Blogging 101: A Non-Techie’s Guide
At Mile High Mamas, we received an email from Shannon Cole of Colorado Springs who used our beginner’s guide to start a blog. We would love to see more of our readers catch the blogging bug!
Yesterday was dedicated unto why you should blog and today is the how. You do not need to be tech-savvy or a professional writer. All you need are a few gems of wisdom, someone you love to exploit errr…something to blog about and you will discover why so many are turning to blogging. And why so many unsuspecting spouses are turned off. 
What is a blog?
I am frequently asked this question. Essentially, a “web”blog is a personal website – an online journal that you can use as a vehicle for self-expression. The sky is the limit for what you want to publish including pictures, commentaries, rants, thoughts or videos.
The key is to choose a theme and title that fit your personality. I.e. Mine is “Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck” because 1) I am certifiably crazy 2) I blog and 3) I originally hail from Canada. My next blog will be entitled “Evidently, I have issues.” For obvious reasons.
Where do I go now?
I was shocked how easy it was to start my own blog, especially since I am HTML-challenged.
Xanga, MySpace and MSN are free and good for beginners (I started with the latter).
For a great local angle, The Denver Post has developed its own system. When you post a blog entry on Neighbors, you have the built-in audience of the newspaper’s web site. Sure, it’s not the whole web site, but links to your entry go on every page in Neighbors (in the recent blog posts column), as well as the Neighbors town indexes.
Public blogs such as Typepad, WordPress and Blogger are more respected in the blogging world. I switched my personal blog to Blogger for this very reason. Note: I am still waiting to gain some.
Do not be intimidated. Most of the services are very user-friendly and the process is simple as you select a name and choose a theme. Before you know it you will be prompted to publish your first post thereby beginning your path to self-destruction discovery.
A Few Other Considerations
There are many other considerations such as blogrolls, RSS and permalinks. Make sure to checkout Technorati – a real-time search engine that is the leading monitor of the world of blogs. Their site has a great guide for the beginning blogger. Mommy Blogger also has some extremely helpful guides: So You Want to Start a Mom Blog, Starting Your Mom Blog Part II, Your New Mom Blog Part III, Picture This Part IV, Blog Content Part V.
After you have waded through everything read How to Start Your Very Own Blog in Fifty-One Easy Steps, a hilarious tongue-in-cheek commentary on entering the blogging world.
You’ll need it.
Current bloggers unite: what blogging service do you use? What tips and recommendations would you offer to the beginning blogger and why?
Blogging Basics 101 has some great articles for beginning bloggers, too. I like them because they’re very easy to understand.
I am also a Blogger user. I think it is very user- friendly. Their new templates make it easy to personalize your blog’s look without having to know about hmtl code.
I use wordpress and blogger. I like that wordpress has a time stamp (that means I can write 5 posts at one time but give them different times to appear on my blog). I like the user friendly features of Blogger and I also like the way blogger looks.
To the begining blogger I would suggest that you write everything down. Your username, your passwords, your URL, your site name, which email you link it to, etc. I started 5 different blogs and could never use them because I couldn’t remember these things.
I started with blogger in 2002, they are easy and free. My latest blog on Blogger is for Stapleton moms: stapletonians.blogspot.com.
I have another blog on TypePad (spoonfed.typepad.com) that I use professionally, but really, the free services are just as good.
I’m also a Blogger user. I like it, it’s simple, the html is easy (and easy to figure out) so I’m happy with it.
blogger is a piece of cake. i love it!
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It is so great how many bloggers are helping others get started! I’m still thinking about starting a blog, but I’m immersed in the research phase. Blogging Basics 101 has been a great resource for me during this phase, and could help others linking to this post. – Cheers! Kathy
Just in case someone wants the link to Blogging Basics 101, here ya go! Good luck beginning bloggers (including me LOL). http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/101/2007/04/how_do_i_start_.html
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