Six steps to follow before you start a blog – my blogging journey

Have you ever considered starting a blog? Does the thought of starting a blog sound daunting? Try googling how to start a blog and see how many posts pop up, I’ll give you the answer, it’s 424 million! I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to shut my laptop and run rather than try to sift through all of that information! Today I want to share with you what I’ve learned, and what I wish I knew before I started blogging. Hopefully these six steps will help you if you’ve decided to join the world of blogging or if you already have a blog and are feeling a little lost.

I started my blog two and a half years ago. I didn’t know one single person who blogged, so I had no one to ask for advice and no way of knowing what steps I should take. I made many mistakes along the way (that apparently were textbook mistakes ?) I didn’t know my way around a computer other than online shopping (of course ?) . I spent the first year and a half spinning my wheels and not accomplishing what I wanted to with my blog, I was learning and making adjustments as I went, but I had a lot of room for improvement. Then the best thing happened, I found Tana at Your marketing bff and everything changed! Sharing is caring so here’s what I have learned!

Step number one~

What is the purpose of your blog? What do you want to share with your readers? Will your blog be about interior design, fashion, or maybe a travel blog? This was actually a hard one for me. I love interior design, but I also wanted to share my favorites in the fashion and beauty world. It’s important for your readers to know what to expect when they come to your site so you need to know how you want to brand yourself (a little something I learned from Tana).

Step number 2~

Hire a web designer, it is possible to create your own blog using wordpress, there are a million tutorials on the web and youtube on how to do it. That’s how I started mine in the beginning and that was my first mistake. You really need a beautiful and well functioning site to compete with all the blogs out there. I had help from at least two different web designers before I found Tana, her extensive knowledge on blogging is what I had been missing for so long! If you ever have a question about anything to do with blogging she’s probably written on the subject, in fact, she just wrote a book  How To Start A Blog: Everything You Need To Know To Create And Start A Blog.  If only I had had access to this book in the beginning!  I am so excited about it that I want to gift it to one of my readers! Look for details a the end of this post on how you can win a copy of her book.

Step number 3~

Create social platforms, this will be crucial to sharing your posts with new readers. Many of you may not know that I started my Instagram  before I started my blog. I was sharing my home along with design projects that I was working on, it was a great way to get more exposure of my work. I never expected it to take off like it did, I recently hit 200K followers! It takes work to build your profiles, (my other platforms are a work in progress) I need to focus on my Pinterest and Facebook (I’d love if you follow me ?) it’s important to dedicate time to social platforms to have a successful blog. 

Step number 4~

Build a blogging network, having a network of friends who blog (preferably in your same niche) can benefit you all! Reach out to other bloggers who may be new so you can learn from each other and collaborate with each other. There are plenty of readers out there for every blog, you shouldn’t be thinking about competing with other bloggers we all want to see each other succeed! When you have a lot of blogging friends it increases your opportunities, you can link to each others blogs for increased exposure. I have been forever blessed by the friendships I’ve made through blogging! 

Step 5~

Dedicate time whether it’s an outlet for you to share your thoughts and creativity, or it’s an extension of your business, make sure you dedicate time to your blog. You should have a goal to post at least once or twice a week. This is where it gets into a “do as I say, not as I do” situation, it’s one of my biggest struggles, I could list a million reasons why I don’t always have time to post. But when it comes down to it, you have to dedicate time to your blog to be successful. We’ve established that it’s important to post on a regular schedule, but quality over quantity matters as well so make sure each of your posts contain something useful for your readers. 

Step 6~

Purchase a copy of How To Start A Blog: Everything You Need To Know To Create And Start A Blog.  Because I don’t have all the answers, but Tana does! I have grown so much as a blogger since I found her, I wish I had her knowledge at my fingers in the beginning. If you would like a chance to win a copy of her book simply leave a comment on this post and sign up for my newsletter. The winner will be chosen on Monday June 12th and will be notified via email. Thank you for stopping by, feel free to leave questions in the comments. 

 

XO,

Jen