Blogging can take some real commitment, and as in most things, there are no guarantees.
That said, I do run a fairly successful blog: http://fatchic.net - it takes a lot of my time, and in some ways has become my career.
I recommend you read ProBlogger - http://problogger.com, and look at the magazine Artful Blogging produced by Stampington company. Also, there are lots of blog threads throughout team forums - check out blogs, and follow the ones you love.
I would love to start a blog also.. I am finding it hard to drive traffic to my site.. I have been reading the comments on promoting your items and site.. receiving great ideas.. So blogging is another thing I am interested in and finding great answers here.
I started a blog at wordpress but people had trouble subscribing, so moved over to blogspot. Basically just feature themed etsy items then convo the person featured. I put maybe 45 mins into my blog daily, and get to see some neat etsy stuff.
I've been using Blogger for over 4 years and I've never had any trouble with it. I've heard it's much simpler than Wordpress.
I agree that it is important to have some theme and focus on any blog, rather than scattered ramblings, especially if you want to blog to drive traffic to your shop. That said, I struggle with this myself as a new shop. My blog was food centered for a long time, now I have to meld etsy into it. I'd love opinions on how I'm doing with that! My blog is here: http://jojobean26.blogspot.com/
Posting at least once a week is important, too! Followers will just delete you if you never post anything. Great photos are as important on a blog as in your shop. Try adding tutorials for projects, treasuries, gift ideas, etc. And follow follow follow other blogs! Comment like crazy and eventually others will read you back!
I've also just set up a blog at Posterous. It was very easy to do and I've managed to link it up with both my Twitter account and Facebook page. I'm not terribly sure it's encouraged any more people to look at my shop, but forever the optimist!
I find the concept of blogging a bit difficult to get my head around, mostly because I find it hard to believe people would be interested in me and what I'm up to. However, I've been assured it's a good promotional tool and worth sticking at.
