Having a blog on your business site is more than just having a link that says "Our Blog". Having a blog is about using your experience and passion for your service/product to share information or to cement yourself as the local expert in a field.

Picking a topic to write your blog post about...

When writing a blog, the hardest thing can be what exactly to write about. You've booted up your Word (or OpenOffice), sitting at your desk, basking in the glow of the blank-empty-white screen. The blinking cursor, just there... blinking, waiting for your profound genius and witty takeaways to jump from your mind.

If you are like me, you have a busy schedule and if you do have time to write a blog post it is pretty random and something that hasn't been planned for weeks. You've got the time to write a blog, but now you're wasting that free time trying to think of what exactly in your niche you are going to blog about. There's an easy solution to this, for now though this free time you dug up is useless... but next time, you'll be ready!

What I did many months ago was to grab some paper and a pen and (in 3rd grade hand writing) wrote up a list of about 100 things I could write a blog post about in the field of web design and web programming. This became a great tool. When there was time to blog, I would find my little piece of paper and choose a topic that fit the amount of time I had to devote to blogging.

Some quick and easy topics:
Top 3,5,10,99 Blah Blah's
How to's (like how to write a blog)
What to look for
How you'd have done XYZ differently

Tip: After you get your first list, use a note taking App on your smart phone to record those brilliant ideas as they pop in (and quickly out) of your mind.

Organizing your thoughts...

The thing I hated about writing in middle school turns out to be a useful tool to have been forced to do. Outlining. Before you begin to fill the page of your soon to be amazing blog post. You need to know how you are going to write the post.

Before I started writing this blog post on "How to write a blog post", I knew I wanted to talk about picking a topic, organizing a blog post, and some tips on how to write the actual post. I didn't make a hand drawn outline using roman numerals, then numbers, then letters... (or is it letters before the numbers?). I just thought through the post and then started writing. For you, it might be helpful to completely write out your outline and then begin writing your post.

Writing your awesome blog post...

For me, I just start writing and let things flow (but in the steps I've mentally outlined). But the most important part for me is to skip the actual title and opening paragraph of my blog post. I then, go through the post and spend about the time it took to write the post to come up with a title and opening paragraph. For more information on writing an awesome opening for a blog check out 5 Simple Ways to Open Your Blog with a Bang.

Blogger Bob Aagard (The World, According to Me) suggests to new bloggers:
1. Write what you know. You are the expert (even if you just play one on the internet).
2. Know what you write. If you make factual errors, you'll come of looking foolish.

Another blogger, Eric Ethington, throws in: "If you're not interested in what you write, no one else will be either."

Edit... so as not to sound like an idiot

After you've written that amazing post. It is time to reread it and make sure everything is spelled correctly, correct words were chosen, and most importantly the blog is in your voice. As you go through, see if there are any of your current blog posts that you can link to from your new one.

Misty Fowler,Saintless writes:
Spell check. Then grammar check. Then spell check again.

Tip: Yes, the blog needs to be in your voice. But, your blog post should also be in the voice that your audience wants to "hear". You should know if your potential readers want something with humor thrown in or a dry boring analysis on the mutual spatial orientations of hexons.

Publish, share, move on...

Research, write, publish, share and then continue on with your life. After, writing your post don't worry about how many people read it, how many tweeted it, or how many comments weren't selling your some kind of pill from Canada. Instead, focus on writing a new post, and keep writing. Be active in your blogging community. I try to visit as many blogs as possible on web design, internet marketing, and programming. With those, I try to leave about 10-15 REAL comments a week on blogs and try to be social in the field. This will be easier for some industries than others.

That's all I've got for now. Please feel free to tell me how stupid you think my method is, or how awesome it is. Oh, and be sure to throw in a few tips of your own!