How to be a blog star – take a class or teach yourself

Want to start a blog but aren’t sure how to get started? One way is to take a class. Another is to teach yourself.

Mediabistro.com is offering three new, short classes on starting a writing-related blog as part of its Crash Course series of mini-seminars. Classes are online and on demand, so you sign up and watch when you can. “How to Start a Blog” features blogger and Mediabistro writer David White, who covers getting started, creating content, domain names and tools for bloggers. The class is 14 minutes long and costs $15, or $12 if you’re a Mediabistro AvantGuild preferred member.

A two-part series, “How to be a Blog Star” Part I and Part II, feature prominent writers including Brian Williams, with NBC Nightly News, and Brian Stelter, who writes the The New York Times TV Decoder blog, discussing topics such as why they started blogging, how they established their niches and how blogging can lead to other work.

Once you sign up for an on-demand class you have access to it for 30 days. Each comes with an area for taking notes, plus a class outline and links to resources. Free previews are available too. If you’re interested in learning more about blogging, online video and other Web tools, Mediabistro has a variety of other on-demand classes you can check out here.

If you’d rather not shell out $15 to watch a video, there are plenty of free resources online. Here’s a collection of posts I’ve written about blogging for freelance writers:

10 reasons freelance writers should have a blog
Best blogs for writers
How to write great blog posts
Writing blog posts: plotted out or on the fly?
What freelance writers should know about SEO
Tips for improving traffic to your blog
10 basic Web tools for writers