Here in that Article, with this unconventional title, I will show you some basics in writing a blog. Beginning how to start writing at all, where to get some Inspirations online, how to keep your Name in Mind,  the importance and also unimportance of perfect grammar, how to monetize your Blog and several other things you may find interesting.

My Main Topic here is “Personal Improvement for intelligent People”. I borrowed that from Steve Pavlina who does have one of the most famous blogs in the World. (Yes I am still on working to find a Slogan that is even more original and from me, promise it will come). He was and is still a great help if it is about writing a blog. To make your own Blog can be very funny and if you do right, also successful and improving your Income. Already in the early Beginning I like to tell you, you just can win! Do not try to be too perfect and finally loose the Interest in writing your Blog. Just go on with all the possibilities you have, the improvement comes by doing, not just by only thinking about.

How to start Writing?

In the beginning that was the most problem for me. “How to write my first Article”. I made several Notes on my Desktop in Text-files, I made Notes in my Blog with unpublished Posts, I wrote Notes on small pieces of Paper, I made HTML Templates … Really I did hard to write my first working Article.

But how did I start now?
I started in my Blog a Post with the great Title “Article without Title“ (finally it came “No Writing, No Blog, No Money”) and collected all my notes in that. Links I found in the Net I was interested to write about, short Ideas that popped up in the Day or Night, just everything that came in my Mind, I simple pasted all that into my new Post “Article without Title” and then I wrote even more Notes to that Notes.

And the beauty in that Way is, you can collect and save whatever you like.

• Quotes from other Writers
  Just be fair and make a link if it’s possible, also that does improve your Google Rank, because Google also look for what you are linking on, not only who does link on you, keep that in mind; not too many people know that.
   
• Pictures you like
  Before I was interested in to make for each of my cool Ideas an own Blog, one for Photos, one for Future-Trents, one about Money. Now I only copy all Inspirations in my scribble and work around.
   
• Videos you can mention in your Blog
  Especially Videos can be a great Tool to keep your Blog in Mind. There is nothing more impressive than moving Pictures.
   
• Paintings that you scribbled by yourself to illustrate a topic
  Don’t overload your Readers with too many Paintings, it should not look like that this Scribbles are more important than your Writing itself. If you are an Artist you should make a Blog only about your Paintings, but if you are more interested to transmit your thoughts with Words, keep these Illustrations in a low Priority.
   
• just collect everything about the Topic you like to write about.
  A great Pool of Informations does help you to keep on your Theme and you can easy delete too much Informations you do not need. I usually place this Notes at the end of my Post while writing on it and when I need some additional Inspiration I just scroll to the end of my Post and pick some Ideas.

Come Inspired

Everyone who does do something creative, like writing, needs some Inspiration. I like for example to zap in the Net for new Ideas, Pictures, Videos and so on. Stumbleupon.com for example is a great resource to came inspired. There are Users from all over the World rating other Homepages and the best rated you can see randomly by just a click. I guess you will see by-yourself how easy you came inspired by just stumbling through the Net.

If you like to write some serious Stuff I recommend you TED.com . Here you find Videos from some of the most famous speakers in the world. Come Inspired! There are so many Themes, from Lifestyle, Culture, Astronomy, Technology, Entertainment, Design, Art, Global Issues. 

Of course, there are not only Online Resources you can get your Inspiration from. Take some Out-time, walk one Hour in your Area and breath the Air, let your small brain think about all that what you like to do, while you just relax. When you study some of the new results in brain science, you will get out, that the “Hippocampus“ this small part of the brain, does play an important role for learning.

While you brain cannot store everything at once, because there are always new information’s streaming onto you, it is very important that you take time outs and do something totally different. In that time your subconscious is still working on the problem you like to solve. Inspiration and Creativity is nothing you can do by will, it is just possible with an open Mind. People who are always very fixed on stiff Ideas are usually not very creative. Only when they have a clear goal, but are able to play like a kid with all options, they come inspirited.

Improve your Blog

Offer a free Newsletter. Maybe you have some Users who do like your blog, but after some Days they are busy again with totally different things and forgot to pass by on your Side again. When you does offer a simple Newsletter with that you remember them once a Month about new Topics on your Blog you have a great chance that many of your former Users come back and increase so your Traffic. A Newsletter once a Month is good, it is not to less that you come forgotten, and also not to often that you start to nerve. The most reason I unsubscribe from Newsletters is because I get too often any Notifies about Updates.

