• What should I write on my blog?
• How can I build a community on my blog?
• How do I get comments?
• How can I be seen as an expert in what I know?

Or the toughest request of all:

• I want step-by-step help setting up my blog.

I realize some of my articles aren’t enough for these questions, and that some don’t have the time or the inclination to do it alone, and could use an expert to help you out. I work with a select few folks every month to teach them how to use social media over the phone or in person (if you are near Milwaukee). If you want to explore this coaching arrangement, please contact me and let’s see if we’re a fit for each other.

If you’d rather do this at your own pace, watching videos and learning in your pajamas, then I strongly encourage you to check out my friend Chris Johnson. Chris has an awesome program called Guerrilla Me where he will get you set up with a blog, then show you step-by-step how to edit your blog, complete with helpful videos and ebooks. Best of all, Chris offers a 100% money back guarantee so if you don’t like stuff, you get your money back. (Note: I get a few dollars if you buy through my link. I signed up for the program because this product is that good, and because I wish there were someone like Chris around when I got started blogging in 2004.)

Sure, it costs you a few dollars to work with someone like me or Chris, and I know, you may have more time than you have money money. You can keep reading articles here. I promise I’ll keep sharing as much as I can as often as I can.

If you want to get the jump start help you need, sign up with Chris Johnson and let him help get you going quickly. He’s one of my trusted advisors, and if you can’t work with me, I’d be delighted if you worked with Chris instead.

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How do I do this, besides scheduling my times? I write my blog using an offline editor, so even when I am not connected to the Internet, I can still write articles, input images and other cool stuff so when I do connect, I can just upload my article and go back to sleep.

What’s my favorite free offline blog editor?

Windows Live Writer is my favorite offline blog editor, hands down. I am a Windows guy (sorry Mac friends) and Windows Live Writer lets me edit my images right in my blog post, lets me post to 3 different blogs (and downloads the styling of my blogs so I can see exactly how my article will look before it goes live on my blog). I couldn’t live without it.

Other offline blog editors

1. ScribeFire – a plug-in for the Firefox browser. I used to love this and used it for a few  years, but I like Live Writer a lot more.
2. Qumana – Mac and Windows users rejoice, Qumana will work for all of you. I used this one for a short period of time, but it wasn’t very intuitive to me.
3. Post2Blog – Never used it. Looks useful and interesting.
4. w.bloggar – Never used it. Looks really cool because it will run on a USB drive, perfect for folks using a little netbook or something else that has a small hard drive.
5. Blogdesk – Also never used this one, but from the screenshots, it looks the most like Windows Live Writer.

• What’s your favorite free offline blog editor?
• Have you ever tried the editors I haven’t used?

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

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Over the next few days, I’ll be writing about the basics of blogging, from getting started to writing your first few articles, to finding images that work for your blog and even some more advanced things that I’ve found useful.

How to Start a Blog for Free

1. Go to http://wordpress.com or http://blogger.com and sign up for a free blog. Make the userID your name or something close to your name, or choose your mantra. I started out with MakeItGreat.Blogspot.com (no longer in service). WordPress.com wasn’t around when I got started writing my blog, or I just didn’t know about it. I would use WordPress.com now if I wanted to start a free blog, though Blogger.com is good too.
2. Set up 3 pages: About You, About Your Specialty/ Service/Company, and Contact You.
   1. About You – Write about yourself in a way that’s comfortable for you. Write in the first person or the third person. Use a conversational tone or a formal tone. Use the words you want people to know you by in the about you section. Just be consistent in what you write. Example: About Phil Gerbyshak
   2. About Your Specialty/Service/Company – Share what you’re good at or why you’re writing or what your company does or sells, in a way that focuses on what’s in it for your visitors. Use testimonials if you have them. Example: 10 Ways to Make It Great!
   3. Contact – Make it easy for folks to contact you. Some say to put this in your sidebar, I say put it on it’s own page and make it clear folks can contact you in a variety of ways. Don’t worry about putting a phone number on it. TRUST ME: Nobody is going to call you! Create a contact form if you can, otherwise include your email address, your phone number, and a mailing address, in the order you wish to be reached. Example: Contact Phil Gerbyshak.
3. Choose a Theme – Pick any theme that looks good on screen. White backgrounds are better than dark backgrounds for most people’s eyes. Bigger fonts are better than smaller fonts. Don’t worry too much about this with one exception: Don’t pick a busy background and write on top of that. While you may like pink and purple polka dots, most people don’t.  Most of the time that is super hard to read, though if you’re writing a teen blog, maybe you can break this rule.
4. Write your first article – Write an article that focuses on 1 key thing in your specialty. You may even want to start with an article about why you started this blog.

