I was just talking to a friend who has been blogging for about a year now. Last week, she decided to shut down her original blog and create a new one. The big difference is that this new blog is open only to people she chooses – and she has chosen four. It occurred to me that she needs this blog for personal purposes only and that she does not have to worry about promoting her blog to get more readers. That’s great for her, but for a good number of bloggers out there, blog promotion should be at the top of the list.

If your goal is to make your mark online and get as many readers as you can possibly get, then promoting your blog is important. While you may have that much confidence in your ideas and writing style, it may not be enough to catch the attention of potential followers. After all, there are millions of blogs out there, what are the chances of a person stumbling upon your blog?

How can you promote your blog? Is there a right way to do it?

To be honest with you, I don’t think there is ONE way to do it. However, you can put into practice some activities that will help you market your blog. Let us look at some of the most practical ones that actually get results.

Facebook
If you had written this more than a year ago, the first item on my list probably wouldn’t have been Facebook. However, we all know just how big this social networking site has become, and it is a very effective way of getting the word out that you have a blog that you want everyone to read. You can publish links to your posts on your Facebook status. You can create a page on Facebook for your blog and invite people to become fans. You can even pay for ads if you are willing to.

Comment. Comment. Comment.
Two things: make sure you comment in relevant blogs and that your comments are NOT solely to promote your blog. Commenting in other blogs is a great way to meet new people who might be interested in what you have to say. However, simply leaving a useless comment and putting your blog URL is not acceptable. That’s spamming, period. I have made quite a number of friends over the years through my personal blog; and how did that start? We discovered each other through blog comments.

Blog Communities
Practically every blogger I know wants others to discover his/her blog. I suppose that this desire has brought about the need for blog communities such as MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog where bloggers can come together and promote their blogs. The good thing about these communities is that you can also discover likeminded people with similar blogs. It’s easier to do this as part of a community – with tools already set in place – rather than manually looking for blogs through a search engine.

Forums
Much like leaving comments in other blogs, you can participate in forums focusing on topics related to your blog. While blatant self-promotion is usually not allowed, you can always make mention of your blog when relevant.

You might have heard of mobile blogging before; and if you have, it really is not surprising at all. The Internet changed the way people all over the world communicate, but the prevalence of mobile communication devices made a greater impact. While people normally blog using their computers at home or at the office, it is quite possible to update blogs while on the go. Indeed, this has become the practice of a lot of people who want to update their blogs even without a “conventional” connection to the Internet.

Mobile blogging is also called moblogging, and most mobile bloggers use their mobile phones equipped with cameras. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out just how attractive this can be. Say you’re on the road and you see a gorgeous sunset; with mobile blogging, you simply have to snap a picture of the scenery and upload it directly to your blog. Instant gratification at it’s best!

How does mobile blogging work?

Basically, you have to have a blog already – you can learn more about the basics of this in our other pages. Once you have that up and running, you need to have software that will allow you to directly post on your blog from your mobile phone. This may vary depending on the blogging platform that you choose to use.

As we are using WordPress, let’s take a look at how you can go about mobile blogging using this platform. The simplest thing that you can do is to use your mobile phone’s web browser and go to the URL http://m.wordpress.com. Upon logging in, you will be directed to a dashboard, much like what you see when you log on using the regular site. The main difference is that it’s so much faster. Once you see that dashboard – and you should already be somewhat familiar with it at this point – you can do practically everything that you do on your computer, in terms of blogging.

Of course, there are also other ways by which you can go about mobile blogging – basically by using plugins that will make the WordPress dashboard easier for the activity. Some of the more popular mobile plugins for WordPress are Wphone, Mobile Plugin, and Mippin. You might want to take a more thorough look around if you are that particular about mobile blogging. As a start though, I would say that the default mobile site will serve its purpose.

One other thing to think about when it comes to mobile blogging…why not make sure that your blog is mobile friendly? You do not really have to worry about this right now, but it might save you time in the future. Viewing sites on a mobile phone is definitely different from viewing them on a laptop or computer. As such, when designing your blog, it would be a good idea to look into the future and design it so that it will be compatible with mobile devices. Alternatively, consider having a mobile version of your blog.

There is no doubt about it – the bigger something becomes, the more prone it is to controversy, and blogging is not exempt from this. I am sure that you have heard bits and pieces about blogs and copyright. You might have even heard of some blogs which publish content that is not theirs – in varying degrees. Sometimes, even when bloggers do not intend to commit copyright infringement, it happens. Let’s look at some important points that will help you avoid doing so.

Let’s begin by looking at the term copyright. What does it really mean? Wikipedia gives a very good definition:

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation, after which time the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize “moral rights” of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work. Copyright is described under the umbrella term intellectual property along with patents and trademarks.

So why worry about copyright? Why did they come up with the concept in the first place? The bottom line is this: copyright exists so that the owner of the content/idea is protected. This simply means that you can’t just copy text and photos and use it in your posts. You need to get the owner’s explicit permission before you can use the material.

What can you use and what can’t you use?

