Networking Tips by Sharon Bloch

First off, to all of my readers I want to wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. 2012 is a new beginning for alot of  us in the Networking business.  As much as I enjoy blogging I want to help those who want to get started blogging on there own. Let us begin:

Over the past few years, blogs have become incredibly popular. Just about everyone who uses the internet also has a blog. You
want to get in on the action, but you’re not sure how to get your own blog.

You are lucky to have  sites like Blogger.com and WordPress.com to help you get started. They make it so easy to get set-up and start posting.

In this post today, we will go over everything from signing up for a blog on Blogger.com or WordPress.com to choosing a template (look) to finally making a first post.

What is Blogger.com and WordPress.com?

Simply put, they are a site that hosts blogs for free. This makes it even easier for you to have a blog because there
is no need to set up a web site and host the blog yourself. All you have to do , once you’ve signed up at either site, is login
to your blog, write a blog post and click submit. It‘s that simple.

What will my web address be on Blogger.com or wordpress.com?

Your web address will be http://yourname.blogspot.com or http://yourname.wordpress.com. The one thing about Blogger, WordPress and other free blog sites is that they don’t have as great of a freedom in choosing a name.  You are limited to choosing only what is available. So if you’re looking for http://yankeesfan.blogspot.com or http://yankeesfan.wordpress.com,  you may not be able to find that.

Signing up for a blog on Blogger or Wordpree, the  first thing you’ll do is go to blogger.com. or wordpress.com Next, you’ll
scroll down the page and click on the button labeled “Create Your Blog Now”. You will then be taken to a page where you will enter an email address (used to log into your blog),  a password, and a word verification. You’ll also have to check “I Accept Terms of Service”. Click continue. Next, you will be taken to a page where you will choose the blog  title, blog address, and another word verification(which is done to prevent auto-signups). When you type in your blog address, you can click a link that says “check availability”. This will tell you whether or not the desired name is available. If the first name you wish to have is not available, keep typing in
different variations of the name until you find one that is available. After you have put in all the information, click “Continue”.

Choosing a Template

After you click “Continue”, you’ll be asked to choose a template. The template can be changed at any time after you
sign-up for the blog, so you don’t have to choose an “official” template now. If you scroll down, you’ll see a variety of different templates.
Click on the one that you like best and then click “Continue”.

Your First Blog Post

After you’ve chosen a template, you’ll see that your blog has been created and that there is a button to “Start Posting”.
Click that button. You’ll be taken to a page that is similar to the posting page at a message board. There is a “Title” field, where you can put in
the title of this particular blog posting. Then there is a bigger field, which is the body of your post. Type all you want in this “Body” field, as there is no limit.

Note that there are options above the field to bold, italicize, underline or spell check the text. There is also the option of
changing the size and color of the text, plus the ability to add bullet points, numbered lists and even pictures. For now, you’ll
just do a simple “Welcome” post.

In the “Title” field, type “Welcome!” In the “Body” field, type your message. You could start with a simple introduction,
talking about yourself and the purpose of the blog. When you’re done typing the message, click the “Publish” button. It is worth
noting that you can choose to save the post as a draft, if you want to go back and later finish the post.

After you’ve clicked “Publish”, you’ll see that your blog has been published successfully. Click the “View Blog” link to view
the results of your work. You’ll now see your post.

Logging into Blogger or WordPress  after the first post You’ll go to Blogger.com and click on the “Old Blogger” link at
the top right of the page. Type in the email address and password that you signed up with.  You’ll be taken to the
“Dashboard” of your blog. If you want to enter a new post on your blog, click “New Post”. Then follow the instructions
mentioned in the previous section. Or if you want to edit the template, add/edit elements to your page, you’ll click
“Settings” and then “Template”.

That’s all there is to it. Blogs, whether they are hosted at blogger.com, wordpress or another free blog site, are incredibly useful and
fun. You will find that setting up and running a blog is very easy for those who have never done it before.

So what are you waiting for??? Get started today and have fun. Give me a hollar if you have any questions.

Sharon