Article Surfing Archive

First of all it important to look at why we would want to create our own blog?

A blog is your very own space on the internet to catalogue your thoughts, ideas, opinions & suggestions on absolutely anything you want.

You might ask 'Why would anyone want to hear my opinion on xyz?' but I would then ask you to answer this question: 'Is there anyone else out there who has had exactly the same life as you?'

The answer is a resounding no. You are unique, which means that the your experiences and viewpoints your learning and outlook will be different to that of anyone else and therefore will be something that other people will take an interest in.

Whatever your interests are, by creating your own blog you can share your experiences of them with other people and who knows, someone might even learn something.

If you are promoting a business online a blog is a great way to increase your SEO by increasing the number of links back to your main site. It is also a place for your colleagues, affiliates and downline to visit you and is a great way to confirm your position as a leader in your field when you provide them with regular, good quality content.

There are many blogging services online and I strongly recommend that you have a look around and find the best one for you, I did and that is how I came across http://Blogger.com This is one of the easiest systems I have ever come across and you can actually have your own blog up and running in a matter of minutes. Here's how:

Step 1 ' When you arrive at the home page click on the 'Create Your Blog Now' link in the middle of the page ' or take the quick tour first if you want to.

Step 2 ' You will be redirected to the 'Create an account' page where you will need to supply blogger with 5 bits of very basic information. Then read and accept the terms & conditions and click on 'continue'

Step 3 ' You will then be taken to the 'Name your Blog' page where you will need to' that's right, name your blog.

The name you decide to give your blog should be a simple catchy description of the purpose of your blog. If it is for business purposes then keep it clear, professional and direct; if it's for personal/social use then you can probably afford to be a little more creative ;-)

You will then need to decide on the blog address, again if it's for business use then remember that you will be giving this address out to people so you want it to be something appropriate. ' Once you have typed in the blog address, which will look like this: http://YOUR-ADDRESS.blogspot.com click on the 'check availability' to confirm that it is available. Once it has been accepted type the characters you see in the word verification field and proceed straight to the next page. (There is an option for advanced set-up, but unless you are already quite techno savvy it's something you can come back to later.)

Step 4 ' Next you will be asked to choose a template for your blog. This is a chance for you to put some of your personality into the blog so take your time and search through all the templates. Imagine the kind of content you are going to publish and what sort of background you would like to have that framed by. There are 12 to choose from and you can make more changes at a later date if you want to.

Confirm the template you want to use and click continue.

Step 5 ' Congratulate yourself! That's it. You have just created your first blog ready to display your articles, thoughts and suggestions to the world.

Click on the start posting arrow and that will take you into your blogger back office where you can add information to you profile, upload a picture or just start writing.

Once you are ready to present you blog to the world you will need to 'ping' your blog. This is not a solo version of the table tennis game instead 'pinging' is how you let all blog sites know that your blog is ready to be listed, without this no-one will get to see it.

The great news is that pinging your blog is even simpler than creating it.

Go to http://www.Pingomatic.com and fill in your blog name and address, then scroll down and select all services to ping, then all you need to do is click on the 'Send Pings' link and that's it. Now all those blog listing services will become aware of your blog and be able to list it. Every time you update your blog with another article or thought just go back and re-ping in the same way.

This very simple to set up and use system is a fantastic way to keep you and your business right in the public domain and all it costs is a few minutes of your time.