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Have you ever thought about starting your own profitable blog? Perhaps you have dreamed about making a living writing about what you love? Or maybe you just want a business where you can work where you want, when you want? Perhaps you like the idea of having a business where you make money, even when you sleep?

Whatever your reasons for considering starting a blog you may have hesitated due to some self doubt. In this article I explain some of the common reasons why people hold back from entering this rewarding field.

Bad Reason 1 : I am not a technical guru

This is one of the most common (but least valid) reasons for not starting your own blog. Starting a blog has never been easier and there are many free services such as Blogger and Wordpress available to get you started. You can try blogging out and see how you like it, without a lot of expense.

Bad Reason 2 : I'm not a great writer

You don't need to be a great writer - just good enough! The ability, and many would say need, to communicate is very much a human trait. One of the reasons blogs and the web itself exploded is people's need to communicate. You are no different. Under those layers of self-doubt is a capable writer trying to get out.

Writing is like anything in that the more you practice the easier it gets. The best way to learn writing is by having a go and then critically examining your work and getting others to do so too. In fact, people who have less experience at writing tend to make better writers in some way, as their personality comes through more easily in their writing.

Bad Reason 3 : I don't have any capital

The good news is you don't need much to start a blog! A full blown blog website, with everything you need and a few bells and whistles can be created for around 30 to 40 per year. Additional services you might need will maybe set you back around 10 to 20 per month. So worst case you would be looking at around another 240 for a years worth of additional services. These extras include technical wizardry such as auto-responders and mailing list facilities - they are optional extras though.

This assumes of course you have a laptop and Internet access. A very reasonable laptop can be obtained from a supplier for less than 400. Broadband Internet access is typically around 20 per month.

The truth of the matter is it is possible to start a decent blog for nothing (and many people do, including me) using a free service like Blogger. However, for minimal cost you can set up a professional operation. This makes blogging accessible for those with low capital resources.

Bad Reason 4 : I'm not a subject matter expert (SME)

Many people believe you need five degrees and 30 years experience to be considered "an expert". The funny thing is the person with 5 degrees and 30 years experience probably doesn't think they are an expert - yet - they are still working on it and aware that there is always new stuff to learn!

This is a very damaging reason as it causes many people to spend years trying to become an expert in a particular area. But the reality is there is always one more seminar to attend, or one more certification to take. Sadly, that misguided person never gets there. Often they never even start! The truth is people's expectation of what it takes to be considered an expert in any field is usually way off the scale. Sure you are not going to be a brain surgeon in a week, but blogs don't usually cover neurosurgery (although that might be an interesting area!).

It never ceases to amaze me what kind of topics people know a lot about. The other day I was having a conversation with someone who knew everything - and I mean everything - there is to know about the TV programme "Lost". I'm pretty sure he could have created a very successful blog just on what he knew about that show - but he never considered himself to be an "expert" on the matter. He certainly knew more than most people.

If you really think about it there is probably one area where you already know more than most people, but if not there is probably at least one area where, after investing a little of your time and energy, you would know more than most people.

The other point I'd like to make about expertise is that you can't expect to just "know" everything there is to know about a subject! That's unnecessary anyway. What you do need is the determination to find out information you don't know in order to fill any gaps in your knowledge.

If you are running a blog you need to be prepared to learn new things. You need to be dedicated to life-long learning. There are always new things to learn and if that wasn't the case life would be very boring indeed.

Access to knowledge has never really been easier. With the Internet you can find out facts and figures. You can research any topic. What is more important for blogging is to impart your experience in a structured, accessible and digestible format for the consumer.

To write a successful blog you don't necessarily need to be a hardened expert, but you do need to have something of value to say. Expertise can be learned, or ideally gained through experience. The best way to learn is by doing and then writing about it. If you have a love of learning then you needn't worry about any existing gaps in your knowledge or feel you somehow "aren't good enough".

Bad Reason 5 : I don't know what to write about

This is a common reason why people don't start what could potentially be a fantastic business for them - they feel they don't have anything to write about.

There are virtually unlimited topics to write about! Consider for example the following questions:

• Do you have experience of living in a foreign country?
• Have you retired early?
• Have you lived through a serious illness?
• Have you recently lost an appreciable amount of weight?
• Have you survived divorce?
• Are you passionate about Green issues?
• Do friends think you are super-organized?
• Do you have an interesting or unusual hobby?
• Do you have a useful technical skill?
• Do you have experience dealing with difficult clients?
• Have you ever had to manage a team of people?
• Do you have knowledge of a historical figure?
• Do you have an interest in travel?
• Is there a TV show or film you are obsessed with?

