I tell folks all the time that they, and that is both the collective and individual, should write a blog. The reasons for this have to do with online search engines and ranking and Often folks give me a long list of reasons that they don’t/won’t do it and I guess that the old Henry Ford saying is correct… Some folks say they can and others say they can’t, and their both right.

If you are interested in blogging but don’t know where to start I did find this great resource that can help. First, there is a great article on how to write a blog in 20 minutes. Most often the reason most people do not blog or partake in other things of that nature is the time. Often they think it will take hours and days to write something when in fact once you are going it can be a quick thing to post. I find that the most important thing for me is to TAKE the time to blog. Of course sometimes I take an hour but most times I can whip out a few on Monday and schedule them for later in the week. And I might spend an hour doing at least a couple. Then if I get inspired I can write one mid week and then I have even more content for my blog.

If you don’t know where to start you can try John Kitts at City Scope or Dan Stone at 360Village. For less than you think they can get you up and running.

So take some time and start blogging. It really can be fun and exciting.

I loved this when I read!

I think one of the problems that new bloggers need to over come is the quest for the perfect blog. Often times we become too wraped up in the the grammer, am I giving the right message, I have nothing to say, how often should I post, that we forget that there is a bigger reason to blog… because we have something to say and some one needs to listen!

So take the time to read and learn the Zen of blogging, grasshopper! And when you can snatch the pebble from my hand you will be ready to blog!

I have spoken a number of times to folks about social media or blogging or just what they do to stay ahead of the curve and am amazed at how many people do nothing at all. I’m too busy, I don’t know what to look at, I’m too busy, my spouse wants me to spend more time with the animals… well, you get the picture.

Think about this: nothing in the world stays the same. Your business is different this year than it was last year. The market changes, economy changes for better or worse, heck, I know that even my pants fit … well… different today compared to last year. So with all that not the same in business and the world going on how can you expect your same knowledge to do a job to even stay the same!

I say you have to MAKE time to understand what your business is doing and what you can do to make it better. This could mean taking a course or starting that graduate program to get that PhD in Monkey Sociology but I am more inclined to read and use the internet. I find that for me one of the best tools at my disposal is Google Reader. It puts all the online content I want to check out right at my finger tips and I can quickly scroll through and read what catches my interest. No, I don’t read EVERYTHING as I would never have time for anything else! I just scan much like some people read the newspaper.

Want to know how to set it up? I found this great article on just that subject!

Then you can follow my witty musings or who ever you want. Try John Kamp as he is new to the blog world but has good things to say.

I believe that blogging can be one of the best ways to express your self and get an online presence for little or no money but sometimes even I get stuck with what to write. Yeah, I know you find that hard to believe but yes, I can be at a loss for words. I have also had people tell me that they are… concerned that they will not be able think of something to write about every week…. week?! That’s right, every week!

Well the first thing is you have to schedule some time to write. It should only take 10 or 15 minutes to write a short post and once you get into the habit you can write more. For me I had to just start blogging and eventually I developed a style. For the more organized I recommend  a little research on Social Media Today, Mashable, or give a listen to Dan Stone on our podcast page. Either way it is pretty easy to get started.

So let’s say you have been blogging for a while and hit a dry spell or get busy. What now. I came across this interesting article by Lee Odden that had some great suggestions on where to get content, including updating old posts and breaking up articles that you may have written. In a way it could be considered true recycling… but you do want to update what you have. Otherwise the discussion of the tainted Jalapeno’s means nothing!

And because we all need to smile more:

A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of penguins. He pulls the guy over and says, “You can’t drive around with penguins in this town! Take them to the zoo immediately.”
The guy says okay, and drives away. The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the truck full of penguins — and they’re all wearing sunglasses. He pulls the guy over and demands, “I thought I told you to take these penguins to the zoo yesterday?”
The guy replies, “I did. Today I’m taking them to the beach!”

As a short note on the whole blogging thing, I want to point out that words, spelling and grammar matter in making a more better blog. While I struggle with the grammar thing, just ask Marian “The Grammarian” Woodard. I do attempt to make my entries somewhat grammatically correct, and if I use a non-word I make it up myself and don’t borrow too much from everyday language.

There is a great web site that takes on writing and how to be better at it called Eduify.com. Check them out and may the grammar be with you!

I have been pushing a number of folks to start blogging. You may ask “Why, Uncle Chuck, should I spend my time blogging?” For one thing, if you plan to do ANY online social media or want to change your Google Ranking, blogging is a good place to start. There are a number of places that you can get started such as Blogger.com and others so the getting started part is not that hard… unless you don’t know what to say.

Well, there is help out there if you are willing to do a little work. I would recommend doing a little research as part of blogging is about branding. One place to start is a site called Social Media School. They have a number of commentaries about getting started and also how to build traffic to your blog. After all, why write an online blog if no one is ever going to read it.

Once you have done all that research and looked at how complicated it isn’t you’ll need to start. The best thing to do is start writing what you know and look for people to make comments. That will let you know that some one out there is reading. Also, I suggest not getting too overly thoughtful and over analyze what you are writing. The most important thing is to write. If you’re still not sure about blogging go to Ning.com and join the Pleasant Hill Chambers community. Ning has a blog function and you can see what others write.

So go ahead and give it a try! Or as they used to say, try it you’ll like it!