When I talk to executives, business owners, marketers, or consultants, I invariably get asked one of two questions: “What is a blog?” or “How do I start my own blog?” Hopefully, by now I’ve answered the first question, but the second deserves an in-depth look. The process for contributing to any conversation goes something like this:

1. Listen to the conversation.

2. Understand what’s being said in the conversation.

3. Value the audience and the conversation itself.

4. Interpret what is being said, and evaluate what you have to say.

5. Contribute to the conversation.

6. Listen some more.

Every successful blog follows this pattern. The first step is to find some blogs in your area of interest and read and study them. Suppose you own a construction company. If you’re going to start successfully blogging in the construction industry, you should begin by looking for other blogs dealing with the construction industry. The best way to find blogs dealing in this area is to do an Internet search using Google or your favorite search engine. The goal here isn’t necessarily to find the most popular site, but to find blogs that give you value by reading them. Figure 2-1 shows Google search results for construction blogs. As you can see in the figure, a vast number of constructionrelated blogs are out there—in fact, Google found more than 3 million of them.

Many blogs contain blogrolls, a list of blogs that the blogger reads, admires, and respects. If you find a blog you like (or don’t like) and the blogger adds links to other blogs in the industry, you may be able to find more hidden gems or more of what you’re looking for. Once you have found two or three blogs of interest, start reading them on a daily basis. If you see a post in which you are interested or one about which you have an opinion, consider leaving a comment.

Do this for at least two weeks. During this period, you may locate other blogs you like to read, or you may decide to use a feed reader to follow posts (see the next section). A blogroll is a quick and easy way for similar blogs in the same community or industry to build each others’ traffic, and it’s something you shouldn’t ignore for your own blog. Without including a blogroll, your company’s blog may fade into obscurity. If nothing else, a list of “Blogs We Read” can show other bloggers that you know the important blogs in the industry, and that you aren’t afraid to read them.

After you’ve chosen a platform, your next step is to start blogging—but don’t tell anyone about it just yet. If your blogging tool of choice allows you to password-protect your blog, I highly recommend that you do so. As with any new venture, the first couple of weeks can be the most difficult time, since during those weeks you will be learning how to accomplish your goals. During the first two weeks of writing your blog, you will learn how to use the software, how to link and track blogging, how to make use of comments, and how to perform all kinds of other blog-related activities. In addition, because blogging is a lot like creative writing, you may struggle to find your voice. All this is usual, though: blogging is a new medium for many, and the process of finding your voice is important, as it’s possible that your voice as a blogger will stay consistent throughout your blogging career.

Try to spend no more than 15 to 20 minutes each day reading blogs, commenting on blogs, and writing your own posts. In my experience, 15 minutes each day is the ideal period for most new bloggers, as it offers a few minutes for reading, a few minutes for commenting, and a few minutes for blogging.

Many new bloggers feel a compulsion to write dozens of pieces a day, read hundreds of blogs, and comment on nearly every one of them at least once. These well-intentioned individuals quickly burn out and abandon blogging. Instead, as a new blogger, start slowly. Don’t take on too much at once. Try not to get overwhelmed by how much you could be doing. Stay focused on why you started blogging and what values you and your business find in blogging.

After you have blogged privately for two weeks, consider launching your business blog site. Launching a blog is a fairly simple process: you simply make it public and tell a few customers and friends about it. At this point, you may be tempted to build up traffic. But traffic isn’t what’s important at first; instead, finding your voice, making sure blogging meets with your strategic objectives, and listening and responding to posts are most important.

Blogging is started as a community of like-minded people who linked together through the Internet. In addition to linking to others, leaving comments and sending occasional e-mail correspondence can have a profound effect on your network of readers. In blogging, you build your trust, reputation, and authority on your own merits. If you consistently post opinions founded on accurate information, the number of bloggers who link to your site will steadily grow, as will your influence.

CHOOSING THE IDEAL BLOG PLATFORM

The first thing you need to know is that there is no one “ideal” blog platform. What may be useful in one situation would not suffice in another. Which platform is right for you is dependent on your needs. While there are many platforms available, I want to mention the three most popular and outline a few of their features.

TypePad Though postured more for personal use, this platform (www .typepad.com) provides enough versatility to make it useful for business applications as well. It contains all the standard blog platform components such as comments, categories, and trackbacks. Its WYSIWYG editing interface makes it very easy to use and requires no knowledge of HTML, although there is an HTML editing option if you need access to the source code. In addition, one of TypePad’s most attractive features is its ability to set up photo albums and incorporate them into the blog.

The TypePad platform requires a monthly fee, ranging from $5.00 to $15.00. The fee can be paid a year in advance for an additional savings. TypePad offers a number of standard templates, but allows for a great degree of customization using its wizards. However, because it is what is known as a hosted solution, fully customizing the platform to the look and feel of your existing website can be challenging except for the most experienced designer. If that is what you desire, the last two options are for you.

Movable Type TypePad’s elder sibling, Movable Type (www.movabletype.org) is particularly designed for business use. The platform sits on your server and can be completely customized to fit the look of your site. In fact, it essentially becomes another directory of your site. The interface is not as user friendly as TypePad and does require some knowledge of HTML. There is a one-time license fee for use of the platform, which varies depending on the type of use and the number of users.

WordPress This platform (www.wordpress.org) requires perhaps the most sophisticated level of technical knowledge for implementation. However, because it is open source software, WordPress is free to use. That doesn’t mean it is lacking in features. Many professional bloggers swear by the platform and use it exclusively. Its administrative interface is remarkably simple to use, and it is perhaps one of the most versatile platforms available. Like Movable Type, it resides on your server and requires the use of a MySQL database.