What is wisdom for setting up a personal/business blog?

5 replies
Hi,
I want to start up a personal/business blog in my own country,The Netherlands.
My preference is to have a domain with my personal name, for example JohnLast.nl
Because I also have a fulltime job and I do not what that my boss or colleagues see what I am doing online I was thinking to get a domain like: JohnsBlog.nl what do you think,or are there better solutions?
I will also register my full name, maybe I can need this in the future ;-)
As many do I will also use Facebook to connect with my blog,do I need to create a fanpage under my personal name or do you recommend something else to do?
And if I create a fanpage like JohnsBlog under my personal name,will my friends on my personal Facebook see that I also have a fanpage JohnsBlog?
I will use the blog to share some personal related posts and I will also blog about internet, making money on the internet,saving money etc.
I will do this with a personal feeling,so that people know there is a person behind the blog to get more contact with visitors and build up some trust.
Yes, I have an example like JohnChow , something like that,in my own country ;-)

Looking forward to get some advice.
Kind regards,
Richard

#blog #personal or business #setting #wisdom
  • Profile picture of the author Tang
    Hi Richard, let me congratulate you on thinking about these things before getting started -- so many fail to do so.

    By all means, register your personalname.nl before someone else grabs it -- it's true, you may need it in the future.

    However, if you are concerned about your employer and colleagues finding and following this new business site of yours, you should most certainly avoid building it on your personal name domain.

    You might instead consider registering a url that describes your subject matter, for example: moneydiary.nl

    You would then set up a facebook page called Money Diary. Set it up using a different email address -- totally separate from and unconnected to your current facebook profile.

    If you create the facebook page using the same email address as your facebook profile, facebook will, indeed, present your friends with the Money Diary page from time to time... and your employer and colleagues will be able to track it, too.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Mo
      Originally Posted by Tang View Post

      Hi Richard, let me congratulate you on thinking about these things before getting started -- so many fail to do so.

      By all means, register your personalname.nl before someone else grabs it -- it's true, you may need it in the future.

      However, if you are concerned about your employer and colleagues finding and following this new business site of yours, you should most certainly avoid building it on your personal name domain.

      You might instead consider registering a url that describes your subject matter, for example: moneydiary.nl

      You would then set up a facebook page called Money Diary. Set it up using a different email address -- totally separate from and unconnected to your current facebook profile.

      If you create the facebook page using the same email address as your facebook profile, facebook will, indeed, present your friends with the Money Diary page from time to time... and your employer and colleagues will be able to track it, too.
      Thank you so much for your reply and advice.
      To find a related domain would be difficult,because the blog will not be related to just one or two subjects.
      That's why I thought about something like JohnsBlog.nl , or is this a really bad idea for branding the blog?
      You also gave me really helpful information about Facebook,thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author HorseStall
    Blogs are a great way to present new and unique content (something search engines love). The best blogs have a common theme between posts. If it is too random you may have difficulty attracting readers.
    If you are establishing your "personal" brand using your name for a domain is fine, if you are promoting your business focus on that, rather than the personal aspect.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
    I would definitely keep the personal and business blogs separate. Blog readers and (hopefully) subscribers are looking for information on a certain subject. Sadly, unless you're a celebrity, that's not likely to be who you're dating, where you went on vacation, or what you had for breakfast.

    Keep your business blog tightly themed, and write in an entertaining style. I have had great success making my posts cover a narrow subject fairly in-depth and hit 1,000 - 2,000 words in length.

    This is Important: Keyword research your post titles, and set up your blog's permalinks so that your titles (with those keywords) appear in the permalinks. You do not want the Wordpress default setting, where the post name is omitted in favor of a post number.

    The preceding will help you with the search engines, which is a greta place to find new readers, but as so many found out this year, not the only or best place. Start early building relationships with other bloggers in your niche. That strategy alone could be more important than almost anything else except this one:

    Always create compelling content on a subject about which your readers care deeply. Make 4 - 6 posts a week in the beginning, if you can.

    You'll have to be passionate about the niche yourself, or do some serious research on other blogs and forums to know exactly what that is. Business blogging is all about relationship building.

    You can make a zillion times more money by building solid relationships with your readers and always (over)delivering value. Even if you blog is free, the value component is important, as the readers time is perhaps their most valuable commodity.

    Hope this helps.
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