problogger
recently organized another
Group
Writing Project on the topic of ‘if I had to start my blog again’. Since this promised to offer lots of useful tips for new bloggers, I decided to peruse, summarize, and excerpt to give you a flavor of each post, some of which you will want to go read in full.

This is a long post; there’s a lot in here –but I remember when I started out, I wanted to read everything that might be helpful. So this is all severely edited, but I included every post. At least, I tried.

It took a long time. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see the end of that list scroll up on my screen.

Unsurprisingly, there are several themes that repeat from one post to the next, and a bit of consistent advice:

• Host your site at your own domain name, and choose both your domain name and your site title with care. I suggest a quick Google search on anything you are considering to be sure you won’t be lost in a crowd. A dictionary and thesaurus search might not be a bad idea, either; you don’t want your site name to have surprising connotations.
• Choose a platform that has categories and named (not numbered) URL’s, so that both readers and search engines can more easily find your posts. In other words, not Blogspot/ Blogger.
• Start yesterday.
• Have fun — if you don’t have fun, your readers won’t, either.
• Think ahead: what is the goal/purpose of the site? How can you increase the chance of meeting your goal?
• Learn or hire the skills to do a
  good (appealing and usable) design.
• Read, read, read (other blogs.)
• Comment, comment, comment (on other blogs.)

A few things that were seldom mentioned, but seem important:

•     Backup your site (umm, I keep planning to do this…)
•     Get a photo hosting account
•     Select and use a good feed reader, to keep up with other blogs

Excerpts are below the cut, but I’m going to lead with the one I already suspect
will be my favorite, even though I’ve just begun reading.
From
My
wabisabi blog:

  Wabisabi: (侘寂)
  An aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is
  “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”.

  My purpose in writing this is to encourage anyone who’s new to just take the
  first step and not worry about setting up a “perfect” thing, and anyone who’s
  redoing their blog not to be frustrated. We’ve already got too many other
  things in life that already exert this type of pressure … Let’s not get lost
  in the numbers for once. Why not take advantage of a rare, low-risk
  opportunity like blogging and approach it with a creative eagerness rather
  than cautious fear about all the mistakes you might make? As long as it’s true
  to you, you probably can’t go wrong. It’s worked for me.

OK, then there’s this one:

Novelist in Training:

 

… Okay, maybe I wouldn’t have listed my temperamental atom feed as a subscription possibility. Or written a few negative details about my former employer before I knew that I had any actual blog readers. (Oops.) Or waited for readers to find me instead of finding other blogs on which to comment first. But I’ve denounced my atom feed, and those whiny posts have vaporized before causing too much harm, and I am now a zealous commenter.

 

Now that I’ve spent a while this evening writing about this blog and the act of blogging, I’m left with only one thought: is it actually blogging that I’m doing? That many of us are doing? Since I usually find quotes from the dictionary gimmicky and uncreative, I refuse to mention that a blog is defined as “A shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies”. Because, to be honest, this feels more like a column than a diary, as do most of the blogs I peruse (as in “to read deeply”, not “to skim”). And that’s okay with me, because if I had it to do all over again, my blog would still be more like a series of columns than an emotional gut-spill across the internet …

and this one, a very fun recipe, and then, lessons woven in stories::

 

Small Dogs Paradise:

Servings: A dozen readerships or maybe more depending on the ingredients you use.

 

Ingredients:

• 2.73 MB of WordPress
• 1 lb of Blog Designers
• 7 tbsps of extra Plugins
• 1 bunch of Networking
• 1 stream of Contents, finely crafted
• 1 endless stalk of Perseverance, uncrushed
• 1 full cup of Fun

 

Methods:

1. Preheat new niche for at least 90 days before shuffling into the oven (research more).
2. Then bake it for at least 210 days. (blog it)
3. Meanwhile rework the recipe and ingredients to improve the taste for your audience. Stay on course always.
4. Sprinkle some humors onto the content and toss a few more smileys as you work on the flavor.
5. Coat more pillar articles and serve consistently.

 

    …

… Use the right tools from the start and backup all files …

… Be more discerning on choosing the designers. Learn to listen to my intuition …

… Don’t be too obsessed with plugins …

… Never underestimate the power of Word of mouth…Priceless! …

… Learn the rope of co-blogging. No need to be all for all …

… Not everyone sees the same angle as I do. To thyself be true …

… There’s life beside blogging …

 

And, of course, this one, from Proper Course:

Darren Rowse asks us
what would we do different
if start blog again?

not a lot my friend
only thing I can think of…
sail more and write less.

And The Fibromyaligia Experiment:

… I wish I would have expected less and enjoyed more. I just thought that this is the internet, this is where people make money, I will make money here. I thought that I was entitled to it. I wish I would have been grateful just for the opportunity. I should have realized that 10 years ago only an elite few were able to own their own businesses, and now I am one of them. I hope that I jump on the couch more.

Rhonda’s Knitting:

The first thing I’d do differently is I would have created my blogs on WordPad hosted on my own domain rather then use Blogger. With Blogger, I can’t label my posts with different categories … I don’t get the benefit of all my visitors and pages views being reflected together. So there isn’t a complete total picture of how I’m doing.

