Don’t let blogging overwhelm you.

By Leo Babauta

Blogging can be a mighty confusing endeavor for newcomers.

And yet, in my experience, it’s one of the most rewarding, life-changing things you can do, from the comfort of your own home.

If you’re just starting out as a blogger, or contemplating making the leap, don’t let the technical side of blogging, or all the confusing options, hold you back. I remember how overwhelming everything was at the beginning, but several years and 160K readers later, I’ve learned a ton and I’m ridiculously happy I stuck with it.

So take heart, new bloggers … the learning is fun and the experience is delicious. As always, if I can help, I will … and in that spirit, I’m going to give you some brief, concise answers to the most common beginner blogging questions.

1. What’s the best blogging platform?

A: There isn’t one best platform. There are many excellent ones, and each has its strengths. One of the most popular, and a great choice for a professional blog, is Wordpress, but others love other platforms, such as Movable Type. For the less technically inclined, I’d recommend Tumblr over Blogger (which I started on) or Posterous.

2. How do you create a blog?

A: The easy way is to sign up for a hosted blog service, such as Wordpress.com, Tumblr, Posterous, Blogger, Typepad, or one of the many others available. It’s usually free, and all you need to sign up is an email address. Give your blog a name, and you get assigned a “subdomain” (such as zenhabits.blogspot.com).

You can also sign up for a web host, such as Dreahost or Bluehost or MediaTemple, for a fee. They usually have popular blog software available for easy install through their online control panels, which aren’t hard to figure out. If you go this route, you’ll need to buy your own domain, through your webhost or via a service that sells domains (Godaddy or Namecheap or others).

3. How do you make a blog skin or design?

A: Most of the above-mentioned blog software comes installed with “themes” or designs that you can choose from, for free. Often you’ll be able to customize the themes if you play around with the options in the blogging software.

There are also thousands upon thousands of free (and paid) themes available on the web, for any of the popular blogging software platforms.

4. How do I choose a good niche or name?

A: Pick a topic that a) you know a lot about and b) you’re passionate about. Don’t pick it just because you think it’ll be popular.

As for picking a name, I suggest brainstorming all kinds of names and words associated with your topic until you find one that reflects your main message and is memorable. And also that has a domain available.

5. What are the benefits of or best reasons for blogging?

A: Too many to fully name, but just to get you started, you’ll:

• Be able to express yourself, and share what you know and think with the world.
• Interact with smart and interesting people around the world.
• Learn a tremendous amount about yourself.
• Learn a lot about anything you’re interested in.
• Perhaps make a career out of it.
• Have a helluva time.

6. How do I get my first readers?

A: You’ve written a few posts but no one even knows you exist. You’ll need to connect with others, somehow, to share your posts with them. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, along with email, and commenting on other blogs (but not spamming them with lots of links to your posts) are great ways to connect with others and share the best of what you have on your blog. As you connect with more people, they’ll naturally start checking out your blog.

7. How do I get more readers or subscribers?

A: OK, you have a few readers, but you want more. Hundreds upon hundreds, thousands and thousands! Well, take it easy. Blogs don’t just explode overnight.

The best answer is just to provide useful and/or really interesting content on a regular basis — daily, weekly, or somewhere in between. As you continue to provide amazing content, your readers will share what you have, and others will start to find you. It’s slow growth, but better than spamming people.

8. I have readers but no one comments — how do I encourage comments?

A: Write posts worth talking about. Interesting, thought-provoking, bold posts. And ask for your reader’s opinions.

9. Should I hire a professional designer?

A: In the beginning, it’s usually not necessary. The basic themes that come with your blogging software are enough for now. And you can find thousands of free ones on the net. Writing great content is more important than the perfect design.

Later, when you have thousands of subscribers and a modest income, you might consider paying for a professional design.

10. Where do I get topics to write about?

A: From your life, and what you know and love. On my blogs, I write about what I’ve learned through actual experience over the years, through experimentation and research and reading and talking to others and finding out what works and doesn’t.

