Set up a personal blog

Unfamiliarity is the breeding ground of excuses, just like a kid standing at the edge of the big diving board at the local pool. Or a politician trying to give an honest answer for the first time.

Just think, all this time you’ve complained that blogging is too hard to do – or too expensive. Yet, after just two days, the great news is that you’re two-thirds of the way there.

Two days ago, dear Taskmaster reader, you read through some business blogs and had a look at why they work. Then you wrote up some blog posts of your own in Word. Well, the good news is that the hardest part of the job done.

Today, you’re going to set up a personal blog. Note that this doesn’t have to be an official blog for your company – just one you can occasionally write some posts on and play around with to become a little more familiar with blogs. You can even use a pseudonym for it if you wish – trust me, blogging with a pseudonym is a concept Old Taskmaster wholeheartedly endorses.

I can hear the excuses coming again. It’s too hard to do! It’s too expensive! I’d much rather spend my time cuddling a cute little puppy dog!

Well, the great news is (as long as you don’t mind some unobtrusive ads down the side) a basic blog can be yours for the low, low price of free. As for time, you’ve done most of the work already, so no more excuses!

Start by visiting one of the free blog hosting websites. WordPress.com and Blogger.com (which is owned by Google) are good places to start. You can upgrade to something more advanced once you’ve got the hang of it.

On the website, click the “sign up” or “get started” button. You’ll be asked to enter your email, choose a user name, choose a password, choose a name for your blog, and pick a layout.

Honestly, if you’ve ever set up a Hotmail or Gmail account, you’ll be able to glide through this step unassisted. However, if you’re still unsure, just get your nearest Gen-Y Tech Master to help you out.

Once it’s set up, choose the button that says “create new post”. Now you just copy your headline from Word and paste it into the headline field, then copy and paste your contents into the big box below it, and click “publish” (on some blogs, the “publish” button is called “save” so don’t panic if you don’t see it).

Congratulations, you’ve just published your first blog! That wasn’t so scary, now was it?

Once you get more confident in blogging, you can set one up for your business. But for now, make sure you keep your personal blog updated semi-regularly – and tell your friends and family about it too!

That wasn’t as tough as you imagined, now was it?

Get it done – today!