25 Great Blogger Widgets

25 Great Blogger Widgets

This Mashable article can help you add bells and whistles to your Blogger page that will increase visibility, interactivity, and engagement on your site.

How to Start a Blog (like this one)

How to Start a Blog (like this one)

1. Using Blogger or Typepad, start a free blog. Name it carefully and have a good concept of what the type of content you want to publish will be.
   
2. Purchase a custom domain for the blog on GoDaddy.com or NetworkSolutions.com and set up a redirect to go to your blog's URL.
   
3. Abandon the blog completely, berating yourself from time to time about never being able to finish anything you start. Ever. Remember the dollhouse your parents bought you for your eighth birthday?
4. Repeat steps #1-2 at least five to ten times. Note: it may be possible for some to skip step #3. Not for this blogger.
5. When you actually feel you are ready to start a blog "for real" this time, write down ideas for at least 3 months worth of blog posts. I prefer Google Documents for this type of ongoing list so that you can update from anywhere, including work when you're on your lunch hour or supposed to be at a meeting you really don't want to attend.
6. Write out at least 20 blog posts before you go live. If you use Blogger platform, then you can schedule them to post when you want them to.
7. Decide how you're going to promote your blog. Here are some methods to consider: spam your Facebook friends every day with a new blog post, email your personal friends and ask them to follow your blog, hang signs at your kids' preschool or your grandparents' retirement home.
8. Other marketing options to consider: search engine optimization, QR codes, RSS feeds, dedicated Facebook fan pages (stay tuned for later posts about most of these topics)!
9. While it's up for debate whether content is king, or aggregation/curation is king, it doesn't really matter to you as a blogger. You need to have great content and be the curator of your own museum. Before you post anything, think to yourself, "Would I want to read this drivel?" If yes, publish!