Before I give you the suggestions, identify what you would like to achieve and what the problems are right now. This will determine what sort of action to take.

Do:

Number 1: Submit your blog to www.boagworld.com/forum

This will allow real web designers to give you help on design, content, and spelling mistakes!
When submitting it there, put it in the Website Critique section and read the posting notes before you post anything.

Number 2: Make a viral video and post on Youtube

If you make a viral video you can bring more potential customers to view your work and you may get all over the world!

Number 3: Email advertising

Once you have a blog set up you can send emails out to your readers/subscribers and tell them what they will expect each month. You can include your video viral in emails. It is great to look professional so make your email stand out from the crowd. HTML emails are great, but provide a plain text email option too.

Number 4: RSS and Apps

If you want to you can learn how to make an app for your iPhone/iPod. This will let your audience read the blog without being stuck infront of a PC to read it! Also you may make a page on Facebook or any other social network to help your blog grow. And when you have that page you must engage with your fans/followers and post often, relevant content. No spamming though.

Number 5: Blog Awards

If your blog is good enough it may get onto other sites and win awards.

Dont:

Number 1: Pirate Content

Copying other sources word for word to make it look like your own is illegal and will not look good, so may damage your reputation. If you are going to copy then put what you want in quote marks (those are those things that look like a single/double speech mark).

Number 2: Don’t Spam

Spamming other blogs with your links will not look cool, and it is not clever either and will also damage your reputation. By all means post a link, but only one and make sure it is relevant to the blog that you are commenting on. Also on social sites spam may not be tolerated by people.

Number 3: Don’t Neglect

Once you have a blog, do not neglect it! Post things that you want people to read, but dont post till you have something worth while that people want to read. Read other magazines and articles telling you how to get the most out of your blog and treat your users with respect!

-

I’m sure there are things here I have forgotten to mention but if there is then I’m not perfect!
Please leave comments below and add any ideas that you wish!

In this post I want to give a rough guide to the blog environment. I’m using WordPress to do my blogging because it is known all around the world.
Although I am pretty good when it comes to technology I was scared to delve in at first as I didnt know the software, but I am glad I did because I now use it on 3 websites of my own.

WordPress is free and you can get your own URL for your blog. I recommend buying a domain to host it on but that is the easy part. WordPress can be accessed from anywhere as it is an online platform. Usually your website address for logging in to your blog will be:
http://www.yourdomain.co.uk/blogname/wp-login.php
From there you can do all your normal blogging and maintenance and start to build yourself a mini community.

Here is a lowdown to get you understanding WordPress:

Posting

Big topics can be split into groups and categories. WordPress lets you assign your own categories and tags.
Categories are different from tags. Categories are to do with what groups a certain number of posts together in a wider range and tags are to do with what sort of things are mentioned in the blog.
For example if I had a blog about celebrities, I would have each celebrity I wrote a post about as a category and in each post I’d have tags to give a quick brief single word ‘summary’ of what you would expect from that post.

Media uploading

You can upload media (pictures) to make your blog pretty and break up text on your blog. Media is a great way of helping your readers to understand what it is that you are blogging about.

Blog themes

You can use blog themes to ‘wallpaper’ your blog. When you are ready for a challenge you can mess around with these themes and change anything that you want. If you are even more clever you can write your own.
There is a big library of themes to choose from and explore, and you can buy themes later on when you cant see any free ones that you like.

Plugins

A Plugin is a mini program that sits inside your blog till you want to use it. You can use a Plugin to stop spam occurring when people comment. Spam is usually comments that are not related to the post or blog and must be deleted. You have complete control of this in WordPress. Remember to check back often to see if the Plugin that you have got has been updated. Sometimes there will be a complete WordPress update and that may give you new features.

Blogging with WordPress is the easiest that I have come across yet. There is so much out there to help you have the best blog on the web!

Simple Jargon
Blog(n): Where you write your valuable information
Blogging(v): A way to convey thoughts and feelings to the world
Blogger(n)/Bloggers(plural n): Someone who writes content
Post: A single article on a blog

In this first part I cover essential tips for blogging, with my simple 4 part strategy known as EAPI.
In the second part I talk about WordPress and special features to make your blogging life more stress free.
Finally, in the third part I sympathise with bloggers and share ways to keep your blog stable and how to market your blog.

