I have a personal blog called Binza, where I talk about things like athletic training, movies, music, books and other things. I get a fair amount of comments — but mainly from family and friends who’ve been on the scene for a while. When I started the blog, in 2001, I kept it strictly anonymous. I didn’t know much of what I was doing and even knowing that it was “my eyes only” I still felt as though I was giving a part of myself up to the public.

A couple years down the road I decided to tell my family about the blog and they’ve been involved ever since — checking in, commenting and sharing their own links. I realize now, however, that in the time that I went from anonymous to public, my approach to the blog and the content has changed. I write with an eye for who will be reading. I edit posts and even re-think before I comment. Not always, of course. But because my name is attached to these things I clearly need to bear in mind the effect certain comments will have. I really prefer not to have something come back to haunt me.

So recently, I started another blog focused mainly on my personal finance goals. I talk about how much debt I’m paying off, what my billable hours were for the day, my fears associated with money, debt, expenses, etc. The fact that this blog is anonymous allows me absolute freedom to share everything on my mind related to each post’s purpose and the goal of the blog. In other words, I’m not out to just rant about things. I’m out to share specific information about my day and my feelings associated with it.

In the week that I’ve been doing this, I actually feel happier. I feel I’m unloading certain fears from my mind as I write things down, and each night I’m tallying up my day’s earnings. This has motivated me to focus on working more. I look forward to posting each night. I don’t have any links on the blog that allow readers to comment. I also have not publicized the blog and don’t plan to. I love the anonymity and feel that this blog is my tiny corner of the world to work towards a specific goal.

Do I still hope for readers? Sure! There’s a lot of validation in growing a following. But I don’t want anything to get in the way of how I write. I don’t want to hold anything back and I believe that sometimes, when you have your name attached to them, you’re forced to consider every post, every word, every comment.

I’m excited to say that I’ve got a book coming out soon, an ebook that’ll also be available in soft cover. The book is called 24 Hours to a Powerful Web Presence. It’s about 80 pages long and it’s designed to help anyone create their own Web marketing campaign — in 24 hours. This includes the following:

• Buying a domain and Web hosting package
• Setting up a (professionally-designed) Web site/blog
• Establishing accounts on relevant social media sites and linking them to your blog
• Picking an e-mail marketing service
• Using SEO strategies
• Tying it all together

It took me about 1.5 years to learn how to do all of this professionally. The information is out there on the Web, of course, but it’s scattered to the high winds. Plus, I have my own opinions on how to best approach Web marketing. Not that my I’m the best or most experienced! Not by any means. But I’ve learned how to do these things and they work. The book is set up so that anyone can do it all themselves rather than spend thousands hiring an agency or freelancer to do it themselves.

The book’s coming out Feb 1, 2010. Watch this space!