Congratulations! If you were following along with me, you’ve now got a free blog setup with 1 article.

Next up: all you have to do is write some articles.

What should you write about?

Stay tuned and I’ll share that in tomorrow’s article.

Photo credit

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I write a blog called Slacker Manager. You can visit it at http://slackermanager.com Don’t be distracted by all the stuff going on up top or on the sides when you visit the website. Look at the left side of the page, and you’ll see a new article every day for the past year or so on the topic of management. I do this because, by day, I am a vice president of information technology and manage people as a large part of my job. If my firm were ever to let me go, I now have an online collection of my thoughts on managing people in a business environment. It is a much richer, more-complete record than any resume could possibly be.

Don’t worry–you don’t have to write every day once you create your blog. It doesn’t hurt if you write every day, but you don’t have to. If you plan to get ahead in the field of your choosing, though, you need a blog.

Why do you need to start a blog?

1) Blogging creates visibility – If folks don’t know you exist, it doesn’t matter how great you are. More and more recruiters and headhunters are doing a Google search of prospective candidates. Having a blog on the topic you are passionate about gives folks a sample of your style and thoughts on the topic. It gives them just what they may be looking for: a way to know you better before they even talk to you.

Not everyone will agree with everything you write, and you may even lose out on some jobs because of what you write. Wouldn’t you rather know you’re not a fit before you interview or begin work somewhere rather than after you have accepted a job?

2) Blogging creates a safe place for conversations to happen – Think of your blog as your living room. You can invite folks into your house and set the rules for participation. You can create a blogging comment policy, decide what to talk about, and determine how it looks and who can visit you. Don’t be fooled; you don’t get total control, but you do get significant control. And wouldn’t you rather have your friends visit your house than you traipse over to theirs every time?

2) Blogging improves your writing skills – The more you write, the better you write. Obvious, I know. Still, it’s worth saying. When I started out writing a blog, my writing skills were just okay. Now, I’d say they are well above average, and I am able to get my thoughts written faster and more accurately. The more you write, the better your writing skills become.

3) Blogging connects you with people who can help you – You’d be surprised at the people who will come out of the woodwork to help you when you ask for help on your blog. There are tons of searches done every day on every topic imaginable. Folks you’d never be able to connect with in person because they are halfway around the world might stop by and offer to help. Folks at a competing company might offer to help you. Folks at your own company might offer to help you. But you’d never receive all that help if you didn’t have a blog within which you could ask for it.

4) Blogging allows you to help others – Just as others will help you, you can help others, too. From folks who e-mail you asking for help, to folks who leave a comment on your blog, to anyone who links back to you, to folks you had no idea were reading your blog, you will be able to help others when you write well on popular topics.

5) Blogging clarifies your thinking – The more you write about a topic, the more you know about the topic. The more you know about a topic, the more you clarify what you believe about a topic. Greater clarity leads to a greater ease with which you can handle the routine things that come your way. I write about a lot of really basic management stuff at Slacker Manager, and I’ve realized that many people need help with the most-basic aspects of management, so I keep writing about the basics.

6) Blogging allows you to be seen as an expert – If you write about the same topic over and over again, and if you interview experts, and if you read what other people say about a topic, you’re going to become well-versed in whatever topic you choose. The more time you spend, the better you get at it. The better you get at it, the more people will see you as an expert. Remember what I said in reason 1: It doesn’t matter how smart you are if nobody knows your name. If you’re putting it out there day in and day out, you’re going to make a name for yourself, and you’re going to be seen as a better source than the person next to you who isn’t writing about their knowledge.

What do you think? Do you think you need a blog?

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