Who Taught You – Open Mic

45 thoughts on “Who Taught You – Open Mic”

1. Hi Mike – Trial and error is a great way to learn, isn’t it? When I learn from my mistakes, the information sticks so much better.

   I just clicked over to your Civil War blog. What a fascinating site. You’ve done LOTS of writing since 2003, haven’t you. That looks like a great blog to dig into.

   Hi Davina – Re-balance. I hear you. When we’re new (and even if we’re not) learning all there is to learn, can be mind boggling and time consuming. I’m waiting to see your new theme, but I’ll be patient…..:)

   Hi Bamboo – Yes, blogging is writing, and a lot of reading. For me it was a lot of searching for “how to…”, also. Skellie and Copyblogger are also great sites for bloggers to turn to.

   Hi Catherine – So we both took the day off. I hope you had a good one. For some reason I thought you had been blogging for a long time. I didn’t realize we started about the same time. Yaro has a good blog, too. I’ve been on his a few times and always found it helpful.

   Your new theme is pretty. I really like the chrome lettering as it’s different from other blogs.

2. Through trial and error, I taught myself. Exit78 is actually not my first blog, nor is my only blog. My oldest blog entries go back to December 2003 and are in my Daily Chronicles of the American Civil War blog, which I am badly gotten behind on. It currently has 5940 posts in it’s current location. There are 4588 posts in the old location which will be moved eventually.

   I only use free themes or free versions of paid themes.

   Mike Goad´s last blog post..Overflow

3. Hi Barbara. I noticed you didn’t post yesterday and am happy that it was by choice and not that you were ill or something. I’m temporarily taking less time for blogging as well. There has been too much on my plate lately and I have had to re-balance things.

   I’ve been learning blogging on the go, through your blog and through observing what other bloggers are doing. Harmony got me started with a basic course on blogging as an SEO tool. I still have a lot to learn and that is fine.

   My current blog / theme was a free one. I have recently purchased a new theme for the new blog that I’m desperately trying to get ready to launch. What a learning curve! And with me being impatient… well that doesn’t help.

   Have a great weekend!

   Davina´s last blog post..Awakening To A Balanced Life

4. Thank you for the links to the books on the right, Barbara.

   Two features of blogs that are beginning to interest me more are podcasting and videoblogging.

   I actually believe that more interactive, multimedia blogs are going to increase in number- and I’d like to learn some more about this.

   Well, my ‘blog education’ has come about through reading ‘how to’ blogs like your own, problogger.net, skelliewag.org… and quite a few others I’ve stumbled across in the blogosphere.

   I also consider what seems to work on other blogs I enjoy- for example, on Vered’s momgrind and Liz’s successful-blog.

   I guess I’ve been a blog ‘sponge’ for the past few months 🙂

   But, I guess the real education will come when my blog goes ‘live’- nothing can beat learning on the job!

5. At the root of it, blogging is writing. If you can write, you can blog.

   At least that is true, to a great extent. So, if anything, reading taught me how to blog since I believe that reading is the best way to improve writing.

   That being said, I have learned some pointers from Skelliewag, problogger, your blog and others. My theme comes from the P.I. Universe.

   Copyblogger has also been an immense help.

   Bamboo Forest´s last blog post..How Would You Resdesign the Interior of the White House?

6. Hi Barbara – And I thought it was me getting muddled with the time differences. I didn’t post yesterday either – I’d done a really long post the day before instead.

   I started reading Steve Pavlina not even knowing it was a blog. He has a full website on there, so I just didn’t realise it was any different. Also, like you, I learned from Problogger and Blogging Without A Blog of course and also a few other blogs like Yaro’s entrepreneurs journey.

   I didn’t start blogging at cathlawson.com until May 2007. Before that, I blogged on blogspot.com for a few months, but I didn’t post too often. I moved those posts over to the new domain but wish I hadn’t as they were bad.

   Initially, I used one of the free themes from WordPress and kept changing it then in Feb this year, Men With Pens customised the Revolution theme for me. It’s a lot cheaper to have a theme customised than pay for a design from scratch.

