One of the benefits of blogging is building a fan base, so get busy and start a blog!

• First find a site to host your blog.  If you are reading this post, you are aware that Wordpress hosts blogs, but blogs are available at many other locations.  If you enjoy the blog of a specific writer, note who hosts their blog. It may be possible for you to start a blog on the same site.
• Determine if any organization you belong to has a blog. it may be possible to post on their blog, This is what I am doing here. This blog belongs to Southern Christian Writers and their members may post on it.
• Consult this website 2015’s Best Hosting Sites – Consumer-Rankings.com‎ to read about other blog hosts.

•  Learn how to Post  Don’t become frustrated if you do not know how to write/post a blog. All of us were beginners at some point.   To gain knowledge try this: Ask a friend who is already active on a blog to help you. This  is what I did. I was able to ask stupid questions without feeling stupid. Since we both were writing on the same site, later I could call when I had problems, and we both were able to look at the same screen on our computers. This allowed me actual guidance when I needed it. Take a class at your library or community college. These classes are often free or inexpensive.

• Use Media  It’s true, one picture is worth a 1000 words. Pictures give your blog interest, will draw the reader into your writing, and make your blog unique.

• Have a theme  build an audience by writing about one or two topics so that readers will return to your site for additional information.

• Have a link from your blog post to Facebook and other social media site. This is usually a simple command on the blog site. If you don’t know how, see “learn to post” above. Or, go to Facebook or other social media sites, type a short message and post a link to your site. Your address may be typed in or posted with the copy and paste function. Copy and paste is better as there is less chance for a typo.

• Email the link to selected email contacts after it is posted.  Not everyone you know will find your blog interesting, but hopefully you have kith and kin that will. Create a group email and send a brief email after each post to this group. I usually tell my readers the title, number of words, and ask them to “like” or “comment.”  If you do not know how to set up a group email, take a computer class or check out these links.  Send an email to yourself first to be sure the link works.

• Gmail group mail    Group Email for Outlook
• Proofread your post  Mistakes turn off readers. Many blogs have a spell checker, use it. Also, read your blog aloud to hear errors. One sure way to receive comments and lose readers is to post a blog with errors.

• Use plenty of tags  Many blogs have a location on their page for adding tags. Tags are a MUST. Tags are how readers find your blog. When you add tags to your blog, enter every word you can think of that has something to do with your current blog. Search engines like Google, etc. look for these tags when trolling the web. This is how they create a list of 1-1,000,000 sites for your to look at.

If you do not understand what I wrote or are confused on how to create a blog, take a class, ask a friend who blogs, or read one of the many help pages on-line. Good luck and happy posting.