By: Amy Covington
Do your friends and coworkers turn to you for fashion advice? Are you a bonafide guru when it comes to the hottest designers and trends? Or, maybe you’re a would-be political pundit—the next Walter Cronkite? You could simply have a riveting way of capturing the world around you. Whatever your talent, rant or position, you can share your inner most thoughts in a place called the “blogosphere”—all you need is an Internet connection.
To the uninitiated, a blog is a personal website that is updated frequently by the author and typically consists of commentary and favorite links, as well as photos, or anything else really. There are essentially two rules to blogging: 1.) update your site at least every 48 hours and 2.) make the content somewhat compelling. It seems like everyone has a blog nowadays; even William Shatner and Mariah Carey have one. I mean, everyone’s story is unique, right? And since you don’t need to know HTML, FTP or graphic design to create and maintain a weblog, it’s pretty much fair game for all. Blog hosting sites, such as Radio Userland ( http://radio.userland.com ), Blogstream ( www.blogstream.com ), squarespace ( www.squarespace.com ) and Blogger.com, provide software for easy updating of your blog—just download and you’re ready to start blogging.
Since there are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs, with millions of words blasted into cyberspace every minute, inevitably there are bad blogs. But not all blogs are filled with relentless rants and whining that was meant to be witty. Blogs are a great way to connect with like-minded—or not so like-minded—people, exchange tips and ideas, and promote services, products, projects and events. If you’re an artist or budding fashion designer, you can gain exposure for your work through an artist blog or fashion blog. Some bloggers even have “fans” and sell merchandise like t-shirts and bumper stickers imprinted with their blog site. Many companies also have jumped on the blog bandwagon to promote themselves and offer useful information to their customers. Some of the best blogs are from regular people living ordinary lives.
If you don’t have the time or the motivation to start your own, you don’t have to miss out on blog-o-mania. Many people enjoy reading other people’s blogs to engage in political discourse or learn about subjects they are interested in and to keep informed about what’s going on in a particular city. Food blogs are very popular. Find out—or share—cooking tips and recipes. Get in a good laugh or catch up on celebrity gossip with humor blogs and celebrity gossip blogs, or blogs hosted by celebrities themselves.
So, if you have an idea for a blog, don’t be shy. There’s bound to be an existing category for your blog—and if there’s not, you can create your own. That’s the beauty of blogging; there are infinite possibilities and millions of people who can access your site
|
About The Author
Amy Covington's passion is writing about the good things in life: food, wine, fashion, and travel. Her writing credits include Downtown San Francisco Magazine, Dining Out San Diego Magazine, among many others, as well as numerous consumer and luxury websites such as http://www.justluxe.com and http://www.livingluxe.com.
|
This article was posted on January 24, 2006
Other Interesting Topics
Lenovo Group Ltd. (992) and other computer makers settled a lawsuit brought by a California software maker who had claimed the Green Dam software installed on personal computers in China infringes its copyright.
Scientists have developed a "biological computer" made entirely from biomolecules that is capable of deciphering images encrypted on DNA chips.
Microsoft on Wednesday revealed plans to unveil a test version of its latest Windows computer operating software later this month.
Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. , a trusted provider of commercially developed application-ready ISR and EW subsystems for defense prime contractors, announced the Ensemble® Series 6U OpenVPX™ HCD6210 rugged compute blade based on the Freescale® T4240 QorIQ™ AMP Power Architecture®.
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Computer Vision Systems Laboratories Corp. (CVSL.OB OTCBB) , announced today that it has appointed two new members to its Scientific Advisory Board. Both Doctors have special interest ...
Google Inc., seeking to get more of its desktop-computer software onto mobile devices, introduced a test version of its Chrome Web browser for the latest Android operating system.
Computer security firm Symantec on Tuesday confirmed it tried to turn the tables on hackers who threatened to release stolen source code if a demand for $50,000 was not met.
Substantially wider credit default swap spreads for Computer Sciences Corporation are indicating rising market concern over recent overseas and legal developments, acco