   Cath Lawson´s last blog post..You Can Overcome Lack Of Self Confidence

7. Hi Barbara. I’ve learned blogging through trial and error, what I’ve read on other blogs (like yours), and from wordpress website. No books, no classes, no formal education. I use a free theme (call me cheap) and I have learned enough that I can make slight modifications. I’ve been toying with changing the theme, just not sure I’m ready to dig into what kind of time commitment that might take…

   Lance´s last blog post..Life Balance: A Very Personal Pyramid

8. 1.- Who taught me? Leo Babauta, mainly I think and Lifehack, these were the first blogs I looked for advice and inspiration. You can notice my uncopyright.

   Then yours, Writer Dad, A day with Tammy, Get Rich Slowly… should I show you my entire RSS reader? 🙂

   2.- My theme is free, but I like it.

   Open Mic: How that Commsion Junction works? My page rak is a mere 2, would I benefit for that or is just not worth the trouble?

9. i learned to blog the same way i learned to drive and drive a stick…just do it. 🙂 or wait, should i say practice, practice, practice. yes.

   i’m very comfortable with picking up a book and learning how to do something and if that doesn’t work, then i ask somebody.

   have a good weekend.

   Natural´s last blog post..breaking up is hard to do

10. I’m pretty well self taught. My first ever blog came alive merely as a way to improve the ranking of my website as I heard that Google liked changing content. I soon became to love blogging and it is now a part of my life and I have about 7 blogs running at the moment. having said that most of my effort goes into only 4 of them

    All my themes have been free although I did consider purchasing one until I realized there wasn’t all that much support from the author. I haven’t had any luck with CJ yet and so I have switched my concentration to other avenues.

    Sire´s last blog post..Commentators, How Do I Reward Thee? Let Me Count The Ways

11. Hi Barbara – Integrating everything we want to do requires vigilance, doesn’t it? It’s great that you’re noticing a need to re-evaluate and moving on it.

    I researched blogging for six months before we took the plunge in July. Leo of Zen Habits influenced me the most at the start of the year. Our New Year’s resolution was to get moving on our dreams and projects, in anticipation of our trip to Alaska. I had read Tim Ferriss’ The 4 Hour Work Week and performed an experiment in remote “working” from St. George’s Island that convinced us we could sidle into alternatives. 🙂

    Having discussed politics ad nauseam for over a decade online with some great adversaries, I didn’t want the hassles of that narrow niche. I began a blog on Blogspot with that focus years ago and abandoned it because it had such a negative pull on my psyche, although I do still enjoy a rousing discussion at the dinner table! Since everyone is multi-faceted, we decided to take a broader scope and hoped that our outlook and subject variety would relate to other folks in their journeys.

    I have learned so much by what you have shared here, and have been inspired by many of the bloggers who frequent your page. You and Cath are especially supportive of me, and I don’t know what I did to deserve it. Michael Martine of Remarkablogger has been a great source, as has Darren at Problogger. Daily Blog Tips and Copyblogger are great reads – the Thesis theme is fabulous in design and support. Leo’s Write to Done is good, too. I’ve also been very inspired by fellow members of Triiibes – Seth Godin’s invitational experiment, and Chris Brogan in social networking.

    I just realized I wrote so much I have probably disqualified myself from being considered for Not So New Blog. Accckkk!, that’s the last thing I wanted to have happen! Thanks for all you do.

    Betsy´s last blog post..MOMENTUM

12. Ok, this one is going to be tough. I probably read everything about blogging I could lay my hands on for 6 months or so.

    Ofcourse, problogger is treated like a bible for blogging.

    Yaro Starak’s Blog Profits BluePrint is a great report – a must read actually.

    Books: Aaron Wall’s SEO Book, ‘What google never told you about making money with adsense’ – joel comm, ‘internet business’ – yaro starak etc. I actually deleted lot of e-books which were of no use to me anymore but offered great help when I begun with my blog. I have forgotten most of seo and adsense since I still have to apply both practically.

    I still do look out for learning opportunities. Follow around 10 blogs.

    And yes, you were missed yesterday.

