Content will make or break your blog or site. You can pretty up the template until you are blue in the face, you can sign up for every social media platform known to man, but in the end the value you provide will be found in your content. This will determine whether you have repeat readers and long-time supporters and advocates.
In fact, with blogging as with many business ventures, it is often recommended to adopt a ready, shoot, aim approach. You need to research your keywords and topics well, write great articles, and then worry about fine-tuning your approach. Edit your articles and the look of your blog as you go. Remember, if your blog has valuable or unique content, you could have millions of visitors on a simple template!
Suppose you were the only blogger during the second Gulf War when the U.S. was bombing Baghdad. There you were describing what was happening on the ground, just as you saw and felt it as a citizen (i.e., very unique content of value to a global market). You would have had many visitors to your blog, regardless of how the template looked or what kind of bells and whistles it used. This is not just a random example, but a true story! This blogger was actually known as the Bagdad blogger:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salam_Pax [1]
The point I want to emphasize here is that content is king. To produce that kind of content you need to have a plan. Chapter 4, Page 52 of your e-book describes how to plan for your content.