How To Start Blogging

by Promod Sharma

Blogging is writing an article with a touch of personality. You're not writing for a newspaper, magazine, journal or book. There's no rigorous editing process (which has pros and cons).

This post explains how current Experion members can write for this blog. The process is much simpler than starting and running your own.

Why Blog?

In this short clip, Seth Godin and Tom Peters give the reasons for blogging.

The Topics

You have considerable leeway in what you write about. Since this is a business blog, you probably want to show your expertise in your field.

Please be original. You can build on content you've written before which is not already online. If you’re referring to other content that’s online, provide links.

The Process

The blogging process is meant to be simple for you.

Write

When blogging, the length of the content makes a difference. An article that's too short may disappoint readers looking for detail. and rank low in Google searches.

Target a minimum final length of 500 words. There's no maximum limit but a longer article might work better as two related articles. A shorter article can often be extended or used as a segment of a longer piece.
Consider using subheadings to help readers skim.

You can write in your usual word processor or text editor. If you have an iPad and like writing, consider getting iA Writer. If you use Windows, consider using Windows Live Writer. It’s free from Microsoft and gets used to finalize each blog post here.

Distill

Editing makes your message clearer and more concise. The challenge is being objective. For better results, leave a gap of at least one day between writing and editing.

Twitter is the extreme form of blogging (called microblogging). Here you’re limited to 140 characters. Can you summarize your article in that length? The result might make a great title for your post.

Find Visuals (optional)

Your article will have more impact with visuals. Here are free sources. Better still, use original photos or graphics. It's important that you have permission to use the visual. Include a link to the source as a form of thanks.

Submit

When you’re satisfied, email your article to the Blog Editor. Light editing and posting will be done for you. If more extensive changes are needed, you’ll be contacted. Once ready, your article will be scheduled for publication.

Format

Each post will show

1. Title (catchy to attract readers)
2. Author’s name
3. Article (can include photos, audio and video)
4. Author's byline with a links to their Experion page and LinkedIn profile. Links to Twitter and a website can be added too.

This post is an example.

Frequency

Plan to write at least once a month. To keep on track, consider submitting your draft in time for monthly Experion meeting.

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive blog updates automatically. Invite others to subscribe too. The process is quick and free.

Patience

Traffic builds. Old articles continue to get read year after year. There's no way of predicting what will be popular. That’s why having lots of articles is important. Each visitor has the opportunity to read other articles, subscribe and follow on Twitter.

If you have questions, please post them as Comments below. That lets others participate.

Links

• How to benefit from a group blog (new)
• Building trust with blogging (Marketing Actuary blog, Aug 2011)
• The best places to get free images (Goodyear Toastmasters, Mar 2012)
• The simple guide to business blogging (simplybusiness.co.uk)
• 50 ideas for business blog posts (Entrepreneur, Mar 2012)
• Blogging links and more (promodsharma.com)
• image courtesy of Andrew Eldridge

Promod Sharma is your insurance literacy tutor. Learn about life and health protection online (wiki, blog, Twitter) or at a live event. At Taxevity, get a fee-only insurance review and help updating your coverage. You’ll find more details on the Experion website and LinkedIn.