A pre-blog blog

[soon_to_blog]

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has been posting advice. I have been reading posts like a kid in a candy store. The 'Pet peeves' and 'One thing I wish I knew' threads are especially helpful. I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while, and have decided to take the plunge.

Below is my to-do list before I "go live". If anyone has any comments please feel free to let me know if I have a realistic take on what needs to be done (I am sure there is a lot more, but this is what I am concentrating on now):

1) Write and edit 3 posts with original topics/content - I'll be honest, I am using Wisebread's recruiting guidelines as a basis for what I should have ready for my personal blog.
2) Title for blog – this is really difficult – coming up with something concise that lets readers know what to expect (and then having the url be available).
3) Hosting (I use dreamhost for my personal site and was thinking of wordpress or expression engine)
4) Meet other bloggers! Maybe via a forum J? I subscribe to a few blogs including Wisebread but have only been leaving minimal comments. That needs to change.
5) General site design – clean, readable and ad free (let’s face it, I’m just starting out).
6) Getting the word out
7) Publish!

[purplefdu]

That seems like a pretty good list to me. Just remember that lots of movies and shows have working titles so if you decide on a name and find a better one thats ok, its only a problem if you've submitted to lots of directories or exchanged alot of links.

[alex]

Originally Posted by soon_to_blog

Below is my to-do list before I "go live". If anyone has any comments please feel free to let me know if I have a realistic take on what needs to be done (I am sure there is a lot more, but this is what I am concentrating on now):

Realistic, yes. You're not missing anything. Go for it.

By the way, I use both WP and EE for separate projects and think both are excellent. EE is the best CMS I've ever used, but WP is solid and, of course, free.

[soon_to_blog]

The working title is a good point. I think I have a name that fits where I want to take the blog. I finished a post, started using Wordpress and have been doing as much reading as I can. Thank you both for the replies - I really appreciate it. Once I am up and running (hopefully early next week), I will share the results.

[Gootsy]

I think you should setup the things you gotta do in order to get ads up on your site. At the very least learning it can be kinda cool, even if you don't want to clutter it up with stuff that might annoy the readers.

Keep in mind I'm a 100 percent novice with this interweeb stuff, so I figure the whole 'learning to post ad stuff on blogs' is like rocket surgery

[soon_to_blog]

Gootsy I agree. I was just going to head over to Amazon to check out their affiliate program. One mode of advertising I like is the "things I'm listening to" links. From what I read, they are not as lucrative as Google Ads, but the seem to fit in to a site a little better. I think I will stay ad free for a bit. I want to see what (if any) my traffic is and really focus on content. I won't admit to how long I have spent working on my first few posts and 'About' page, but it has been a long, long time.

[hermione]

Originally Posted by soon_to_blog

I won't admit to how long I have spent working on my first few posts and 'About' page, but it has been a long, long time.

LOL, same here. I've practically been glued to the computer for the past week. I would think my neck had turned to wood if it didn't hurt so much.

I'm totally in love with Wordpress though; in my opinion, it's up there with sliced bread (even though I'm not a big bread eater, I can appreciate the convenience of it all and the occasional PB&J. My sister, on the other hand, consumes about a loaf a week.)

[soon_to_blog]

Hermione - in your case, the time spent shows in your writing. Very well done and good info too (I only knew about book rate shipping after someone told me).

[hermione]

Thanks, soon_to_blog!

I'm finally sort of getting into the swing of things. I was suffering major writer's block for about a week, but hopefully that's behind me now.

I'm also going to apply for the Amazon affiliate program, but have to make sure my site is up to par with their requirements first. I applied with CreditCards.com a few days ago and was rejected for lack of traffic and/or content.

Another interesting program to check out is Linkshare (stores like Overstock.com uses it and they give a 7% referral commission as opposed to Amazon's 4%).

Here is a very good article I read a few days ago about making money with your blog. It's very inspiring and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in making a living blogging.

How to Make Money from Your Blog

[khorrell]

Hermione - You are an inspiration to us all! Thanks for setting such an excellent example.