Starting a blog.

[Grewks]

Has anyone had any/ know of anyone with experience of beginning a blog and the best way to go about it?

 

Looking for the complete and basic rundown just to give me an idea of what it entails.

 

 

 

Just looking for a hobby to develop my articulate.

[Fox92]

Has anyone had any/ know of anyone with experience of beginning a blog and the best way to go about it?

 

Looking for the complete and basic rundown just to give me an idea of what it entails.

 

 

 

Just looking for a hobby to develop my articulate.

 

Which service you using? WordPress?

[EnderbyFox]

@@Rincewind has been blogging for years hasn't he?

[Finnegan]

1. Accept that basically nobody will read it or care.

2. Enjoy.

[Fox92]

First point is a bit harsh Finnegan? If it's in the right market then I'm pretty sure they'll be examples of it getting read. Suppose it depends, writing about something as big as football will be difficult considering there's about 5000 other people doing it. It's gotta be consistent though. Don't write something then have six months off.

[LilPablo]

My first tip would be don't take on too much too soon. I don't know if you are planning on hosting it yourself or planning a 'myblog.wordpress.com' free one. I started one which I no longer keep up about music and I thought I could easily write 3 times a week on the topic. When I couldn't I got down about it and just lost all motivation to carry on. So I would say start small and see where you go from there and stick to one social media channel initially. Have a look at the different blogging platforms and see if there are people already writing about the topics you want to write about. I think you have to find unique things to write about  If it's a weekend report on the premier league games not many people will care because I could get that information from Newspapers, Sky Sports, BBC Sport, ESPN. So I think the essence is about adding to a debate not regurgitating what is already out there and finding something you know a lot about. A by-product I've found with blogging is it actually teaches you skills that are useful for jobs. When I had one I bought a domain name and was able to edit code with no previous knowledge, learn about search engine optimisation and probably a load of other stuff I can't recall right now.

 

The point about nobody will read it is true at least for the start. You will realise just how exhaustive an effort and how many things go into driving you to a particular website to read, buy or interact with something.

[Len Finsbury]

1. Accept that basically nobody will read it or care.

2. Enjoy.

 

 

I'm with Finners here.

 

If you're doing it for self-improvement, then power to you. However, if you intend on telling all and sundry about it in some self-promotion kind of way, don't bother. Reading a blog is pretty much up there with listening to other people's dreams, for me.

[Finnegan]

First point is a bit harsh Finnegan? If it's in the right market then I'm pretty sure they'll be examples of it getting read. Suppose it depends, writing about something as big as football will be difficult considering there's about 5000 other people doing it. It's gotta be consistent though. Don't write something then have six months off.

As much as I can be a bit of a dick, my point wasn't to be harsh but just to be realistic.

I'm not saying Grewks has nothing interesting to contribute, I'm saying that if you are imaging that all and sundry will come and read your blog then you're setting yourself up to fail.

First thing you need to accept when blogging is that you're doing it entirely for yourself and that you're happy just writing, even if you get no traffic. The internet is awash with people just talking shit, almost none of them have any traffic.

[Jon the Hat]

Who reads blogs these days?

[Wymsey]

There's quite a few 'life improvement' blogs about, relating to mental and physical health - most are from those who personally experienced it, and give useful advise for those looking for ways in dealing with them.

 

However, there's the odd few that are 'me, me me and try and are desperate get plaudits.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I agree with Finners, just do the best you can; either people will read it or they won't.

 

Self expression and creativity will both be undermined by worrying too much about what other people think

[Rincewind]

@@Rincewind has been blogging for years hasn't he?

I've had several blogs but am not very  good at promoting them. They are not the sort that will get a wide audience. They are not selling anything and I am not doing them to make money. Just personal and a release of thoughts which nobody cares about.

I now have another website on films. It is just something to pass the time and I may get bored.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Excellent advice from LilPablo - I saw this topic earlier and intended to put together a fair bit of advice but it's pretty much been covered already.

 

It's hard to suggest too much without knowing what you want to get out of it.

 

If it's well-written, well-promoted and covers a niche subject of some kind then, contrary to what some may say, it will get a readership and doors can start to open.

[Finnegan]

Excellent advice from LilPablo - I saw this topic earlier and intended to put together a fair bit of advice but it's pretty much been covered already.

It's hard to suggest too much without knowing what you want to get out of it.

If it's well-written, well-promoted and covers a niche subject of some kind then, contrary to what some may say, it will get a readership and doors can start to open.

Need to heavily stress two points by Fez:

1. Well publicised. That doesn't mean asking Foxestalk to read it, it means putting the effort in to get it out there.

2. FILL A NICHE. Have a point. Blogging about your daily life if you're an office worker from Staines and you add no flavour or humour isn't going to get you much readership.

Have a clear vision for what you want your blog to actually do.

[Wymsey]

Think @@sphericalfox has got one?  

[Strokes]

I'm bored already.

[sphericalfox]

My first tip would be don't take on too much too soon. I don't know if you are planning on hosting it yourself or planning a 'myblog.wordpress.com' free one. I started one which I no longer keep up about music and I thought I could easily write 3 times a week on the topic. When I couldn't I got down about it and just lost all motivation to carry on. So I would say start small and see where you go from there and stick to one social media channel initially. Have a look at the different blogging platforms and see if there are people already writing about the topics you want to write about. I think you have to find unique things to write about  If it's a weekend report on the premier league games not many people will care because I could get that information from Newspapers, Sky Sports, BBC Sport, ESPN. So I think the essence is about adding to a debate not regurgitating what is already out there and finding something you know a lot about. A by-product I've found with blogging is it actually teaches you skills that are useful for jobs. When I had one I bought a domain name and was able to edit code with no previous knowledge, learn about search engine optimisation and probably a load of other stuff I can't recall right now.

 

The point about nobody will read it is true at least for the start. You will realise just how exhaustive an effort and how many things go into driving you to a particular website to read, buy or interact with something.

what he said.

 

timing is important when publishing and promoting too, dependent on the subject matter.

 

key words, and tagging is fairly key for search engine traffic.

[Grewks]

The aim isn't to gain a readership (i'm guessing most say this though), but being 21 and a final year university student, I have come to enjoy challenging myself to further develop my writing skills.

 

Its more about having a platform to convey my own thoughts and having the ability to continously improve the way in which I articulate these thoughts, as oppose to trying to gain support for these views.

[Guest Col city fan]

The aim isn't to gain a readership (i'm guessing most say this though), but being 21 and a final year university student, I have come to enjoy challenging myself to further develop my writing skills.

Its more about having a platform to convey my own thoughts and having the ability to continously improve the way in which I articulate these thoughts, as oppose to trying to gain support for these views.

Is that not what you are doing with your academic work? With your coursework? Ie. Writing your own thoughts about the subject at hand? As others have said (I've never written a blog, never felt any need to do so), I guess if you write a blog, you need to pin down your subject. If you don't it's just ramblings isn't it?