You started a blog – now what?

So, you decided to start a blog.  You followed the instructions on naming and decided to start a BloggersBase blog as I detailed in my last post.  You have even written your first post or two.

Now what?  How do I know if anyone is reading my blog?

Bottom line, you don’t.  There are many options that will give you some insight though.  For BloggersBase specifically there is a little icon that tells you how many times your post was viewed.  For blogs that are on a free WordPress or Blogger site, you can add a plugin that gives you some analytics (I use Google Analytics) these programs will tell you how many times your site has been viewed.  But views might not be Reads.  There is a good chance however that if someone has commented, then they have read your post. 

For this reason, I try and make my comment section as easy to access as I can.  I only require that someone type in a name and a email address.  Of course there is also the problem of computer programs that fill in this information and comment spam your site.  There are tools to combat that as well.  For my sites, I prefer to engage in a conversation with my readers, so I will try and post a reply to most any comment.  This activity will hopefully help build a community.  Also, the reasons for my blog are to help people learn so this activity also goes along with that. 

What about readers? 

Do you have a facebook page, a myspace page, do you have a list of people in your contacts book that might be interested in reading your site?  Do you twitter?  Any of these types of tools can get you immediate readers if you are already doing them.  You have already built up a group of people, and now all you have to do is let them know you are blogging and give them the address. 

What if I don’t do any of that?

There are plenty of other tools out there to start with.  The biggest problem is that there are plenty of tools out there to start with.  When I first launched my blogs, the Unique Blog Designs template came with the sidebar plugins you see on the right.  This included the MyBlogLog plugin.  So I went out and registered for MyBlogLog and joined a couple of other people’s blogs, and now when I visit other people’s blogs, my avatar (I use my logo’s) will show up in their MyBlogLog widgets.  Also, if you go to MyBlogLog and register, there is a spot in your profile where you can add all the names of your services.  They have a pretty extensive list.  You can also use this list to identify services to sign up for.  Believe me, you can spend a ton of time signing up for all of them. 

I am taking the slow and easy approach.  I don’t want to spend more time signing up for the services than creating my blog and good content.  As such, I still don’t have a facebook, and my MySpace is a couple years old from my Ha Ha Shirt Shop.  The latest service I am just getting a handle on is Twitter.  I have signed up and am now twittering daily.  You can follow me on Twitter @JohnnyOptimist (http://twitter.com/johnnyoptimist)

So, that is “What’s Next”.  Start Posting, and start building a reader base.  This can be as extensive as you wish.  If your blog is just for family and friends, then the list of services you are going to want to sign up for is now reduced significantly.

Let me know if there is anything you would like me to create a post about.  If there is anything I can help you with, I will.

Ben – Blogmaster General