Blogging Tools for the Beginner

So we’ve covered a lot of ground on the blogging front. If you are still wondering how to set up or what to write on your blog then I recommend you revisit the previous postings on my blog so you can follow along with us.

Today I’ll point you in the direction of how to add some great features to your blog, and how to leverage tools so that your blogging life becomes systematised and easy to maintain.

Like everything, if we want results we need to be consistent and the best way I have found of being consistent is to make the process easy and fun.

Otherwise it becomes another chore on your ‘to do list’ and your blog may just fade away like a distant memory.

The best blog software I have found for posting your blogs is here: http://www.BlogDesk.org It is completely free and makes it so easy to create your posts.

When I started blogging I found that blogging direct to the blog was tricky because the fonts didn’t seem to come out as I wanted and it just didn’t flow well.

Blog Desk allows you to paste in your new article, choose the categories to post it to and with 1 push of a button it is uploaded to your blog and looks exactly as it should!

How about Widgets? What a super little word that is don’t you think? Widgets are essential for adding features to your blog and they are much easier to integrate than they may sound!

Whichever blogging platform you’re using there will be a way to copy and paste some html code into a ‘widget.’ This may be in the ‘Sidebar’ section if you’re using wordpress.

On Google blogger it is very easy to find as there is a step by step tutorial on how to set up your blog.

If you don’t yet know what the goal of your blog is then now is the time to get clear on it unless you are just writing for fun. Either way your blog readers will want to know what kind of content they can expect from you so having focus is essential.

If you’re in Network Marketing and you want to generate leads and monetize your blog (more about this in my recent posts) then I suggest you choose a couple of banners provided by the affiliate programme you’re aligned with.

Too many links and widgets can detract from the effectiveness of your blog. I have found it best to choose a couple of banners, ie in my case for MagneticSponsoring All the html for the banners for a range of products and information courses is provided so it literally takes a few minutes to set up.

This will allow you to attract your target market to you and enable you to build your list and earn commissions whilst you do so.

As long as you provide useful content on your blog, readers will come. They are starving for good, focussed information about how to improve or how to get started in a home business. Even if you’re in a totally different industry you can cater to your target market by joining an affiliate programme (visit Clickbank.com) which is in line with what you do.

If you’re set up on Facebook and Twitter (and if you’re not then why not?!) connect your blog up to them so that you can gain new readers from all those points of entry.

There is a Twitter widget on the side of my blog which you can click on and customise for your own blog. This lets your blog readers know you are on Twitter and encourages them to connect with you there also.

Facebook has a very useful application called ‘Networked Blogs.’ Again you can see this on my blog and add it to your own account.

Once your blog is networked Facebook will automatically publish your posts for you and it’s very cool because it will be broadcast right across your Facebook network.

Ok I think that’s enough to be getting along with for today. Remember that a blog takes time to develop and you can easily add and remove features as you go along so that you can achieve the look that works best for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rachel Henke coaches people to be more successful and to have more fun in their home business. Get Million Dollar Training Info and Subscribe to the Professional Networker Blog