All too often people or companies start up a blog with out really thinking through what they plan to do with. The ease of blogging and the lack of information available makes this an easy mistake. After all most people will tell you that all you have to do to start blogging is head over to Blogger, Wordpress, or Typepad and sign up. Sure, that can get you started but it would get you an effective blog.

What is your blog subject?

I say subject because you really need to focus on your topic. Many times new blogs become about a very broad range of topics rather than focus on the particular niche of content that is going to produce the greatest results.

If you try and become known for your great product, don’t dilute the focus of the blog by splitting the focus by blogging about great project management.

Now that isn’t to say you can’t write about other topics, but really try and focus the content on your niche. People will start reading if you have great content in one area, rather than good content in seven different areas.

Come up with a name, and URL

I say URL over a domain because in a lot of cases it makes sense to have the blog hosted on another website (for SEO and link juice reasons). However you should still try and think of a name for the blog for branding sake. It is easier to remember and converse about a blog with a name, rather than saying “So and so’s company blog.” The URL should reflect that name (either as a subdomain or subfolder).

The name should reflect the topic directly. If you were to just hear the name of the blog it should give you a pretty clear idea of what the topic of the blog is.

Think about the blog “personality”

This will play into the tone of voice that you are going to use, the type of posts you will do, and how the blog will look. Is your blog funky, fun, bright? or is it traditional, subtle, clean? The personality should reflect the name, and focus but there is some room to push the boundaries a bit here.

People read blogs for the content but also for the personal true connections. So it is important that you express the personality well, failure to do so could prevent any sort of real following to build up as it will seem unauthentic.

If you have been keeping up with the latest blogs and twitters you probably know that personal branding has become a hot topic as we learn more about this “social media” space. While it is easy to argue that if we all do have our own “brand,” that it has existed long before the internet and especially longer than the growth of social media. Certainly politicians and other people of fame carry some level of their own perceptions, thoughts, and emotions that are associated with them.

And as it turns out with the invention of the internet, websites, blogs, podcasts, and twitter we find many people who do seem to have their own brand online. It is more than “so and so” who run’s a website, but people who have a specific set of emotions and qualities that are now associated with them due to how they communicate and converse in the social space online.

It is fitting the user experience expert David Armano write about personal branding in the latest AdAge Digital as he himself has a strong personal brand, and is a great example of how a personal brand can change your life. David Armano through his social participation has clearly become a thought leader and is now writing for publications, speaking at conferences, etc…

Other people have developed book writing careers through a strong personal brand, opened new career doors, and built businesses based on their personal brand. In advertising Olgivy comes to mind, of course this is much before the internet and social space; however it simply means that we now have more tools to establish our personal brands online.