Blogger Basics

Just today I was asked by one of our managers how to use Google's "Blogger". My first thought? What a GREAT blog topic!!! Actually, that was maybe my 4th or 5th thought ... but still, a post was definitely in order. So let's cover some of the basics.

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com/ to get started, you will need a Google account ...

A short interruption here - signing up for a Google account does not mean that you will have Gmail. You can sign up for a Google account with any email address you chose. Sign-up is FREE.

2. Enter a display name - the name of your blog - for example, "Tech Daze"

3. Read and accept the terms of service ... go ahead. I'll wait.

4. Click Create!

This is your Blogger Dashboard, from here, you can:

- View Profile

- Edit Profile

- Edit Photo

- Edit Notifications

You can also write a new post, edit posts, play around with your settings and layout -- and of course, view your blog.

Your profile will look like this ...

Make sure you have the basics in your Blogger Profile!

Now the FUN begins! What are you going to post about ... ??? The options are endless. You can write an opinion piece, share the latest news, post a photo or video, the list goes on and on.

My best advice to you - find your own blog voice. Be different - be relevant - be you.

>>> Click the NEW POST button to get started!

This will take you to the "Create New Post" page ...

- Type in a title for your post
- Start blogging!

- ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS spell-check

- Type in your labels - what are you blogging about?

- Click Publish Post

So my labels for this post might be - googleblogger, socialmedia, howto ...

My labels are my tags and tell the reader what I wrote about - in a few words.

See? Blogging is easy! And super fun. But, it's a commitment - you have to blog regularly to make any sort of an impact. (Yep, I struggle with this too!!!)