By Steven Roll
ASBPE President

Like many editors nowadays, I too am thinking about starting a blog. I vowed to familiarize myself with the blogosphere after attending ASBPE's national conference in Chicago in 2006. It took a little while to find some blogs I really liked. But once I did, blogs became a regular staple of my online consumption.

One of the best blogs out there about blogging is ProBlogger.net. It's loaded with practical advice. My only criticism of the blog is that its updated with new tips so often that trying to digest all of the information is a bit like sipping water from a fire hose.

Book About Blogging. That's why I purchased the book that the blog's creator, Darren Rouse, recently coauthored: Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. Don't be put off by the book's somewhat garish subtitle. Rowse and coauthor Chris Garrett reiterate in practically each chapter that blogging is not a way to get rich quick. While, the book does address how to make money blogging, much of the content is equally valuable to someone who just wants to blog for fun.

The book offers nice overview of topics such as:

• how you should go about picking a subject or niche for your blog,
  
• the technical issues you're likely to face in setting up a blog, and
  
• how to write blog posts.

Here are some interesting things I learned: Before picking a niche to blog about, go to Google Trends and type in some key words. Besides getting idea of what your key words are, this will also allow you to see who some potential advertisers might be.

Copyblogger.com is a good resource on writing good copy for blogs, and blog posts that contain tips or are tutorials are generally the most popular.

When it comes to blogging, B2B journos are ahead of the game because we understand the concept of covering a niche topic for the benefit of our readers. Taking the time to study up on how to succeed at blogging might give you the edge you need to make it in the blogosphere.

Labels: Digital, Steven Roll, Writing