My simple system should get you well on your way to starting and maintaining a great blog: Remember – Experience Audience Point Inform

Blog To Share Experience

Blog on a topic you know about, and be sensible about the information you write. Explore and experiment with your blog content as putting the barriers up will stop exploration onto similar subjects. Keeping an open mind is great for blogging. Also, if readers understand what you are talking about you will gain respect and praise and maybe people will comment on your work. Research is key!

The phrase KISS will come in handy: Keep It Simple Stupid/Silly

Consider Your Audience

Be yourself and be chatty to make people feel at ease. Writing with passion will help your readers relax. If you need to be serious then this is also nice occasionally to keep the balance. Blogging for a teen audience is different to blogging for the older generation.

If your blog is for young people you can make the blog look funky and let your creativity flow. Older people may find that a blog with a hundred different colours is confusing. Avoid colour clashes with older audiences, instead go for subtle colours.

Keep To The Point

Keep each post short and to the point. If needed you can split the topic that you write about into multiple posts so you can post the rest another day. This prevents confused readers getting overloaded with information and navigating away from your site. This is mainly why I am splitting this blogging topic into 3 posts. Highlight key areas in BOLD to illustrate really important things.

Keep Audience Informed

Deciding to blog is a great thing and once you know what sort of atmosphere you want to create you are well on your way to success. However, blogs get forgotten if you haven’t written anything for a long time. Keep people up to date with news items and you will be popular and you may even see other bloggers write or talk about your work.

Escaping Bloggers Block

Keep a notepad handy to write post ideas in for later. This way you can jot down what interests you which will help posting when you lack content.
Look on other forums/blogs (search on Google) for advice and think about the future of your blog. This will help you to decide on the direction of future posting.

Good Luck!

However Rowetta did not get the message and I wasnt mentioned on the show… till….

I sent her a message privately on Facebook and Youtube
She actually read my messages out on air! I was really chuffed and she even said my name!

Please click the link below to listen to what I sent in as she read it out and her reply to it!
Ro mentions me on the Tez and Ro Show!
Hope I’m not gonna get into trouble for thieving this but I feel it marks another step in my bid to blog cool stuff!

So, There you have it… I AM now famous so that means I will be getting gifts through the post from all my fans who wish to send me stuff… yeah, right? Like hell!

Finally please follow my newly-found friend Rowetta on Twitter, and chat to her as she’s a cool lady!

Hope you now have some fun in downloading and adding the videos you want for your convenience!

1. Open youtube.com in your browser and search for the video you want on your iPod (iPod Touch in my case)

2. Copy the URL of the video for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzrVVZ02ok
(YOU MUST WAIT FOR THE VIDEO TO COMPLETELY DOWNLOAD INTO YOUR CACHE BEFORE DOWNLOADING IT !! Waiting for the video to fully play is a great idea to make sure you have completely downloaded the video!)

3. Open in another tab or window the website www.keepvid.com and paste the copied link into the box on the website and click download (When prompted enter the code)

4. Chose the .mp4 filetype and right click the download link and select Save Target As (or simillar)

5. Save in your computer to a movie folder

6. Plug in your iPod and ipen iTunes and locate the video you have downloaded and import it into your library

7. Sync your iPod with the video and you should now have a video on there!

(8) GO HAVE FUN

So… It all started before the summer when I found Beverley Knight on Twitter…(http://www.twitter.com/beverleyknight). I asked her if she’d follow me which she did very soon after: This is where the online friendship started. However, you may remember my blog post, from August, about talking to her on Radio 1xtra. Now, I have some even better news to share!

It soon became October 2009 and I booked 2 tickets to see the Beautiful Knight on Friday 13th November 2009 (in Southampton Guildhall) because it was my birthday on the 9th November. It was to be my birthday treat. I made it apparent to Beverley (via Direct Message) that I was coming to see her. She sent me back a message saying ‘We’ll meet dont you worry!’ and I was really over the moon. When I read the Direct Messages that she had sent me on the day of the show, it became clear I was really going to meet her!

