Need blog help bigtime

[Megatomic]

Hey guys and gals, I want to start a blog but I have absolutely no idea where to start. It's just going to be an accountablility tool for my health, nutrition, and fitness training, but I see it encompassing other stuff like work, parenting, and living in the world. I'll keep my marital stuff out of it for my safety's sake.

So, my questions are these:

1. What's a good blog site for me to work with?

2. Do I need special software or browser plug-ins?

Thanks for the help my friends. :beer:

 

[Megatomic]

my blog

Okies, SmoochyTX pointed me to blogger and I just made my first post. Could I get some good constructive criticisms from you all? Like I said before, I'm a blog n00b, I didn't even read them before I started this one. I have no predefined ideas as to how to make it look and keep it going in an interesting fashion.

TIA everyone.

 

[monk3y]

Hardest part of a blog is probably just keeping it up. Continuing to post even when things in life are really hectic. Good luck and have fun, things look good so far.

 

[Megatomic]

I figured that might be the hardest part of it all. Life does get hectic sometimes especially with a family, job, pets, workouts, and everything else. But I'm sure (hope?) I can find 10 minutes a day to chronicle things.

 

[SmoochyTX]

Another thing you can do is to find other blogs that you like reading that might also be related to subjects you'll be covering in your own blog and link to them in your sidebar. They'll see you linking to them and they might link back to you increasing your audience. Spend some time checking out other blogs and see what they're doing when it comes to design and tools. There are tons of free "stuff" out there for your blog to make it better for your readers and better for yourself. To keep an eye on your stats, I highly recommend Statcounter (www.statcounter.com).

 

[LurkerSince2001]

You are getting good responses regarding how to blog, but since your focus is accountability for your health/fitness, maybe you are asking the wrong question.

Instead of starting your own blog out on your own, why not join an already-existing community of people with similar goals? You could post in the AT Health and Fitness Forum, or you could join something like SparkPeople.com where they have trackers for all kinds of health/fitness stuff, plus a very active community of blogging and teams working together.

On the other hand, maybe your brand new blog will grow like crazy over the next few years and become the premier site that people check everyday and you will be able to retire off the income from the AdSense and then sell your blog to Google.

Depends on your goals, I guess.

 

[ForumMaster]

just do me a favor: don't put white text on a light blue background. it's hard to read! choose colors that contrast each other. apart from that, looks nice!

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: LurkerSince2001
You are getting good responses regarding how to blog, but since your focus is accountability for your health/fitness, maybe you are asking the wrong question.

Instead of starting your own blog out on your own, why not join an already-existing community of people with similar goals? You could post in the AT Health and Fitness Forum, or you could join something like SparkPeople.com where they have trackers for all kinds of health/fitness stuff, plus a very active community of blogging and teams working together.

On the other hand, maybe your brand new blog will grow like crazy over the next few years and become the premier site that people check everyday and you will be able to retire off the income from the AdSense and then sell your blog to Google.

Depends on your goals, I guess.

I used Sparkpeople the first year of my dieting/exercise journey, but it's usefulness to me diminished once I got past Stage V. And I do participate in the AT H&F forum already. But a journal seems useful to me right now, hence the blog.

And while I do admire the cynicism in your last paragraph, that is NOT my goal nor do I expect widespread readership.

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
just do me a favor: don't put white text on a light blue background. it's hard to read! choose colors that contrast each other. apart from that, looks nice!

Done and thanks.

Originally posted by: SmoochyTX
Another thing you can do is to find other blogs that you like reading that might also be related to subjects you'll be covering in your own blog and link to them in your sidebar. They'll see you linking to them and they might link back to you increasing your audience. Spend some time checking out other blogs and see what they're doing when it comes to design and tools. There are tons of free "stuff" out there for your blog to make it better for your readers and better for yourself. To keep an eye on your stats, I highly recommend Statcounter (www.statcounter.com).

Thanks, added statcounter to my blog. I'll check out other blogs and try the cross linking thing next.

 

[RossMAN]

If you want greater control and more freedom I would consider building your own blog which is easy.

1) Register a domain which is around $9.29/yr

2) Web hosting, this varies anywhere from $10/yr to $10/mo

3) Install blog software such as Wordpress which is very customizable and offers a wide array of plugins.

4) If you ever plan on adding your own forums, you can easily do that and tie it in with your blog - for free.

You can add your blog to blogrush.com for greater exposure.

The most important and hardest thing to do is provide fresh content, I cannot emphasize that enough!

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you want greater control and more freedom I would consider building your own blog which is easy.

1) Register a domain which is around $9.29/yr

2) Web hosting, this varies anywhere from $10/yr to $10/mo

3) Install blog software such as Wordpress which is very customizable and offers a wide array of plugins.

