Blogging can be fun get started now

My 79 year old mother wrote a blog about the time she was evacuated from London, as a child during World War 2. Reading it is a rich experience, not because of the writing but because its a first hand account – real life untainted by editors and publishers.

Have you seen the BBC Click programme? A TV version of Mashable, or NextWeb, without the insight, but its been running for years so there must be an audience.

This morning it included a beginners guide to blogging, and got most of it wrong – well not exactly wrong, but not appropriate.

The pitch was a) set up a WordPress account b) create great content c) build a following and d) become a superstar. And that’s the theory, but reality is quite a lot different.

The technology is not simple.

WordPress is the #1 blogging platform for sure, with an endless supply of plugins to help us do, and connect, with virtually anything. But therein lies the problem. WordPress is definitely not for beginners. They’ll have enough trouble figuring what to write without the technology challenges.

To be fair the programme did mention Blogger, the Google version, which is easier to use than WordPress, but still pretty intimidating.

Creating great content is meaningless.

What’s great content to one is rubbish to another. They should have said a)relevant b) informative c) entertaining. But even that’s meaningless. Relevant to whom? Informative about what? Entertaining in which way? Let me know when you’ve decided.

Building a following isn’t a walk in the park either

The world has lost count of how many millions of blogs there are out there. Getting a blog noticed is almost impossible now, no matter how good the content. Most of all, the general public spends its spare time watching TV, not reading blogs.

Getting to Superstar takes 10,000 hours.

Maybe more? This is the rule explained in Gladwell’s Outliers – reaching a professional level at anything takes 10,000 hours. Newbies starting out will be competing with any number of genuine professionals for time and attention.

But EVERYBODY should blog

because in doing so they’ll me making history. Blogging is the ultimate in self expression, and that makes it fun too. Elsewhere in this blog you’ll find rants about stuff we shouldn’t have to put up with, jokes about Cherie Blair, and some commentary on the North of Scotland. That’s mostly me having fun.

My 79 year old mother wrote a blog about the time she was evacuated from London, as a child during World War 2. Reading it is a rich experience, not because of the writing but because its a first hand account – real life untainted by editors and publishers.

We’ve written some stuff About Our Roots -for our grandchildren. One day they’ll be able to look at it and understand something of where they come from, and so will their grandchildren.

When we do this some strange, and enjoyable experiences occur. The post about walking around Wantage including pictures of King Alfred’s School attracted a comment from a guy in Los Angeles. We swapped some stories. Peter Brooks is the same age as my brother, lived across the street from us, and attended my school.

Does it make money? No. But then it doesn’t cost anything. Is it challenging. Yes. But that’s where the fun comes in.

Give it a try.

Get a Posterous account and blog from your email. Add photos and video creating a rich experience. Tell jokes, just because they amuse you. Have a rant about stuff, just because it annoys you. Pretty soon that TV is going to seem awful boring.

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