Blimey, we're more than half way through May already. It's unbelievable. (and ten days since I last wrote, bad girl!). When I decided to set up this blog I had a bit of a half formed idea about why I wanted to do it. As a PR I naturally thought about the PR opportunites it opens up but I've now decided to take a much more relaxed approach and just see what comes out of things.

In fact my last newsletter was about blogging as a PR tool- the fact that it works beautifully for some, and then sees more like a chore for others. This morning I opened up my outlook express to get two very different messages. One from a woman who has just started her own business and finds blogging a very grassroots and effective way to promote her home-made soaps, and another, a coach, who finds the whole discipline involved gives way to a feeling of guilt when she doesn't manage to keep her blog up to date.

I've also come across a PR company that is going to offer its clients a blogging service - where it blogs on your behalf. Whilst blogging can be effective as PR, I find this idea absolutely bizarre. I'm very much a believer that blogging has to come from the heart and not the wallet!

Paula Gardner of Do Your Own PR is the author of Get Noticed: Boost your small business profile in 30 days or less.

I haven't written much for a while. It's been very busy here - not just with PR consultations but also the http://www.chicklit.co.uk/ site which was re-launched a few weeks ago. The response has been amazing and we've doubled the visitors to the site in less than two weeks. Admittedly, we've also doubled the number of pages but sometimes attracting visitors to your site can be just as simple as that - more content so more chance of it getting picked up by the search engines.

Which means that if you're considering a website, choosing one with a content management system that allows you to increase the size of your website as you wish is a good investment. And you don't have to write all the articles youreslf. Often you'll find people keen to offer you free content in return for a link and some blurb - make use of it and have more on your site to invite visitors back.

Paula Gardner is the author of Get Noticed: Boost your small business profile in 30 days or less.