Hi everyone,

Hoping to get some expert advice. A photographer client of mine just emailed me to ask if I know how to do a blog. The answer is no. But I want to figure it out and make the answer yes. Soooo ... where do I begin? The closest I've ever come to blogging is Facebook, so I have no idea what to do.


Here's the kind of blog I'm shooting for:

• free
• easy for me to set up and easy for her to use
• professional-looking
• search engine friendly

Could you guys please answer some questions for me?

1. This client has a Facebook business page. Could she just use that? Or would it be better to do a blog right on her website? (I'm her webmaster, by the way.) Or some other kind of blog, if there is another kind?

2. How do you create a blog? Is special software necessary?

3. Has anyone used Posterous? It looks interesting since it's free and the info can just be emailed over and they do the rest. What are its pro's and cons?

4. How would I know what to charge? I'm guessing it would just be a setup fee since she'll probably be posting to the blog herself. How long would it take to set up?

5. Which blogs have you tried?

6. Which blogs are the most popular and why?

Sorry for the total newbieness of these questions. I hope with some guidance I can make a good decision that will benefit both my client and myself.

Thanks!!
zippy

Blogspot.com is supposed to be really easy. Where does your client have a blog, because that might be where you want to learn it.

The client does not have a blog yet, she wants me to create one.

WordPress is the way to go, Zippy. It's free, open source software, and relatively easy to learn to use. Installing and customizing you might need a bit of help with, but it is well worth the effort in the end. You can read about it here: Getting Started with WordPress.

There are two versions: wordpress.org and wordpress.com; wordpress.org is self-hosted and wordpress.com is hosted by...wordpress.com. My opinion only, but a business should use the wordpress.org version. You also have more functionality using the .org version.

My site, as well as many other VAs, have built their VA sites using WordPress. I don't have a blog with mine yet (it will just be a link in my menu to go to it), so that is in the works for the future. WordPress is very versatile - you can have the front/home page be "static" (like mine), or a blog format where you post your blog postings. Mine is the .org version.

HTH a bit,

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites

wow gals - great thread and great info -- as I also am blogless (clueless)

Thanks for the WordPress info, that is very helpful.

With additional research, I found out that to add a blog to her website I have to use one that works with her web hosting service. So my choices are:

WordPress
b2evolution
Textpattern
NucleusCMS
Geeklog

I will most likely go with WordPress since it's the most popular and I can get the most technical help with it. Has anyone used any of the others on this list?

Great anwsers, I had the same questions, but haven't posted the question yet. Now I don't have to. Thanks.

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Pamela J Erb, Owner
Common Cents Bookkeeping

I had never heard of wordpress.org. Checking it out now. Thanks for the info!

Anisah

I use blogger by google for my personal blog. It is very easy to use. I haven't had any problems posting photos or info. I did try wordpress and found it to be a little more cumbersome than blogger.

I hope this helps.

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Sommer

I am a Wordpress fan. Especially because it's clean and pretty easy. I think one of the bigger things is getting an template that is pleasing. It's like going to a buffet...when you have too many options it makes it harder to choose.

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Nikki Johnson
The Millionaire's Assistant™