Another great Option to remember Users on your Blog is to create a free ready to download Toolbar which is preconfigured for your Homepage. Conduit for example does offer a free Service, where you can create your very own Toolbar. With that Toolbar your Users can access your Page directly from their Internet Explorer or Firefox Toolbar, they can check for the latest RSS Feeds and also play an online Radio-station. The Toolbar does not include Spyware and is very easy to install also for Beginners. There is an additional Bonus when you create a Software as like this Toolbar: You can upload your Software to any Download Sites and they do a free Backlink to your Page. Just think about what happen if you get several free Backlinks from High Ranked Systems.

When you like to keep your Users busy, on your side and for sure with the attention they come again, than it is always good you make some additional features, like you can see on: ratemykitten. Start a Page where People can rate something. If its cats like in that topic, you can make something about horses, or how people smile or show there love to someone. Anything, it is a great idea to keep people looking on several pages and also people who did uploaded a picture will come back several times, just to see how their pictures are rated. Voila, more and more Visits.

About your Language

There are many people talking about that your writing have to be perfect. Yes, it is very good when you use a proper English, no spelling errors and so on. Also, I am German, my style is for sure not a perfect English and so I do everything I can to transform this imperfection, dis-perfection or however you like to call it, into something special. How? With good content, with something unique. Not just copied stuff, improve in your  style, so people can say: “OK, he still needs to work on his proper English, but at all, I got some good inspirations, some new ideas.”

That is the most important. Give your Users some Inspiration, some Motivation even. OK, that depends also on the topic, but when you write, you have to transmit your vibes and your thoughts through words, so don’t be too stiff or boring. Also don’t try to come to wild and always write how incredible and amazing everything is. That would sound more like a sales-letter, you read one time and never again.

My father always did say. “The Tone plays the Music”.  That is what I understood most. Even when I was young, I did not understand the lyric of many songs, but I liked the Vibes. Its kind similar with writing. Also when you find your tone, you can speak maybe to more people than someone with a fine oxford writing style. My personal style helped me in many cases. When I was in other Countries, I did not understand so much their language and they even had no clue about German. But the whole person is talking always in many ways and when you are not boring like a priest at a funeral, you may find some friends how come again to see what you are writing.

Here I remember also some Movie about the Radio Moderator and Star Howard Stern. In one Scene there was a man telling why people are listening his Talks.

“50% like him a lot and come always again to listen what he says next, the other 50% don’t like him at all, but they always come again to listen what he says next”.

You see, there is no perfection at all, just do what you like, write about what you like.

Also think about, how many people in the World do speak English. I was reading in Wikipedia, that around 375 Million People in the World speak English as their first Language, and that some 1.5 Billion speak English as their second Language. What does mean, 4 Times more people in the World even don’t know what’s perfect English! You speak to around 1.1 Billion People who cannot blame you for that; you are not speaking perfect English, because they are like you. I like to make the statement: this should not be your excuse not to improve your English wherever and whenever you can. There are many offline and online Software Tools you can use to correct most common Spelling and Grammar Mistakes (like Word or LanguageTool)

It is even more cool to reach 1.5 Billion People, than just 1.1 Billion. But what I like to reach with this Post is, that you are not too shy to try writing in English, because you always think you are too bad and you would make a clown out of you. You only can win! And let the Blamers blame, you just do your best and that is the most important.

Now you would be maybe very motivated and just like to start writing. Great, that’s cool, but don’t forget, try everyday to improve yourself.  I have to improve for example my English writing, my grammar in special. Don’t think, never think, you are already in your highest state and don’t have to improve, that could be the first big mistake you can make. Arrogance did never help someone. Just try to be a better person every Day.

Don’t speak too fast

“There is more important in Life than always to increase Speed“, that did say the pacifist and freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.  I was reading that sentence in a German Newsletter I got. There it was about the speed of talking. 

How to create a successful Blog

I was really thinking if I should write some words about that, because I guess as many Blogger you ask about that as many different Answers you will get.

Look for example the Blog from:
“Xu Jinglei” http://blog.sina.com.cn/xujinglei  (translated Version by Google here). This Chinese Actor got in 600 Days more than 100 Million Visits on her Blog.  What does make her famous? OK she is an Actor, but also when you understand Chinese or just get a clue from the Translation you will see that she is not writing about sex, but about kissing and emotions and feelings. For sure if you can catch people emotionally that is a big step in the right direction. 

Back to Steve Pavlina, he also said, that 90% of the Bloggers are not successful, because they stop writing after 6 Month. It is the consequence you invest in your work. See it as a really work, it is not just about writing, you need to look what people are interested in, search and compare keywords, you have to advertise your Work as any other business. When you are working in a Niche you don’t have so much competition, but without Advertising your Work, nobody will know about you.

