Welcome! If you’ve headed over here from my ezine I’m so glad you saw merit in the Five Reasons to Start your blog today and you wanted to check out the tips I’ve prepared for getting you started with your blog.

Remember, this list is for true newbies here. I’ve talked with so many small business owners who have “heard of a blog” but really have no idea what it is, or how it can benefit their clients, their business or their brand. This starter guide is for you!

1. Set your goals before you start your blog. This means don’t get all charged up about bells and whistles and pictures. Get clear on your goals for your blog and then start the thing. Possible blog goals include: expanding or creating brand awareness; driving people to your website; specific subscriber numbers; # of unique visitors per month; fine-tuning your target demographic; educating your target audience; selling products; creating awareness among potential affiliate partners; honing your writing or design skills.

2. Investigate the blog hosting options, the three most common are Blogger, Typepad and WordPress. Most have free or low cost options for launching your blog. Each has a corporate blog and that’s a great place to get information and read what sets each company apart.

3. Read and participate in other blogs in your field. If you’re a professional copywriter, check out the blogs of others in your field. See what works and what’s missing. When you read something on their blog that resonates with you, comment. Commenting on other blogs in your and related fields is a wonderful way to get noticed. The owner of the original blog will likely check out your blog and offer comments and links when appropriate, and the readers of the other blog will likely visit your blog if what you said in the comment section was insightful.

4. Always add something useful. Picture your target audience as one particular person and write to them. If you’re blogging for your business, staying on target is important. Sure, your blog lets you be more “real” than your business website – but try to keep your key niche front and foremost of each of your posts. For instance, my blog is evolving but the overall audience is comprised of women who own service based businesses, are pursuing a spiritual path and love dogs. My target is to provide a combination of practical business information tied in with spiritual concepts to help them make more money, have more fun and participate in changing the world.

5. Set your schedule and stick to it. There are bloggers who write less often (maybe once a week) and add longer content and there are bloggers who write short 200-400 word posts every day or more than once a day. Figure out how you can best serve your audience and set a publishing schedule. There are some blog-hosting systems that will let you “pre-write” your posts and set them to publish on a specific date and time. This is particularly useful if you travel a lot and you don’t blog on specific news topics.

6. Read the blog gurus and learn. Each of these are blogs that I visit often for their great information on the skill of blogging. Do your own websurfing and you’ll find others that you love as well. Feel free to comment or question on their blogs and you’ll likely receive great advice. Go ahead and add them to your blogroll as well: Blogher; ProBlogger; CopyBlogger; Successful Blog; Daily Blog Tips.

7. Read books on blogging. The blogosphere changes rapidly and books in print can go out of relevancy quickly, some of the best books I’ve read on the topic include: Problogger: Secrets of Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garret of http://www.problogger.com/ ; No One Cares what You had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason; Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care by Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulus; Blogwild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging by Andy Wibbels. (

8. Read other blogs. Just search the blogosphere now and again to check out what’s happening. Pick up on styles and ideas that you like. Learn the art of blogging from those that are doing it. I’ve found that reading about 10 or so random blogs each week, I’m becoming a better blogger.

9. Be authentic. Blogging is the place to be you. Show off your opinions and your ideas. Be goofy or be opinionated. In essence, be yourself. I recommend being your best self – as you are going to be attracting customers through your blog, or potential clients are going to google you and find your blog somehow – it’s perfectly fine to have strong opinions, just remember that not everyone will share those opinions. I don’t recommend watering yourself down. I recommend being straightforward, therefore those who aren’t a good fit for you won’t hire you and turn into heart-sink clients. (You know, those clients who make your heart sink every time you have to deal with them!)

10. While not a strictly blogging skill, I recommend joining one or more social media outlets. It’s a wonderful place to find experts, share ideas and create friendships with some of the celebrities of the blogosphere and beyond. You’ll also have the opportunity to share when you’ve posted a new blog and other new information about your company. The key with all these places (Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Pounce, Identi.ca etc. ) is to be sure you’re actually socializing and not just shoving your stuff down the throats of your followers. It’s a very free society and your followers are likely to un-follow you, if they see you’re not interested in building relationships but only pushing your opinions.

11. Just do it. All the reading and studying is useless if you don’t simply make it happen. As with all wonderful things in life — wishing doesn’t make it so, but taking action does!

Liked this post? hated it? What else are important steps for small, service-based business owners when it comes to blogging?

This just in — I stumbled across this resource on using your blog to build your business! It’s by Wendy Piersall over at Sparkplugging.com. I learn much from what she has to say on a regular basis and was glad to see her post while I was sifting through her site.