One of the things that I enjoy most is “seeing” the light go on for someone when they’ve grasped a concept that’s been nagging at them — or they’re shown a way to help their lives run more smoothly.

You would not believe the appreciation that follows!

I guess that’s the “What’s in it for us” when we lead with service — how it makes us feel about ourselves. Not a darn thing wrong with that

Very recently, I’ve been running across people who have either been left out of the loop on what blogging is or who are wanting to find a free/cheap website solution for a business or personal hobby — something more official looking than a freebie site with someone else’s ads on it or a Myspace page.

Of course, my first and highest recommendation for a website that gets organic search engine traffic (without having to learn all the tech stuff and keep abreast of the latest Internet changes) is SBI.

It’s overkill for a personal site that’s intended only for your friends and family, but if you have any interest in building a self-sustaining, profitable online business that you reign over completely — getting an SBI site is the way to do it.

That said, there are FOR SURE times when a blog is the perfect solution.

So what’s a blog?

A blog in its purest form is just a website format that offers an easy way to add content to a place online that you can call your very own.

The web based interface (where you post from) is very similar to writing a document in Word.

Blogs are created for all sorts of reasons:

• they can be private journals
• they can be news/announcement sites
• they can be marketing outlets
• they can be used to brand yourself online (can anyone say ‘know, like & trust’?)
• they can be a place that you talk about a favorite hobby
• they can be used by businesses to drive traffic to a ‘main’ info site
• they can BE the business site
• they can promote affiliate programs
• they can be interactive or they can be a one-way info stream
• they can be available to the public or password protected
• they can be used for just about anything that one can envision

This website is a blog.

The way I’ve decided to use it is a little different than most people. Most blogs are a single person presenting their case on a topic. I hope that this will become more of a community.

I chose a blog format so that we can both interact/stay in touch through daily posts and also create “longer lasting” static pages for things we might want handy to point others to.

So, basically, a blog is a kind of website. An online content management ’system’. One way to get what you want online where others can see it.

Best way to really understand the possibilities is to create one of your own.

Anyone interested in a “How to Start Your Own Blog” tutorial? … Be happy to find some resources and put something together for us.

Could be a nice thing to spread around to others too, eh?

I appreciate you
Andrea

PS. I also offer very affordable hosting (with free Wordpress installation) if that’s something you’d like to take a look at.