Finally don’t forget to monetize your Blog, because when you don’t have already enough Money for the rest of your Life, from where you get your Income should u take your Blogger Work as a Full-time Job. Later on I will write more about his very important topic to monetize your Blog.

Don’t come a NO-Name      

When you also don’t like to come a No Name, you can always repeat the Name of your Blog in the Text or when you talk with People don’t feel shy to repeat the Domain-name. “Yes I have an information like that on my domain: xyz.com”. Just don’t say only “pass by at my cool Homepage”, because when your friend went home and like to remember your domain, maybe than he will just google for “cool homepage”, but there may be hundred or thousand other “cool” pages, but not your own. Also just don’t think that the most easy is to take a pen and just write him your domain on a piece of paper. Mostly from my own experience I know, this papers will end somewhere, but will usually not be with me till I am sitting in-front of my PC.

When you know with what keywords your blog is high ranked in google, tell this to your interlocutor. “Should you forget my Homepage, just look in google for “personal improvement for intelligent people”. Something like that, so even your friend forgot your Domain and he would search for “intelligent people improvement” the chance is much higher that he find your homepage again than when he have nothing in mind than your motivated talking without any anchor he can keep on.

I remember the German Company GMX.DE.  In one of there first pages, you found there Name in nearly every Sentence. “GMX.de is a new Company and GMX.de does offer you this and that and with GMX.de you have a great page, because GMX.de …. ” and so on. You can be sure, after reading that Sales-letter, I never forgot that Name, till now. Should u be able to brand your users like that with your Domainname, yes, than I would say you have done already a very important step into the right direction to get a successful blog.

Keep your Mind & Mailbox clean

To develop a Blog and to write a Blog can be two totally different topics. First Developing could mean you invest hours and hours, days and days, maybe even weeks and month into designing and technical details for your Blog before you even start to write a single word. I know from what I speak. When you like to make a Blog for example about Pictures, than collect pictures, everything else is secondary, if you make a blog about horses, collect all information’s about that topic and publish it, but don’t come lost in designing or writing publishers or implementing the newest affiliate codes, before you did invested the same time in writing.

Really, I know many people, including me, who invested more time in everything else than in Writing. And why does this happen? Because this People think always, it’s not good enough, it have to be better presented, it have to be more extraordinary than the standard template and so on.

 I also like to give you a small tip “clear your mind and clean your inbox”. You can be lost when you always think “oh, first I have to answer my emails than I will start to work on my blog”. Sometimes I have the chance to see in the Inbox of a friend. And what do I see? Hundred of emails, for sure some of them are marked as read, than many spam and unread message, than again some he did read already and so on. Really, I would come crazy with that organisation.

When I get new Mails, and I get also many spams, than I start from the last, delete first all spams and try to first answer all emails before I do anything else. And everything I answered I put directly into archive. Finally I can open my Inbox and it is “empty”. Can you imagine what a freedom that is, not to have a single post in your Inbox? You can just concentrate on other important things. Writing on your Blog for example.

Monetize your Blog

First you have to be clear about with yourself, that it is ok you place Advertisings on your Page. There are different Opinions about and some Friends will tell you “Advertisings on your Page will be bad, because Users don’t like it”. That is not right from my personal Experience. When you look to place decent Advertisings on your Page you only show that you are interested to make some Money with your Blog, there is nothing bad about. Just avoid having too much. You also don’t like to search for the Content you came to my Page between hundreds of Advertisings. But to place Advertisings for example at your Sidebar is absolutely ok. When you start to earn your first Cents from your Homepage you also get a fine boost to continue writing and improving.

When you like to make some Money with your Blog I recommend you to register with Google Adsense. This is one oft the easiest to install and also well proofed income stream you can get. While there are many other Companies in the Net offering you amazing Incomes, take care many of them scam you, what means they let you work for them and run away with your money. Not so with Google Adsense, they allow you to earn by each Click a User do on the Advertisings Adsense implement automatic on your Page. Google Adsense does look for the Content you offer and just place Advertisings that does fit on your Site. You do not have to look for new Advertisers, Google Adsense does this for you. And when you get more than 100$ a Month in Revenue they transfer you the Money by Check or Bank Wire. Very easy.

I will update this posting over the next Time and provide you with more fair and recommended Income Streams.

Conclusion

I don’t know if I was able to transmit you all of my thoughts as wished, mostly its always just part, but what I like to say is: Don’t waste time in work that is not really needed. Keep on working, don’t give up, concentrate on your topic and finally and most important: Enjoy! 

Advertising: