March 04, 2009

5 Tips For New Bloggers

As a new blogger it is hard to decide who you should listen to when it comes to tips and advice. Should you listen to someone who has been blogging for the past 10 years and doesn't remember how they felt when they posted their first blog. On the other hand should you listen to someone like me who is posting their first blog as part of a University Degree and has been told they have to post 5 tips.

After all the blogs that I have looked at before posting mine, and trust me I'm just about blogged out, I have decided that if the tip sounds good and suits your need than use it no matter how long the person has been blogging.

So here we go 5 blogging tips from kickingbear:

1. DON'T PANIC AND ALWAYS CARRY YOUR TOWEL.
For those of you who are fans of Douglas Adams and The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy you will know that the guide has the words Don't Panic on its cover in large red friendly letters. As a new blogger I believe that blog sites should carry the same friendly red letters because I have enough trouble with MSN and never wanted to know about blogging, so when I saw the assessment panic set it.
After taking a box of Valium, well not really but I thought about it, and I took the time to look at some blog sites I discovered that the panic was for nothing and it wasn't as bad as I thought. As for the towel, well it won't help you blog but as the guide says you never know when it will come in handy.

2. RESEARCH
Always remember the 5 P principle; Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Yes I am sure some of you, especially those in the Army, will tell me that I left one out but as children may read this blog I have gone for the PG version. But seriously research other blogs especially those that may be of similar topic to yours. Take notes about what you liked and didn't like about the blogs or the blog sites. After all this is done than decide which site is best for you and make a start.

3. GRAB THEIR ATTENTION
If the first 2 paragraphs don't grab me or interest me than I won't read any further and will ignore the rest of the blog. Like everyone else today we all have commitments and not much spare time. I personally wont waste my time on boring things and most others won't either. But please don't start with the phrase "Free sex, now that I have your attention" because that attention grabber has been so done to death.

4. PUSH ALL THE BUTTONS
My ex wife likes to push buttons but that's a different set of buttons and a whole different blog. Once you choose your blog site there is always lots of buttons and tabs to push or click. Experiment with them all and see what the button or tab does. If you don't like it you can go back, undo, delete or don't save it. The fun in this whole tip is experimenting and who knows what you will find.

5. QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
It can be really nice sometimes to go to a website or blog and find all the bells, whistles and shiny things that you could ever have and they suit the blog. Other times there is just too much and you feel that all these things are only there because the blogger wanted to either show off or just because he could. If it isn't necessary or relevant and you only want it there because you can than reconsider it. I personally believe that a few quality post's are better than a lot of poor quality post's especially if you want people to come back.

Well these are my 5 tips and my personal thoughts you can take them on board or take then with a grain of salt. The point is that blogs are a reflection of who you and are mostly for fun. As you have seen through this post I am partial to humour and some of you will get it and others won't but that's just who I am. I had fun posting this and for those who got my humour and liked it than I hope to see you back and for those who didn't I hope that you find the type of blog you are looking for.

Bye for now and blog on.

5 comments:

  1. No matter wher you go I will find you. If it takes a long long time.

    No matter where you go I will find you. If it takes a thousand years.

    I will Find You - Thene from The Last of the Mohicans - by Clannad

    To a gentle man

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  2. I really enjoyed reading your blogging tips and liked your writing style, very straight up but not raw (erm know wo ah meen?)
    All the best...

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  3. Well there you have it five really cool tips. Like that you're reading and then seeking your own counsel. I'd add that being an active commenter is one of the best ways to understand blogging and the whole web 2.0 thing. Get in there and have a lash is the way to go. All the best. And BTW the blog about the ex sounds like it would be a great read ;-)

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  4. Your humour is on par with mine, so really, that's awesome!

    Great start to the blog, and if you hadn't mentioned that this was your first attempt at a blog, I wouldn't have thought it was just by reading that.

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  5. Hi David,

    Thanks for your comment on my blog. Yours looks great! I love the cool tips :)

    Heidi

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