If you use your life, and what you know and love, as your source of topics, you’ll never run out of things to write about.

11. How do you make money blogging?

A: Mostly you don’t. Most bloggers don’t make a dime, or at least not much more than a dime. If you build up a good-sized readership over time, by consistently producing good content, you can make some money — a part-time job, perhaps, or even a full-time job eventually.

Usually bloggers make money though ads, selling ebooks, affiliate links (recommending products and getting a percentage of sales for the referral), and by selling their consulting or freelance services.

12. I’ve read the blogging is dying – is that true? Would I be wasting my time blogging?

A: Those articles are written just to be controversial. Obviously blogging isn’t dying — more and more people are discovering blogging every day, both as bloggers and as readers. My own blogs continue to grow in readership despite minimal promotion on my part, simply because more people keep discovering me. Blogging is growing rapidly, and should continue to do so for awhile.

Of course, it will also change. In 5 or 10 years, it’s not going to be exactly the same as it is now, just as it isn’t the same now as it was 10 years ago. Microblogging services such as Tumblr and Twitter will change blogging, and what results will be something a bit different.

But sharing thoughts and information, having a global conversation in a form that’s much like blogging … that’s going to continue in some form for awhile, and now is as good a time as any to get into it.

13. What’s the most important blogging question I’m not asking?

A: You should be asking, “How can I most help my reader?” Bloggers get caught up in technical things, like blog platforms and widgets and themes and plugins … or in numbers, like visitors and pageviews and subscribers and comments and ad revenues … but this is the wrong mindset.

Focus instead on how you can help people. Make your reader the center of your blog, and find ways to help your reader succeed (at whatever you’re teaching). The rest — stats and money and all that — will come later.

—
Beginner bloggers: We’re in the closing hours of the signup for my A-List Blogging Bootcamp, “Blogging 101 – How to Create a Blog that Rocks.”

It’s aimed at complete beginners, and will teach you the basics to start a fantastic blog that will grow as your blogging skills grow. Deadline to sign up is 12:00 NOON, EST, on Feb. 13, 2010 … so sign up now!

A guest post by Alex Blackwell of The BridgeMaker

An effective way to gain more readers for your blog, and keep the ones you have coming back, is to give them the opportunity to see the real you. Generally, people will have more affinity with the bloggers they like and trust.

Sharing my experiences and beliefs on an honestly-written lifestyle blog can be a tricky business. There is a persistent voice in my head that warns me not to reveal too much about my personal life but do allow my readers to see the real me; the real Alex, through what I write. So, the goal becomes how to be transparent while not being excessively personal.

My hope is the articles resonate with each reader and they find value in the words. To do that, I need to be vulnerable and transparent. Even though my writing is far from perfect, I’m finding a sweet spot that gives people a chance to look in without overwhelming them with personal details.

The Emily Test

I have one, simple rule: I will never publish a post that I would not want my 11-year-old-daughter, Emily, to read. An important component of The Emily Test is to make certain no one in my immediate family would be embarrassed by what I write. After all, blogging is my passion, not theirs.

Choose your words carefully and take a breath before pressing the Publish button. Your blog is you and the person you want the world to see. Consider how the people in your life will react to the words.

Focus on the behavior, not the person

When I write about someone close to me, I attempt to focus on what is happening to them or comment on their behaviors rather than offering judgments. My goal is to explain how their actions, words, or choices are affecting my life; and then by association, the lives of my readers.

It’s no coincidence I read blogs where the blogger writes about the people in their life, too. One of my favorite writers, Ali Hale of AliVentures.com, does a wonderful job of blending elements of her personal life into her blog. In a recent post, Do You Need to “Better Yourself”? She illustrates this point brilliantly. Her post begins with:

I had a conversation with my sister while I was at my parents’ for Christmas, and I wanted to pick up on something which she said to me and explore it here, because I suspect it’s an issue for a lot of people.

