(By the way, as an aside - I forgot to mention it in my previous entry - I know there are a variety of sites where you can host your blog: Typepad, Wordpress, Livejournal, etc. I chose Blogger because I know nothing about those other sites, and have just learned how to set up Blogger so this is what I will talk about.)
Now it's time to choose a name for your blog.
Think carefully. You don't want the the name to be too complicated, too similar to other blogs on the same topic, too long, or too confusing to spell.
It also depends whether you plan on buying a domain name to use intead of whatever whatever dot blogspot dot com.
Domain names cost on average, $10 a year. Domain names can be .com, .net, .org, .biz, .us, .info. I prefer using .com because that's what people think of right away. But the vast majority of .com names are already taken, especially if it's just one or two words. If you're really set on a certain name, it might pay to get the .org or .net version, but personally I wouldn't do that, since you would get confused with the .com equivalent. I would rather go for a different or similar name to your original intent.
I will explain how to get a domain name later. But why do I bring it up now? Because if you're planning to buy a domain name anyway, the blogger name isn't that important. But if you're not planning to buy a domain name, your blogger name will be the web site people will go to, and you want the name to be catchy, easy to remember, and easy to spell.
Let's look at my four blogs and I will explain the decision behind each one with regards to domain names.
For the Autism Parenting blog I immediately bought a custom domain name. It was very hard to find a catchy blogger name as the blogger world is saturated with autism related blogs. I first tried autismparentingsupport.blogspot.com which was available. But as soon as I set it up I regretted it as I didn't want to use my regular email address and regular blog commenting name for the autism blog, which was going to be pretty personal and I didn't need people immediately automatically knowing who I was. So I deleted the blog, signed into a second email address, but oops! Too late - this blog address was no longer available. I was really disappointed.
My next choice was autismparentinghelp.blogspot.com. It was available and I snapped it up. But I did not like its length and didn't think people would find it easily. Since I wanted to build up the blog as a niche blog reviewing products to help families with children with autism, I wanted it to be big, easily searchable, and easily accessible. So I did go for a domain name within a day or two. Autismparenting.com was taken, so I went for autism-parenting. It was available, easily searchable, and much shorter to type, remember, and share. I'm happy with my decision. The $10 investment is well worth it. Definitely easier than emailing or telling people 'http://www.AutismParentingHelp.Blogspot.com'. It's a mouthful, and it's not all about 'help' with autism parenting. It's my personal story, and it's about autism parenting, not specifically about help.
But in this case, the actual blogger name didn't matter so much, since I bought a custom domain pretty much right away and the length and clumsiness of the blogger name went away immediately.
With my 2nd blog, www.kosherdelish.blogspot.com, I didn't jump into buying a domain right away. It's not such a long and difficult name to spell, it's catchy even with 'blogspot' after it, and it generated a lot of hits on its first day. I didn't need the $10 investment for the blog to become widely known. I'm not saying I won't buy some kind of domain in the future, but for now, I'm not seeking to spend another $10 when I know people are going to come check out the blog anyway.
With my 3rd blog which is this one, I didn't feel like spending the $10 either; blogs like these are a dime a dozen and I don't think I will be found more easily in search engines if it has a shorter, non-blogspot name. This blog is just a hobby, something I want to help people with, not a serious moneymaker.
For the Hurricane Sandy jokes blog I certainly was not going to pay for a custom domain; it was a one-off joke page.
So basically, you have to consider whether it's financially feasible or necessary to have a custom domain. Consider a custom domain if you're planning to have a large, busy blog; if the blogspot name is too long or difficult to remember and share, or if you just want a smoother, shorter blog address. You can always buy a custom domain later. The only reason this makes a difference at the beginning of the process is that if you can't find an available blog name that makes sense for you, don't worry; chances are a custom domain of your choice is still available. Get any clumsy long blogger name; you'll be able to replace it with a snazzier, shorter custom domain name. Make sure to check first if your custom domain name is available though. Put it in your search bar and see if it comes up as already taken, sold, parked, used or whatever.
Okay. So think about the blog name you'd like. Decide if you want to buy a custom domain name right off the bat. AND LET'S GET STARTED!
You'll need a blogger account to start a blog on blogger. (Try saying that ten times fast.) Blogger is owned by google (who also owns picasa and youtube and I think the entire Internet by now!) so you'll need a google account to start a blogger account. I made a secondary email address and secondary blog account for some of my blogs so they wouldn't be associated with my real email address and name, thus hopefully providing me with a tad anonymity.
I think there are very few people on the Internet at this point without a google or gmail account, especially if you're a serious surfer and wannabe blogger. But if you still don't have a google account, get one now. That is your first step.
Creating a blogger account is super simple. Open another browser window and go to www.blogger.com. You'll see this: (forgive me for the 3 split pictures, I have a verrrryyyy small screen Netbook, but I'm getting my Chromebook tomorrow and boy am I excited :) )
