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Ive heard a lot of people talking about blogging and the suggestion that its the true emancipation of the decimation of information.

While that might sound like a lyric from a 80s protest rap song, its certainly one of the principle benefits of blogging.

With an opinion and a blog, someone can publicize their thoughts in a truly democratized way: if someone disagrees with you, theyll tell you as much. Thus, my blog exists as a means for me to store my opinions and allow those like-minded to read and comment.

But theres a flip-side to all of this, and its a dark one. What if your blog is never seen?

Rather than creating an immediate forum for ones own opinions / rants / rambles / insights et cetera, the Internet can simply become an even larger room to be stood in the corner of feeling even more alone.

Its sad, and its also a reflection of a community on a global scale: there are always lonely people who -- no matter how they thrust themselves into a vast crowd of people -- will always stand alone.

Put simply, blogging is a form of publication typically for self-promotion with a hint of journalism.

But if you are going to blog, there are some simple tips that can help you along the road to getting yourself seen, respected and possibly elevated to some kind of success, or maybe even make some money along the way:

1) Pick a subject you like, one thats close to you in some way, or something you have a qualification in, perhaps. Better yet, if youre running a business, your blog can be a cost-effective gateway between you and your customers.

Also, if what interests you is current in the media, then get an article out and be quick about it, too! Being topical is likely to get you noticed by the search engines and land on the likes of Google News.

2) Publicize your blog with the likes of Technorati to promote your blog, use social bookmarking services like Ma.gnolia and Del.icio.us to store your favorite and most notable posts and Feedburner to gather all of your RSS news feeds, podcasts et cetera in one place.

3) Get plenty of links to your blog, usually from other bloggers as well as the various related websites, web portals et cetera up and down the web. Keep your eyes and ears open for the newest technologies to help you make the most of your blog, work towards getting quality links to your blog ... wash, rinse, repeat.

Make friends, influence people and get some linkage going on ... but be judicious! Dont just get any old people linking to you. Beware, the Search Engines are all-knowing and ever watchful. Avoid the bad neighbourhoods on the Internet and look for the good ones, instead.

As in life, some friends attract the wrong crowd and being seen with them or having these people hanging around wont do your image any good.

4) Work towards creating your own theme and style. Try to stay focused on your chosen subject and do some research! If youre making reference to someone or something, then provide links and quotations.

Better yet, if youve got a subject thats current and on-going, create a series of articles spread over several days or even over a week or so.

But most important of all, you must post regularly. While posting each and every single day might be a bit much for most, at least twice a week is a minimum.

5) Engage the reader, invite some kind of dialogue and reply to those that comment. Be engaging, informative, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but always with a slant on being authoritative on your chosen subject. Work to build a sense of trust.

Over time, your blog should form a venue for debate, engaging discussion, the sharing of concepts and ideas and sometimes just idle, aimless chitchat.

But best of all, follow these simple steps and you could be the King of blogdom instead of being consigned to blogging hell...

Wayne Smallman is the man behind Octane Interactive, a web design, web applications development and internet marketing agency based in Yorkshire, England that's been around since 1999.

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