# Fired Up


In my [last post](http://www.qualitysoftwarematters.com/2015/05/welcome.html), I shared with you the reasons why I wanted to start a new blog.  However, I forgot to mention that the major impetus for grabbing the [qualitysoftwarematters.com](http://www.qualitysoftwarematters.com) domain name came from my participation in a [free blogging course](http://devcareerboost.com/blog-course/) provided by [John Sonmez of simpleprogrammer.com](http://simpleprogrammer.com). 

![simpleprogrammer-logo](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1683415766481/16169116-d67f-4f63-9f96-bf95d22f9c85.jpeg)

If you haven't heard of him, you should definitely check out [his blog](http://simpleprogrammer.com).  I have found a wealth of advice on a lot of topics that should interest all developers.  And even though I've had [a blog](http://toddmeinershagen.blogspot.com) previously for many years, John really helped me by giving guidance on focusing my efforts.

In six email lessons, I have learned:

* Why having a blog can help me in my career
* The importance of specialization and theme selection
* How to:
	* Host my own blog
	* Generate ideas for blog posts
	* Be consistent
	* Market my blog

If you haven't started your own blog or your efforts have waned with an existing one, I highly recommend that you sign up for [this free course](http://devcareerboost.com/blog-course/).  It has really fired me up!