10 Questions to Ask Before You Begin Blogging

Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42, recommends 10 questions to ask before you begin blogging.

1. Who are your primary and secondary targets for your blog?

2. What do you want to tell them?

3. Do you understand what the key informational needs of the audience are?

4. Are you reading other blogs on that topic, and ones targeting your customers and prospects?

5. If you are reading, are you leaving comments that add to the online conversation on the blogs you cover?

6. Do you have a firm grasp on the types of keywords to focus on that would be relevant to your blog?

7. Do you follow those keywords on Technorati and Google Blog Search? Do you have alerts set up around those keywords at Google Alerts? (or possibly even use a reputation management system?)

8. Can you commit to blogging at least two-to-three times per week? (consistency is key, based on the expectations you set with your audience)

9. What is your ultimate goal in starting a blog? In one year from when you start blogging, how will your life be different?

10. Are you looking at blogging as a challenge or something that could be fun?