    Avani´s last blog post..Staying On Diet Without Offending The Host

13. Hi Barbara,

    I read Problogger before I got started, but mostly I’ve learned while on the job. I tried a few free themes, once I went to WordPress. I was on Blogspot for around two months before that. I was never really happy with the look until I bucked up and bought Thesis. Thesis felt like home from the very first post.

    Have a great weekend all.

    Writer Dad´s last blog post..At Least I Don’t Have Zits

14. Barbara – Actually, my Daily Chronicles of the American Civil War blog has been used primarily to publish existing material from the time of the civil war — primarily news articles and diary entries — on the day of the year that they were actually published on. I started with January of 1860 with the lead up to the war, which started in April. The blog is currently in 1864, but my last post were from September 1864, which means I’ve got to find time to catch up and get ahead.

    Mike Goad´s last blog post..Overflow

15. @ Scott – so when are we going to see the Scott McIntyre blog? I’ve been waiting to see your name turn into a link (to something other than Twitter). I bet you’ll be a good blogger.

    @ Barbara – I noticed you took yesterday off. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve only posted 1 post this week and for the last few weeks I’ve only been averaging 2. I’ve been real busy here myself.

    I’ve decided it’s ok to slow down my posting for the moment because I’m working on a few projects which I believe in the long run will increase readership, community, and web hosting customers in the end.

    Thank you for the eBooks link, I’m actually thinking of turning my WordPress security tips series of posts into an eBook. What do you think?

    John Hoff – eVentureBiz´s last blog post..How I Obtained A $30,000 Credit Line With A Bad Credit Score

16. I learned to blog by OJT…. I learned as I went and I found a great mentor along the way. Everything I do from the theme, ads and products are free. I find that if you work at it, you can pretty much do everything for free.

    My learning curve was ok but I am still learning. It seems just as you get to know what you are doing, things change.

    Linda´s last blog post..FDA Needs Labeling

17. Pretty much self taught. I’ve been blogging on and off since 2001 but never seriously until this year. I’m actually much more interested in the design and the coding than in the writing. I play around with WordPress quite a bit and finally decided to write about what I was doing. I’ve found that my writing has improved since I started and that I enjoy it more but it’s my least favorite part of blogging. Weird, huh?

    Oh – I do own the Problogger book but I haven’t read it. Though I haven’t read much of anything this year whereas I used to read a book a week.

    Kim Woodbridge´s last blog post..(Anti) Social-Lists 10/19/08

18. I’m self-taught as well.

    My theme was free, but I paid for customization. I agree with Cath that it’s cheaper to have a theme customised than pay for a design from scratch.

    Vered – MomGrind´s last blog post..Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

19. I started my personal blog on http://www.nammamane.com in 2002. Self taught, thanks to the internet 🙂 Since it was a personal space I worried about nothing with respect to the readership and such. But with my new blog I have been learning a lot more with respect to SEO, social media and such. And asking questions to anyone that seems like they will answer – like I have done here a few times. The most satisfying way for me to learn is by experimenting 🙂

    Maya´s last blog post..Born Into Poverty : Blog Action Day 2008

20. Barbara, I noticed there was no post from you yesterday, and I thought my feed reader must have been broken! It’s nice to know that everything is fine, and you were just taking a day off. It really shows how consistent you are when we notice one missing post.

21. Problogger was one of my first blogs to read and to learn from. Then cane a lot of other blogs about blogging, yours too. I also follow some blogs about writing. But I also went via trial and error – changed from blogspot to wordpress, and just some days ago I changed the free wordpress theme. I learn while I am practising. Haven’t read any books about blogging up to now.

    Ulla Hennig´s last blog post..The last Flowers of the Year

22. Hi Scott – You’re welcome. I tend to agree with you that the interactive blogs will become popular. Steve Pavlina has podcasts on his blog and having listened to some of them, it’s a great way to get a message across other than in the written form. I’ve listened/watched some of Darren’ (Problogger) videos, and those are great, too.