Ali’s tone here is far from critical. Her sister touched her with a thought Ali wanted to explore a little deeper. Do You Need to “Better Yourself”? is a moving post that addresses the topics of self-doubt and personal fulfillment in a compelling way. I took away several things to think about – thanks to Ali’s sister and the conversation they shared.

Ali ends the piece as eloquently as she starts it and provides the essence of the article’s message while honoring her sister’s choices:

If you’re a student, like my sister is, it’s fine just to work towards your degree. You don’t need to feel pressured to join up to every extra-curricular event going, or to keep up with your music, or to start a business or write a novel or run a marathon. Cut yourself some slack….

The Soul of a Relationship

Tina Su of ThinkSimpleNow understands the soul of a relationship. Through her warm and open style, Tina frequently writes about how her relationships enable her to grow as a person.

In Tina’s post, The Ups and Downs of Life, she freely makes known what is working and not working in her marriage at that time. She shares a moment of divine self-realization when she grasped the power of surrendering:

As for the future, I surrender to the higher intelligence of Life and trust with absolute clarity that only the best things are provided for me, that I am always cared for regardless of how things may appear now. I accept the now, by accepting the outer world for what it is, and taking responsibilities of my inner world.

I connected with Tina at that moment even though we have never met. Her transparency was a gift at a time when I needed to be reminded of the grace that flows when we surrender the condition of our relationships to a higher authority.

Learn to feel comfortable in your own skin

Glen Allsopp, of PluginID, demonstrates the effectiveness of self-discovery through his writing. Glen’s post, My Six Week Challenge: Learning about Myself, gives the impression we are eavesdropping on a moment of seemingly painful, but healthy, self-reflection:

I’ve had enough of feeling unfulfilled at the end of each day, so it’s time for a change. If you like the sound of a challenge like this, only start it if you are completely sure it is what you want to do. I know I will struggle with this, but hopefully come out of it in a far better position than before.

By sharing this moment, Glen reminds us to consider our own personal challenges and provides the inspiration to take the journey with him.

Let them see more of you

Here’s the key. Write about what you love if you want your readers to see the real you.

When you do, the world will see what makes you special. They will see what makes you authentic. They will read your words that come from a place of love – and passion. They will be moved by your confidence and they will want to see more of you in what you write next.

Alex Blackwell writes for The BridgeMaker, an honestly-written blog about faith, inspiration and personal change. To receive twice-weekly articles subscribe here.

Photo by mysza831

A guest post by David Pierce from Digitizd

I’m a writer, and I don’t carry a notebook around with me. Heck, I don’t even carry a pen. Do people even use those anymore? Pens. So old school.

Instead, I just use my cell phone. In my life as a writer, there’s been no tool more useful or worth the investment than a smartphone. For such a small device, its benefits are enormous. For writers, the benefits might not be as obvious as they are for, say, money managers, but they‚Äôre no less fantastic. Since owning a smartphone (mostly meaning a phone with a functional Internet connection), I’ve become a far better writer, and in this case I’m convinced it’s the tool that made the man. Here’s why.

Remember Everything

The blessing and curse of a writer, or anyone creative, is the constant stream of ideas coming into, and then immediately out of, your head. Maybe you see something that you want to write about, or suddenly get a brilliant idea for how to kill your protagonist. No matter how good the idea, it’s astonishing how fast they disappear.

With a smartphone at the ready, you’ll never forget anything again. Whip out your phone and enter your thoughts into an application like Evernote or Simplenote, and you‚Äôll never forget what tickled your creativity. Unlike paper, which for me is as likely to get lost as not to, these apps stay synced to your phone, your computer, and the Web, meaning your ideas and inspiration are with you and accessible anytime you need them.

Write When it Strikes

Every once in a while I just get in a writing zone. Problem is, 95% of the time when I’m in the zone, I’m about a million miles away from my computer. While it might not be the fastest writing solution, my smartphone has proven a great way to crank out a couple hundred words when I’m feeling the juices flowing.

When you get an app like Dropbox or Sugarsync for your phone, you can even access your files on the go, writing and editing whenever you feel like it without having to carry a computer around. Having your files accessible everywhere means you’e free to be anywhere, because you can always get done what needs to get done in a pinch.

Read

One of the most often-quoted things about writing is that to become a better writer, you have to read. A lot. In a world where we’re constantly on the go, that’s harder than ever. If you pair your smartphone with applications like Instapaper or Read it Later, you can save yourself a personal ‘to read’ list.

With one click in your Web browser, you can save articles or stories to your smartphone, and they’e available to you wherever and whenever you get a minute‚or in line at the grocery, waiting for the doctor, or anywhere else. You’ll be amazed how much reading you can do in 5-minute spurts.

Get Instant Feedback

Social media’s all the rage these days, with Twitter and Facebook quickly becoming the de facto ways we communicate with each other. One of my favorite uses of these services is what I see comedians doing: testing material on their friends and followers. They come up with a joke, and tweet it. Immediately, people comment on the joke, critique it, and decide if it’s funny or not. Over time, the comedians shape the joke with the help of their fans, and the end result is a better joke that goes in their set.

For me as a writer, that would be huge! If I have a great blog post idea, or interesting thought about the world, instant feedback on whether it’s interesting, or true, or totally moronic, is an amazing resource. Twitter and Facebook, in particular, are available on most smartphones, and let you tap into that huge network of fans, critics, and colleagues.

Never Stop Learning

This might be just me, but I hate the ‘I wonder if’ questions. Not the big, deep questions we should all think about, but questions like “I wonder if the Giants won the Super Bowl in the 70? Thanks to my smartphone, I don’t have to wonder anymore. I have the Internet, the most incredible research tool in the history of the Universe, right at my fingertips.

For us as writers, whether we’re looking up mundane facts or boning up on Darwinist theory so we can debate it better, constantly learning is crucial to continuing to improve as a writer. In a way that was never before possible (short of carrying an encyclopedia on your back – and if you do that, I applaud you), we have access to information, research and knowledge at a moment’s notice. You’ll write smarter, sound smarter, know the answers to everything, and be a champion cheater at trivia.

We’re living in an incredible world, where you can record all your thoughts and ideas, read others‚ and answer any question you could possibly have, all in a matter of seconds. In the palm of your hand.

What about you? Are you a high-tech writer, or do you appreciate the good ol’ pen and paper?

Read more by David Pierce on Digitizd. Or grab his Twitter feed here.

A heads-up for WTD readers
Leo and Mary will run the next A-list Blogging Bootcamp, How to Create a Blog that Rocks from 13-17 February. Everyone had a blast last time! We’ll be emailing some great articles on blogging. Get yourself on the mailing list by clicking on Leo’s report below.

A guest post by Diggy from UpgradeReality.com.

Let me paint a little picture. Allow your imagination to go to work.

It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon, you’ve just stuffed yourself with a great lunch and you’re all stretched out on your couch. Flipping the channels on your TV to find something that you will allow to steal your afternoon away. You have plenty of ideas you want to start and projects you want to complete, but you can’t get yourself off that couch and get motivated to get to work and start writing.

How Do You Find Motivation?

The answer to this question is often what stands between you (right now, far from your goals ) and reaching your goals and being successful. That reason or thing that sparks us to take action, (the carrot in front of the donkey’s nose) is what we need to find or create. Everyone has a creative genius inside of them. There just needs to be a reason to let that genius come out to play.

I think there is little more motivating than a near-death experience or a loss of something you’ve always taken for granted. Getting told that you only have one year left to live or surviving a head-on collision are examples of events that change everything. After one of these events you will focus on the things you truly care about and spend as much time with the people and things you love.

The secret to being continuously motivated is realizing why your whole focus shifts after you nearly lose something very important (like your health or freedom).