Here’s a bit of good news – copyrighted material MAY be used in a limited manner IF the purpose is scholarly. In addition to this, you may use copyrighted material to a certain degree if you are reviewing it. This is what is called the principle of “fair use.” Under this, you do not have to ask for the owner’s permission.

More so, anyone is allowed to use facts and other types of material that is not protected by copyright. These include names, general truths, slogans, and the like. Of course, you still have to check for the protection that the “owner” might have acquired. To be on the safe side, always make sure that what you are using is copyright-free.

If you do want to use someone else’s work, you may do so as long as you merely use an excerpt; that is, a small portion of the work. In order to do this legally, your purpose should be something like commenting or critiquing the work OR reporting the work. More importantly, you have to give credit where credit is due. For blogging, this means mentioning your source and, if applicable, linking to the web site or blog where you got the material.

This last bit is what will keep you protected for the most part. Just as long as you do not republish whole works and you always give the proper credit, you should be fine. Better yet, just create brand new material for yourself. After all, that is why you joined the blogosphere in the first place, right?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions by new bloggers. We all know that blogs are different from static web sites in many ways, and delivering fresh content is one of the main characteristics that set blogs apart. The question is, just how often should a blogger offer new content?

In many circles, the general consensus is that bloggers should post new content daily. Much like news web sites, the idea is to keep people coming back for more, more often. Hence, posting on a daily basis is considered the ideal.

Then again, we have to realize that not everyone has the time and/or resources to keep at it on a daily basis. And more than the time, we also have to consider the content itself. There are times when bloggers do not have enough material to come up with posts 30 or 31 days each month. If this is the case, and the blogger forces a post each day, the chances of burning out AND providing poor content skyrocket.

So what is the ideal posting frequency?

Let’s begin with the kind of blog that you want to create – again. If you are planning on a personal blog, then your posting frequency should not be that much of an issue. Naturally, the more often you post, the better. However, at the end of the day, if you are writing to please yourself, then it should not matter how often you post.

If you are planning on having a different kind of blog, or if your goal is to attract a regular audience, then you do have to pay attention to your posting frequency. Always bear in mind what your readers will want. Put yourself in their shoes. How often would you want to read new content from a blog like yours? Does it matter much if there isn’t a new post everyday? Answering these questions will help you decide on your posting frequency.

Again, I am not saying that you have to have a new post every single day. That is just too much for some people, especially those who have hectic schedules. Every other day maybe? Or even thrice or twice a week? I think that these figures are reasonable – not so taxing on the average blogger and yet not so infrequent that readers just give up on visiting the blog.

Whatever number you decide on, here is something that you should never forget: be consistent. Readers like consistency. They want to look forward to visiting a blog and getting fresh content. There is nothing more irritating than reading three or more new posts a day and then not getting anything fresh in the next 3 months! It is much better to spread out your posts rather than to bunch them up in a day and go AWOL for an extended period of time.

My suggestion is for you to set realistic goals and then do everything you can to stick to your posting schedule. Do that, and your readers will love you for it.

You have probably heard of the word “blog” so much that you’re starting to wonder what it is all about. Indeed, blogs have been around for many years now, and it has quickly become a popular means of expressing one’s self and sharing information through the Internet. The popularity of blogs has exploded so much so that practically everyone has at least dabbled in blogging. For those of you who are new to this, let me help you out a little bit. Let’s start with this: what is a blog?

If you’re the kind who likes “official” definitions, here are a couple. Wikipedia defines a blog as:

A blog (a contraction of the term “web log”)[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Webopedia says:

Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

I chose these two definitions (out of the countless definitions you can find out there) because of key points. One, a blog is simply a web site. It does have differences from the “regular” web site that you see, but the essence is the same. Two, a blog is authored by an individual – most of the time that is. There are blogs which are authored by several people. Bottom line is that there are distinct authors behind a blog. Three, a blog is commonly perceived as a journal which is shared with the world. While blogs have evolved much over the years to serve purposes other than “diaries,” the characteristic of being an open book to share thoughts and ideas remains the same. Four, a blog is updated regularly – not necessarily daily, but often enough – to provide fresh content. Five, the content, or entries, are usually presented chronologically, with the most recent one being first.

So basically, a blog is a web site that offers new content frequently. This content may focus on a narrow topic or be about a broad range of subjects, depending on what the blogger (that’s the person one who writes for the blog) has in mind for the blog. There are blogs which have a tight focus regarding its subject. Some blogs may have broad topics such as art and music while other have more specific topics such as the life and work of a specific artist. Examples of these blogs are Celebrific, Brewed Coffee, Forever Geek, and Yurto. There also a lot of blogs out there which do not focus on a single subject, more often than not, they are referred to as “personal blogs,” and they are actually the blogs which conform more to the diary-type label. Personal blogs can be about anything and everything under the sun – it totally depends on the blogger.

So now you know the general idea behind a blog. Is that all there is to blogging? Definitely not! For more in depth information, check out the other pages I have prepared to give you specific details on blogs and blogging.