Trying Something New
I have not been able to keep pace with my goal! There have been so many phenomenal things happening in my life that I have not even been able to provide the level of involvement with the site that I’ve wanted for this year. Health, wealth, & relationships have all been pretty good for me lately. But I do want to provide decent and regular content for the site.
That being said, I’m allowing related posts to be put up from outside writers which is a first for me. But hopefully it is one that will provide fresh new topics and content that will be valuable to those who find this site. I look forward to seeing what comes of this.
If you would like to write something for the site related to personal development, get in touch with me via any of the means on my “Contact” page. I’ll be happy to provide you with backlinks to your site in exchange of course.
One of the things I mentioned earlier in the year is implementing systems to make your life easier. I’m trying to follow my own advice with this change. Of course I will still write to my best ability from time to time when the inspiration hits me. Enjoy the new stuff and write me to let me know if anything stands out for you. 
Start Your Own Blog
Why wouldn’t you? If you read enough of them (and they are everywhere now so you do), then you should go ahead and start keeping one of your own. It’s a good way to put your thoughts down, promote your ideas, and in some cases even build a business around.
I first started blogging a little over 2 years ago and I still suck at it! But I’m getting better every time I do it. I look at my initial attempts and can’t believe how lame they were and how bad the writing was. In retrospect though, I’m so glad I got started because I now have going on 3 years of web publishing experience under my belt and I’ve built a skill set that grows by the day. I’ve learned so many good things that I personally believe will support me and help me make a full-time income someday. The internet is still growing at a frantic pace and I can’t wait to look back on this post a couple of years from now and see how lame I think it is too!
Here’s a couple of tips to get started:
1. If you’ve never built a blog before just use something simple like Blogger or Wordpress. These are custom built for beginners to make setup and blogging as easy as possible. I still have blogs with these services though I don’t use them as much as this one. Many people start a blog this way and stick with it for years which is perfectly fine. The only problem is that you don’t own the domain or the site, although they are still monetizable.
2. If you’re a bit more serious and want to set up and own your own site, buy a domain name and service for hosting. I use Bluehost for all my domain and hosting needs and I love them. Full disclosure: That is my affiliate link and if you purchase the service through it I will get paid. But I couldn’t give them any more of a seal of approval. I’ve probably purchased and hosted around 20+ domains through Bluehost and absolutely love how easy the service is to use. I’d recommend installing Wordpress as your blogging software of choice, although there are other good ones. You get the the choice of your domain name free for a year if you buy hosting up front.
3. Set up your blog and start writing. Most successful blogs are built around a particular niche. This blog is built around personal development, which gives me pretty good room to write about just about anything. There’s a lot of things you can do to improve yourself personally and I enjoy doing those things in my own life and I figured others would enjoy learning about them or at least enjoy reading about how crazy I am in my own pursuits. But you can use a blog for just about anything. Keeping family and friends abreast of your life, impressing potential employers, starting a business, or just mindless rambling are all perfectly legitimate and acceptable uses of blogs.
4. Write as much or as little as you want. Just continue to write. I’ve had my good and bad stretches on here. I’m trying to write as much as possible this year. The thing is, the more you write the more traffic you will have and the more people will read what you have to say. You have to decide what your goals with the blog are and build your writing habits around those goals.
Blogs are a great way to deliver information to whoever your target audience is whether it be a potential customer or just grandma. In this day and age, just about anybody could use one. Think about getting one set up for yourself and try it out. It could end up being a life long passion, but you’ll never know until you try. Happy blogging.
