Do you ever dream of being a newspaper columnist? Does the idea of sharing your ideas and opinions with people around the world sound exciting? Do you want to express your creativity? Have you ever thought:  How do I start a blog?.

The average computer user may think it is too difficult to create a blog, or online journal, but in fact, it’s quite simple. You don’t need to know any technical terms or how to program a computer. All you need to do is follow these easy steps and you’ll be joining the blogosphere before you know it.

1. Choose a topic for your blog.
   You can write about any topic in your blog, however, successful and cohesive blogs have a general focus. For example, if you are an avid skier, scrap booker, or jewelry maker, you could start a blog that targets one of those hobbies.

   Technology, politics, pop culture, music, sports – no topic is off limits. If you are interested in the topic, have something to say, and think other people would be interested in reading about it, then you could easily start a blog that thousands or even millions of people would be interested in reading.

   You could also create a family blog and then share it only with family and friends. Does this sound vaguely familiar to a family newsletter? It is, but since blogs are electronic, they are often easier to produce. Additionally, visitors to your blog can add comments, making it a communication tool that allows you to stay in touch with the people in your life.

2. Decide how you will create your blog.There are two basic ways you can create a blog.Option 1: If you already have a personal or business website, you can easily launch a blog on that site by using a program such as WordPress or Blosxom that allows you to create a blog on your own website. Programs like these do require some programming skills, so if you are a computer novice or you don’t already have a website, Option 2 is definitely the easiest way for you to create a blog.Option 2: You can use a free or inexpensive, blog creation and hosting program. Many of these web-based programs make creating and managing a personal blog easy. Some of them work quite well and do not use the obtrusive advertisements that are found on many free websites. Five easy-to-use blog creation programs are:
   • Blogger
   • LiveJournal
   • Blogstream
   • Bravenet
   • Xanga

   What will your blog’s web address be if you use one of these programs? If you create your blog using Blogger, one of the blog creation programs listed above, you will have to decide where you want your blog to “live” or be located on the Internet. You have two choices.

   • You can create a custom URL that identifies your blog, however, it can still reside on the Blogger’s website. For example, if you create a blog and decide to call it snowskifavorites, Blogger will publish it through their hosting service and give it the URL http://snowskifavorites.blogspot.com. The other four blog hosting services mentioned above use a similar naming style that allows you to use their services to easily host your website with a custom web address.
   • You can personalize your blog by registering your own domain name, and use one of these programs to create your blog and publish it to your own web address. If you choose this option, Blogger will direct your blog to the domain name you purchased. If you write a blog about skiing, you may want to purchase the domain name www.snowskifavorites.com and direct your blog to that website. Hosting a blog under your own domain name marks you as a serious blogger and gives it a more professional appearance.

   Regardless of the program you choose, you will find instructions on how to create your blog on that program’s website. Most of these programs have easy-to-use tutorials that explain how to use their program to create and publish your blog. Additionally, they have services such as mobile blogging, photo sharing, and audio options you may want to consider.

3. Decide whether you are blogging for fun or profit.
   Yes, you can make money in the blogosphere. But, before you dream of all the money you’ll make, remember that there are millions of blogs and only truly dedicated bloggers with stable blogs can make a profit. People must read your blog for you to make money. This requires interesting and constantly changing content, which can be extremely time-consuming to produce. However, there are two popular ways bloggers can make money.
   • Sell Ad Space: The easiest way to sell ad space is to use Google’s Ad Sense, which allows you to display up to three ad boxes on your site. Each box contains fours ads, for a maximum of up to 12. The ads are content-specific, so if your blog is about jewelry-making, they would be related to jewelry or crafts. Each time a person clicks an ad, you (and Google) get paid.
   • Take Donations: If you spend all your time writing interesting and engaging blog entries and articles, why shouldn’t the people who are enjoying them share their appreciation? Many bloggers find that creating a link to accept online donations provides a little extra income. You can use a program like PayPal to set up an online donation link.

   There are many other ways you can make a profit through your blog, but all of them require you to be a dedicated blogger and attract steady blog traffic. This doesn’t happen overnight, so if you have the time to invest in it, search the Internet and read more about how to market your blog to increase traffic and make money using your blog. Remember that you don’t have to be in this for the money. With over 60 million blogs in existence today, blogging can just be a hobby that you enjoy.

You can create your own blog and join millions of people in the blogosphere sharing their thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. Whether you want to connect with family, share a hobby, amuse people, or make a little money, a blog is a tool that can help you reach that goal. All you need is an Internet connection and the desire to express yourself. Take a look at the free or inexpensive blog creation programs discussed and you’ll see that creating a blog is as easy as 1, 2, 3!