If you can understand that principle and apply it BEFORE something bad happens to you (i.e. pretend or imagine how you would feel if you indeed lost something very important), then you would truly live your life to the fullest. You will love with all your heart, work with all your energy and enjoy everything that this world has to offer you. You will see every day as a gift that allows you to be creative and share your thoughts and writing with the world.

Imagine that you only have one year left to live, would you waste it by sitting on the couch and watching tv? I highly doubt it…

Find Motivation By Setting Imaginary Rewards:

Fear is usually a bigger motivator than dreams and that is why the process of nearly losing something really important to you makes you so much more motivated to live your life to the fullest.

However, you are the only one that knows what you really desire in your heart. This means that you can use that desire as a source of motivation.

Let’s say for example that you really want to be financially independent so that you are able to travel the world and wake up to a tropical beach and aqua-blue sea every morning. If you really really want that tropical beach, it will always be on your mind. When you wake up in the morning you can remind yourself how much you want it and that you are going to do anything you have to do to reach that goal. You can find a postcard or photograph of that beach you want to be on and pin it on the wall behind the desk you work at. That way you will want to write as soon as you see that postcard.

You need to determine if you are someone who is more motivated by fear or by dreams. I am not able to tell you that. What is the thing that is going to make you get out of bed on a Sunday morning or motivate you to work late into the night so that you can achieve your goals?

The Lance Armstrong Story

I’m pretty sure that you know the Lance Armstrong story or have at least heard about it.

Lance Armstrong was a top-athlete at the peak of his career in 1996. Back then, he had just won the World Cycling Championships. He had become the first cyclist to clock the widest winning margin in the U.S. National Road Race Championshipís history. Even more, he had also signed a 2 year contract to ride with a famous French racing team for an amount of $2.5 million.

Later that year, Lance was diagnosed with an advanced stage of testicular cancer. The cancer had spread to his lungs and brain and doctors gave him a 50/50 chance to live. An urgent operation had to be arranged to remove his swollen testicle that was the size of an orange. Lance had cancer cells the size of golfballs in his lungs. Doctors and others were really not optimistic about his recovery.

Lance however, was determined not to give up and to beat his illness. He underwent the surgery and the chemotherapy and lost a lot of weight in the process. Amazingly he was declared cancer-free after he completed his chemotherapy and he went back to his cycling.

For the next 7 consecutive years, Lance proceeded to win the Tour de France. He went from facing death and having people tell him he was going to die to winning the largest cycle event in the world 7 cosecutive times in a row. At a later stage, Lance wrote that he chose overcoming cancer to winning the race. It was the former that allowed him to ignore the negative predictions that his doctors gave him and focus on his own strength and faith.

Lance Armstrong published a book titled “It’s not about the bike” which is a really inspiring and beautiful story to read. If you haven’t read it yet I really suggest you get hold of a copy.

The reason that I told you this story is that you should never give up. You are much stronger than you think and you are capable of withstanding much more than you think. Don’t allow the negativity of others to drain your life or motivation out of you, it’s not over until it’s over.

Let Me Give You A Boost:

Everyone has days where they can’t find motivation and they are a little low on confidence or self-esteem. You may not have the urge to write on these kind of days which can turn into weeks or months if you let them. Even if you have been writing for months without results and your efforts seem fruitless, then remember the Lance Armstrong story. You can be facing what seem insurmountable odds, but you can still conquer them with hard work,persistance and determination.

If you are having one of those days where you don’t feel creative, let me help you by telling you the following:

1. You are alive
2. You are enough
3. You are unique
4. You are cool
5. Never give up

Always remember this! Now get off your butt and go and write some mind-blowing articles (Just do it)!

Diggy writes all about self improvement at his blog UpgradeReality.com. If you are looking for motivation, inspiration or useful tips to live a better life, subscribe to his articles via RSS FEED or EMAIL

A heads-up for WTD readers
Leo and Mary will run the next A-list Blogging Bootcamp, How to Create a Blog that Rocks from 13-17 February. Everyone had a blast last time! We’ll be emailing some great articles on blogging. Get yourself on the mailing list by clicking on Leo’s report below.

