Hi Guys,
For a while now I've been wanting to start a blog. However, I literally have no idea where to being setting one up let alone how I would find people to read it. Anyone managed to become a successful blogger? Advice would be great :-)
Hi Guys,
For a while now I've been wanting to start a blog. However, I literally have no idea where to being setting one up let alone how I would find people to read it. Anyone managed to become a successful blogger? Advice would be great :-)
I have a blog on wordpress too. Its more about my thoughts than anything else. I used to have a blog that focused more on environmental articles, however, I wasn't able to keep it up as I had too much going on at the time.
This new blog I only set up a couple of months ago and already have 30 followers.
But it helps. Definitely try it out.
See? I'm so rubbish at self promotion I didn't include a link so you could take a look at what a complete amateur can do very simply.
http://cavalrytales.wordpress.com
Advert over ;)
I was persuaded so set up a blog - 'it's a must-have for writers', everyone says. Hmm.
It's actually quite straightforward using one of the free platforms. I picked Wordpress, the general consensus on the web being that it was the easiest to use. Which it is. The only drawbacks seem to be that (i) you can't embed video in the free version, you have to upgrade to a 'paid for' program, and (ii) you can't accept click-through advertising, such as Google AdSense, which wasn't a priority for me anyway.(Blogger accepts advertising - not sure about others).
The hardest part about blogging is being disciplined enough to make regular updates. That's the only way to build a following. I actually post my own articles about once a month, which is probably not enough, but supplement them with other relevant stuff - mostly re-blogging articles by others which tie in with the historical period I write. The most important thing is to provide content that your (hopefully) growing band of followers finds interesting so they'll keep coming back. And tell their friends, who'll also visit.
Some blog for its own sake, but really you're advertising your skills as a writer or budding expert in some field, so that when you have a book/article/poem or whatever to sell, you have a ready audience who may be interested enough in you (which is REALLY what you're selling) to buy it.
As to success, it depends what you want. My blog has almost had 20,000 page views, which, since it's fairly specialist subject-wise, I'm reasonably happy with. Others would consider that number of visitors peanuts. I've sold a few books on the back of it, too, which is the main idea.
It costs you nothing but time. So have a go, and best of luck :)