How to start a Blog?

So, you’ve decided that you want to learn how to start a blog. That’s great! Blogging can be an amazing journey, and it is extremely freeing to be able to write your thoughts for the world to see.

However, blogging is a journey. It’s not a get rich quick solution. So if you’re looking to start your blogging career, you’ll need to know that realistically this is a long-term gig.

Because I remember how it felt, and sometimes still feels like,  when I was new to blogging, I wanted to make sure this guide was written as non-confusing as possible.

Some things in the blogging world are going to be confusing especially for the non-techie aspiring blogger. But with a little reading, you will be okay.

In this post you’ll find some definitions that are like “whaaaaaaaa,” but I will include a simplified version of the definitions. You may find some terms being used that you aren’t familiar with, but I will explain them as thoroughly as possible.

What you won’t find in this post is me blowing smoke up your arse. I won’t make you any promises about the blogging field.

Except this one: If you need my help, send me an email via my contact form, and I’ll do my best to help you get started.

This post contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through my links found here. I only recommend products that are helpful to my readers. Please review my Disclosure Policy for further details.

Before I dive into the main topic of How to Start a Blog, there are some things you should think about first. I’m including these in this post because they are relevant to the blog creation process.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will do my best to help you.

Why do you want to start a blog?

I guarantee you’ll change your answer to this question many times during your blogging career. Whatever your answer is, you should be honest with yourself before starting your blog.

If you want to start a blog because you want to make money, cool. You may want to help people and that’s great.

But let me say on the wanting to help people answer…it’s a very general answer. Most all bloggers are in this field to help people.

But there is usually always another answer to why you want to start a blog. And it has something to do with money.

Again, the most important answer to this question is your honest answer. Don’t feel bad about the reasoning behind you wanting to start a blog.

When you come to terms with why you want to start your blog, you’ll be able to set your short and long-term goals for your blog later.

What is your blog about?

You may want to write about one topic or many topics. But this is important to figure out before starting your blog.

Who will be your target audience?

This is important because you need to know how you will create and market your content. You could either have a very specific audience, or a broad audience.

But you should have this figured out before starting your blog. At the very least, you should have an idea of who your target audience is.

What will the tone of your blog be?

You should figure out how you want to get your message across to your audience. Do you want to speak to your audience conversationally, very formal, casually, etc…?

What’s your budget for your blog?

This is a huge question that you should answer right away. If you don’t have any intentions on spending money on your blog, for whatever reason, be clear with yourself on that matter.

If you don’t want to spend money to create your  blog, go to WordPress.com for further instructions on creating your blog.

If you do intend to spend money to start a blog, understand that you should have a general budget in mind to avoid overspending. We’ll talk numbers in a bit.

If you are unclear about this question, or you’ve heard how you can start a blog for little money, let me explain.

In this post I will teach you how to start a blog with WordPress.org and Bluehost. I will explain the two later on.

But it will cost you to start your blog this way. It will not cost you a lot, but that’s relative. My aim is to get you started with creating your blog as quickly as possible, and as inexpensive as possible without losing value.

Are you doing this alone or do you have other dedicated writers on board?

Your answer to this question could alter the products you use to create and run your blog. I don’t think people really give this any thought when they are thinking of starting a blog. It is worth a thought.

Do you have time available to dedicate to creating your blog, writing content, conducting research, following trends, creating images, marketing, scheduling content, etc…?

Depending on your personality, you may not struggle in the time management area. But a lot of new bloggers struggle with time management.

All of the things I mentioned in this question take time. How much time is completely up to you.

How do you want your blog to look?

If there are some blogs that you follow, and you’re inspired by their blog design, I would recommend reaching out to that blogger. Ask them about their blog design.

It can be a little intimidating at first to reach out to a blogger you admire, but many bloggers are extremely welcoming and won’t mind you asking.

Colors, fonts, image placement, home screen design, etc…is good to think about before starting your blog.

I did this once with one of my favorite bloggers. I was so nervous.

It took me what seemed like forever to type the email and hit send. I wanted it to be perfect but I was afraid that I’d offend her by sending an email asking about her pin designs.

Her response was far from what I had built up in my mind. She responded so sweetly and offered me some really great resources.

Moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to reach out, ask questions, and make connections.

Writing Exercise

Instructions: Create 5 draft posts on your blog topic(s). Each draft should be at least 500 words.

I’ve created, and included, this writing exercise because it will help you figure out a few things.

• Time availability
• Motivation
• Interest
• Tone
• Just to name a few things

Keep in mind this is strictly a writing exercise. I didn’t include design, formatting, and all that jazz.

Discovery

One of the biggest things you’ll discover through this exercise is if your topic(s) will work for you. If you can’t write five short drafts, you’ll want to look into different topics.

There are techniques to get you to write about content that you may not be thrilled to write, but that’s not the goal of this lesson, and I don’t want you getting overwhelmed with information at this point.