At Six Apart, we've helped more businesses get started with blogging than any other company around. While we're proud that we've had a lot of experience in helping build businesses with blogs, we're really excited about having the chance to share some of what we've learned about how to get started with business blogging.

If you just want to jump in and get started, this short checklist offers some essential steps you'll want to follow.

The most important thing? There are no wrong answers. Blogging is all about trying things out and making adjustments along the way - we've just tried to provide some shortcuts that might help you get there with a little less muss and fuss.

Get comfortable with the basics of blogging

Make sure you understand what a blog is (consult our blogging glossary if you need to!) and then try things out for yourself to get comfortable. You might want to set up a personal test blog of your own to gain experience. And don't be afraid to click around some public blogs and leave some comments or email the site owners for their tips. Most bloggers love to help new people discover blogs.

Understand the ways blogs can be used in your organization

We've identified a few of the key scenarios that most businesses use blogs for, but in general they can be used anywhere you'd like to improve communications online. A key here is to understand your company's culture and begin with an area that requires the fewest changes from current practice.

Identify a small, well-defined area where you'll start

With any new tool or technology, you don't want to bite off more than you can chew. Pick a specific area of focus and define an achievable goal. Some common examples: "increase the number of repeat visitors to our website by updating at least twice a week"; "speak to the enthusiast audience that's most passionate about our brand"; or "link to positive testimonials that we find in the blogosphere".

Set goals for the trial and educate stakeholders

Talk to everyone on your team who'll be contributing to or judging the success of your blogging project. Find out their desires and set their expectations about what you think you'll achieve during your blogging test.

Create a first draft of a blogging policy

As you get started experimenting with blogs, you'll likely find a number of concerns having to do with communication, employee policy, and company culture - things that have nothing to do with technology. Don't wait until there's a problem! Anticipate this need, and tell your community you'll be revising the policy over time based on feedback.

Set up a single point of contact for questions

When questions come up, ranging from blogging policy to a simple "how do I do this?", you'll want to define a single place that anyone in your organization can go to ask questions. The overwhelming majority of your community will never take advantage of it, but having that resource available to help employees make smart choices will avert problems before they arise, decrease the odds of any liability issues arising, and will help inform you about any improvements that need to be made.

Identify your technical requirements

Your main considerations for the technology behind your blogs will be how well blogging fits into the workflow and processes your organization already uses. If you have the support of technical resources such as your IT department, you might want to consider an installable software platform such as Movable Type, which offers extensive integration with your current applications. If you are doing a smaller project, an unofficial experiment, or it's difficult to get the support of your technology team, you can get a blog up and running quickly with very low cost using a hosted blogging platform such as TypePad Business Class.

Have a "quiet launch" of your blog

Most organizations make some small mistakes or have some glitches when they start blogging - reduce your risk by starting with a low profile. Take advantage of your vendor's trial period to evaluate the technology and the workflow process for blogging. Let your bloggers and your community know that the effort is a work in progress and that feedback is welcome.

Iterate on the initial deployment

Now that you're collecting feedback from your community, put it to use. You don't have to do every single thing that bloggers ask for, but if you make a few changes and explain how they were driven by the blogging community, you'll earn both respect for and trust in your effort. And don't forget to update your blogging policy if you need to, too.

Use community feedback to judge when to broaden deployment

Your community will tell you when they're ready for your blogging community to evolve: Additional feedback options, new blogs aimed at particular communities, even simple improvements to the design or visual appearance of your blog - any of these changes can help people feel invested in your success in blogging.

Identify successes in trial deployment

Once your community has started to take hold, identify where you've had some successes, whether they were expected or not. The benefits that blogging can provide are sometimes in unexpected areas, so you may need to reach out to others in your organization with different areas of expertise to help measure your achievements. Brainstorm ways in which these improvements could apply to other areas of your business.

Advocate broader blog deployment based on achieved business objectives

Now that you have some real benefits to talk about, it's time to formalize your blogging effort. Find out how to scale up both the technology and the workflow you've implemented for your current blogs. Pick enthusiastic advocates within different divisions or workgroups to help be your ambassadors within the organization. Give them this checklist, refined with your own lessons and tactics that have been effective in your company. Most people who become blogging advocates are passionate about both the technology and its results, but it's important to present the benefits of blogging in business terms instead of personal ones; If you need help, we've created a blogging advocate's guide that you can refer to.

Next: An Introduction to Business Blogging