Thinking about starting your own blog, but don’t know how? If you live in or near Tübingen, Germany, maybe I can help.

Since I have started helping people start their own blogs here at twoday.net, I have decided to blog the homework assignment I give them before we sit down together and set up the blog.

These are the things plan a few things before we meet so I can help you better:

• Decide on a URL. If you want the free service, the URL must take the form of ***.twoday.net, where *** is whatever you want. Think about it before we meet so that you have one you like.
• Decide on a logo or image you want to have at the top or upper left or upper right of your blog. Most blogs have them and they are nice. If you have an image you would like to use, bring it on a CD or USB stick or something when we meet.
• Decide on a title. You name it after yourself, keep it anonymous or give it a catchy name. I decided on a vague name for my general blog and a specific name for my history/historical memory blog. The name and URL do not have to match, but it can be nice if they do.
• Decide on a user name. It can reveal your real name or be something clever that hides your identity.
• Also, you can surf around the blogs at twoday.net. You can start at one of mine. There is a "next blog" button in the upper right of all blogs hosted there. Just click through a few dozen blogs and see what you might like in terms of formatting. If you want, you can just take my format here at this blog or at Sites of Memory. I have those formats saved on my computer. You could take that as a base and tweak the colors and fonts, etc.
• Do some thinking about what it is you want to blog. I recommend having one blog for all your business, interests and hobbies. That creates synergies and cross-overs. That will depend on what it is exactly, that you want to accomplish with a blog. I can brainstorm with you on ideas about how to set up your blog or blogs.

An alternative to starting your own blog would be to try to become a contributor to an already-existing team blog somewhere. Maybe you can find one that would be appropriate to what it is you want to publish.

Do you have a tracker on your webpage? I can help you set one up for your webpage and your blog so you can see how many people each day are visiting your pages. That information can be depressing, however, so be warned.

An alternative to starting your own blog would be to try to become a contributor to an already-existing team blog somewhere. Maybe you can find one that would be appropriate somewhere.

I will ask for an hourly consulting fee for helping you set things up, but I will not charge for follow-up support if it is limiting to occasional questions or minor interven