rose. I have one question to ask you: are you and the editor on the same page as far as using style guides?

That seems to be your problem. Your editor has one set of requirements and you are operating under some other assumption. You haven’t indicated to me who/what you are writing for. If academic, then you may need to heed to the Chicago Manual of Style, Turabian, APA or MLA. If newspaper, magazine or newsletter, you may need to go with the AP Stylebook.

The easiest solution is to contact the editor and find out what she wants and then write according to those requirements. I have had clients who adhere to a certain style but then modify accordingly; this may be what your editor wants.

You should be able to obtain a copy of their style guidelines and work with that. In any case, before you write another article, save yourself time and grief to make certain that everyone is on the same page.