If you answered yes to any (or all!) of the above questions then you have something to write about and you could, with some effort on your part, put together an information product.

You can also use my technique of knowledge combining. Here's how it works.

You might have experience dealing with difficult clients and some experience of the hotel business - combining these areas you could create a blog such as "Dealing with difficult customers in the hotel industry".

Do you have knowledge of, or interest in, the historical Buddha, combined with a love of travel or geography? How about combining those areas to create a travel blogt such as "Following in the footsteps of Buddha - A journey through Nepal and Northern India". That would be a fascinating read and a holiday I would love to take. What's more all the hard work of selecting destinations and sightseeing itineraries would be done for me!

OK so they were a couple of examples I just threw out to illustrate the concept of knowledge combining. As you can see the idea is to combine knowledge in seemingly unrelated areas to create new and exciting products. It is just one technique of many you can use to generate ideas for blog topics.

In short, if you put your mind to it you can quickly generate literally hundreds of ideas for blogs.

Bad Reason 6 : No one will read my blog!

I hear this one a lot!

Let me ask you one question - how do you know until you try?

Creating a successful blog is about getting all your pins in a row. You need to get a number of things right. Getting one or two things right is not going to cut it. You need to get all the pieces of the jigsaw in place. The niche selection needs to be right, the marketing needs to be right, the content needs to be great and so on. You need to get firing on all cylinders. Once you do you will get people reading your blog.

Conclusion

In this brief article I've addressed some of the top reasons people don't start what could be an extremely rewarding and highly profitable business.

Tony Bedford first started blogging in March 2000. Tony currently maintains a free guide to more profitable blogging at http://the-business-of-blogging.blogspot.com

If you are struggling to write posts on your blog and want to improve your style there are a few things you can use to create more interesting blogs.

1. Think of a catchy headline. Your potential reader surfing the net, often stumbles across you via a search engine and all they have to go on is the title, so think of short catchy titles that might catch their attention. It also means you can practice your own skills in writing headlines for your sales letters of the future.

2. Keep your sentence structure short and simple. This isn't about using big words and convoluted (there's a big word for you!) sentences, its about being understood and getting your points across.

3. Get to the point. Put the most interesting information at or near the beginning and engage your reader. There is no point in waffling on, people will lose interest.

4. If you are unsure about anything, research it,don't make it up. Go and look at reputable sources. Check and double check your sources

5. You could make bullet point lists, its easier to scan and your readers will often scan rather than read fully at least to start off.

6. Make your posts consistent in style. Don't chop and change style.

7. Proof read. Copy and paste it into word and do a spell check. Simple (you can do a word count at the same time).

8. Write with your reader in mind. You are giving information,they want to know what is in in for them. Let them know about the information on offer early on .

9. Keep it lively. Write like you are talking to a friend but make it short and snappy.

10. Think about using keywords. Use them naturally when you are blogging.Think about what keywords people might search for and drop them into the posts where you can. Pepper your posts with keywords without losing the natural flow.

11. Time is money. People don't stay around for long. Give them maximum information and minimum words. Write short sentences and use commas and dashes. This breaks up the post and makes it more appealing to the eye.

12. Ask a question at the end or invite a comment. Encourage interactivity!

13. Be opinionated when possible but only if you feel like it and don't mislead. Creating conflict and tension is what writing is all about and people want to know what other people think, that's the beauty of blogging.

So before you hit the save and publish button ask yourself the following:

-Does it engage?
-Is it clear what the post is about?
-Can someone read the title and have a good idea?
-Do the opening paragraphs give an idea of the content and why someone should read on?
-Would someone who knew nothing about the topic, understand the post?
-Have you got some keywords in?
-Have you written with the reader in mind?
-Have you asked a question at the end or invited them to engage in some way?

There are a lot of things you can do to improve your blog posts.

For my free course and an opportunity to beta test my new product for free, visit.

http://www.janerobinsononline.com/free-course

To read more about this and other topics go to http://www.janerobinsononline.com - Coming soon, step by step videos on how to find your niche, how to get a cheap domain name and more!

I provide help and information on blogging for newbies. FREE tips for you,how to start on the internet, problems you will face and how you solve them. I have been there believe me!

Jane Robinson