The second thing I’d do differently is I would have combined all my different blogs together. … If I had combined all of these different blogs I’d have had a much richer base of content that would have satisfied many more types of knitters. …

Finally, the last thing I’d do differently, is I’d have a game plan on how to best use these blogs and my podcast to inform and entertain knitters, while being able to earn enough money to at least cover my costs …

52 Reviews:

…the one thing I would change is I would have started it earlier.

A.P. Lawrence:

… I’d use PHP instead of Perl.

If I had the benefit of foresight, I also would have implemented a tighter copyright policy immediately. I believe in sharing, but I naively thought that people might pick up an article or two now and then. I didn’t expect that anyone would just wholesale copy every article on my site….

the deblog:

Blog platform: … until recently all my blogs were on Blogger, some hosted at blogspot and some not. Recently I moved my two major sites to TypePad, and I am oh-so-happy here … I also can’t really regret that Blogger forced me to learn scads of HTML and CSS.

Templates: I have spent more time than I care to admit to over the years tweaking my templates. … it was this constant tweaking that taught me what I know of coding, not much but enough, and without which I would probably never have had the fortitude to dip into TypePad’s advanced templates.

 

Names: I like the "deblog" well enough … now that the site is associated with it’s own domain and can be called book-blog.com I’m reasonably happy with it.

 

Content: Actually, I wouldn’t change anything. I’ve always been very much aware, as some people with personal blogs apparently are not, that one’s blog is a public forum and should be treated as such. I’ve never written anything I’ve been embarrassed by subsequently.

digitalthom.com:

The things I would do differently would be to have better meta words, better content, and longer relevant posts. Something that would continue to draw people in … I would be a little more focused on what I know and how I can add value, but at the end of the day I’d still be doing this stuff.

Working at Home:

~~ I would have bought my Own Domain. Other than Ego, I think the biggest advantage of picking the right Domain is that it helps quite a bit with SEO.

~~ I would have set up with a Good Hosting Service.  There is much more control of what happens with you site(s) ie. my own E-mail addresses, Spam control and real communication with the Host to name a few.

~~ I would have Started using WordPress (not Blogger).  Again, I have control of the Presentation, Links, Plug-ins  and other Options that other platforms don’t offer.

Funny Business:

…categories. I had no idea how important that would be! You have to make it easy for people to find information after posts are archived. Blogger’s date archiving just doesn’t cut the mustard.

…clarifying style and content.

Knickers Blog:

If I could start again, I would think bigger … I really wish I’d sat down and prioritised what I wanted before I got started. I find myself overextended on too many side projects to the blog, and end up having scant time to actually write at my blog. If I’d planned out some big ideas at the beginning, I could have had much clearer goals to work towards.

 

On a technical note, I wish I would have thought more about a proper structure and SEO at the beginning … I really wish I had bothered with the .htaccess malarky in WordPress to get proper post slugs, instead of just taking the easy way.

 

And finally, I wish I would have picked up the phone. I’ve found that actually speaking to people within your field of interest brings you ten times more information, opportunities and support than simple e-mail.

Mindglob:

1. Take blogging more seriously
2. Take writing more seriously
3. Take myself less seriously
4. Started off with WordPress

PC Doctor:

• Why did I put this blog in a directory called wordpress?  That was a dumb move!  A really dumb move!  I sure wouldn’t do that again!
• I know I don’t have a time machine, but if I did, I’d go back to 1999 and start this blog back then.
• I’d read more blogs – more tech related blogs, you know, people who actually "do" stuff
• I’d read fewer blogs – fewer "yak" and "me too" blogs.  I no longer care about what some A-list blogger thinks about everything.  I’m a lot happier and my readers … get a lot more from the blog now that my head is out of the blogosphere echo chamber

The Daily Erg:

1. The blog URL is dumb …

2. I would have started offline – or at least not publicized it…

3. I’d use a three column template …

4. I’d have found a way to get more feedback from users …

5. I’d have categories for posts that would be easily accessible …

6. I’m not sure I would call it a blog! I think I’d call it a site! …

RobZazueta.com:

1. Focus more on building a high-quality, solid traffic micro-community …
2. Find a niche other than myself …
3. Either modify an existing design or have someone else design it …
4. Figure out a way to monetize my writing …
5. Get over my hangups about posting and just post …

 

Lil Duck Duck:

… I would have liked to have been a little more familiar with php and the wordpress templates, it took me longer than I would have liked to get a sidebar up and working, for example. I would have put a sitemeter on from the beginning as well, just to see how far I had come traffic-wise.

The main thing that I would do differently now is to change my permalink structure – making it include the post name rather than the numerical id – for better search engine optimization.

Kristonia Ink!:  [Warning: POPUPS]

 

I would pick a domain name that was more provocative and memorable.

 

I would spend a lot more time doing research before starting my blog and develop cache full of content to pull from for the days that I just cannot find the time to blog.

 

I would have separate sites for each of my interests …

I would get a partner in crime to post and keep things current.

Rhythms of the Night:

 

… if I had the chance to start blogging again, I want to do it when I was 18. I would love to learn how to design the most beautiful blog. I would love to learn all the codes, the tags and the what nots that makes me able to design my own blog.

 

… I would get a Adsense Optimised Template or Theme so that I will get all the highest paying ads …

 

… I’ll do a humongous cut and paste blog. Then I won’t have to crack my head on what to write and still get acclaimation.

