A Quick and Easy Guide to Starting a Blog
A Quick Guide to Starting a Blog
“But HOW do you start a blog?”
I’ve been asked this so many times even though my blog is very young. I am still figuring things out but I thought I’d go ahead and put this out there for those who want a simple overview. I’ll update as I get further along in my journey!
There is SO much information out there and you can easily get overwhelmed (if you are like me). I believe in straight- to-the-point directions without a lot of fluff so that’s what I’m going to give you.
Just a heads up - several affiliate links are in this blog post. It doesn't cost you any additional money by clicking on them!
1. Domain Name and Hosting
It’s TOTALLY fine if you don’t already know what you want your blog name to be. However, if you do you need to go ahead and buy your domain right now from SiteGround. You don’t have to sign up for hosting right away if you aren’t quite ready to launch your blog. But definitely purchase your domain name ASAP through SiteGround!
2. Social Media Accounts
The minute you decide what it's going to be you need to go ahead and claim your accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Even if you don’t plan to launch your blog immediately you’ll be glad you secure your social media accounts as soon as you can! You can keep those accounts private until you are ready to officially launch.
3. Website Design
TRUST ME - Just hire someone to do this.
Will it cost money?
Yes. But what it saves you is TIME.
Unless you happen to be a whiz at setting things like this up you need to call my girl - Christina Joan. The entire process was quite enjoyable for me because she made it so easy! Feel free to do this yourself but you’ll absolutely want to use WordPress.org as your platform.
4. Time Management
Do yourself a favor and buy Rosemarie Garner’s 10 Hour Time Block Strategy Guide. You can apply this to SO many areas of your life but it's written for bloggers. I love the visual aspect of it!
Time management is key. For everything in life, really. But especially for a blog. You don’t want to go down the rabbit hole in the VAST amount of information out there on blogging. This helps guide you to keep you on track. YOU set the schedule based on her strategy so it works for everyone!
Then once you have your schedule set according to her plan use it to organize the rest of your life!
As an Amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
5. Monetization
You CAN make money with your blog but to do that means you have to monetize it.
Do not begin marketing your blog until you have monetization set up. You never know which blog post will go viral and you’ll be sad if you miss out on potential income. There are what seems to be never-ending ways to monetize your blog.
Do not get overwhelmed.
Pick two to start. You can always add more later!
The two areas I’m focusing on is ad revenue and affiliate income.
Ad Revenue: You’ll have to start with Google AdSense
Affiliate Income: This is another area you will be overwhelmed with information. Just start with Share a Sale. You can always add more affiliates later but this is an easy way to start since Share A Sale has a ton of opportunities for every niche!
5. Marketing
You can have THE best blog in the world but if you don’t promote it then it won’t be seen by many.
I knew - again from researching and sifting through the vast amounts of information and courses out there - that using Pinterest for blog promotion was something I needed to learn. It is absolutely key to getting your blog in front of your readers. So I found the course Pinterest Launch Plan and will use that as my map to promoting on Pinterest. (Can you tell by now that I am BIG into education and learning things as quickly and as efficiently as possible?!)
The number one tool you'll need for Pinterest Management is Tailwind App - it is an absolute must for scheduling your pins!
One thing you absolutely MUST do from the beginning is start growing your email list. It is essential. I've tried multiple email marketing platforms and just recently found Flodesk. They are in their beta phase now so you can take advantage of their extremely low rate (50% off for life) by signing up now! You get 30 days for free to try out but I guarantee if you've had issues learning ConvertKit or MailChimp, etc. you'll LOVE, love, LOVE Flodesk. Their templates are unbelievably beautiful and their customer support is wonderful!
6. Patience
It’s not an overnight process. I gave myself one year from launching my blog to see if it was worth continuing. I’m only 2 months in at this point and so far I’ve already made a few dollars from affiliate sales! It’s exciting but it doesn’t mean I get to sit back and hope that things get moving on its own. It’s an active process and takes a lot more than just a few hours initially to get started.
Give Yourself Permission
Do one thing at at time.
Don't get too distracted by all the shiny blog posts out there that promises you can start a blog with only 5 hours a week (I'm sure this is possible but the reality is I've been working more than 5 hours per week on my blog and wish I had even more time to work on it!) or the ones who tell you you can make $15,000 a month on a blog. I know these this are possible....but it's not reality for the vast majority of bloggers.
Don't compare yourself to others. There are SO many out there with so many different circumstances. Do what is right for you and for your family. You can absolutely learn from others but take everything with a grain of salt. What works for one person may not work for you.
Are you considering starting a blog?
What is holding you back?
Let me know and maybe I can help guide you!
