• www.blogger.com. This is a free and easy-to-use hosted platform. Users need to be able to edit html code.
• SixApart offers two hosted solutions based on the same software: www.typepad.com and www.moveabletype.com. They are easy to use and relatively low-cost ($120 per year). Given their popularity, many online services provide automatic integration.
• Wordpress (www.wordpress.org) offers both open source software and a hosted solution. The software is flexible and many plug-ins are offered to extend it. The hosted solution offers limited flexibility and does not permit customizing the url.
• Set up a blog on a larger community space such as www.vox.com or www.livejournal.com. Both enable users to build relationships with others using the tool. Live journal provides the possibility of blogging privately to a limited audience. Vox is a more modern service and aims to support the formation of affinity- and geographic communities.
• Configure your blog so that it (1) looks appropriate for the content you wish to publish and (2) projects the image you wish to communicate to readers.

2. Find your voice.
Learning the proper tone, content and style for your blog takes time! Practice, ask for feedback, refine and sharpen your skills. Some tips:

• Emulate styles you like!
• Avoid lingo and jargon.
• Avoid writing posts longer than 600 words - any longer and people will stop reading.
• Write declarative, strong statements when possible. Wishy washy posts aren't usually that interesting.
• Write in the first person. Make the post personal.
• Don't be afraid to pose questions and think through issues. If you only write on what you absolutely know, you may not end up writing very much.
• Although blog posts are usually meant to be informal, many readers will find sloppy spelling and/or grammar distracting.
• Lead with the most broadly appealing, essential facts, moving into more detail throughout the post.
• Offer sources and links to more information. Readers will often click on the first link in the post.
• Use anecdotes, humor and stories whenever possible. Be a good and engaging storyteller.
• Consider how you want to use menus and sidebars – for example to post static content.
• Encourage and facilitate comments.
• Don't re-purpose press releases without adding additional detail. A blog is not the same thing as a website.

3. Promote your blog!

• Remember that you have to actively promote your blog. And don't be discouraged if things start out slow.
• Register your blog with Technorati and Google blog search to ensure that it is "crawled" and indexed by the major blog search engines.
• Set up Google Analytics to track useful visitor statistics.
• Use Feedburner to set up RSS feeds that can be tracked. This will enable visitors to subscribe to your blog. Feedburner also includes Feedflares - a service that allows visitors to easily tag your posts.
• Enable readers to chat through your blog page.
• Consider search engine optimization tricks like "Google Adwords"
• Email other bloggers, press and colleagues announcing the blog. Ask bloggers to add your blog to their blogroll (and offer to do the same). Ask colleagues to link to your blog.
• Generate permanent URLs, enabling easy and clear linking to specific posts.

• Expectations. Think carefully about how much time you have to devote to your blog. Be prepared to write at least two new blog entries per week.
• Audience. Understanding your audience will help you understand appropriate tone, style and content for your blog. Is your audience highly-educated, looking for deeper expertise on technical issues? Is your audience in high school? Do you even know? It's ok (and not uncommon) to not really know your audience is at first. You'll continually refine your tone as you figure it out.
• Contributors: You must also consider who you will allow to write comments. Can anyone comment? Do they need an account, and if so what kind? Your decisions in this area will affect your ability to edit postings after-the-fact, as well as encourage postings in the first place (too much security might discourage people).
• Authors: A blog sets certain expectations for readers. You should plan on posting at least 2-3 times per week. Is this feasible for your organization or community?
• Consider what the appropriate content is for your blog.
• Regardless of who posts, its important to make their identity clear.