 

… but I have started new blogs so may times and have deleted them so many times that I have lost count. Recently I just started another one just to test the waters. See if these kind of blogs catches on because i’ve searched high and low for this kind of info when I started and all I got was blogs and sites catering for those who already knows about codes and stuffs. It’s funny you know. We search for stuff because we know nuts about it, and when we find one, the info there are written assuming that you already know the stuff but are there to look for more. Don’t anyone realise that there are dumbells like me out there who needs to be led by the nose to do certain things?

Heh. Check the sidebar on this blog; you should find lots of helpful resources. But I know what you mean…

 

Changing Way:

 

… I wish I’d switched from Blogger to WordPress sooner … The biggest regret is that I didn’t discover blogging sooner. Until a couple of years ago, I had the vague and mistaken impression that blogs didn’t carry worthwhile content. I now have the concrete and confident impression that there are many excellent blogs out there (as well as even more mediocre or terrible blogs).

Can I Make Big Money Online:

 

I wish that I had come up with a clear and inspirational vision for each of our blogs.

Gosh. If the name of this blog (…Make Big Money…) is the underlying purpose of all the others, no wonder you’re having trouble. Of course, I’m not a problogger, so my goals are a bit different, but still…

   

The Retrospector:

   

• Spent more time on site appeal and/or branding … I would have had a much more eye-candy site to look at with custom graphics that relate to my “theme” of hindsight and/or learning from my experiences.
• I would not watch the site’s income so closely this early … I wish I would have just focused on the content and on reading/ commenting on other sites instead.
• I would not have told my wife about the site’s ability to make money …

   

Adam’s Blog:

1) I would have taken the time to understand the technology … If I’d understood the power of RSS, and what I actually had on a little Blogspot blog where I posted inanities and website updates, I might be in a better position rather than trying to catch up.

 

2) I’d Have Used a Different Platform … I’ve gone more than 2000 posts down the B2evolution road. I’ve gone too far to return.

 

3) Watching Other Bloggers … I wish I’d watched other bloggers in action more before starting this. I began blogging more seriously because I thought it would give me a greater outlet for my writing, but it took me months and in some cases years to pick up on little clues I’d have learned had I watched an Instapundit or a Michelle Malkin and saw how they did it.

iZachy:

 

When I started blogging, I focused too much on making money instead of having fun. As a result, posting was work for me…

 

One of the nice things about a personal blog is that it’s relatively easy to start over (compare to a business blog or site). After all, I am the boss. Why limit the content of my blog to just one area when there’s a whole world of things I can blog about? Why should blogging be work when it can be fun?

 

That’s it. That’s what I would do if I had to start my blog over. I would blog to infinity and beyond.

German impressions:

 

… I woudn’t put the screws on myself. As I started this blog, I cared a lot about a high posting frequency … this aim put me under pressure in a very nasty way and that I was going to lose fun on blogging … enforced posts don’t give the quality and originality I wanted to present to my readers.

… I would be more realistic concerning the time required for blogging. Blogging takes its time. You have to look for an interesting topic to write about and develop a well-structured and entertaining post … It’s rather hard to blog in a foreign language …

 

… I would use a wordpress-based blog on my own webspace from the first day. When I started “German Impressions” it was an experiment. I didn’t know if I would hang on running this blog and I feared the work of installing software on my webspace and decided to start at blogger.com. But very soon I became dissatisfied with the limited possibilities provided by the platform. Another point that annoyed me was the bulky url that I didn’t like at all … I changed to this wordpress-based blog in the same manner I already had done with my German one – and I don’t regret it.

 

… I would be more open-minded for changes. A Blog is a living thing. You can’t calculate its development from the first day on. New categories have to be added from time to time or they have to be re-sorted, or the design has to be rebuilt, to mention only the apparent things.

 

It is also possible (or even likely?) that the blog’s focus changes by the time. Maybe your personal perspective alters or your readers’ comments make you relocate it …

 

And – very important: I would do it again! I think, this is the essential question …

Blog4Bloggers:

• The Goal: I started out this blog as my voice in blogosphere but I lacked any goal, I just wanted to talk about stuffs that I learned and used this blog to share that knowledge to everyone … If I want to start this blog all over again that first thing I would do is to set some fixed goal.

• Am I Alone: … by alone I mean unique, one of its kind. I started talking about things that I liked but soon I realized that there are many who know more about them and can express them in much better way then me. Repeating them and not giving anything from my side was not the reason I started this blog.

Discerning Discipleship:

• I’d work out what my end aim was. Is it to make money, (like problogger), write a journal, or provide commentary on issues? Are they mutually exclusive? I think I’d keep a personal blog separate and follow a more rigid structure with articles and commentary as the core.

• I’d learn more about Drupal, php and CSS before jumping in, maybe even mapped out what I wanted my page to look like, (on paper!).

• I’d focus more on great content, whether personal, essay or commentary rather than posting links all the time, which I did for a while.

• I’d start building a network of like minded Christian bloggers earlier on, in the hope of encouraging each other to greater heights of blogging!

• I wouldn’t have held off telling people about the blog, I now realise the benefit of "viral" word of mouth marketing.