The day of the concert came quick and I couldn’t wait. I got my autograph book and my camera packed in my bag along with a small present to give Beverley. I was so excited and told my closest friends I was gonna meet Bev. I got to the venue and it felt amazing to be going to see someone on stage that I’d been talking to on Twitter. I’d never been to a concert without a responsible adult before…
The support acts were Bev’s own friend and backing vocalist Billie Godfrey (The Eden Tree album is on iTunes now) and after was Mama’s Gun who really were great. Beverley came on stage at 9pm and I waved to her and she waved back to me. She clearly knew it was me! Beverley was absolutely AMAZING and I adored her 100%. (This blog post is my chance to big her up at how great she sounds!)
She dedicated Shoulda Woulda Coulda to me which was so nice as she didn’t do my favourite song (Square Peg). There is simply no end to what her voice can do and she totally blew me away, and there was still the best part to go!

After the show was led into the bar area of the venue where my friend and I waited patiently for Bev. She took a little time to come as she had some other people to meet before seeing us. I was chatting to Bryan (Bev’s male backing singer), he was really polite.

When I finally saw Beverley with my own eyes a few metres away, I felt warm inside and knew it was going to be a Knight I wouldn’t forget (EVER)! I stood in front of her so she’d see me and she said ‘hello’ to me. She had a photo taken with someone and then came to me. I gave her a huge hug which she so deserved because seeing her for the First Time was so wonderful. I got a photo with her and got her autograph. Bev was so kind and really down to earth with us. I am glad I was able to talk and didn’t fall to pieces on her. I gave Bev the present I had bought and hugged her more. I felt loved and she knew I loved her.

Picture of my mate Hollie, Bev and me: The gorgeous Beverley Knight with us!!

My mum phoned up just as I was talking to Bev and she shouted ”ello luv!’ down the phone! Bev had rememered when I spoke to her on Radio 1xtra in August, where Ronnie Herel asked if I would be able to sing to Beverley, as I had said I am in a choir! I still forgot to sing to her, although my mate decided to sing a bit of Shoulda Woulda Coulda, whilst Beverley signed autographs for us. It all ended too soon though. I really wanted to stay longer just to talk to her more. I hope I get another chance one day to meet the soul sensation and now fantastic friend, and actually sing to her next time!

Bev has a Special Kinda Cool that cant be missed and I just want her to know that she was ace that night. Hope she will Remember Me because I will always remember her and the awesome time I had the whole night!

Here are the links to the 3 tweets that Beverley sent to a friend of mine on Twitter commenting about meeting me.
http://twitter.com/Beverleyknight/status/5696698247
http://twitter.com/Beverleyknight/status/5696969151
http://twitter.com/Beverleyknight/status/5697143778

I will definitely go and see Miss Bev Knight again after she totally smashed it at the show! You should too!

I have the Lenovo S10e and I love it! I use it quite a bit and find it is useful when I go around mates houses and want to show them something. I play games on it and surf the web, chat to mates and write documents.

However I want to post this up because I feel it is more suited to mostly web use because of the small screen and the fact that it isnt meant for really action packed games. I like to surf on the web on it because it is small and can be carried around (in a pouch to protect it) and it isnt too heavy.

Using it for web design isn’t 100% brilliant as the small screen will limit the space you have to see things, but hook it up to a monitor and you have an ideal website building machine. The purpose of a laptop is for it to be portable and it is… Just not when designing websites. (Most people use a Mac anyway!)

Mine is Windows XP but some have put other operating systems on theirs. I enjoy using my netbook for small tasks and stuff, including writing this blog and of course Tweeting!!

Anyone who has a netbook will know how useful they are.

You may be wondering why I have decided to put this post up, and how I can relate it to web design… I thought about writing a post about Aspergers and Social Networking after 2 of my friends wanted posts about how an Aspergers sufferer deals with Twitter and what not to do. This is a follow up post I wanted to add.

