Many people I’ve directed here are pretty new to the whole blog concept. Often, they have preconceived and, more often than not, misconceived ideas about what blogs are, who they’re for and what their potential is.

In my own experience, once people see how simple blogs actually are, they are free to actually start their own or at least enjoy other people’s with none of the hangups. So, here’s a beginner’s guide, which I hope helps any of you who aren’t sure…
First of all, what is a Blog?
It’s a (usually free) space on the web where you can express yourself in whatever way you feel is right for you – with words, pictures, sound, video or a combination of some or all of these.
Blogs have been compared to online diaries or journals, but I like to think of mine as having my very own mini-magazine. If you post pictures, your blog could be like a ongoing gallery. If you post video, you could have a mini-tv station
You choose entirely what you post on your blog – Blogs can be as serious or fun as you want to make them, as soul-searching or advice-giving as you like, and on any subject at all that you’re interested in.

Who Visits Blogs?
Most blogs are public – ie, everyone and anyone can read or see what you post to your blog. There’s usually a space at the bottom of the post so that people can comment on what you’ve posted… if they do, you’ll get an email so that you can approve the comment (or not!) before it goes up on your blog, so don’t worry! Some posts get lots of comments as more and more people share or tell their friends about your incredibly interesting blog! So blogging can be a great way of connecting with people.
You can post as frequently or infrequently as you choose – there are no rules – but if you blog regularly and people find what you post interesting, they’ll come back for more. People can also ‘subscribe’ to your blog, via an RSS feed or via email,  which means they get notified when you post up something new.
What about Blogs for business?
From a business point of view, blogs differ from websites, although the boundaries are becoming more blurred as more and more people discover the joys of blogging and more and more companies discover the power of people sharing interesting stuff with their friends (otherwise known as social networking).
Your website is (usually) your professional front – your shop window, the outer view of your company or yourself – your showcase, portfolio or showreel showing off your best work, your current clients, your background and capabilities, with your ‘proof’ shown perhaps via testimonials and previous work. This is the place where you send potential clients to find out more about what you do and how you do it.
Your blog though is the inner view – what do you think about what’s going on in the business or  field you’re in? What issues do you care about enough to share your opinions with others? What advice can you offer people related to your niche speciality? This is the place where anyone who’s interested in your subject may find out about what you think and what drives you – your philosophy about and passion for what you do.
Obviously if you combine or link a website and a blog together, potential clients will get the full picture of what you and your company is all about – in both theory and practice. Most people make decisions for emotional and ‘feeling’ reasons rather than purely logical ones, even in business, so when a client is choosing who to work with, your blog can give them the sense of knowing the ‘real’ you (or the real company if more than one of you is blogging) and help them make the right decision. It’s also a great place to start an ongoing business relationship…
Where to Start?
Blogs tend to get updated much more frequently than websites, so if you’re interested in a particular topic, blogs can be great for informative and up to date information, opinions and advice. I’ve chosen some of my own favourites here, most of which are updated several times a week, if not daily – click on any of the links on the right hand side of this page for some great content.
And if you don’t think you’ve got time for all that, then there’s microblogging… aka Twitter…  another blog thing that’s often misconstrued unless you’ve tried it for yourself, but I’ll save that for another post!. Click in the right hand sidebar on the blue bird link: ‘Twitter…follow me’ and have a go…
Your Very Own Blog?
If you’re tempted to start your own blog, it takes about 10-15 minutes to set one u – .there are step-by-step instructions on WordPress.com, Blogger.com and too many others to mention. There are also lots of sites full of advice and even free online courses on how to write great posts, how to get people to actually come and read your blogs, how to get  up the results listings on the search engines etc etc. I like ProBlogger and StandoutBlogger, and you’ll find loads more via a Google search.
If you want to combine a blog with your website, a specialist web company can help you. I use OKSO.com, (but then I’m biased – it’s my partner’s company) who offer different packages for different needs – from entry level to full-on membership management and podcast integration.
So what’s this blog for?
With the Room on the Edge Blog I share coaching tips, tools and insights about dealing with what, in my experience, are constant challenges for most people – re-aligning with our true selves, re-framing our own limited thinking and becoming On Purpose in our lives.
I hope the articles and resources here are useful and fun. Please comment on anything and everything you have an opinion on, with suggestions that might help other readers or feedback for me on what else you’d like to see here or how Room on the Edge could be improved. Start by leaving a comment on this post – click the Leave a Comment link below – thanks!

Enjoy!!  Michelle xx