    As you know, others as well as myself are anxiously waiting for you to go live with your blog. I’m guessing your “sponge” is pretty full by now. It’s time to share your blog with the world. 🙂

    Hi Lance – Hey, I’ve always used free themes, and it’s a good thing I have as in the beginning I was changing my theme about once a month. Can you imagine what that would have cost? I’m curious as to what you would change your them to. There’s a lot of great ones out there, so your choices are many.

    Hi Miguel – With regard to Commission Junction. They are an advertising affiliate program. They have advertisers who sign up and then we can sign up as “publishers”. (It’s free). Once you’re approved (and I think they approve nearly anyone), you pick and choose from their advertisers list. Each advertiser has different terms. Some will immediately approve you, others manually approve publishers. Sometimes you may not be approved as some advertisers may not want their ads on blogs or may not think they and you are a good “fit”.

    Once you have an approval, you can then start adding the ads to your site. They supply the code in either java script or HTML. Each advertiser has dozens of choices in banners or text. When someone clicks on the ad (that’s on your blog) and makes a purchase, you get a commission. Apparently it works well for others and they can make a lot of money, however, I don’t use it enough. Thus far, in 18 months I’ve only made $18.75. That’s not even enough for them to send me a check, so it stays in my account until I have a specified amount. I think their limit for checks is $100, but I’m not positive.

    Even though your page rank is 2, you could benefit from it as long as you can find ads that fit your content and you get enough traffic (and ad clickers). It’s worth a try since it’s free.

    Hi Natural – Hey, that’s how I learned how to drive, too. I agree, practicing is the key, plus learning from our mistakes and not being afraid to ask for help.

    Hi Betsy – Vigilance. Great choice of words. That suits blogging to a “T”.

    You have me laughing with that statement, “I just realized I wrote so much I have probably disqualified myself from being considered for Not So New Blog. Accckkk!”. You’re in luck, a new or not so new blog (of the week), doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t blog before, it just means the “blog” is either new or not so new. Yipeeee! Yipee!!! You’re not out! 🙂

    Hi Avani – What a great list of resources you’ve shared. That’s another vote for Yaro, and of course, Darren. I’ve seen the SEO book (by Aaron Wall) advertised a lot, but never read it. Would you recommend it?

    Hi Writer Dad – I remember you sharing the story of you and your Thesis theme in the past. That is a fabulous fit for your blog and it’s content. I’m seeing more and more bloggers using that theme. It is awesome.

    Hi again Mike – I find that so fascinating. If I ever have a chunk of free time I need to read your blog posts. In the past I never cared too much about history, but as I get older, I’m finding I enjoy it a lot more. Now I know where to catch up on the Civil War.

    Hi Sire – You’re certainly busy with seven blogs. Even 4 is a lot to manage. Like you, I had heard Google likes content that changes. Isn’t it funny how we start writing for one reason, and then we realize another factor (of blogging) is actually bringing us much more joy?

    You brought up a great point with regard to themes that we might consider purchasing. If the support isn’t there, it could be a waste of money.

    Hi John – Yes, I’ve noticed you’ve slowed down on your posting schedule, too. It sounds like the time off is helping to redirect your efforts.

    Re: your ebook. I think that’s a fabulous idea.

    Hi Linda – Yes, we can blog for free, if we’re willing to “dig” for the resources. The only things I’ve paid for are my domain names and web host.

    Hi Kim – Wow, I didn’t realize you were such an seasoned blogger. 2001? You mentioned design and coding. Have you designed themes? If so, I’d love to see some of your work.

    I hear you about reading. I have Liz Strauss’s book and still haven’t finished it.

    Hi Vered – You and Catherine bring up a great idea. Find a theme you like and just pay for the customization. It’s a great way to save money.

    Hi Maya – Ah ha, another seasoned blogger. I’ll have to check out your personal blog. Learning by experimenting is a great way to learn. I’ve set up a “training/testing” blog for that purpose. Before I add anything to this one, I test it out first. It’s saved me a lot of headaches. Even if I crash that one, it doesn’t matter.

    Hi Ulla – I just clicked over to your blog. I LOVE your new theme. The photos are gorgeous. I’m guessing those are ones you’ve taken.

