The Tlog - a technology blog

(NOTE: this is part of the “Blogging tips” series)

First, a disclaimer. I’m not trying, in any way, to dictate what your blog is/will be about! If you have an idea, a vision, something you want to write about, by all means, do so! This part isn’t about nullifying your choices, but about giving you new ones.

This may be useful, though, if you haven’t decided yet what will be the theme of your new blog, and you really want it to be successful. Or maybe you already have a blog, but want to start a new one in parallel, possibly to expand your horizons, and also earn a little money.

I can’t choose the subject for you. What I can do, however, is give a few tips:

• To be successful - and profitable -, a blog will require regular posting. Not a couple of times a week. You should aim for 2-3 posts a day. They don’t have to be long ones, and they don’t have to be “works of art” - sometimes (depending on the subject) a link to a new, related article, plus a couple of paragraphs with your opinion, are more than enough. But what makes people come back is regular posting (I’ll talk more about this in part 9 - Quantity). Are you ready to commit yourself to this? Yes, this includes weekends. Unless this is fun to you, it will feel like work. Even then, it can be one of the most interesting “jobs” out there… but don’t fool yourself, it does require commitment.
• If money is one of your goals, it will require a lot of patience. While you’ll probably get your first check in less than 6 months, it will take a year of more (of regular posting - see above) before you are earning more than $50-$75 a month. To quit your job (assuming you’re not filthy rich or have other sources of money), it will take 2 years or more. Blogging can earn you a lot of money, but trust me: it is not a “get rich quick” scheme. It’s not “quick”, and it’s, in a way, hard work - though it can be a lot of fun at the same time. It will take a lot of time and effort before you can buy a house from blogging.
• Finally, the blog’s subject. You thought I forgot? First, it should really be something you care about. Don’t think something like “blogs about digital cameras make a lot of money, so I’ll create a blog about them, even though I couldn’t care less about cameras or photography”. Remember, there are already a lot of blogs about digital cameras, and most of them will be maintained by people with a passion for digital cameras. You can’t really compete with those. Your passion is a requirement. One of them.
• Be prepared to read and research a lot. No matter what your blog is about, you can’t succeed without subscribing to at least a dozen of related blogs, plus a couple of search feeds. And those are to be checked, and read, daily. If you have a job and kids, it will be very hard to find the time to do it every day.
• Your blog should have a topic, and stick to it most of the time. Don’t try to make a blog about everything and the kitchen sink - it won’t work, unless you’re already a celebrity.
• Ideally, that topic should be something with a high demand and a low supply. Such a theme is getting increasingly hard to find, but it’s still possible.
• Is there enough… well, “action” in this theme that you can write something new about it every day? For instance, a blog about some band that split up in 1986 (and remained split) may exhaust its subject in a month or two…
• Finally, think about whether you’ll still want to do it after your initial enthusiasm has worn off. A lot of bloggers post a lot at the beginning, but after a while they slow down, lose enthusiasm… and then they wonder why less and less people visit their blog.

(NOTE: this is part of the “Blogging tips” series)

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.”

– from “Romeo and Juliet”, William Shakespeare

So, your new blog needs a name, right? But how to choose one?

Well, far from me to attempt to stifle your creativity. However, I have a few tips:

1. If possible, choose something that you’ll actually call your blog by. This is not a requirement, but it can be helpful. Don’t just put something in the name box, such as “random thoughts” or “my blog”, and never even look at it again.
2. Try to be original. After you’ve chosen a name, google for it. Look for it in Technorati and Google’s Blog Search. If you find blogs with that name, maybe you should think of a new one. (really, “random thoughts” isn’t actually that original… :)) Using the same name as an existing blog will make your own look like a rip-off, and, if you ever get to be successful, it may even be a cause for legal action against you.
3. If your blog isn’t a personal one, try to include the subject of the blog in its title. For instance, instead of “Odin’s Temple”, call it “Odin’s Temple - Nordic mythology and folklore”. Search engines will “like” you more because of it.

(NOTE: this is part of the “Blogging tips” series)

If English is your native language, then it’s most likely that your blog will be written in English. If that’s the case, then you can probably skip this part.

But what if it isn’t? Then you already have a decision to make: whether to write your blog in your native tongue, or in English (I’m assuming that situations whether you write in a language which is not your native one, and isn’t English, are quite rare).

Both choices have advantages and disadvantages.

Continue reading ‘Blogging tips 1.5: Your blog’s language’