It always sounds like a simple idea in the beginning. Start a blog. Everyone is doing it. But, there are some things no one tells you, so I will.

1. The “five minute installation” at Wordpress. It really is a four hour water torture session. I think it’s designed to check if you are serious about this blog thing. Finally, I discovered the Fantistco button on my Cpanel and I was up and running. But no one shared that piece of info with me so I’ll share it with you.
   Your theme is very important. Not only is it your reader’s first impression it’s not easy to change after you have posted for awhile. I would spend more time than I did picking my theme next time.
2. Google analytics not an analysis tool. But, it is the first person in the morning to tell you that you have no friends online let alone visitors to your site. You wake up hoping that someone by some miracle found your site in these early stages. Maybe they will subscribe too. But the real stats say three visitors who spend less than two minutes on your site. It should just say “Good morning, you are still a loser today. Why don’t you write another post for you and your mom.”
3. Write content and the readers will follow. It sounds easy but after awhile it gets tougher. Finding good ideas to write about everyday is not easy. My idea was to let search traffic guide me. Isn’t that how Google finds the best site. Hopefully, I can do that and convince new subscribers and at least one-third of my current subscribers( my mom) to return and read because the posts are good.
4. Contests are an easy way to get traffic. Who wouldn’t want a chance to win $100. That sounds like a quick way to get thousands of subscribers. Hey, that’s what John Chow did. Then a week later the two people who signed up for it are laughing at the fifty-fifty chance at your hundred bucks. You also had to tell your mom that she can’t enter so you have alienated one third of your subscriber base already. But lucky for me, I found Contest Blogger. It’s a great site that features blogs and their contests. It’s one of those great sites. After you are done visiting, you kick yourself for not thinking of it first.