“What is a blog?” or “How do I start my own blog?” Hopefully, by now I’ve answered the first question, but the second deserves an in-depth look. The process for contributing to any conversation goes something like this:
1. Listen to the conversation.
2. Understand what’s being said in the conversation
3. Value the audience and the conversation itself.
4. Interpret what is being said, and evaluate what you haveto say.
5. Contribute to the conversation.
6. Listen some more.

Every successful blog follows this pattern. The first step is to find some blogs in your area of interest and read and study them. Suppose you own a construction company. If you’re going to start successfully blogging in the construction industry, you should begin by looking for other blogs dealing with the construction industry. The best way to find blogs dealing in this area is to do an Internet search using Google or your favorite search engine. The goal here isn’t necessarily to find the most popular site, but to find blogs that give you value by reading them.

Many blogs contain blogrolls, a list of blogs that the blogger reads, admires, and respects. If you find a blog you like (or don’t like) and the blogger adds links to other blogs in the industry, you may be able to find more hidden gems or more of what you’re looking for. Once you have found two or three blogs of interest, start reading them on a daily basis. If you see a post in which you are interested or one about which you have an opinion, consider leaving a comment.

Do this for at least two weeks. During this period, you may locate other blogs you like to read, or you may decide to use a feed reader to follow posts (see the next section). A blogroll is a quick and easy way for similar blogs in the same community or industry to build each others’ traffic, and it’s something you shouldn’t ignore for your own blog. Without including a blogroll, your company’s blog may fade into obscurity. If nothing else, a list of “Blogs We Read” can show other bloggers that you know the important blogs in the industry, and that you aren’t afraid to read them.