Small Business Entrepreneur Blog

I’m not an expert, but I can tell you how it worked in the last 4 months

Are you considering to write a blog but you don’t know what it takes? So was I 4 months ago. Now I can tell you what went wrong and what went ok.

Let’s start with the basics: the blog is a modern way to publish content online. Its probably the easiest way as blogs are more open and more permissive that any other kind of on line publishing: you are not making a site, you are writing an on line diary.
I think blogs can be considered as having two major models:

• The personal blog
• The professional blog

In my opinion the personal blog is strictly a day by day diary of the average Joe drinking beer and watching TV. The Professional blog is a diary of a highly skilled professional (could be a sales man, a teacher, a programmer) who wants to share its knowledge in the Internet. While both are an interesting way to communicate, I think is far more interesting to discuss on the “Professional” blog. So, how can you write a professional blog?
You need:

• Space on a server to host the blog
• The blog software
• A domain name
• The blog name
• The blog subject
• The blog content
• Time to write it

Let’s discuss each point:

Space on a server to host the blog. Chances are that you already have some servers for the company (considering that you are a skilled professional or somewhere to host the blog. The easiest way would be to also share the company domain. If this is not possible, there are plenty of free options like the Google’s Blogger. Advice: consider very well the server from the beginning, as after you get to write the blog and have some readers you might find out that the server is not good enough and a change might be difficult.

The blog software. There are plenty of options here as well. If you are going for the Google’s Blogger or something similar you will be able to use their software. The downside is that you have capabilities to customize it. You might consider a free software like the one I use: b2evolution. It’s quite reliable an easy to use. If you are into programming you could use the InterAKT’s tutorial on how to develop a blog with Dreamweaver. Advice: after a while, switching to another blog software could be difficult because you will have to migrate a lot of content, therefore think twice about this.

A domain name. This should be easy: you either use the company domain or use the free blogs that come with a preformatted domain or you could as well buy a domain. If you are planning to get really serious about the blog, having a special domain is the best choice. Advice: be careful about the domain, it’s hard to find the right name these days.

The blog name. The blog subject. The blog name and subject is quite important. First you have to decide what do you want to write about. Mine is about on line sales and marketing and a little Web development. Once you have figured out what you want to write you should be able to find out a name to match the blog content. Advice: while you could probably change the blog subject or title, you will probably lose most of your readers so don’t do it.

Blog content. The hardest part about writing a blog is finding the right content to write and be strong enough not to quit writing after a while. To avoid the risk of not having anything to write, or keep on postponing it, I make some kind of a short list of ideas each day based on the most interesting things I encounter in my daily work. This way I never run out of ideas. Advice: try to let few days pass over the ideas. You will discover that in 2-3 days from the original idea you will have a better vision over it (meaning don’t jump to writing, sit on it for a while).

Time to write it. I know, you would never have enough time to write your blog. I know because I don’t have time to write it. But let me tell you what’s happening: I watch the visitors stats each day. IF I notice the number of visitors drops bellow a certain point, then I take out an idea from the list and I write about it. I don’t want my readers to go away Advice: if you are writing your blog at home, pick a moment when you can’t be disturbed. Usually after everybody else has gone to bed

Just my 2 cents for anybody getting into writing a blog.