The Unraveling of Designer Ella:

Gee, that’s a funny domain name. That’s what somebody might say about my first fashion blog started when I didn’t have a clue, Kiss Me, Stace (www.kissmestace.com). Sure, it’s successful with its name (a recent Google PR rise!) and partly because I did stick with it. But I often regret a silly titling choice…

MakeYouGoHmm:

Wish I would have …

 

1. Used a different blog backend system. I wasted valuable time trying to support a lesser known, newer blog system and ultimately when the pain of staying was greater than the pain of leaving, I had to consider the impact of the existing content reorganized … Changing blog systems is a disruptive process for not only the content organization but also the search engines which means it makes it harder for people to find what you’ve written, including yourself when you wish to reference or expand upon an earlier piece.
2. started with reBlog as primary RSS Reader. I’m not sure if reBlog was available back in 2003 when this blog was created, but reBlog has become the best RSS reading experience for bloggers that I’ve tried to date … Get a system going with reading that maximizes your time.
3. never used the default category. … Throw readers a bone, give them a thoughtful, relevant category so they know at least some of what to expect and where to find more if they like the post
4. added a humor category sooner. Sardonic wit can be a real killer for some readers and it’s difficult sometimes to know when somebody is serious and when they are kidding. To help readers out, I added a humor category and use for any post that I’m not entirely serious about …
5. not done single link posts. … There is a place for linkblogs, but I would recommend being very careful blending linkblogs into regular content.
6. started with a professionally designed template. This is something we did do later, but I wish we’d have done it sooner … The reason a design is so important is to help separate from the many, many other blogs out there. A design will capture initial attention and from there the writing and content better do the talking. A subpar or ‘me too’ design will have less chance of getting readers interested in the content …

The Big Chorizo:

5 things I would concentrate on very hard if I were to start blogging again:

1. Choose a memorable name: and then make that name your domain as well …
2. Learn how search engines work: what keywords are and how to structure your blog: otherwise no-one will ever find it and all your energy and hard work will be not for nothing but for far less than you deserve for your efforts. Implementing a proper site structure has the added benefit of making Google Adsense serve up the more relevant ads for your pages.
3. Choose a subject you can knowledgeably write about: for a long time and which can be considered a single ‘topic’ … If you’re not exicted and interested in what you’re writing about, don’t expect your readers to be.
4. Just use WordPress: don’t bother with the rest. Learn as much as you reasonably can about CSS and HTML so that you can tweak the look of your blog as much as you like and add goodies like comments plugins, related posts and Web 2.0 social thingymajigs.
5. Don’t give up + keep learning: if you give up, you’ll never get anywhere. Read, watch, listen and read some more …

 

An Experts Guide to WebSphere Information Integration:  [Warning: POPUPS]

 

No surprise that this blogger says:

 

My big regret is my blog title, "An Experts Guide to " … sigh … "WebSphere Information Integration". It is about as interesting as a mime artist pretending to walk into the wind on a genuinely windy day. I chose it because several other successful blogs on this site had the same catchy phrase. It gave me a software niche that I knew a lot about and marketed to that niche.

Unfortunately I think it lacks character and loses some of my non-niche readers. I have a lot of off-topic posts that are funny or personal and attracts readers but I don’t think they stay or subscribe given the title is about a product they have never heard of and care nothing about. I discovered via my blog stats that I was finding my niche readers via my post headings and content and forum posts and not through my blog title. I could have called my blog "flies crawling up a wall" and still would have found WebSphere II readers and kept more of my non-niche readers.

 

DIYers IT Zone:

 

Actually i did start my blog again after my hosting provided’s hardisk crashed which happen 2 months ago… resulting parts of my data lost … [now] every weekend i backup all my directory and database to prevent future hosting problem …

MyQuo.com:

I would have started my blog earlier.  As with all business ventures, the earlier you get in the game the easier it is to succeed.  There is less competition and there are lower barriers to entry.

Hanneng.sg:

1) Stick to one domain name

2) Start Adsense sooner

Blog Republic:

1) I’d spend time from day one leveraging the social networking aspects of blogging. Instead, I concentrated on putting up a ton of content before I did much socializing. I’d probably run both efforts in parallel in the future.

2) I would increase my posting frequency and place a great interest on editorial quality. If you can actually make multiple posts daily and keep them interesting and on-topic, you stand a great chance of attracting readers.

SouthAsiaBiz:

… If I had to start over again, I would surely try to have a positive and confident attitude towards blogging. Now I know one thing in my heart: if I post quality content every day, write comments in other blogs and submit links of my entries to social bookmarking websites- I will get some hits and links on a regular basis …

Technosailor:

1. Set a Goal and Stay on Topic – Looking back over the years, I have wandered quite a bit … Setting a goal is important for many different reasons, not the least being search engine optimization (SEO) and monetization. Plus it’s difficult to establish a hardcore following when so many different topics are discussed.
2. Sought Out Experts – Not enough can be said for mentors – people who know the business and can help you get where you want to go … I’ve come to have a tremendous amount of respect for key people and have chosen to align myself with them and learn from them … They are success stories and their wisdom can help you too.
3. Learned All I could about SEO – Great SEO only recently became something that I’ve attempted to do. By great SEO, I mean techniques like optimizing title tags, linking regularly and often to other parts of my blog, create interlinking post series, etc. …
4. Worried Less About Design – … design is overrated … I have more RSS readers now than I do regular web readers. Which means it doesn’t really matter what my design looks like to them. In the end, the thing that makes a site worth more is the content, not the design. The design can set a blog apart, but it is not what makes the blog …
5. Realized my own Potential and Pursued it – … if I had realized the potential that I had when I started, I might have changed my approach to blogging. I might have executed differently … Anytime a blog is started, there is a potential there waiting to be seen. It’s all in execution, dedication and beliving in ones self. Being confident enough to raise a fuss, but not obnoxious enough to be stupid …