Anyone can use a social network and I have developed myself online by making new friends and finding old ones. Being able to keep those friends is a massive step for me. I never before thought that social networking was going to be that easy for me. Infact I took to it like a duck to water.

I use Twitter and Facebook lots, but Twitter has the upper hand as I have been able to express what I like and talk to almost anyone I wanted to (including celebs!).

Twitter is a lovely way to share web design knowledge (see I told you I could link it to web design in some way!) and the freedom to reply to things I think are worthy of a comment. I enjoy reading blog links and the like but if it wasnt for Twitter I would never had known about it all.

Facebook is for closer friends and only select people can read your status when you approve them (just like Twitter I add) but it is a totally different ball game. I dont use Facebook as much but I like the fact that it provides an extra help source when requiring knowledge about something. You can reach out to an entirely different range.

When on Twitter I post about all sorts of things that interest me. I get replies based on them and now I have a seperate Twitter for a few of the interests in my life. Like one for web design related stuff, one for gaming and one for Aspergers. I like to use Twitter on those accounts in completely different ways. My main account that I established myself on the internet was through GoldChoiceUK Twitter. I liked how Twitter worked from the start and through that I was able to talk to people with the same feelings as me with the different subjects I like.

However all this social interaction on the internet made me mute in the real world and not able to talk to my parents in the right way. Not that I swore or anything – no – but I was rude to ignore things went downhill rather fast and rapidly. and I started to stay up till all hours of the night Tweeting and just messing about on my PC. I started to get really fed up of not being able to find a job too. I still cant find one and it is become really hard. There is simply nothing out there! That is when I set up a Twitter for my Aspergers friends/followers. I wanted to give back to them my experiences and how I felt and they could relate to it all.

As I have been on Twitter for over a year I have seen myself grow in a number of ways, which is great. I have been able to make funny comments and have a bit of a joke and make friends who actually care. I care for a great deal of them all too. I have special friendships with some of them and some of those I could not have ever done without. They have all made me feel really welcome and I have enjoyed having such a lovely relationship with them all. I wouldnt have done half of the things I have done this year without the aid of Twitter as it has helped me to communicate at a level that is acceptable by all. I have learnt how to Tweet and talk to others. I wouldn’t have spoken to Beverley Knight on the radio if I wasnt on Twitter. That made my confidence really high and I feel able to make conversation to a wider audience.

It is easy to forget I have Aspergers sometimes and my Tweets just make sense the way they are. I may Tweet some random things but that is what it is for. I enjoy exploiting myself with my disability and to prove what I can do and say and to show the whole world that Aspergers is really not the worst thing known to humankind if worked on well and having Twitter’s experience has made me realise how important it is to be real and alive.

Aspergers is not the end of the world and I know I can push myself to learn whatever I want and I will learn more as I continue to use the social online networks. It has increased my self confidence and I never thought I’d ever come in contact with such a lovely bunch of friends as I have now. Twitter has made me belong to society instead of feeling too odd. Aspergers is my way of living and I have made it work for me which is great.

If you have Aspergers or know someone who has please get them to read this and then get them onto Twitter (If they are old enough).

My post on Andy’s site… Contacting The Millions
My post on Clair’s site… Twitter with Aspergers

Beverley Knight has captured my heart in music and I really enjoy tweeting with her of an evening. But at the moment as her tour is on she is very busy. She has made me so much more confident about myself. I cant wait till the show. I will put a blog post up after the concert telling you all about it.

I hope this will be a birthday I will never ever forget!

I really didnt know what I was going to ask so I thought for a while and I knew I wanted to ask about music. Then I got rung back by THE Ronnie Herel (presenter on 1Xtra) and he asked me what I wanted to ask Beverley. I hadnt decided on the exact words then but I just made something up and that was ok.

I got called back 15 minutes later and I was able to ask the question “How did you get into music?” – Which was virtually the question I wanted to ask in the first place when I spoke to the presenter.

Listen to what I said and Bev’s answer here!

They all looked after me really well and I have got to thank @BeverleyKnight and @ronnieherel for the experience they both gave me!

Follow me too! @GoldChoiceUK