Many bloggers share the same dream: Being read by millions on a monthly basis. However, in a day and age when thousands of new articles are published daily, differentiating oneself from the crowd can be quite challenging. Challenging, but not impossible.

When done right, blogging is a very powerful tool that can help companies and solopreneurs generate great leads.

So, how do you become a successful blogger? The answer is simple. Observe what experts in your niche do and avoid major mistakes. In this article, you will find the six most common ones.

Lovers of the free blogging platform WordPress.com can now officially rejoice. WordPress has recently announced the launch of its new major upgrade, Custom Design. According to Lance Willett, of the WordPress.com team, the new tool "combines easy to use, code-free font selection from Typekit and a beautiful CSS editing interface with world-class support from our famous WordPress.com Happiness Engineers."

The Font Editor features 50 premium fonts (accessible directly within the WordPress dashboard) whose sizes and styles can be modified with a click of the mouse. Further, it works with every theme and does not require any coding knowledge.

“We have this huge translation project for you. 40k words. Deadline: one week. What is your best rate?”

“This is considered a rush job. My rate is usually higher in this case. It is also determined by the technicality of the document. I need to see a sample.”

When Twitter’s new follow button was  launched on May 31, 2011, I immediately implemented it on my blog and website before writing an article for my Social Media column on Examiner.com. I liked the simplicity of the button. However, what mostly appealed to me was its powerful features. Visitors did not need to leave my website or blog to access my Twitter profile and latest tweets anymore; they would also be able to follow me directly from there!

The other day, I was approached by an online contact who wanted to know the benefits of blogging. “I am on Facebook and Twitter and update my profiles almost every day. Why should I have a blog?”

If you want to build a successful brand online, you must blog. Why? Read below…