Blogs started out in the late 1990s as someone figured out a way to edit their website by updating a text box that would update a webpage. From there, they have evolved into one of the hottest products on the Internet. They offer everything from lame comments to great information and the ability to communicate with others.

They are similar to forums in the way that they can be used to exchange information with other people on the Internet (although they do not always exchange info - some simply provide it). But they are different in the sense that they do not usually go as deep as a forum as far as topics and such.

You can use a blog as a diary, a method of communicating with associates, friends and family, or even run a very successful business on the Internet.

The beauty of a blog is that it is easy to set up and easy to run and maintain. You can get free blogs on the Internet that are hosted on someone else's server, or you can upload a blog to your own website. They require no knowledge of HTML, making it easy for anybody with Internet access to start one up.

What can you talk about on a blog?

Blog discussions are limitless. Whatever you can think of, you can start a blog about and talk about on a blog. The more popular blogs tend to stick with a certain theme. However, if you are not looking for fame and fortune, you can just have a private blog that you and your friends use to communicate with each other.

There are blogs about plants, businesses, pets, shopping, outdoors; anything you can think of. There are even blogs about blogs. Go figure.

Most blogs come with a choice of attractive templates (a template is a pre-made webpage) and can be easily managed by logging in and clicking a few buttons. You enter your comment and click submit and you have new content on your blog.

You can allow other people to post or leave comments on your blog, or you can just keep it closed and you can be the only one who can make posts.

If you have a blog and want to monetize it, there are all kinds of things you can do. The more visitors you get to your blog, the more money you can make. You can monetize your blog with things like Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher Network, Amazon.com, ClickBank, Commission Junction and a large number of other affiliate programs available.

So, they are very versatile. HTML is not all that hard to learn, but if you have no interest in learning it and you just want to get your own website or webpage, this may be what you need. It will make things much easier for you and still give you a way to share your ideas, or even products, with the rest of the Online community.

In fact, I got so excited thinking about all this, I'm off to start another new blog. See ya there!

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Blogging