    Hi Jennifer – You’re so sweet, and you’re welcome. I remember you saying earlier how your husband was your tech support. It doesn’t get any better than that.

    Yes, your theme is beautiful. Every time I visit you, I always pause and look at the photo it your header and envision myself at the side of the body of water. Very tranquil.

    Re: CommentLuv and your registration. I had the same problem, but then it corrected itself. I’m not sure, but Andy may be approving the entries manually. If it doesn’t work by Monday or so, leave him a comment and he can take a look at your entry from the back side.

    Hi Hunter – Yes, I have been consistent. I almost wrote a post saying I wasn’t going to be posting, but then I thought it would defeat the purpose of taking a day off from posting.

    Hi Vintage Mommy – Isn’t it great how other bloggers will help us. I made the mistake in the beginning of not asking – thinking my questions would sound elementary. Looking back, I wish I had. That’s why here (on BWAB) I want anyone to feel comfortable in asking ANY question, no matter how simple it may sound. If I don’t know the answer, one of the other BWABers probably does.

23. Hi Barbara. I’m still learning about blogging – and I’m learning a lot from you. I don’t feel like I could say thank you enough. In the beginning I learned from my husband the techy stuff, and learned about other blogging related things by reading other blogs – mostly in my niche.

    My theme was free (and beautiful).

    Oh and good for you Barbara for taking the day off (from blogging anyway). You deserved it.

    Jennifer´s last blog post..It’s Your Choice….

24. Here’s my question: I’ve registered my site at Comment Luv, but whenever I leave a comment somewhere it says I’m not registered. Has anyone else had this problem? Maybe I just thought I registered, but did something else instead…. 🙂

    Jennifer´s last blog post..It’s Your Choice….

25. I would say self-taught, with a lot of help from fellow bloggers along the way, including you!

    The themes I’m using now are free themes. I bought Thesis planning to use it for Vintage Mommy, but I was discouraged by not understanding the coding and was spending too much time figuring it out.

    When and if I do decide to switch, I’ll probably pay for some help at first.

    Vintage Mommy´s last blog post..Vintage Mommy, International Woman of Mystery

26. Sure I keep myself pretty busy, almost as busy as you are replying to all the comments. Shows that whatever you are doing you are doing well.

    Sire´s last blog post..Can You See The Human Apparition In This Splash Of Water

27. When I first started blogging, I had no idea what I was doing. I went to Google and signed up for one. I picked an ugly-looking theme and started.

    I just wrote because I enjoy writing. I was getting no responses but it didn’t bother me. Then one day ECD from In Search of Isis commented on my blog.

    I then started visiting his blog and others. I learned a lot just from reading other blogs. I have’t really done much else.

    I’m quite happy with my theme and design now. I’m glad that I didn’t have to learn any coding. I don’t have the time to do that.

    Chase March´s last blog post..It’s Just the Way We’re Built

28. Hi again Barbara,

    Thanks a lot, that was helpful. 🙂

    Miguel de Luis´s last blog post..How to recover your family life – The slow family manifesto

29. Hi Barbara: I haven’t read a single book on blogging, but I’m thinking of getting “Problogger”. I’ve gotten a lot of good advice from this blog and mostly I just do Google searches when there’s something I need to learn. I just started reading the “Copywriter” blog and Darren’s blog.

    Marelisa´s last blog post..18 Ways to be Uber Creative

30. I’m still learning how to blog, only been at it a month! Loving it tho.

    Yes, Problogger’s full of great tips.

    (Saw your comment on MomGrind.)

    Jannie´s last blog post..How much more of a hint do I need?

31. I read a lot at first! A LOT!

    I noticed the comment threads one day and started reading through those. Then a few weeks later, I worked up the courage to start leaving comments. LoL. Then, next thing you know, I signed up to join a social network and got my own free blog! This move was a no-brainer, I promoted my blog and got a lot of comment-luv! I mean it was a social network after all!

    Then, I started my own blog on TypePad and have been there ever since!

