My kids think I'm at the start of a mid-life crisis and refuse to help me on this subject.
Can anybody advise me on how to start a blog and whether or not it is worth it? I write a bit and would quite like to hear peoples opinions on it. Another thread on here suggested starting your own blog but being almost computer iliterate I was wondering how easy it was.

Thankyou in advance, all suggestions welcome.

Reg Wyatt

I think it's worth it, it's good to keep a record of what you've caught and where

Dead easy Reg - if you can type, then you can blog.

I find the blogger templates easy to use, but there are plenty to choose from...

M

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com

Here's a link to get you started Reg.

There are quite a few blog providers so you don't have to stick with this one.

https://www.blogger.com/start

Start off simple with text and maybe a photo or two and work from there. It takes a bit of getting used to but there are help centres if you get stuck.

You'll find your computer literacy / I.T. proficiency improves the more you use it but you've gotta stick with it.

Be prepared for blogging to take a lot of time at the start but once you get content and layout etc., sorted it becomes easier.

They're pretty straightforward to set up. And very easy to update once they're up and running. As for whether they're worth it, well, I suppose that really does depend on why you want a blog. Don't forget that you can keep your blog private too – it may be on the internet, but it doesn't necessarily have to be public.

Have a look at https://www.blogger.com/start and http://wordpress.com/ - they're probably the two big ones. They're both free so you've got nothing to lose by opening accounts at both of them just to see which one you prefer. And if you don't like either of them, then you're no worse off either.

FLYGIRL on here has her own site / blog and her other half is a computer expert so may be she/he could help ?

Reg, I'd like offer you the following advice on what you might call the psychology behind blogging, based on my own experience:

1. Before you do anything else, you need to be absolutely clear on why you're doing this. With the best will in the world, there will be weeks when you really don't feel like blogging and you'll find it far easier to grit your teeth and do so anyway if your motivation is both clear and enduring. Cyberspace is littered with sparkly blogs that ran out of gas. Apart from Taunted by Waters, I run blogs on golf and gambling because, much as I love fishing, I'm a sportswriter first and fishing writer second and should it ever go pear-shaped at Trout Fisherman, I need other, active, strings to my bow. THAT is what keeps me blogging even when every other fibre of my being is urging me to watch TV instead.

2. Your prospects of success are markedly enhanced if you offer either a distinctive voice in your field or are providing information that people can use. People are time-poor these days and I think even the most beautifully-written blog will struggle if it merely comments on events and news, whereas if you are giving readers information with which they can work, they will make the effort to visit your blog. 'Taunted' is still a commentary blog because me dispensing fishing wisdom would be like Ghandi on Boxing but my other blogs are gradually moving towards a 'usable information' theme

3. You will need to learn a little about SEO (search engine optimisation) and keywords but I must stress 'a little'. The Internet will bombard you with information on these points if you allow it to but for all but the biggest blogs, content is king. If you are providing useful information and are entertaining with it, people will come, as long as you observe a few essentials where advertising your blog is concerned.

4. Two links for you: Problogger - people who blog about blogging almost outnumber cockroaches but Australian Darren Rowse is one of the best. Plenty of down-to-earth advice on growing a blog and his more technical stuff you can leave until you're more familiar with the medium. The second link is this one on keywords; poker-related but applicable to any subject. Simply put, if your blog regularly incorporates the same words that a lot of people are searching against on Google ("dry flies," for example) Google will end up pointing those people towards your blog and your readership will grow. This is a very simplistic summary but the article I've referred to will hopefully reduce the wealth of information available on keywords to a practical level. It certainly helped me start to get my head around the subject.

5. Many are those who promise that you can make a second income from blogging. Indeed you can but that Utopia is a long way off and the road towards it is paved with the same hard graft and broken dreams as any other enticing prospect. Know this from the outset.

6. Trent Hamm's 'Simple Dollar' blog currently averages 17,500 hits a day, so his observation on why it took off carries much weight: "I didn’t spend my time focusing on SEO optimization or grumbling about how other blogs got all the breaks or judging my own success based on the subscribers and hits that other blogs got. I basically decided that it didn’t matter and really only thought about the content.
"That made all the difference in the world, and in my eyes, it is THE reason my blog became successful.
"Don’t worry about what others are doing. Don’t sweat the 'perfection' of your layout. Focusing in on that stuff just gets in the way of succeeding. Instead, focus on stuff other people want to read. That’s it, seriously - figuring that out and really applying it was my tipping point."

I wish you well, Reg and feel free to PM me if you have any other queries.

__________________
Jeffrey Prest
Features Editor
Trout Fisherman

A good alternative to blogger is a wordpress hosted site:

http://wordpress.com/

On a side note - dont want to blow my own trumpet (however I am) my blog was the first ever to be dedicated to fishing

http://urbanflyfisher.com/

Have made some great friends, been in the national media, been on telly and really had a very good time doing it - all that from just having a wee record of my trips.

Blogging is not easy - the web is littered with blogs that are only a few weeks to a few months old - you have got to put in a bit of work to create something that other people will read - if you do not care whether other people want to read it you should just create a paper diary

__________________

http://urbanflyfisher.com/

As always on this forum some excellent and helpful advice - thankyou all very much.

I have looked at a few of the blogs mentioned and have been amazed at what I've been missing.

Might still impress the kids! Sorry what am I saying.

Thanks again

Reg Wyatt