Task 7 - Write an Opinion Post

In task 7 you will need to create an opinion post for your blog. The task requires giving your readers your very own personal opinion and/or your perspective regarding any one person, thing, or event in your niche; then carefully listening to the opinions of your readers.

Listening to All Sides

If possible, try to write about something in your niche that will cause controversy and that others will be willing to refute or support. The point is to spark as much debate as possible and invite others to make comments on your blog, expressing their own opinion on your published topic.

Sparking Debate on a New Blog

Since your blog is relatively new you might not get many immediate responses or comments. To remedy this, ask some of your friends, family or acquaintences to read your post and leave their own opinion in the comment section. Don't ask them to lie or write just for the sake of writting. Try to get them to tell you what's on their mind even if it means completely disagreeing with you. Promise them that you will not get offended if they express conflicting views.

Always reply to the comments left on your opinion post. That will help keep the conversation going and keep the debate interesting.

The best opinion posts are those that spark the most controversy; those which many people either strongly agree or disagree with and where they are willing to leave their own opinion.

Other Types of Opinion Posts

Not all opinion posts have to spark controversy. If you feel you are not yet ready to bring debate to your blog you can publish another type of opinion post which gives your opinion but does not necessarily cause controversy. For example, you can express your dislikes or dislikes regarding a certain type of food, clothes, brands, locations, etc. Most people will not be offended and you may still be able to receive some comments.

Why Opinion Posts Matter
You are building a niche blog about a particular topic. You want people to recognize you as an expert in your niche. Informative and educational posts regarding your topic are great but opinions make you stand out from the rest of the crowd.

In an opinion post you are letting people know how passionate you are about a topic; not that you are simply knowledgeable. You are letting people know that you are a real person that cares about this niche with all its ups or downs and is willing to take a stand, even if it is controversial and may put your reputation on the line. They see that you stand up for what you believe about a topic. That gives you a valuable voice.

Like Darren Rowse says in his 31 Days to a Better Blog (Day 19): "Expressing opinions on your blog is like adding seasoning to food."

Task 6 - Create a Logo for Your Blog & Upload It

In Task 6 you will create a logo for your blog to give your site a more professional look. You can either use an online logo maker or use design software to create your logo, if you have it.

A great open source design software you can download and use for free is Gimp. It takes a little time to learn but it is very powerful.

There are also several online logo sites where you can create a logo in minutes. Some are free, some charge. It all depends on you.

One free online logo maker you can use is http://www.logomaker.com/  but there are others. Here you can create and use your logo in low resolution. If you want higher resolution you have to pay for it.

Here is the logo I created with logomaker:

Play around with your design until you find something that works for you.

Try to create several logos for your blog. Tweak them, use different colors and see how they change, change sizes of certain objects, etc. Eventually you will need to decide which one you will use but giving yourself several options helps you better evaluate what you really want out of your logo.

Here are some sample logos that were generated with http://www.freelogoservices.com.

Since this particular blog is about building or constructing student blogs, I chose "construction" as my logo theme. I still need to work out the details and chose which one I like best and possibly edit it, or just throw them all out and start again but it's a start. For now I will use the logo I created with Logo Generator:

So what are you waiting for? Create a great logo that will make your blog look more professional than ever.

Uploading Your Logo to Blogger
Once you have the perfect logo and you have saved it to your hard drive, it is now time to put it on your site. In Blogger this is very simple. Use the following steps to place your logo at the top of your blogger website:

1. Login to Blogger and go to the Design tab or menu.
2. Find the "Header" and click edit.
3. Upload the image from your hard drive. 
4. Choose whether you want to replace your text based title or use it along with your image. 
5. Press save. 

Now go to your Blog and refresh the page so the new logo becomes visible. That´s it. You are all done. You now have a logo on your website (blog) that makes it look more professional.