    Ricardo Bueno´s last blog post..Social Media Is…

32. To begin with I am still learning how to blog. Well, who taught me? Nobody in fact… I guess so many years of browsing-the-net habit has made a very good self-learner out me (and I guess most others as well). At the same time, it would not be good to say nobody taught you – because there was somebody a blogger or a geek or freelancer who put things together for you out there, but ah who remembers him?

    My theme was free – I picked it from daily blog tips but made hell lot of changes to it by myself to fit my needs. I know that it’s not perfect, probably once I start making good money out of it, I will invest more into a good theme. One good thing about blogs is that you can kickstart one almost FREE of cost!

    If I were to start a new blog I would look into BWAB and everybody else who wants to start a new blog can visit DollarShower 😆

    Cheers,
    Ajith

    Ajith Edassery´s last blog post..Giving your old blog post a Sarah Palin makeover

33. I was lucky to get to know a guy over in the Warrior Forum and he made and sent me personal notes on how to set up a blog. That was about 2-3 years back. It took me a long time to really learn it, because I don’t have a technical background and I was also busy with other stuff. Now that I am back into blogging, I’m loving every minute of it!!

    Evelyn Lim´s last blog post..Can You Read My Mind?

34. Hi Barbara – I read Problogger and Yaro for a while, and started with a Blogspot blog, at the start of this year. When I changed to self-hosted WordPress, I chose a free theme, and have now changed to a paid one. I could handle the technical side because I had been dabbling in building websites for a couple of years.

    Robin´s last blog post..Emotional Balance

35. Hey Barbara! I guess I just stumbled into blogging. I won a Sanyo waterproof camcorder and was asked to promote it for 6 months via the internet. I made some movies showing different camera techniques and put them around the internet. I became friends with other bloggers around the country doing this and this is where I am today. I actually didn’t begin blogging for myself until a couple of months ago.

    I learned that many readers could relate to my blog because I touched on life lessons that I have learned from my family. I began to share photography along with these lessons and the blog began to grow. At first I didn’t have anything in particular to write about but now…I have found my little niche and love it.

    Tammy Warren´s last blog post..Unspectacular Quirks

36. Thanks for you blog. I thought that maybe you needed to hear this.

37. Hi again Miguel – You’re welcome. If you sign up and have additional questions, please feel free to ask.

    Hi Marelisa – Blogging books seem to be more popular now, don’t they? I’ve read Lorelle’s and that is one I wish I had access to before I started blogging as she explains the terminology and a lot of “how to’s”

    Hi Sire – Thank you for the kind words. Like you, I do the best I can with the time I have to do it.

    Hi Jannie – Welcome to the BWAB community. Thank you for following my link from MomGrind. Vered has a great blog, doesn’t she? And yes, Problogger is full of great tips.

    Welcome also to blogosphere. I’ll be over later to visit you.

    Hi Chase – That’s a great way to blog – just start. It’s through that process we learn and grow. Coding was something that confused me (and still does).

    Hi Ricardo – You did the same thing as Scott is doing which I think is a great way to enter into the world of blogging. It gave you a chance to get you feet wet and see what you could expect. It’s worked very well for you.

    Hi Ajith – You do bring up a great point. We often learn from “unnamed” bloggers as we surf around the internet. It’s hard to remember who all we visited, but we’re forever grateful for their words.

    Yes, Dollar Shower is another great blog to find information on blogging. I visit it often. 🙂

    Hi Evelyn – I’m sure you’ll be forever grateful for your friend in the Warrior forum. And we all thank him too, as your blog is a great read.

    Hi Tammy – What a wonderful story. Who knew, hey? And like they say, “the rest is history”. 🙂

    Hi Robin – I see Problogger and Yaro are getting a lot of votes for places for a new blogger to frequent. You’re lucky you understand the technical side. For me that’s always somewhat challenging.

    Hi again Miguel – ***smiles***. You’re welcome. I truly appreciate your support.

    Hi Jeremy – Thank you. So you’re a seasoned blogger, as well. It is a little scary taking the plunge, isn’t it? But it appears most bloggers are happy they do.

