A few days back a colleague asked me how I started my blog. That’s funny because it feels like my blog is all of three days old. I’m a baby in this thing.
But then I thought it might be useful to capture what I did while it’s still fresh. I wish I had been directed to someone who had done this. So, if you’re thinking about starting a blog or know someone who is, this is my attempt to be useful to you or your friend.
Here goes, but I offer what follows knowing there are a thousand different ways to do this. The following is what has worked for me so far.
- Themes. I think it’s helpful to identify some themes you plan to write about. Identifying themes gives your readers a frame of reference. Because my blog’s title is my name, my themes, encapsulated in my tagline, are like a book’s title and/or subtitle. They tell readers what my blog is about. And if you ever write about a different theme, don’t worry: blog police haven’t been invented yet.
- Sustainable content. Let’s face it, content is what’s important. All the rest—title, tech stuff, how to promote, when to post—all of that is pure silliness compared to developing a sustainable way to publish content that you are, at least for the most part, pleased to publish. If I have any secret at all, here it is: before you launch your blog, practice offline. Write a queue of posts on the same schedule you hope to maintain after you launch. It’s like a dress rehearsal. It allows you to feel what it feels like to be a blogger who posts regularly without the pressure of others reading what you write. I decided I was going to post twice a week, so I arranged my life in such a way to make that happen. Make no mistake, by the way: blogging on a regular schedule requires some lifestyle changes. Anyway, I lived that way (in my case, getting up early 2-3 times a week) for five weeks and wrote ten posts. The other value of doing this is it gives you a batch of content to edit and cull from when you go live. To be direct: I’m so glad I did this!
- Blog title. I went with my name, vain though it may appear, because that way if I decide to change directions and write about turtles and flamingos, I don’t have to change my url. Unless I change my name, everything I do can fly under this banner. By the way, my domain was really cheap—something like $5 a year. I used godaddy.com, despite reservations about their advertisements, because they are a reliable url registry.
- Post titles. Your main source of advertising is your post titles. They have to sing. Copyblogger helped me a lot here.
- Self-hosted WordPress. Here I have to bow to blogger extraordinaire (I’m not worthy!), Mike Hyatt. Watch this.
- Twitter and Facebook. I’m sure I’ll change what I do a million times on Twitter and Facebook to promote my posts, but right now I tweet vigorously, using BufferApp, the day a post goes up. My tweets automatically go to Facebook too. I’m thinking about setting up two Facebook pages—one that allows me to accept all Friend requests (a “fan” page?) and one that’s just for friends and family. I want to let as many people know about my posts as I can. As I told my colleague friend, if I’m going to blog, I want traffic! I don’t apologize for that. I’m doing this to help people, so what’s the point if people aren’t reading what I write!
OK. That’s what I got for now. But I know some readers out there who have been blogging a lot longer than I have. What advice do you have for people who have just started a blog or are thinking about starting one?
You’ve given a simple set of guideline for us “nervous Nelly’s” who are cautious about putting our heart and soul out there for the world to read. I like practical and safe, and this covers it for me. I’m trying to break out of my shell, so for me, writing a blog is the first step. Thanks for your help!
You’re very welcome, Erin! You can do it!! Be sure to let me know when your first post goes live.
Hi Chad, my 10 year old son reads a ton of books. I was thinking about starting a blog where he could write a review of the books he reads. Are there any legal issues with posting a picture of the book with the review? As of right now I don’t even know how to do this, but I thought I should find out.
Hi Shelley! I think you’re on fairly safe ground here. To go a little deeper, see http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/using-images-in-blog-posts?replies=3#post-660360
Take care!
Hi, thanks for this post i have read this post and start our blog . anybody read this post and Start A Blog very easly.
Reading about a blog’s title made me glad I chose my name too. I feel like I AM talking about everything from turtles to flamingos!
I’m wondering if my blog has enough focus. Yours deals with writing/publishing,etc. Mine is a vast array of encouragement found in life’s ordinary things and events. I’ve read where a blog’s focus needs to be “razor sharp.” Mine feels more like a butter knife.
Sally, good thoughts. Regarding themes/content, I really appreciated Erin Bartels’ comment above. It may be helpful to you as well. The reality is, oftentimes we have to write for a while before we can settle into our voice, our unique offering to the world. So keep writing and see how it develops. It’s the “keep writing” part that can sometimes be difficult, eh? Thanks so much for your comments, Sally. Bless you!
I’m on my third blog now and I feel like I’ve finally found the real meat of what I want to talk about–writing and Michigan. It took a while of blogging about just about everything that interested me (because there’s just so much interesting stuff in our world!) but I finally focused in on two passions I want to promote. I’m in the early stages of Erin Bartels 3.0, but I’m excited about where it will go. And honestly, I couldn’t have started here. I had to write myself into it and follow God’s leading into another, less self-focused space.
My advice to add is to give some thought to at least one good photo that might illustrate visually what you’re posting about. I love beautiful photos and if I see a huge block of text as I’m scrolling, scrolling, scrolling down and there’s no visual to break it up, I often pass on to something else.
Just write! It sounds obvious, but sometimes the temptation is to wait until everything is just right with the bones of the blog before you start. You can’t find your voice without using it. Be generous – visit other blogs you admire, leave comments, join social media conversations. Blogging may feel like a solo sport, but it’s really a team effort and all about community.
Wow, I’m so glad for comments like yours. I’m learning as much as if not more than I’m offering, which is exactly your point above, of course. Awesome. Thank you!
What are your thoughts on how long a blog post should be? Should it be the same for those who post something multiple times a week, weekly, monthly, etc?
Good question. Mine tend to come in btwn 300 and 500 words, and Mike Hyatt says blog posts shouldn’t be longer than 500 words. Seth Godin’s posts are all over the map, sometimes really short and sometimes quite lengthy, though he does tend on the short side. This makes sense because Seth posts daily, which is related to your second question. Honestly, though the 500-word parameter is useful, I think post length is a moving target. My best advice for someone who is thinking about blogging is to just get started. Start writing in a regular rhythm that makes sense in light of one’s lifestyle. Do that faithfully, and the length piece will work itself out. Hope that helps, Dan!
You pretty much covered it. I’d add, though, that once you’re up and running you should 1) answer people who comment–if not all people every day, then a few every day and try to get to each person once every few times they comment. Unless you’re like Rachelle Gardner or Michael Hyatt because you’d have no time to do anything else if you answered comments. And 2) visit some of the blogs of the people who comment. If you don’t like the blogs, don’t feel like you have to keep going, But I’ve found some great friends this way. It makes sense that if they like my posts, I might like theirs. Of course, again, once you have a lot of people leaving comments, you can’t do that. But it’s a great way to start and build a little community.
Fabulous advice, Sally! Thank you.