Small Business Blogging Scout:

1. Starting it sooner rather than later.

2. Participate in the blogosphere and network more often.

3. Write more original content.

4. I will stick with one blogware.

 

5. Monitor the blogsphere.

Yugflog.com:

 

1. Don’t start over. If you think your content is diluted, refocus your attention and keep posting. Soon, the old posts will be long forgetten – and deeply archived – memories.
2. If you do start over, have an audience and a topic in mind. I would love to approach blogging from this POV. I think I could pull it off if I started out that way. But, I’ve found that I need an outlet for the other types of posts… the ones you see on yugflog.com.
3. Have a formula for posts – or be consistent. People don’t have time to read long diatribes. Having a quick hit blog that offers relevant and practical information would go a long way to building readership.

My thoughts . . . on stuff:

 

1. Get my own domain …
2. Use a picture hosting service …
3. Use Bloglines sooner …
4. Read Problogger sooner …

Ideas for Women:

What I’d do differently if I had to start my blog again would be to set it up differently from the beginning or use different software so I could have other women blogging here too with their own blogs on my domain. I would love to have other women here blogging about things I don’t know that much about or don’t have time for such as fashion, parenting, pregnancy, shopping, etc.

Get Rich Slowly:

If I were to start over, I’d have a plan … Planning would have allowed me to:

 

• Determine my posting strategy. I’m still struggling to find my way. Do I want to post five times a day, or do I want to post five times a week? Do I want to post lots of article summaries, or do I want to focus on original content? These are choices I should have made before starting the blog.
• Create a customized layout. I’m currently using a pre-made template for the layout. It’s okay, but it has some flaws: the archives are poor, the design is “busy”, the sidebar is difficult to work with. In my spare time, I’m working on a redesign for the site, but it’s slow going — I don’t have much free time, and my HTML/CSS skills are oh-so-very 1999.
• Integrate the entire site. I envision this blog as just a portion of a larger personal finance resource. Because poor planning backed me into a corner, I’m being careful as I plan the new sections. It may be weeks or months before they’re ready, but when they debut, they’ll be done right. It would have been best to have all of this stuff ready at launch, though.
• Promote reader involvement. The best thing about Get Rich Slowly is the exchange of ideas. I provide discussion fodder, but what really makes the site work is your input …

Spinny Head:

… The simple and most obvious thing I’d do would be to post more often, and longer posts …

Financial Freedom & Practical Spirituality:

If I were starting my blog over, based on what I know now, I would:

 

1) Wait a
bit longer until I had more content before launching … The key here, according to a friend of mine, is to make sure that you have enough material in your blog to provide for at least 10 minutes of reading time. Otherwise, your potential loyal readers might move on to a better designed blog.

 

2) I would use the blog as my main page …

 

3) I would use services like digg and reddit as appropriate to get my articles “out there” …

 

4) I wouldn’t go into it from the very beginning with grandiose visions of making the kind of income from thing like adsense, that the more experienced bloggers make … I have since remembered to treat this as a farmer must treat the agricultural cycle. The correct order of steps is PLANT/CULTIVATE/HARVEST. Any other sequence just will not work, sustainably, for very long.

 

5) I would, in the beginning, not even run anything like adsense for a while … I think this would have made me focus more on getting quality content put in there, without worrying about things like keywords, and stuff like that.

 

6) I would, since I am using WordPress, take care and caution to make every page that is on my blog a WordPress “page”. For those who don’t know, in WordPress, a “page” is basically the same as a blog post, but it differs in the fact that it is more geared to recording “timeless” information. Stuff like your “About” and “Contact pages …

 

7) I would learn to let go of trying to do the things that I didn’t know to do well enough … I finally outsourced some of the technical stuff I didn’t understand to a friend who is more than adequate for the task. The rub is, I made sure to tell him to teach me what he was doing as he did it …

   

Paul Woods:

1) Customisable – my old blog was on MSN Spaces, and I just couldn’t get away from that generic Spaces look and feel.  With Typepad, I am slowly working to craft out my own look and feel (very slowly!)

2) Domain Name – still working on this one… but I really want to integrate my domain name … and my blog address …

3) More Targeted Content – … Content that gets people thinking!

4) Started Earlier! – …

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:

… most of my mistakes have been with respect to interaction with other bloggers – reading their sites, communicating with them, etc…

1. Name of my blog: Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is just too long of a name for a blog, I wish I spent a little more than ten minutes thinking up a name …

2. Contact other bloggers sooner: … If I started over, I would’ve emailed every single blogger I knew just to say hello and ask them anything to open up a dialogue … in blogging it’s all about communicating with your peers and learning as much as you can.

3. Subscribed to blogs via RSS sooner: The first time I discovered RSS, I used some application installed on my PC instead of ubiquotous web based app like Bloglines – wow what a mistake … now I periodically read close to two hundred feeds …

Free Money Finance:

 

I wouldn’t use Typepad as my blogging platform. When I started, I knew nothing about blogging. So Typepad, as a hosted service with an easy interface, was a great alternative. However, now that this blog has grown and I’ve learned a TON about the do’s and don’ts of blogging, I want to do several things with this blog that just can’t be done easily in Typepad. Yet I have almost 2,500 posts, so switching would be hard. (But maybe not impossible.)

