What topic will you be blogging about? The general consensus is that niche blogging has a better chance of long term success then just random posts about unconnected topics. Read “An Introduction to Niche Blogging” at DoshDosh.com.

Why are you blogging? Knowing the reason(s) you are blogging puts everything else in perspective. Probably the most important question, “For love or money?” Read “14 Awesome Reasons to Start Blogging Today” here at Blogging Startup.

How will you measure success? Once you know why you are blogging, you can set a standard for success. Having a goal will keep you focused and on track. Read “How Do You Measure Blogging Success?” here at Blogging Startup.

What blogging platform will you use? Will you be using an online blogging host or your own domain? You can start a free blog quickly with Blogger, WordPress.com, or LiveJournal, or you can purchase your own domain and hosting to have a truly independent blog. Read “Choosing a Blog Platform” at Problogger.net.

What will you call the blog? Every blog (like every child) needs a name. (Hey, we can’t have nameless children running around!) Choose a name that describes your blog (like BloggingStartup) and, if possible, matches your domain name. Read “Choosing the Domain Name for Your Blog” at Problogger.net.

How will you promote your blog? You might ask, “Do I need to promote my blog?” And I might answer, “No.” But if you want visitors, readers, traffic, guests, friends, money, fame, wealth, and a reason to live…you will promote your blog. Read “10 Surefire Ways to Promote Your Blog for Free” at OneMansGoal.com.

That’s it. Answer those six questions and you are ready to start your blog.

• WordPress has an entire section for creating a blogroll.
• Shoemoney has a blogroll.
• Blogroll is listed in the blogging dictionary (well, this version)
• Blogging Startup has a blogroll.

So, all real bloggers have a blogroll, right?  Wrong.  There is no requirement that a blog have a blogroll.  In fact, many of the top blogs had dumped the concept of a blogroll.

Here are some reasons to include a blogroll:

1. You have a great list of blogs that you want to share with your readers.
2. You want to provide your readers with other resources on the topic of your blog.
3. You want to use your blogroll as a tool for promoting your blog (watch for a future post on this topic).

Here are some reasons to not include a blogroll:

1. You don’t want to offend anyone by excluding their blog.
2. You don’t have a great list of other blogs.
3. You do not have space on your blog.
4. You just don’t feel like having one.

The bottom line is, having a blogroll is a matter of personal preference.  But if you are going to have a blogroll, you want to do it right.  This is the first in a series of short posts on blogrolls.  Be sure to return and read the next post, regarding the “unwritten blogroll rule”.

[PhotoCredit:MissKaren]

Well, Nikita Knysh at Nikita Knysh’s Blog has provided us with another interesting way to look at blogging success. In his post, “Calculate Your Blogging Efficiency!“, Nikita describes a simple formula for, duh, calculating your blogging efficiency! You simply divide the number of minutes you spent on your blog by the number of visitors your blog received. Now you know the minutes per visitor ratio for your blog. How cool is that?

Okay, for you money-hungry bloggers, we need to put this in terms YOU will understand. Here is my “Calculate Your Blogging Return on Time Investment” formula (or as I like to call it, the ROTI ratio). Divide the money you’ve earned from the blog by the number of minutes you’ve invested. The result is the income per minute for your blogging. Now multiply by 60 for an hourly wage. What? You make less than minimum wage? Sorry, complain to the Blogger’s Union, Local 354.

How do you measure blogging success?

[Photo Credit: A.A.]