4) If you ever plan on adding your own forums, you can easily do that and tie it in with your blog - for free.

You can add your blog to blogrush.com for greater exposure.

The most important and hardest thing to do is provide fresh content, I cannot emphasize that enough!

I'll keep this advice in mind if my needs outgrow blogger. I can't bring myself to pay for something I can get for free just right yet.

And fresh content should be relatively easy for the first few weeks.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you want greater control and more freedom I would consider building your own blog which is easy.

1) Register a domain which is around $9.29/yr

2) Web hosting, this varies anywhere from $10/yr to $10/mo

3) Install blog software such as Wordpress which is very customizable and offers a wide array of plugins.

4) If you ever plan on adding your own forums, you can easily do that and tie it in with your blog - for free.

You can add your blog to blogrush.com for greater exposure.

The most important and hardest thing to do is provide fresh content, I cannot emphasize that enough!

I'll keep this advice in mind if my needs outgrow blogger. I can't bring myself to pay for something I can get for free just right yet.

And fresh content should be relatively easy for the first few weeks.

Just remember if you outgrow blogspot.com or they sell to another company or cancel your account ... you'll have to start all over from scratch. All your previous blog entries, comments, etc. will be gone.

Something to keep in mind.

Just imagine the amount of traffic + word of mouth + money (ads + Google adsense) you could create if you had a blog similiar to - http://www.dietandnutritionblog.org/

 

[SmoochyTX]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you want greater control and more freedom I would consider building your own blog which is easy.

1) Register a domain which is around $9.29/yr

2) Web hosting, this varies anywhere from $10/yr to $10/mo

3) Install blog software such as Wordpress which is very customizable and offers a wide array of plugins.

4) If you ever plan on adding your own forums, you can easily do that and tie it in with your blog - for free.

You can add your blog to blogrush.com for greater exposure.

The most important and hardest thing to do is provide fresh content, I cannot emphasize that enough!

I'll keep this advice in mind if my needs outgrow blogger. I can't bring myself to pay for something I can get for free just right yet.

And fresh content should be relatively easy for the first few weeks.

Just remember if you outgrow blogspot.com or they sell to another company or cancel your account ... you'll have to start all over from scratch. All your previous blog entries, comments, etc. will be gone.

Something to keep in mind.

Just imagine the amount of traffic + word of mouth + money (ads + Google adsense) you could create if you had a blog similiar to - http://www.dietandnutritionblog.org/

Actually, there's no danger of Blogger going away as they're owned by Google. Also, he won't lose any of his posts because they can be exported directly into many other platforms (most notably Wordpress which would be his next step up if he decided to take it). Comments can be easily exported as well.

Blogger is very user-friendly, highly customizable, and perfect for somebody just starting out. Stop trying to scare him!

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: SmoochyTX

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: RossMAN
If you want greater control and more freedom I would consider building your own blog which is easy.

1) Register a domain which is around $9.29/yr

2) Web hosting, this varies anywhere from $10/yr to $10/mo

3) Install blog software such as Wordpress which is very customizable and offers a wide array of plugins.

4) If you ever plan on adding your own forums, you can easily do that and tie it in with your blog - for free.

You can add your blog to blogrush.com for greater exposure.

The most important and hardest thing to do is provide fresh content, I cannot emphasize that enough!

I'll keep this advice in mind if my needs outgrow blogger. I can't bring myself to pay for something I can get for free just right yet.

And fresh content should be relatively easy for the first few weeks.

Just remember if you outgrow blogspot.com or they sell to another company or cancel your account ... you'll have to start all over from scratch. All your previous blog entries, comments, etc. will be gone.

Something to keep in mind.

Just imagine the amount of traffic + word of mouth + money (ads + Google adsense) you could create if you had a blog similiar to - http://www.dietandnutritionblog.org/

Actually, there's no danger of Blogger going away as they're owned by Google. Also, he won't lose any of his posts because they can be exported directly into many other platforms (most notably Wordpress which would be his next step up if he decided to take it). Comments can be easily exported as well.

Blogger is very user-friendly, highly customizable, and perfect for somebody just starting out. Stop trying to scare him!

But I'm so good at it :thumbsup:

I'm just trying to help him look at the big picture, in the unlikely event that his blog makes it past 6 months and becomes a hit.

 

[pontifex]

why spend money and time on getting a site and updating when you could just use something else like Word.

It doesn't sound like you're going to be giving info or advice, and no offense, but who cares what joe schmoe is doing with his diet and exercise?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: pontifex
It doesn't sound like you're going to be giving info or advice, and no offense, but who cares what joe schmoe is doing with his diet and exercise?

But I may. I've been pretty successful thusfar. I'd be happy to share what I've learned and TBH I've thought about that aspect. I've just got to get myself back on track first, I don't want to be a hypocrite.