Starting Your Blog, Part 1

Ever since the Alliance went inactive, I've not done much in the way of Blog Tips. Of course, I hadn't done much lately before that. Just lazy, I guess.

But, I've still encountered things that have made me think, "I ought to do a blog tips post on that..." before remembering there was no active Alliance where I'd post it.

Well, I'm going to post them anyway. Here.

So, let's start at the beginning. That is, starting up your blog.

Okay, we won't start there. We'll start with why I think I'm qualified to write such a thing.

Well, I'm a blogger. I started a blog.

I can hear some of you now: "I started a blog, too! Why does Basil think he's so special?"

Well, I don't. You're perfectly welcome to post your own tips, too.

On your own darn blog.

But ... you can certainly link to it here.

Provided proper blogging etiquette is followed. And we'll cover that, soon. Or, you can comment about what I write, of course. Just stay on topic. Oh, wait. I said I'd cover etiquette later.

So, no, I don't think I'm someone special who knows everything about blogging. But I'm going to blog about blogging today. Cause it's my blog, you know.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about starting up your own blog.

Starting Your Blog, Step 1

Why do you want to blog? What do you plan to do with it?

You may wonder just how important this step is. I think most people think it's most important of all. Me? Not so sure.

Let me explain.When you get right down to it, here's why you're blogging: Because you want to.

Seriously, I really think that's why you're blogging. Or are about to start blogging.

Okay, sure. You might have that one thing. That gimmick. That difference. That ... special something ... that no one else has.

There are a ton of Instapunit-wannabes out there. Heck, this little blog has regular posts that link to other posts. So count me into the Instapundit-wannabes.

Maybe you want to be funny. But do we need another Frank J.? Or another Scott Ott? Or Iowahawk? Odds are, you won't be as funny. Count me in this group, too. As another wannabe.

There are lots of blogs that do news. Or humor. Or satire. Or vitriol. Or celebrity watching. Or ... well, you get the point. It's probably already being done. And much better.

So, why should you blog?

We're back to my answer: Because you want to.

And, to me, that's most important.

If you are as good as those others, you'll have to want to blog for it to show. If you're as good as the others, and you don't really want to blog ... it'll never come out.

If you're not as good as those others ... so what? If you're blogging because you want to, you're doing what you want ... and that's got to be satisfying.

So, why are you blogging? Or why are you about to start blogging?

Whatever your reasons are ... if "because I want to" isn't part of it, you won't be successful.

Wanting to does not guarantee success. But not wanting to guarantees failure.

Coming up in Part 2

Picking a platform.