Your own Corporate Blog in 10 steps

Have you ever thought about creating a blog for your company? Believe me, it is easier than you think. Today I am going to demonstrate just how easy, by showing you pretty much exactly how Direct Traffic Media set up the very same corporate blog you are reading right now. And it only takes ten steps to get your first post online under your own domain!
I do assume you have your own domain/website already. If not check this site to find a hoster to suit your needs. For the following step-by-step guide which is based on using Google's blog API for publishing you will need to have your ftp details ready. So, here we go:

• Step 1: Browse to blogger.com and hit "Create your blog now"
  (Click on the picture to enlarge the screenshots)
  
  
• Step 2: You will need a google account. Enter an existing email of yours, followed by a password for blogger.com, a name that will appear as author for the posts. Enter the word verification. After reading the terms of service, tick the box to accept and hit "Continue". (In case you already have a google account this page/step will be skipped)
  
  
• Step 3: Leave all fields blank. Instead, locate and click the hyperlink "Advanced Blog Setup"
  
  
• Step 4: Fill out the required fields.
  
  • The Blog title is the title that will later appear as the name of your blog.
  • I recommend selecting "Listed" to get your blog indexed in the blogger.com directory.
    
  • Ftp server requires the adress of your ftp server, an URL looking something like ftp.****.co.uk.
    
  • Select ftp, or if supported secure ftp (sftp).
  • Enter a subdirectory if appropriate. If you plan to set the blog to be on top level you need to enter the path of the web servers main directory (look out for an already existing index.* file)
    
  • Specify a filename for the blog's mainpage, e.g. index.html
  • Type the full name under which the blog will become available to your visitors
    
  • Enter username and password for logging on via ftp.
  • Enter word verification and hit "Continue"
    
    
• Step 5: Choose a template and hit "Continue"
  
  
• Step 6: Hit "Start posting" as soon as the success message appears
  
  
• Step 7: Type in your first blog post and hit "Publish Post"
  
  
• Step 8: Wait for publishing to finish and click on "View blog"
  
  
• Step 9: Admire the first post of your corporate blog online!
• Step 10: Get back here and post your feedback! Did you experience any problems? Need any assistance? I am looking forward to reading your comments in the comment section...