by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: August 24, 2010

Blogs are now for everyone and they are easy to set up. But there are several points to consider before we sit before that beautiful, blank editing screen and start to write our best work ever.

First, taking some time to decide on the visual and hosting site setup, the theme or point of the blog, and the content and the multimedia that will be included, a lot of problems will be resolved before the writing begins.

At WordPress and Blogger, the initial setup is fairly intuitive and easy for an entry level blog. The first simple steps involve the registration, the profile and avatar and the basics of navigating the site. Both sites have excellent help pages and forums for conquering any problems, too.

Next, the visual theme is chosen. A wide selection of templates can be previewed and worked with right away at WordPress and Blogger. It is all just a matter of making various feature and element selections, previewing, then choosing the final product. Custom tweaking of the layout and theme can come later when there is some time set aside to explore more advanced features.

Then, the writing process is developed. The foundations of a good blog are topic,style, audience and content.

Topic and content:

There is no need to go for a strict, set theme or topic for the beginning blogger. Take a little time to try out whatever feels good and natural, rather than trying to go for a single topic. By paying attention to audience feedback, the efforts that appeal most to readers will be clear.

If a single topic or theme is the goal, try varying the style with a little fiction, a little fact and a little opinion to see which is the most comfortable and successful style or approach. Even if a serious approach is the norm, the odd humorous or fictional treatment of the same topic will give some variety and a mental break! There are many ways to treat a single topic: humor, anecdote, travel and photo safaris, product reviews and discussions of favorite films and music that relate to the topic or theme of the blog.

NOTE: Be careful about revealing extremely personal, controversial or disturbing content because, once it is out there it can never be completely deleted. Be careful to sanitize any discussions that involve real people so that they are not identifiable. Sanitizing means that we never include real identities, names or personal details that can be related to a real person who is not a public figure. Putting up an address or phone number is a distinct no no even if the

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