HOW TO POPULARIZE THE BLOG

1.Decide on a stand alone domain name www.myblog.com or directory of existing site www.mysite.com/blog. Sub domain is also an option blog.mysite.com.
2.Obtain and install customizable blog software - WordPress is the best. Just buy a domain and setup its hosting and start wordpress. In your hosting account, you can install wordpress from within the Cpanel itself in just 1 minute.
3.Customize blog look and feel templates - aka design.
4.Research keywords and develop a glossary - Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, SitePoint, Keyword Research. This all comes in the SEO section.
5.Optimize the blog:
Template optimization - RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code, Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap
Add helper plugins specific to WordPress or MT
Create keyword rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)
6.Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality. (Available in Wordpress)
7.Create Feedburner Pro account and enable feed tracking.
8.Setup a Google account for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission.
9.Identify authoritative blogs, web sites and hubs for outbound resource links and blogroll.
10.Format archived posts, related posts.
11.Enable statistics for tracking.
12.Submit RSS feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories / search engines.
13.Engage in an ongoing link building campaign.
14.If podcast or video content are available, submit to Podcast and Vlog directories.
15.Submit blog url to paid directories with categories for blogs - Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW, JoeAnt.
16.Optimize and distribute a press release announcing blog.
17.Request feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums, discussion threads. If you have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.
18.Research and comment on relevant industry related blogs and blogs with significant centers of influence.
19.Post regularly. If it's a news oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it's an authoritative blog, 3-5 times per week, but each post must be unique and high value.
20.Monitor inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog - Google Alerts, Technorati, Blogpulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.
21.Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.
22.Make contact with related bloggers on AND offline if possible.
23.When making blog posts always cite the source with a link and don't be afraid to mention popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, in the body of the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you've made.
24.Use social networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you.
25.Remember when web sites were a new concept and the page advice to print your web address everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies for your blog.
26.If your blog's goal is to promote you as an authority, interview other prominent bloggers in your industry. Your own credibility will improve by association.
27.Build out your online networks through services such as MyBlogLog, Twitter and Facebook and leverage them to promote particularly useful content on your blog.
28.Once your blog has 1000 or more subscribers, show your Feedburner badge
29.Host images with Flickr making sure to include an anchor text link in the image description back to the post where the image is used.
30.Use your blog to gain press/media credentials at relevant industry conferences and use the event to create content, connections and increase your knowledge.

Some additionally points for the blog marketing:
1. Comments - People get lazy when it comes to posting comments on other blog on a regular basis. You may say that you don't have the time or that you don't want to post comments on other blogs because the majority are your competitors. It doesn't matter, if you post comments on other blogs on a regular basis and give valuable advice many of those readers will start looking up to you and start reading your blog. If you do this for months you can get thousands of new readers as well as increase your blogs popularity.
2. Social Networks - MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo and some of the most popular websites on the Internet, so why not leverage them? They get millions of visitors a day and there's no reason not to create profiles on every one of these sites. When building your profiles you can talk about your blog as well as link to it which will cause more visitors to flood into your website.
3. Blogroll - Lots of bloggers avoid blogrolls because they hate linking out but by using a blogroll you will get more people to link back to you. Not only does this help with search engines, but more importantly will it drive visitors to your website. When adding sites to your blogroll, don't just do it because you want a link back from a specific site, do it because you think it is a great blog.
4. Widgets - Who would have thought widgets can increase the popularity of your blog? If you are one of those people, take a look at MyBlogLog. When you setup a community like that, new bloggers will learn about you and start reading your blog. The other great thing about MyBlogLog is that you can friend other random bloggers which causes many of them to friend you back and look into your blog.
5. Offline - When people market their blogs they usually do so online. If you go to work or meet tons of new people on a daily basis you should share your blog with them if you feel it will benefit them. Every time I go to a conference or a meetup, I usually tell people about my blog and within a day or so I see an increase in RSS subscribers.

A few more points:

1.Write well, write consistently, don't give up2.Become an expert on something3.Design is more important than you think4.Get Your SEO On5.Publish full feeds6.Do interviews with other bloggers7.Break important stories8.Have a contest9.Publish original research10.Put out Press Releases11.Work your long tail12.Answer your comments, in your comments, and off blog13.Spend time to create links and trackbacks14.Get Your MyBlogLog widget and work it, work it, work it (in a nice way)

Getting the Word Out:
1.Join a blog carnival
2.Join blog network
3.Participate on larger blogs in comments
4.Join Blogburst
5.Participate in Darren's contests
6.Submit to blog directories
7.Submit to Google sitemaps
8.Submit to article directories
9.Get interviewed
10.Get listed on a news aggregator, or blog aggregator
11.Create free stuff for yourself and give it away
12.Create free stuff for other people

Connect, Connect, Connect:
1.Make friends with other bloggers
2.Guest blog
3.Volunteer, intern, scut-monkey your way into a blogger's graces
4.Get hired
5.Network in person
6.Join virtual groups
7.Cross promote
Make Social Media Work For You:1.Facebook3.Yahoo Answers4.Create a Squidoo Page Lens5.Use MySpace Marketing6.Get Dugg / Netscaped / Reddited / Stumbled upon
These are points to make ur blog more popular