Web logs, commonly referred to as "blogs," represent all
the rage right now in online publishing.
Not really a newsletter or traditional html page
publishing, blogs resemble more of a web-based diary where
the creator records their thoughts, posts links, or
responds to questions.
With so much confusion online and an absence of "personal
touch," blogs stand to actually bring back some humanity to
the web by allowing people of like minds to come together.
** Why Blog? **
As the sea of information on the World Wide Web gets larger
and deeper, people starve for knowledge.
It's a fact that most human beings learn better when
someone else shows or tells them how to do something, or
explains what something means and its impact on their
lives.
People sitting around a fire and passing information one to
another is as old as human history, and with blogs you can
do the online equivalent.
Blogs allow you to do everything from staying in touch with
family members to building a world-wide following of loyal
readers based around a hobby or your profession.
** Monologue or Dialogue? **
You basically have two choices when it comes to your blog.
You can set it up so only you can post to the blog and
viewers just read your posts, or you can allow your
audience to comment on your posts and create a dialogue
with them.
Which model you choose comes down to your purpose for the
blog.
If you want to get feedback from customers, family members,
friends, or subscribers, then allowing them to post will
add a tremendous dimension to your communication.
If you want to keep it simple, then start out with a blog
where you post and others only read.
** How Do You Set Up a Blog? **
Log on to Blogger.com to set up a free account (monologue
type).
With absolutely zero experience and without reading the
help files, I set up my blog - www.ebookblog.com - in about
5 minutes.
At first I just posted a few old articles to fill in
content and see how the process worked.
Lately I've gotten the "blogger bug" and plan to start
posting several times a week.
Though my blog gets posted on my own website, Blogger.com
also allows you to post to their server so you don't even
need a hosting account to set up your own blog.
You can get a more full-featured blog (dialogue type) from
MovableType.org.
There you have the option of getting their software
installed on your server or obtaining a very reasonably
priced account hosted on their servers.
Either way you choose, posting rates as simple as typing
into a web form, clicking a button, and your articles and
comments automatically get posted to your blog (no html or
ftp skills required).
If you want to find one of the thousands of blogs online
about everything from cooking to puppy potty training, log
on to:
www.daypop.com
www.blogsearchengine.com
www.feedster.com
You can easily and quickly search through rapidly expanding
databases of blogs open to the public.
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how
to use fr-e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted
visitors to your website or affiliate links... http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
