Blogging for Fun and Profit - So You Want to Be a Blogger?

Blogs differ from websites in a number of significant ways. It's definitely a different approach to getting your message out where billions of people can see it.Blogs offer more flexibility in creation and designBlogs are flexible in that it is very simple to make changesBlogs are interactive-your visitors can enter comments right on your pages

The term Blog is a shorter way to say WEBLOG.

I have been a part-time blogger for nearly 3 years. My goal right from the beginning was to supplement my income. I also worked part-time as a technical writer, but the U.S. economy put me in a precarious position. I'm paying twice as much now as I did 4 years ago for a gallon of gasoline. Our household grocery bill is up 25-30% and utility bills... well you know what I mean.

According to many reliable sources, hundreds of billions of dollars change hands over the Internet every year. For the longest time, consumers were reluctant to use their credit cards online, but new, super-secure "Shopping Carts" have minimized the risk.

I wondered back in 2009 if I could create a home-based business that would position me to tap into the Internet Marketing business. But I didn't dwell on the thought too long. Instead... I dove headlong into the idea with no real plan or even a clue as to how to go about it.

My approach was a hit or miss, trial and error, shotgun approach to setting up some method of getting traffic from the people flocking to the search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. People search for answers to problems, to learn how to fix something, where to find the best price on appliances and other household and personal needs.

Think about this... when you need something, do you reach for the Yellow Pages? Not many people do anymore. An online search can find you the answer to almost any question you come up with in less time than it takes to let your fingers do the walking. We probably have a telephone directory in our home, but I'd be hard-pressed to find it.

So there's the challenge: draw on Internet search traffic and offer to fill the needs of these folks. To establish a presence on the Internet-you need a website. Since I was cash-poor at the time, I sought out as many FREE services and software that I could find. I started off building free websites, but in all truth-they looked like crap. I knew nothing about website design-and I still don't.

Time moved along and after a year, and countless hours of struggle, I had not made my first dollar from the Internet.

I signed up for every free bonus book I could find. But none of them gave me a clear picture of what I had to do. I gathered bits and pieces of this complex puzzle, and about 2 years ago I learned that blogs might be a better choice over websites.

Today I have a bunch of blogs, some free and some hosted (fee-based hosting).

I got kind of carried away here. My title on this article mentions Fun and Profit. Many of my readers aren't looking to create any extra cash, so if you hope to do some blogging just for fun, I can help you with that too.

Since beginning my home-business, I have been having fun. To me, creating an online presence has filled me with excitement and enthusiasm. Call it a renewal in life. I am 75 years old so I probably should be thinking about spending more time in my rocking chair on the front porch. But it's the challenge that excites me. If your goal is to set up a means for you to create a family log so that everyone can be kept up to date, or maybe you want to create a site devoted to activities and reviews of past club or organization's activities, I can give you more information on the options open to you.

Yes, I am definitely a blogger in order to change my financial situation. And as each day passes, I see more visible proof that I'm headed in the right direction. 3 years ago I could have made far more, faster progress if I had spent a few dollars on useful tutorials that lead me by the hand in language I could comprehend with my minimal computer knowledge. Just the other day I found such a program and it blew my mind. I bought it, and there were all the answers I missed over the past 3 years. This is an incredible teaching manual, but even more incredible is the price. If I told you that this source can get you up and running for under $10, you'd think I'm nuts. Check it out at Nearly Free Blogging. This is serious content for serious bloggers: http://www.donpenven.com/nearly-free-blogging-training/

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Inside The Mind of a Good Blogger

In order to be considered a good blogger it is important to adopt the mindset of serving others first and foremost! This means when you write blog posts your motivation needs to be how you can best serve the interest of your readers! In addition you must also be realistic about how quickly you will begin to see your efforts reap the results you no doubt hope for and expect! Building a successful blogging platform is NOT a one time overnight event but rather the culmination of your time and a consistent effort!

Here are 3 very important aspects of the type of mindset you'll need to posses if your motivation is to develop a large and loyal following as a blogger!

Readers Come First

Consideration must always be given to what readers need or want since by serving others in the way is the best strategy to attract visitors! Remember that when you write blog posts to always ask yourself if those who view what you wrote will benefit in any way! You need to be mindful of NOT only your own mindset, but the mindset of your readers as well! We live in an age of 'what's in it for me' therefore this is something to ALWAYS be thinking of in terms of any visitors to your site!

Patience Is a Virtue

Since blogging successfully requires building loyalty with readers, time will be needed to do so! The first step in doing so is to always try to write blog posts that contain good quality information of relevance to your blogging topic! It will take time to gain the attention of others so be patient and do NOT take a lack of traffic as a sign of failure, especially in the early stages! This is perfectly normal and to be expected!

There Is No Quit

And speaking of patience, your perseverance is an absolute MUST since even though you may not be seeing results you MUST continue writing! There will be good days and bad! Whether it's your dissatisfaction with the traffic you're getting or difficulty you may experience when you sit down to write blog posts! The single most important thing you can do is to maintain your motivation to continue researching and writing! In the end it is the content you post that attracts your readers therefore without it you stand no chance of being successful!

The mindset needed to be a good blogger is comprised of the 3 aspects discussed above here today and starts with serving others! Your site is not something you can expect to 'jam' down the throat of others with the expectation that your readers will love what you offer and return for more! The fact is your motivation anytime you write blog posts is to try to offer value and benefit to those who view the content you offer! Having said that it is therefore important you start out with the proper mindset, as has been discussed, and in doing so you'll find your readers will grow in numbers as will their loyalty!

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina. To learn more about how to be considered a good blogger and to also receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques for your online marketing needs simply visit: http://blogbrawn.com/

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