 

BTW, I do like the people at Typepad, and if they’d just add a few more pieces of functionality, I’d be as happy as a clam.

Wow, this one surprised me — I can’t help but wonder if this blogger has TypePad Pro, which seems to do most everything. Or if s/he has found TypePad Hacks?

 

Jon J. Symons:

   

…or “Can I be Cheap and Still Succeed at Blogging?”

 

A so-called free blog cost me a lot of money!

Like many others I started my blogging career on Blogspot.com [Blogger] because I just wanted to give this blogging thing a try.

It turned out to be a lot of fun …

Then one day I wanted to add some code to my site to help me sell link ads….oops unavailable on Blogspot.

Then I began to notice something else. Most of the blogs that I really liked and that seemed to be doing really well had addresses like greatblog.com but my address was smartmoneydaily.blogspot.com.

   

Then it hit me…I don’t even own my own website.

Here I was thinking I had a business going and Google [they own Blogger] actually owned my site.

Sure I could take my content and set up a new site, but I would lose all the search engine status that had taken a lot of work to build up.

Ouch!

All because I didn’t want to pay a couple bucks to get a “real” blog set up when I started.

 

How painful to have made it to the big leagues and not own your site.

It is like spending thousands of dollars and tons of effort renovating a house that you are RENTING …

   

Blogging Away Debt:

Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. Why? Because I am very happy with the progress I’ve made with my debt reduction and I am very thankful for every visitor I have had and every comment I’ve received. I never thought my credit card debt would be where it is at right now. It may only be one dollar under $30K, but it’s still under $30K

Honestly — no, really, honestly — when I clicked this website (number, what? — 50, more or less) — I caught myself thinking are all these people really making money off of this? All these ads! Most of the blogs I read don’t have ads, and it seems, in this exercise, I am seeing ads ads ads.

And I’ve not clicked a single one.

The Information Junkie:

Things I Would Change

· I would have chosen Word Press over Blogger for more flexibility in using plug-ins, etc.
· I would have developed a publication schedule to organize my time better.
· I would have found Problogger a lot sooner than I did. It is the best, along with Copyblogger the best how-to blog tutorial on the net. I have learned so much from his posts, and I try to incorporate some of his ideas into my blog.
· I would have chosen a three-column format that gives more flexibility in adding categories, plug-ins and advertising revenue streams.

Lifecho:

1. Don’t try to write the perfect post

… Your little perfectionist just needs a little relaxation and balance.

2. Better English

… In school I learned French and Russian. I learned English by myself and have no problem at reading English books but it’s really challenging to write in other language than your mother-tongue …

3. More fun

Online publishing is a good opportunity to express your thoughts and create debates. I remember with delight the time when I was student, especially the evening debates in the hostel. I miss them a lot.

Pass the Torch:

I wish a crystal ball had told me:

1. Hello! This is going to be a popular blog, so choose a decent title to begin with.
2. There are other options than blogger.
3. Put the products you’re promoting in a different section than everything else …

JohnTP.com:

What would I do if I had to start my blog again?

 

1. Domain name

   First of all I would get myself a good Domain name …

2. K2

   I would use the best WordPress theme –K2 from the beginning and modify it to make my blog unique …

3. Feedburner for comments

   I have not been using FeedBurner from the beginning …

4. Google SiteMap Generator

   If I had to start my blog again, I would make sure that I have activated the Google SiteMap Generator WordPress Plugin as soon as I start blogging.

5. Akismet

   … If I had to start my blog again, I would make sure that I have activated the Akismet WordPress Plugin to block all spam from the beginning.

6. Comment on other Blogs

   Commenting on other blogs is one good way to get your blog noticed by other bloggers …

7. Submit Bog to Dmoz

   … I would make sure that I submit my blog to Dmoz and Yahoo’s Directory.

8. Submit Articles to Ezine Articles

   Submiting your Articles to Ezine Articles will make it exposed to more readers meaning more links to your blog …

9. Better About Page

   An About Page should not only describe about you but also about the site …

10. Subcribe Buttons

    I used to have my Subscribe buttons only on my homepage for many months. This prevented readers from easily subscribing to my blog …

11. Unnecessary Meta Tags

    … I used unnecessary Meta Tags …

12. Link Exchange Services

    A few months back I had registered with a Link Exchange Service who promised to get my blog 1000+ backlinks. Unfortunately, I came to know that the service was fake and was set up to get links for themselves. Also Search Engines consider these services as methods for artificial Link Popularity and may ban your site if they find you using it. So if I had to start my blog again, I would make sure that I never use these services

go blog yourself:

• Start in 1995
• Spend less time staring at stats
• Spend less time worrying about earnings
• Spend more time with my family
• Write funnier
• Write more often
• Quit worrying about everyone else
• Talk shop with more geeks
• More keyword research
• More niche research
• Play with my dog more often
• I would block access to my blogs from my dayjob IP (ie, don’t let the boss see your posting times)

Road Gladiator:

If I had to start Road Gladiator again, I would…

 

