Thinking about finally launching that blog, but still not quite sure how to go about it? Patrick Schaber over at The Lonely Marketer has put together a great post offering some tips on the best way to get things up and running. He even includes a nice list of plug-ins that can make your blog work even better.

Patrick writes:

Over the last few months, the questions I'm receiving from friends and readers regarding setting up a blog has dramatically increased. Who says this medium is on the downside? So, I thought I'd put together a "Basics" checklist for beginners to use. There are more facets to setting up a blog than I list here, but this should give you a solid base from which to build. I've used this same method for both personal and business blogs.

It's a great list, filled with all the things you should write down on your checklist for a new blog launch. I will nitpick his line about using SEO Title Tag 2.0 so you can "keyword-stuff" your title without messing with your post title, (because you should never keyword stuff anything) but having met Patrick, I'm pretty sure he simply means "optimize with keyword phrases."

Beyond that, the article is chalk full of excellent advice. The two I'll second most strongly are:

1. Go with WordPress
2. Buy your domain and host your blog yourself

Having now setup two hobby blogs that have become more popular than I would have imagined, I see the benefits to planning ahead and going with your own domain name. I'm also finding that I like the WordPress system far more than Blogger, TypePad and even Movable Type. Sure, it's a little more hassle at the start, but the long-term pay off is well worth it.