I want to start a blog to raise my journalist profile and be able to say what I want and get lots of views?

[Charlii H]

which one is best? I will be advertising it through twitter but how can I get lots of views and recongition from it?

[Rae Duerr]

If you want something more professional, go for the blogspot.com domain which is run by Google. If you want something more informal (although I know many professional authors have one, so maybe this is only as informal as you let it get), get a livejournal. Wordpress.com is another professional blogging site you could use --- all of these are free, although I think they all also have paid options. You should post on lots of forums and join communities relating to your blog's topic if you want to promote it. Good luck!

[Marwan]

http://www.tumblr.com/
Tumblr is your friendly, free, and terrifically easy tool for creating tumblelogs.
Tumblelogs are the refreshingly simple new way to share anything you find, love, hate, or create.

http://wordpress.com/
WordPress.com is an easy and powerful way to start blogging.

http://blogger.com/
Create a blog in 3 easy steps:
Create an account
Name your blog
Choose a template

http://btemplates.com/
BTemplates is a gallery that shows, describes and ranks the best templates for Google’s platform for blogs. It was the first blogger templates gallery created in March 2008 and currently has the largest collection of templates.

http://www.typepad.com/
TypePad is the premier blogging service for professionals, hosting many of the world’s most popular blogs websites. TypePad’s ease of use enables you to create a blog in minutes.

http://www.vox.com/
Control exactly who gets to see each of your posts and photos.
See all the posts from your friends and family on one page.
Bring in content from other web services you already use (Amazon, YouTube, more).

http://www.soup.io/
Soup is a tumblelog, a super-easy blog that can do more than just text: post links, quotes, videos, audio, files, reviews and events.

http://www.wibiya.com/
Create a blog community using Facebook Connect
Gain traffic from Facebook through your members news feed
Engage readers and raise pageviews with applications such as post navigator and blog search
Track your traffic growth through simple analytics tools
Share your tweets with your readers in real time

http://start4all.com/
Start4all.com is the easiest way to start a blog, publish your thoughts and to place your links.

http://www.livejournal.com/
LiveJournal is an online journal service with an emphasis on user interaction. A basic, fully-functional account is free, while paid accounts receive access to premium features. You can use LiveJournal in many ways: a private journal, a blog, a discussion forum or a social network.

http://en.netlog.com/
On Netlog, you can create your own account with pictures, blogs, a guestbook, and much more. You can find people from your area, expand your friends network, or find people having the same interests as you.

http://www.ipernity.com/
With Ipernity you can:- Publish whatever you like : blog, photos, videos, audios- Customize your own Ipernity page (like at Myspace)- Share what you want with people who matter to you or with the whole world- Create a powerful page with only the stuff that matters to you

http://www.lijit.com/
You’ve likely spent a lot of time writing blog posts, creating the perfect blogroll, bookmarking sites you like, and posting photos and videos. That makes for a lot of YOU online – a collective reflection of your personality, interests, network, and expertise. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way for others to benefit from all of that goodness…or is there?

http://mashable.com/
With in excess of 4 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on social networks.

http://hubpages.com/
HubPages is your online space to share your advice, reviews, useful tips, opinions and insights with hundreds of other authors.
HubPages has easy-to-use publishing tools, a vibrant author community and underlying revenue-maximizing infrastructure.

http://www.bloggersbase.com/
BloggersBase provides a discovery platform for bloggers, user-generate-content and readers alike. This platform takes the form of an online magazine spanning various topics, each implemented as a multi-authored blog, moderated by algorithm-enhanced crowd wisdom. Our magazine introduces a brand new concept of citizen-journalism, using powerful analytics and unique algorithms.

http://blom.bleebot.com/
Keep the contact with your visitors
Enter a new community of bloggers
Integration in Netvibes or Google
Online and Offline Messenger