• be consistent with my spelling of traveler/traveller.
• end my posts with thought-provoking questions which would drive readers to post a comment
• be more opinionated in my reviews
• reach out more to other travel bloggers
• interview more people in the business travel industry
• take advantage of social bookmarking sites more
• be consistent with the number of entries I post (a bit difficult since, most of the time, my time is not mine)
• dig deeper

Fine Art Collector:

Here are pieces of advice I’ll take away from the group writing project:

 

1. I would use the blog as my main page …

 

2. Read Problogger sooner …

 

3. Learn about the benefits of social networking sooner …

Thatedeguy:

… The first and biggest thing that I would have done differently is to immediately get my own domain and hosting …

… Secondly, I would have like to have begun with more of my own voice than I did …

… I would also have like to have participated more in the conversation than I did …

… Lastly, I should have been much less snarky than I was …

digitalkeyto.info:

First, I would choose a different domain name. I choose a somewhat generic domain name. I had been thinking of using subdomains for other websites … I am not sure using my domain name for the title of the blog was a great idea either.

Second, I would have chosen a host that let me add more domains to the account …

Third, I would have thought more about the niche …

Fourth, I would make sure I start with a theme that is search engine friendly.

The WordPress theme I started with looked great. But when I saw what it gave for the page descriptions in Google, I knew it was not working …

 

Fifth, I would blog more …

Recommended Web Tools:

… My advice to blogging beginners is to simply just do it. The more you do it, the more you learn … Below are four items I would have changed:

 

• Spellchecker …
• Consistency …
• Link Building Skills …
• The single most important thing I would change is time. Time to read. Time to write. Time to think. Time to create.

surviving nj:  [Warning: POPUPS]

One small step before starting my blog would have set me on a different path. One tiny detail could have changed it all! What am I speaking of? …

That one small step I speak of is setting a path, maybe an outline of where I wanted my blog to go and what I wanted to say. I decided on a random path so I wouldn’t be boxed in. I find that I speak on many different topics which makes it easier on me, but finding a target audience is a little different … Finding that niche and working towards a target is the sensible thing to do, but come on now, I’m a Jersey Girl, who said I’m sensible!

betterthancrabs:

First thing I would change and I know this now especially if I was looking at capitalizing on the blog would be to create a narrower focus for the blog …

Secondly I would have researched into blogging more and realized that it wasn’t just “online journals” where only friends read what you wrote and that there is a market for interesting facts/opinions …

The third change ties into the second change. Along with research into what blogging could do for me I would have looked harder at what all the plugins could offer me with ease of use and help in generating an audience …

The fourth change would have been to jump on the link exchange/gathering sooner in the blog expedition …

The last change that I can think of quickly is to stop being ignorant to the fact that people might want to contact me …

BREM experience:

… First off, I would choose a domain name that fits my blog name …

… Secondly, I would decide on a narrower topic, a niche …

The BizTechie Chronicles:

1) I would not get hung up on how big my subscriber base was or how many visits I got
2) I would focus on quality content and add more personality to my posts

3) Post more frequently, daily at a minumun

4) And most of all, I would blog about a specific topic I wanted to learn about or was passionate about

Picasa Fun:

The moral of a story:

• Always verify your sources or posts.
• If discovered to be inaccurate, post an update for your readers lest you lose "blog honor" which may be hard to recover.
• Thank your readers for correcting you.

Simple Thoughts:

Here are my two cents…

1. Write as regularly as possible
2. Write more
3. Add a contact form upfront
4. Start with my own domain upfront. I wasted two years from 2001-2003 blogging at blogspot. Blogspot simply isn’t suitable for serious bloggers.

Palm Discovery:

… I probably would have first started out volunteering to write at other blogs instead of starting out at Blogger or WordPress or other similar free blogging sites. Why? Well, I’d get a better sense of what it’s like to blog, get a feel of the structure of what’s expected in blogging and have an audience that will become familiar with me and my writing …

… So, as things progress, and I feel that I am comfortable enough to start out on my own, then, I’d start my own blog. I’d first register and get my own domain name, get a good host with good tech support and use WordPress, which is a great free blogging platform. Forget about the free blogging sites like Blogger because it can be such a pain to move to your own domain and host (as I’ve discovered) when you do decide to move …

ipears:

• Read, read, read. I would spend way more time reading other people’s blogs and guidance sites before preparing and building my own blog.
• Preparation. I would try to be patient and firstly get all parts of my blog optimized for both visitors and publisher.
• SEO. Mmm, this was a road too long, only because I did not read enough about it until lately.
• Monetization. This part has gotten a lot of my attention lately, but as being part of your blog it should be optimized before your blog is released to the public.
• Content over design. I have been worrying a lot on the design of my blogs, where I had spent my time better writing content.
• Diversification. I think I would try to offer visititors more than just the blog. Every other adequate way of offering visitors a total package should be anticipated. Blog, forum, mailinglists, community participation, store… everything in 1 style and with a clear image representing the identity of the main blog …

blogtrepreneur:

• I wouldn’t have been tight, and I would have bought this domain name earlier with hosting so as to add to my reputation earlier and to get that all valuable search engine listing in sooner in the blogging game.
• I wouldn’t have used Blogger to start my blog …
• I would have used WordPress as my CMS (content management system). Its usability is fantastic, you can modify your heart out and its free! What else could you want!?
• I would have started networking earlier with fellow entrepreneurs …
• I would have taken advantage more of EzineArticles, Digg, Technorati, Feedburner, Performancing and all the other programs I now use which helps running a blog so much easier …

However, what I would definitely do the most, is to not focus on the money aspect of blogging …

BizMord Search & Marketing Blog:

Some things I would do differently are;

1. Hire a designer to design my blog and not waste hours of my time fixing, tweaking and going mad when something goes wrong. It’s just not worth it, unless you love tweaking things until your hair leaves your had.