A guest post by Glen Allsopp who writes about Viral marketing.

I wrote my first blog post back in 2006. At the time, blogging was just starting to be used as a way to connect with your audience and attract more eyeballs to your products and services. Back then, I didn’t care about building a readership or writing posts that hit the Digg homepage, I simply kept writing content so that Google would send me more traffic.

Of course, a lot has changed since then. I now couldn’t care less about search engine traffic to my blog and instead focus all of my energy on building a vibrant, helpful community around my brand. It’s not only my blogging focus that has changed in the last few years, but also the way I actually write my articles.

The Old Way

In 2006 I was blogging once or twice per week to an audience of less than 30 subscribers. I think it took about 6 months for the blog to receive a comment that wasn’t left by me. Around this time, and up until very recently, I still held the same ’style’ of blogging, even though my entire aim for what I wanted out of blogging had changed.

The process was very structured, and went something like this:

• Decide on something you can write about
• Choose a killer headline (1)
• Map out sub-headings for different sections of the post (2)
• Fill out these sub-headings carefully (3)
• Watch out for spelling / grammar mistakes as you go (4)
• Re-read the post (5)
• Hit publish when you want it to go live (6)

This is a very basic outline, but it contains most of the steps that I used to follow and most of the steps that I’m sure thousands (if not millions) of bloggers still follow today.

If we were to put this process on a chart that showed the level of passion, energy and excitement that takes place when writing the post, I think we would see something very basic like this:

There are clear peaks here of energy and excitement when you find a killer headline that you love, have the post organised and eventually hit the publish button. Apart from that though, blogging can look like a pretty simple and boring process. Some people might love this, and I totally get that, but don’t ignore other options before you try them.

One such option, is the new blogging way…

The New Way

The reason we need a ‘new way’ is because it is no longer enough to succeed at blogging by showing up and posting frequently. A few years ago that would have been great for your readers and excellent for search engine traffic, but things have changed. There is now so much noise in every industry online, that if you don’t stand out with amazing content, you may as well not write at all.

This change still means that you need to write content, and if you wanted you could write in the style of the ‘old way’, or you could start getting the most out of the process. A few months ago I noticed this change in my blogging but really didn’t know how to describe it. It wasn’t until a tweet from Adam allowed me to ‘picture’ the process in my mind that I could finally put things into words.

The process of the New Way, goes something like this:

• Decide on something you can write about
• Choose a killer headline (1)
• Start writing the most important things you want to say (2)
• Don’t worry about headings, spellings or grammar (3)
• Keep going until you’ve wrote everything you want to on the topic (4)
• Take a break and cool down (5)
• Tidy up the post and hit publish (6)

If we were to put this in a graph like we did for the old way of blogging, you would see something like this:

This New Way of blogging does include a concept I have written about here at WritetoDone in the past: keep writing until you’ve said everything you want to say, then edit after. Not as you’re going along.

However, this whole process is going to be an entirely new concept to most people. Again, it’s not simply enough to be writing content for your niche anymore. Due to the sheer mass of competition online these days, whatever you put out to the world on your blog has to provide massive value to your readers.

Because of this, if you can get really into your articles and get excited about the process, that’s going to show in the final result. The bottom line is that if you’re feeling really passionate about what you’re saying, you’re going to produce the type of posts necessary to gain mindshare in your industry.

Maybe I’m off the mark, but for myself and many others, I’m seeing a totally new way to look at writing blog posts…

This is a guest post by Glen Allsopp who writes about Viral marketing. He has also written an in-depth guide about guest blogging you may also enjoy.

A heads-up for WTD readers
Leo and Mary will run the next A-list Blogging Bootcamp, How to Create a Blog that Rocks from 13-17 February. Everyone had a blast last time! We’ll be emailing some great articles on blogging. Get yourself on the mailing list by clicking on Leo’s report below.