*Ahem.*
Er… anybody there?
Not exactly an auspicious way to start communication in any channel – be it a new blog, Twitter account or verbal conversation. Instead, tell a story, create interest – above all assume an audience. No-one wants to read shoe-gazing soliloquies.
Whilst there will be some people other than your mother who are fascinated by you as a person, they will be few and far between at first. So, stick to a topic. This makes it easier for people to make a decision to come back often, subscribe to your RSS feed, and sign up for your newsletter (if you decide to have one).
Don’t blog about something purely because you think it’s going to make you money. As Darren Rowse points out, blogging is something you have to work hard at if you want to make money from it. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to sustain the amount of effort required for something that doesn’t interest you personally. Blog about things that you know about or are interested in researching.
The human brain can process images hundreds of times faster than it can text. That’s why images are extremely important for your blog. Not only do they break up the text but they illustrate your ideas, giving immediacy to your posts. Use images as often as you can to convey your thoughts. Find repositories of images you can use for free such as flickrCC and Wikimedia Commons. Just remember to attribute them correctly!
Whilst a good-looking blog is important, content is king. Without original, useful information or syntheses there is no reason for people to read your blog. In any given situation focus on generating new content over tinkering with design. In fact, it may be appropriate to explain what you want to a professional designer, leaving you to focus solely on writing interesting, informative and useful blog posts. 
Summary:
- Assume an audience.
- Stick to a topic.
- Blog about things you know about or are interested in researching.
- Use images as often as you can to convey your thoughts.
- Content is king.
Image CC BY-NC dis at asu