(1) If you are writing for your friends, write for your friends; write as you would normally talk to your friends.
+ If you are writing a blog for your family, make it family appropriate; add images they can share with other family members (you will inc. your loyal followers)
+ If you are writing a blog about your experiences with the stock market, write for people interested in finance (pick an age group… you might want to write for potential future employers, or you might want to write for your finance class buddies (but make it so only they can read your thoughts, not the public).
(2) Post regularly.
+ I have trouble doing this, I’m not going to lie. I know I will write each week, that is not really the problem. The problem is writing every M,W,F at 3 PM… a schedule my NIF audience could easily get used to due to he general high school/college class schedules.
*Image from the Art of the Business
(3) If you don’t have images, and can’t draw, and don’t want to borrow someone else’s images, borrow them anyway and learn to use the Microsoft word draw tool.
+ I was taught in a 7th grade desktop publishing class how to use MSW draw tools to create a pepsi can, house plans, and a thanksgiving dinner. You can do anything with these tools if you have a little time to get to learn the program. If you have no imagination of how things can go together, find a picture online and use the objects in the picture as something to trace (I don’t know about you, but I usually trace and then end up making something that looks completely different once more creative ideas start coming to mind.)
(4) If you are going to do a video blog…
+ Make sure it is worth sitting 2 minutes to watch… and make sure the image that is displayed before you press play is somewhat interesting (I never click any pictures that don’t look interesting unless I already know what I’m about to watch).
(5) Try out tumblr, wordpress, and blogger. They all have interesting themes and structures that vary in different ways. I have started blogs since high school and have used the three for various reasons.
Tumblr- currently using it to co-blog with my best friend whiel she is gone for the summer. We use it to share everything and anything; stories, website links, videos, pictures, whatever. Tumblr is cool because you simply click Text, Video, Link, etc. buttons and add a new post really quickly.
Blogger- in the past, I have used Blogger to keep a more personal journal for family and friend to read because it is not as easy to upload pictures as the other sites.
Wordpress- I currently use wordpress to host my website, NextInFashion.com. The templates offer a wide range of website building options, and can make a blog look more like a professionally done website, and less like your typical blog.
Good tips. Your post would have been easier to read/follow, though, had you offered these tips as bold imperatives. "Use video." "Avoid small type face." "Incorporate links." Like that.
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