Blogging - Just Do It

This post has been inspired by @chrisbrogan and his blogging primer. It's very much a case of just getting on with it - my apologies if it turns into a ramble. I just wanted to get something started.

So I thought I'd share with you some of my blogging tips.

• Keep a list of ideas you can call on if feeling a little stuck.
  
• Get a blog reader (on your phone or computer) and add all the blogs you like, I am rubbish at remembering which blogs I enjoy, again this is great for inspiration.
• Start a weekly or monthly themed post such as 'How To Fridays' or 'This month we love...'
  
• Sign up to challenges such a Post a Week or Photo365, as well as giving you something to post about when you're stuck it's a great way to find other blogs and bring new readers to yours.
• Don't forget to promote your blog on Twitter or Facebook. It's much more fun blogging if you know someone else is reading it.
• Don't get too hung up on SEO and fill your posts with keywords, write so it's easy to read and if the content is good you will get traffic. 
• Be useful! The most popular posts on this blog are the ones that show how to use Facebook and Twitter.

I'm glad I've started and hope it will inspire you to write too. So, go - blog. :) 

Elevator Pitch

I have been following Problogger's Blog for a while now, trying to pick up tips for a better blog.

Today is the start of his 31 Days to a Build a Better Blog Challenge (31DBBB), which I'll be following in an effort to keep this blog up to date and interetesting. We would appreciate any feedback on what is written, so please comment when you can.

Today's challenge is to come up with an elevator pitch for this blog. Which got me thinking about what this blog is about. It's to provide information on Picseli and what we're up to and to provide information on web design and all things web related. So do I need an elevator pitch for the blog or Picseli as a whole? I think both...so here goes:

Picseli's Elevator Pitch
We make customers smile with websites that bring in business.

Picseli's Blog Elevator Pitch
We help people with websites make the most of them, and help those without decide what they want to do with them.

I think it needs a bit of fine tuning, but we're getting there.

How to...Set up a Blog

A blog is a great way of starting a website without having to know about html or register a domain name and there are many free services available. This blog is powered by Blogger.com which is a free service owned by Google. It's very easy to set up and get started. The hardest thing is deciding what to write about.

Step 1 - Get a Google Account

If you already have a Google account all you need to do is visit http://www.blogger.com/ and sign in using these details.


If you don't have a Google Account you can create one here. Just click 'Create Your Blog Now' in the big orange arrow and fill in the details on the next page then click Continue.



Step 2 - Choose a Name


On the next page you will need to fill in the details for the name of your blog.



The blog title is what will appear in the header of your blog. For example, 'Rhian's Web Design Blog'.

The blog address is what people will need to find your blog, I would use 'rhians-web-blog' in this case. Click the 'Check Availability' link to see that the name you have chosen isn't being used by someone else. Then click continue.

(This is a basic set up, so we're ignoring the Advanced Options for now.)

Step 3 - Choose your Style

Select the design you like best for your blog and click continue.

Step 4 - Start Blogging
Yup. That's it! All you need to do now is click 'Start Blogging'. The next screen will display the Create a Post screen. Simply enter your title and blog entry and click Publish Post. Your first blog post! To view your blog, click 'View Blog'.

Here's the one I created while writing this post:

The little pencil icon will allow you to quickly edit a post while you are logged in, and you can add Tags, change the layout, add widgets and loads more...but I'll leave that for another blog post!

Again, if you do set up a blog after following this How To, please post it here. Good luck!!