Advice for aspiring Bloggers

Advice for Aspiring and Beginning Bloggers

So, you're thinking about or have already started your journey to become a blogger. Congratulations! You are about to join an online community of people who are unafraid to state their opinions on the net! Regardless of how you reached this point, welcome! Whether you are thinking about blogging for money or just want people to read about what you ate for lunch, you've come to the right place. This is a detailed guide on how to begin or revamp your blogging adventure. Feel free to bookmark this page for future review if you find the content helpful.
The first question to ask yourself is, "Why do I want to blog?" The reason for this question is to get an honest baseline for your expectations. If you want to blog for money, traffic and readership is paramount. If you are just looking for an online diary for friends and family, there will be less concern for commercialization and traffic generation. Some people may choose to use a blog as a professional resume of sorts, demonstrating to potential employers their ability and expertise regarding specific subject matter.
Whether you blog will be oriented in profit generation, professional development, or social interaction, you will need a home for all your amazing bloggerific content.
Blogger - Which is the one i'm using. This one actually. Safely run by Google
Blogger is Google's free blog hosting hub.

Add to Google Search
Entrecard (Online blogging community)
Technorati (Online blog listing)
Stumble Upon (Promote specific blog posts)
Digg.com (Promote specific blog posts)
Twitter (Promote specific blog posts)
Engaging Visitors -
You've started promoting your blog and the people are trickling in! Stay engaged with your visitors and answer comments. Even a simple, "Thanks for the comment, I appreciate you stopping by!" can go a long way. Don't use form comments to answer people. A touch of personalization can make an incredible difference as to whether a person will return or not.
Types of Visitors -
There are several types of visitors who may stumble upon your blog. It is important to realize who and why these people have stopped by.

People who know you
Other Bloggers
Flamers, Baiters, and Trolls
People who have an interest in your topic
People who know you - may or may not frequent your blog. If the people who know you are like the people who know me, they may never comment and will lurk around your pages in the shadows. These visitors are very unlikely to click on Adsense ads and other advertising mechanisms. They rarely engage in discussions so you may never even realize that they've stopped by. This could include people in your office that do or do not like you, with this in mind, it may be best to filter what you decide to post, or use codenames and generalities for things that may get you into trouble. These visitors are not necessarily bad visitors and can help spread word about your topic and invite new visitors. It's just harder to detect their presence.
Other Bloggers - will visit your blog. Why would they do this? There are various reasons, but some may stop by because of similar interests. Others may visit as a way to try to promote their own blog. They may leave links in your comment sections after posting a vague snippet such as, "Hi, nice blog. You should check out my post about blogging tips. [url]" Not everyone who does this has ill-intent in mind and you may or may not decide to edit their comments to exclude the link. It is important to note that not all bloggers who visit will do so under selfish pretense, and it's generally easy to spot the ones who do.
Flamers, Baiters, and Trolls - oh my! The internet is good for a lot of reasons and it's bad for just as many. Some of your visitors will get on your nerves and anger you, perhaps even tempt you to launch an unholy tirade about how much they piss you off. Don't do it. These virtual bullies get a kick out of ruffling the feathers of random strangers. You may find that a polite response that expresses your disagreement will suffice, or you may choose to ignore the response and allow your active readership to answer for you. The important note is to not allow flames and trollings to get out of hand. Be careful with censorship, though. It's okay to let a comment stand that is in disagreement with your position. Deleting these comments is akin to saying the conversation never existed. There is a difference between moderation and censorship. Deleting a comment for continued bad language after warning about conduct is different than deleting a comment because it doesn't agree with your point of view. Your regular visitors will appreciate your discretion and will most often stand up in your defense.
People who have an interest in your topic - are by far the most valuable visitors to your blog. They will often leave engaging comments, click on related ads, and may even link to your blog as an information resource. You should strive to maintain the interest of these visitors through engaging content and regular postings. If they are bloggers themselves, take a few minutes on a regular basis to stop by their blog and leave a comment of your own. Place a link to their blog on your own if the content is related and of good quality.
It is important that you foster lasting relationships with these readers. Furthermore, your blog promotion efforts should be centered on gaining more of these visitors. This type of targeting can increase the effectiveness and reach of your blogging efforts.
Now What?
Keep blogging!