How to Get Started Blogging in 5 Minutes or Less
By Linda J Bruton
I put off starting a blog for a long time because
I thought it would be hard. I thought it would be technical. I
thought I'd have to install scripts and tear my hair out getting
them to work.
At that point, most of what I'd read about blogs
and RSS was just so much geek-speak.
Was I ever wrong!
When I finally got the courage to give it a go,
I went to blogger.com and signed up for an account. To my amazement,
I had a blog set up in about 5 minutes. My first post was uploaded
to my site about 10 minutes later.
The only thing even remotely technical I was required
to do was enter the FTP settings for the website my blog would
be published on. But even that wasn't a requirement. With Blogger,
you can set up a blog on their site, Blogspot, and not even worry
about FTP settings.
Since then, I've started 3 Blogger blogs on different
sites. Blogger remains one of the most popular blog applications
in the world simply because it is so simple to use and set up.
If you're a technophobe or don't have the time
to learn something completely new, I would urge you to drop by
Blogger.com and take a look. You could be blogging - and enjoying
the benefits - almost immediately.
Another very simple blogging tool is Wordpress.
This blog is my first Wordpress blog, and I'm very impressed with
how powerful it is - as well as simple.
Wordpress is installed on your own website, but
don't let that stop you. Most hosts that have Cpanel already have
Wordpress ready for you to install.
Look in your Cpanel for the Fantastico application,
click it open, and then choose Wordpress to install. It will automatically
install it on your site for you, and you can start blogging right
away.
If your host doesn't already include Wordpress
in the scripts on your server, you can still pick it up at:
http://wordpress.org/
Then go to the Wordpress
Wiki for instructions on how to install it in 5 minutes.
Wordpress is free, open-source software. It is
very simple to install, even for technophobes, and has a lot of
online documentation. There are also many sites with free Wordpress
add-ons and templates. I'm using a template for this blog that
I picked up at Alex
King's site
The Wordpress Wiki is a wealth of information
on all things Wordpress, including installation instructions,
help files, a long list of template sites, and all kinds of hacks
and extras you can use to modify your blog and make it original.
If you're a Wordpress user, another place to visit
is the Wordpress
discussion forum
If you're a new blogger, both Wordpress and Blogger
are very user friendly. There isn't a long learning curve. And
you won't have to learn any new technical tricks. Why not give
one of them a try?
For more tips and ideas on how to make money blogging,
be sure to visit my "Why Marketers Should Blog" weblog
at (what else) http://www.WhyMarketersShouldBlog.com