38. Hi Barbara,

    Great post as usual. I started on Blogger about 4 years ago and finally went to a self hosted WordPress site. I am self taught. I learned everything I know from trial and error and searching for the answers online.
    I can’t say there was one source that taught me, but one source that inspired me was Steve Pavlina’s site. I found him about 2 or 3 years ago. Maybe longer? It took me awhile to go and get my own .com site. I wish I would have done it sooner, but I am glad I finally took the plunge.

    Cheers,
    Jeremy

    Jeremy Day´s last blog post..Giving Thanks and Crediting People for Their Work

39. I started learning from a tech guy who knew html but not blogging. That was good because it got me over my fear of technology. It was bad because of some very poor choices I made early. For example I recently had to revamp my entire categories list because it was inaccurate crap. It’s funny how we make decisions based on comments of others and can allow ourselves to be lead astray.

    I’ve only used free themes so far.

    Why buy a book on blogging when it’s most likely a good bit more dated than what you can find in blog articles?

    Tom Volkar / Delightful Work´s last blog post..Leveraging Community

40. I started out on Blogger in 2006. I really enjoyed my blogging adventures there but felt the need to spread my wings and move to my own self-hosted blog(s) in May of this year. I’ve never looked back! I suppose I’d say I’m a self-taught blogger. I read other blogs, have read the ProBlogger book, and since I’m a pretty personable gal with a lifelong passion for writing, I fell in love with blogging very easily. I learn new things each day, though, and that’s part of the beauty of it all! 🙂

    *smiles*
    Michele

41. Hey Barbara –

    I’m a self-taught blogger and I could write several books on how NOT to blog. I’ll never forget the day I checked my comments on my one blog and found a few thousand I didn’t know existed. I like being from the school of hard-knocks — it’s where I learn the best lessons.

    That said, I started a few blogs as experiments to learn more about blogging and I’ve learned a ton. One of the most interesting things I’ve learned is how blogging happens along the way during some other destination. For example, my one blog SourcesOfInsight is just a practice blog, but at some point, I might as well just admit, it’s a real blog for now.

    Since I might actually use it as a real blog, I might shift my style to more conversational and more me, versus purely reference. I experimented with my last two posts and I’ll be shifting gears as I get my groove on.

    J.D. Meier´s last blog post..Be Aware of the Larger System

42. Hi Tom – You do bring up an excellent point. Following the advice others tell us may not always be the best. What works for some, may not work for all.

    I agree we can find a lot of information online and not have to buy books (and they may be outdated), but when we do find a good one, hopefully it’s timeless and makes a good resource to have in our blogging “library”.

    Hi Michele – Welcome to the BWAB community. Isn’t that wonderful how that works? With blogging, we do learn something new everyday. Can’t beat that. 🙂

    Hi J.D. – Haha. “The school of hard-knocks”, that’s the best (?) place to learn.

    You do have a “real” blog. I’ll be over soon to check out your new writing style. I’m betting it’s great.

43. I just began a blog one day after seeing some friends’. Definitely learned by trial and error. And just looking at different blogs out there.

    One thing I realized early on is I wanted a three-column layout which is an unusual thing on Blogger. I found a custom one that I paid someone to customize even further, with header buttons and all and I’ve been very happy with that.

    My blog posts (topic, length, style) are a continuous experiment.

    Pink Ink´s last blog post..Color Me Happy

44. Hi Barbara,

    Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m so glad to be here! As for your question… Yes, you’re absolutely right!

    *smiles*
    Michele

    Michele´s last blog post..Guest Post: Even Writers Need to Back Up

45. How did you learn to blog?

    Learned by doing. When I started, I made a strong commitment that required a real stretch, 3 days a week, no matter what. At first I wondered what to write about, even though I have a huge inventory of content from my books, audio and video products, speeches and training programs. But now, every time something piques my interest, there’s a good chance i’m going to pursue that interest by writing about it.

    Was your theme free, or did you pay for it?

    My blog got better when i got a better theme, which I paid for and would happily pay for again.

    Best wishes,
    Rick

    Dr. K´s last blog post..Life Skills – Quick! Think Fast!

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