blogging newbie

You probably need to outsource it, or get yourself a good hosting account and use Wordpress.org, because it's practically all done for you.

Good luck,

Ray

The best way for you to do this is to use Wordpress for your blog. It's really easy to use and there are loads of free training courses out there about wordpress. I would use paid hosting though not the free wordpress hosting. Too many rules and you are very limited to what you can and can't do with your blog. D9 hosting are good and affordable.

For your graphics I tend to outsource. It just takes too long to learn Photoshop. Steve at gfx-1.com is really good at graphics if you don't already have a graphic designer.

Ok. Thanks for all the replies

I recommend you go for a wordpress site. It's not so hard at all. You don't need to do html. The site on my signature file is my wordpress blog that I made myself. As for the graphics, it would be cheap and easy to hire someone to do it for you on sites like: odesk, elance, guru, freelancer. I did mine myself it's just simple. Wordpress will also rank way better on google and it's very customizable so I suggest that's where you jump into.

Why not you using wordpress seem it provide so many free templates and you not need much knowledge on coding and you able to create a nice blog layout with the templates and managed your blog with those plugin.

As mentioned above, Wordpress with your own hosting account is the best way to go.

If you are in it for the long run I would definitely invest some time into learning how to install and use Wordpress yourself.

If you want to produce some good looking graphical headers, then try out the free version of Xheader.

I agree with Ryan. But personally, i would rather learn it than outsourcing it. If you do that, you will so much from blogging to web-designing and you don't need to pay other people in doing that on your next project.

I would go with Wordpress over blogger. There are tons of themes you can get. All I did for mine was to change the color scheme and get rid of some stuff to make it my own. As long as it's nice-looking and not too crowded with crap, I wouldn't worry about it. I think getting content up so you start getting traffic is far more important.

Good luck,
Joey

voldalin,

1st of all... as most of the posters here said... use WordPress as a platform. Host your own site using software downloaded from WordPress.org.

2nd... pay someone to design your site and then pay another person to code it into a WP theme.

If you are really short on cash, you can just add a theme and customize it.

In the long term, you will be much better off if you dive into WP and at least understand a little of how it works so that you can competently get someone to design/code your WP themes or do it yourself.

Don't let the inability to design/code hold you back. Start with a theme. But at the same time, learn enough so that you can separate yourself from the crowd with your own customized themes.

Also... you are not limited to WordPress themes out there... EVEN when using WordPress.

(Ssshhhhhhh.... most WP users don't know what I am about to tell you.)

You can find almost any HTML theme out there (and there are many free ones) and in about 5 minutes it can get converted to a WP theme. That way your site does not have to look like everyone else's.

PM me and I will point you to a resource that will show you or an outsourcerer you use... exactly how.

Good luck.

Get your own hosting account and create a wordpress site.

It's free and the great thing about wordpress is that it's SEO friendly right out of the box. ( Don't forget to change the permalinks )

As far as the graphics - Definately outsource - if you're low on cash try Fiverr.com you can get someone to create awesome looking graphics for only 5 bucks...

Hope this helps...

Definitely have to go with the Wordpress.org blog. Get your own hosting. I started out with a wp.com blog and ended up switching everything over.

Save yourself the hassle. It's only a small investment compared to what you can make.

As far as the graphics, if your pressed for dollars or just want to save some money, I suggest you check out Fiverr.com. I use them to get a lot a small things done and everything is only 5 bucks. Just got a killer intro done for my videos.

Pick a good theme that you like and stick with it. I personally fell in love with optimizepress because it lets me have a blog while creating squeeze pages on the fly.

ONce you find the theme you like, stick with it. Makes everything down the line easier.

I started mine in WP. I have no regrets so far, and use one their free themes. I will eventually go for a customized one but first I want to understand all the features, including the plug-ins available.
Most of the advice you are receiving here is for you to go for WP, so take it and run with it.

I would definitely recommend Wordpress or Tumblr, they have terrific default themes. The best advice would be to just get writing, and read as much about your niche category as possible!