Having your own blog is still an important tool if you want to generate more traffic to your sites  (providing you have other sites) or develop an online presense.

If you don't have any other sites then I would say it is pretty much imperitive that you get your own blog so that you can start gaining some notoriety online.

So how do you set up your own blog?

For the sake of simplicity I'm going to use Blogger as as a quick and easy way to set up your own blog so you can start getting your thoughts and opinions noticed.

Although it's been awhile since I set up a blogger blog here is what you basically need to do...
1 - Go to http://www.Blogger.com

Once there you can take the quick tour if you want to get a feel for how blogger works or you can begin to create your own blog.

A point to keep in mind before you actually set up your blog is to have a name in mind for it and also the niche or subject matter you want to have viewed on it.

You'll see that there are 3 easy steps to follow and shouldn't take any more than a few minutes to complete.

2 - Click on the "Create Blog Now" button.

"Step One" requires you to set up a Google account. Why? Well a short while ago Google bought Blogger and they have been slowly and systmatically revamping the system. This step is very straight forward and asks for a minimum of information.

"Step Two" requires you to name your blog. Make sure to name it something that is relevant to your desired niche that you plan on talking about.

"Step Three" is where you choose a template for your blog. There are about a half dozen standard templates to choose from. Choose one and then later if you want to upload a customized one you can.

You will of course use the "Settings" to describe your blog and the basics you want to have.

3 - Complete your profile as far as what you want readers to know about you as well as add any extra elements to the page that you want. To add elements to a page go to the "Layout" tab and click on the add element page link. You can add them to the side and bottom of the page.

4 - While you're on the "Layout" page you'll want to Edit the element that is located at the top of the page. This element basically gives a description of what your blog is about.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.cashway.com/d/blog.htm

Once you've added elements then save them and go back to the dashboard.
That's it - you're done setting up your blog!

You can now make a post if you want or come back later and make one. I'd suggest your first post be a welcome to visitors who come by.

I choose not to overdue the monetiziation of the blog. Simple and clean is the best way to go. However you can do whatever you want based on your goals and objectives for having your blog.
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