how to start an (non-MFP) blog

VeganInTraining

Hey Everyone
I am contemplating starting a blog and would love some information and input from experienced bloggers. here are a few questions I have.

Who here has a blog?
Which site did you go through to get your blog started?
Do any of you make money off your blogs?
What are some pointers you might have for someone starting a blog?

Thanks a bunch!

VeganInTraining

I know we have some bloggers on here!

Pinknspooky

Hiya

I will own up to being a blogger thefinerslice.blogspot.com - infact am a bit of serial one - plus I am married to a very successful blogger who averages 5000+ hits a month

We use Blogger.com - I just find it nicer to use than wordpress but it is a preference thing I do use both in my work and personal life - there are some pretty nice free templates out there for both which you can tweak to your own needs or work with as per - it all depends on what your experience with coding is.

It is not easy to make money out a blog - hubby does get sent a lot of stuff to review on his but it took 2 years of fairly hard graft to get to that point

The first rule of blogging is do it because you want to and love your subject - to generate interest you have to have content and regular content at that. The second rule is - is your topic something other people will be interested in - there are a lot of blogs out there which are never read and if your ultimate aim is to get something back either financial or similar then you need to appeal to an audience.

Once you have decided on what you are going to blog about and decided on your template then basically you just get writing! hope that helps

Valqis

Hey,

I got a blog.

logananance.blogspot.com

it is thru blogspot.com (or blogger.com) either one will get you there.

I am sure you can make money of your blog, there is a tutorial on the site on how to do it. I am doing it for the experience, since I blog about everything (movies I watch, books I read, life in general, frustrations, etc). I have a few very devoted followers that read everything the day it comes out, and occasionally i get feedback from them.

The best way to start a blog is to just go out there and do it. Stupid I know, but it is not like there is a magic formula to it. You sit down and write up what you want to put up, upload it, and announce it (either thru Facebook or Twitter).

one note: make sure that the backgrounds that you pick (for your site) are easy on the eyes. If you think people can stand staring at flashing pink polka dots for fifteen minutes while they read your post about the first day away from Fitness Pal that was loaded in a bright green font, chances are they WON'T come back for a second read, no matter how great a writer you are.

just my penny and a half (after taxes)

Good luck, drop me a line when you get it set up and I will drop by and give it a read...

eesmetana

I have a few that are more personal in nature that are in a hiatus of sorts and one that serves as an online literary journal (www.stymiemag.com) - I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have if I can help.

biggergirlsrun2

I am a blogger as well. I'm not a professional one (I definitely don't have the time to update every single day, but I do update at least 2-3 times a week), but I do blog. I actually started my blog because of all the lifestyle changes I was making and it turns out there's a HUGE community of healthy-living/running/excercise related bloggers out there. I definitely agree with previous comments that you have to enjoy what you're writing about and make sure that you write for yourself- the readers will find their way to your blog eventually.

I use blogger solely because I prefer the user interface. My blog is : http://kmaconfessions.blogspot.com/
Feel free to check it out and let me know when you get your blog up and running!

Best of luck!

VeganInTraining

Hey Guys! Thanks for the info

I created a blog at blogger flighofthehoneebee.blogspot.com ....I added another "page" but I'm trying to figure out how to make that a tab on my main page. Does anyone have any tutorials they could hook me up with? thanks!

Pinknspooky

the easiest way it to go into layout - if the pages widget is not there then click on one of the add gadget links - scroll down and you should see the pages one - add it and follow the on screen prompts and put it where you want

shaynak112

I use blogger
I'm zinn000

VeganInTraining

added the pages, got the nice little tabs, now I can't figure out how to get stuff into the tabs LOL....I was expecting this to be a bit easier haha

Pinknspooky

I have looked at your blog and I am guessing what you mean it that you want to know how to make posts land on the different pages the simple answer is not easily but you can tweek it so it appears to happen! - http://blogger-hints-and-tips.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/how-to-put-put-posts-into-your-pages-in.html this should help you do what you are looking for