In honor of my Blogiversary, for the month of August, I am talking blogs on Tuesdays. Last week I talked about Why I blog and today I am sharing four things you should do if you are even thinking about starting a blog. These don’t require any money, not even a computer- just a little brainstorming… and if you are like me, a fun notebook and a nice pen.
Brainstorming Exercises for Beginning Your Blog
1. Determine Your Why
I talked about my why last week on my Blogiversary and I feel this is really important. Determining the reason for your blog will drive everything else you do moving forward. Grab a note book, and start writing all the reasons you think starting a blog is the right for you.
Your why is going to drive your niche, your categories, your name… everything. Figure it out and don’t just stop there. Keep adding to your why. Expect this why to change and mature over time.
2. Who is Your Audience?
Who are you writing this blog for? Are you just using your blog as an online diary for yourself or your children? Is it so your family from afar can keep up with the happenings at our house? Or are you wanting to reach more people, inspire others and share something that you are really good at or a passion.
3. Find your Niche
What topics are you going to cover in your blog? Finding your niche does not mean you can only share about things within that niche, but the majority of your blog posts should fall within in it. You can have a broad niche or a tight niche- that is the beauty of blogging, it is your choice.
When thinking about your niche, ask yourself these questions:
– Am I passionate about this?
– Can I write about this topic for a very long time?
– What different categories could fall under this niche?
– Would I want to read a blog in this niche?
4. Practice
After you have your why, have determined your audience and think you have a niche you will want to practice. By practice I do not mean sign up for your domain and start posting. I mean grab a notebook, open a word document or blank notes page and start practicing. Practice for several days. Start writing posts that fit within your niche. Allow a couple close friends and family to read your posts and give you feedback. Reread your practice posts yourself and ask yourself, “Is this something I would want to read?”
Blogging is a beautiful thing. It has given me an outlet, a place to share and use my God-given talents. The awesome thing about blogging is that it is your own: you can blog as much or as little as you’d like. You can make it as big or as small as you’d like. And that is also what makes blogging tough: you can make it as big or as small as you would like. Going through these steps will help you determine how big you want to make your blog or even if you want to go through with this at all.
If you have been thinking about starting a blog, try out these steps and then come back next week for some more BlogTalk Tuesday and some tips and tricks to starting your own blog.
Your turn- tell me?
What scares you about the blogging world?
What makes you excited about blogging?
If you are a blogger, how has your why changed?
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