If you are thinking of starting a publicly viewable blog, you have a few important decisions to make. I will sum them up here an add my opinion along the way.
Self-hosted vs Free
Self-hosted requires some money to start. There is a less expensive way and a more expensive way. WordPress.org with one of their recommended hosts will cost around $85/year. A less expensive way is to use Blogger.com and buy a domain name through them for $10/year and it will still be hosted for free.
You’ll need to decide on a domain name too. You can use your name or something clever or catchy. I like to see people use their own name for personal blogging so it becomes a hub and electronic portfolio for their online presence. Choose that route if you intend to maintain a professional presence online with your new blog.
One reason to consider a different name is if you are wanting to build a community around a certain topic. Then you need a keyword in your site name. The free Google Keyword Tool is helpful in that case. For brainstorming self-hosted site names check out NameBoy.com and InstantDomainSearch.com.
Free blogging is available too and takes about 5 minutes to get started. The biggies are Blogger.com or WordPress.com. Both are very good options. I suggest you check both sites, see blogs build with each, and see which appeals to you most. I do think of WordPress.com has having better potential to grow with you but that may be just my personal bias. I have used both platforms though.
Comments or Not?
A blog doesn’t have to have comments turned on. Many people love having comments though because the feedback or interaction is important to them.
I usually do not take comments on my blogs mainly because I have no interest in moderating them, but also I like to encourage people to set up their own blog. There are a few reasons I think it is good for people to have their own blog.
- It helps you develop your online presence and personal brand.
- It encourages learning about online technology.
- You don’t need permission to say what you would like to say (many blog owners moderate the comments that come in deciding who gets through and who doesn’t).
- It helps you practice creating –which doesn’t only have to be done through writing…for example, you can have a blog of photos, you can have vlog (video blog), or you could have a audio blog (aka podcast).
The Rest of the Story
Even after you decide on the these initial choices there are still other decisions to make like deciding on the look of your blog and how to organize information. As you post to your blog, you’ll start developing your personal style which will happen as the process rolls along. Then you will need to decide on a posting schedule and topics to write about. There is a learning curve whatever route you choose but consider starting a blog to be the beginning of an adventure!
I began posting just once a month a few years ago on this blog and I can definitely recommend it as a low stress way to begin. If you want to start even smaller though, you can do microblogging with Twitter, Tumblr, or Posterous which are all easy and free.
This book was interesting to me because it presents information from the hiring side of the table. The authors spoke to 35 hiring managers from Fortune 500 companies to learn how social media and online technology is influencing their hiring strategy. The authors mention that many more professionals were invited to participate but opted-out stating the technology was too new for them to have specific guidance to offer just yet. So it goes to show it’s not too late to start building your professional brand online, since companies are still learning too!
