I can not stress enough the importance for startups of having a good web-hosting service and good web presence.  One mistake that I made in launching Walden Technology Partners, Inc., was in not first hiring a website designer (in our case, my niece), finding a good webhosting provider (in our case, HostMySite) and getting the site up and running from day one, when I changed my LinkedIn profile.

Evolving a blog from one that is a single orator addressing an audience of none into an interactive and supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurs requires some real work.  And I am getting a great deal of advice on the topic.  Here’s a sampling from my expert-in-residence, my brother, Ken.  I received the following advice from him today:

1. Download the Google and Alexa, toolbars, so that you can tell which sites are getting lots of traffic.

2. Make intelligent and useful comments on high traffic blogs and discussion groups that are directly related to problems that you want to solve for your customers, with a short signature line that highlights what your do and a link back to your own blog.

3. Drive traffic to the blog, not the main site.

4. Write articles and submit them to article directories with your signature.  You can automate the process of article submissions using software like Article Announcer.

5. Prepare PDF whitepapers and make sure that people know that they are free to redistribute them, and then get them into the key movers and shakers in your industry — AND make sure that they contain link backs to your blog articles that offer more information.

6. Make sure that you capture name and email for your email newsletter.

7. Make blog postings and encourage comments and track backs.

8. Read “Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell and make sure that you target blogs, and publications that the “mavens”, “connectors” and “salespeople” frequent for maximum distribution.

9. Use social bookmarking sites to get increased traffic to your blog.  In particular http://www.technorati.com and http://www.mybloglog.com/

10. Download plugins and widgets for your blog that maximize these effects by allowing people to bookmark you on multiple sites and to subscribe to your RSS feeds. Here’s a great article by Michel Fortin. While you’re at it subscribe to his blog.

Regarding my own blog, upon advise of counsel, Ken, I require that readers register to my blog before posting comments.  In addition, I approve all postings.  For the record, controversial and confrontational are OK.  Libelous, profane, and harmful comments are not.  This may reduce the number of comments, but it is a small price to pay to preserve the goal of the blog, which is to help entrepreneurs and inventors.

I was thrilled last night to get a notice that I had my first “registered” reader of the blog.  I now had a community of two.  But, I was equally dismayed to learn that my newly registered user couldn’t post a comment she was trying to post on my entry regarding personal brand.

This all leads me to the unsolicited webhosting endorsement for HostMySite.  After I got word from my first registered user that she couldn’t post a comment, I emailed a trouble ticket to HostMySite on Apr 10, 2007 at 9:31 PM.  At 9:32 PM the trouble ticket was automatically opened. At 9:33 PM, I decided I should call instead.  I spoke to a very nice guy (someone answered right away).  While I was on the phone with him, I got an email from Ryan (another great guy), who identified the problem right away and had me up and running in minutes.  For the record, the problem was a configuration error that I likely made when creating my site.  Anyway, the point is that the company actually delivers on the 24X7 support.  Thanks Ryan (and the other guy).