2. Choosing the style and content before spilling my guts on the blog. I found this to be true. Don’t rush to write 20 posts a day. We all have a lot to say and when we rush and just blabber, things come out wrong.

3. Keep every post as short as possible, yet cover everything you want to say. Blogs are different from newsletters. People usually visit more than 10 blogs a day and most do not like those long, long posts that usually just blabber about the author.

4. Right away make sure that the size of the words are large enough for the reader to have a comfortable read. When I started this blog, the style of the letters and size was off for me. I had to manually go and change the code a little …

5. Hosting my blog on this address  http://www.bizmord.com/Blog notice the capital “B”. Now I have to do a redirect in case people type the address with a lower case “b” in a word blog.

flippingheck:

I’ve been thinking about my blog and my blogging habbits in general quite a bit recently and this is what I think I’d do if I knew then what I know now…

Figure out my niche

  … In retrospect I would have started my Productivity and Project Management posting a lot earlier and set up a completely separate blog for the drunken annecdotes. Sure I still add them to this site occasionally but I’ve now found my focus it’s only a shame that it took me so long to figure it out.

Have more confidence

… I wish I’d had the confidence sooner to say "Hey, actually I know something and I think know people will be interested in it".

I know there’s an old adage "Publish and be damned", but I think that I could maybe have been, and be, a bit less "middle of the road" when it comes to reviews and commentary, but I’m sure that’ll come as my confidence grows.

Stop fiddling!

As I mentioned, I’ve built this entire blog platform from scratch and I can’t seem to stop fiddling with it from a back-end/coding point of view …

What’s in a name?

When this blog was solely about my antics and stalking comedy stories, the "Flipping Heck" name seemed quite appropriate. Now I’ve changed the focus it doesn’t really fit in with what I’m writing about, I don’t want to change it though as it’s been linked to and indexed quite a bit …

Don’t be so cheap

It’s a bit confusing, I wanted originally to keep the blog separate from my "corporate site" so I purchased the "flippingheck.com" domain, I was too cheap to pay for extra hosting (and regular readers will know I’m extremly cheap ) so I just forwarded the domain to a subfolder of this site. Bad idea! Not only does it tie my blog to me (not a problem now but it was a really stupid thing to do when I was ranting and raving about my stupid Pointy Haired Boss), now I really want to sort the "Branding" out it’s going to be a nightmare.

Don’t be ashamed to ask for money

I resisted Adsense, and any form of advertising for ages, I guess this goes back to the confidence thing – how could I ask people to click on an advert to give me money when I was writing drivel?

Peter T Davis:

I’d be more of a link hound …

I’d do more networking with bloggers who are interested in the same topics …

I’d stay more with the unique stuff … Sure, that makes it more difficult to come up with interesting posts, but I’d rather stick to my couple of posts a week and make them count than be a “me too” blogger.

Dorai’s LearnLog:

So If I have to start my blog again, what would I do different?

• Blog when something compels me to share my learning
• Participate in group writing projects, if I have something worth saying
• Pick a few areas I am passionate about and stick to blogging about them
• Blog when I feel like it, and have the time
• Write as few or as many I like, when I like

Bald Man Blogging:

First, I’d have made more lists. I’d have thought about the type of posts I wanted to do up front and made long lists of topics within each type. Perhaps I’m a little slow on the uptake, but I’m just learning the value of this as a tool for remembering ideas and sparking new ones.

Second, I’d have doubled my estimates on how much time it would take.

Marketing No Brainers:

… First I would have started sooner. Second, I would have gone to my own hosted domain sooner. Third, I would have spent more time thinking about the SEO effectiveness of my Blog titles …

Make Easy Money With Google & Adsense:

My Blogging Mistakes
 

Forget the name and colors. My biggest regrets with this blog are:

 

• Changing the domain name …
• Not placing the blog at the root of the domain. Initially I thought the blog would be just one component of the site, which was intended to be a companion site for my book. But the blog’s taken over the site for all intents and purposes …
• Not using WordPress. Because I’m a Java programmer, I had a natural attraction to the blojsom blogging platform. But in the end it’s cost me time and effort because I can’t just go and install all those wonderful WordPress plugins that everyone’s developing for their blogs …

 

Other things are more minor. One is not developing a mailing list from day one, instead I waited a good six months before putting together my newsletter and offering the ability to read this blog by mail (see instructions below). Another is spending too much of my time with this particular blog, to the detriment of my other money-generating projects. But you don’t necessarily blog for money, so I think that’s a common "regret" …

Resurrecting the Wood:

… Now this very question will place doubt in the most seasoned veteran because the very existence of our blog is being questioned. Is it the right subject, the right niche, do people find the content amusing or educational. Is the design appealing or down right boring. These many questions are racing through my mind/our minds when several days ago this was not even an issue, well not in a sense where it was at the forefront of any current discussion …

Design template first, before the first post.
Start with the right domain name.