How to get started blogging in 5 minutes

The web is full of material on blogging, a search for the term in Google retrieves 53,200,000 results. But for people who have not blogged and maybe don’t use the web much, starting a blog is a daunting task. Yes, there are several great blogging platforms that make it “easy”, easy compared with what though? If you don’t spend a lot of time on the computer and maybe still think of “Java” as a drink rather than a programming language, getting started blogging is hard. (For an intro to what blogging is try this).

This post is intended to help people get a basic start in blogging. Start the blog, make a few posts, give it a test run. If you like it, there is a web full of resources to take your blog “to the next level.” Below are the steps to starting your blog:

1. Choose a name. I am assuming you are blogging for business, so choose a name that either is your business name or represents something you want to promote in your business. For me, it is simply my law firm name, for others it might be catchy tag that represents what the person offers (for example consider venture capitalists Fred Wilson’s AVC blog).

2. Create an account at www.wordpress.com (its free). While there are many places to blog, start with the free wordpress.com. Go here and set up an account.

3. Write a few posts. Some people never make it into blogging because they can’t understand how to post. I will make it simple: write about things you, based on your experiences, particular in your business. If you are a plumber, write a short post about 3-4 mistakes that most people in trying to fix their own plumbing problems. If you are a CPA, start with 3-4 tips that will save people money on their taxes, but that most people miss. Then once you are started, try to make one post each week. Share your business experiences, give tips and tricks, highlight interesting or helpful things in your industry, ask questions etc. . .

Check out this screencast I made that shows the steps in getting your wordpress.com blog going.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.

Posted by Shawn Roberts

On this blog, I write about and try to answer practical Oklahoma legal questions. My focus and most experience is in estate planning and business issues including Oklahoma non-compete law. I make a living as an attorney in the law firm I founded, Shawn J. Roberts, P.C. in Oklahoma City. I live in Edmond with my wife Amy and my two children, Sam (19) and David (11). We live precisely in the path of where the "wind comes sweeping down the plains."