How to start a blog in 7 steps
1. Know WHY you want to start a blog
2. Decide WHAT your blog will focus on
3. Choose a blogging platform
4. Login to your new blog and start blogging
Step 1: Know WHY you want to start a blog
When you know your destination, finding your direction becomes easier, right?
People start blogs for different reasons. Today, blogging is a great way to:
- Become a better person. Blogging helps you think clearer, communicate with intentionality and build your creative flair.
- Improve your writing. Writing proficiency comes with regular practice and starting a blog helps you write regularly
- Make your voice heard. Gone are the days when only powerful politicians and wealthy businessmen could air their views. Now, you, too, can!
- Make a difference. You want to help people take control of their personal finance? Start your own blog. You wish people would exercise more, take healthier meals and rest better? Start a blog.
- Get published. The world is changing, and traditional publishers are falling into irrelevance. Smart authors now make a blog, build a loyal audience and publish their works. This approach works always.
- Make money. It takes time and commitment but people make real money from blogs. I’ve made tens of thousands of dollars myself from blogging. And many folks I’ve taught how to open a blog are doing fine too.
You can start a cool blog for any or all of the above purposes. Just use this simple guide, and you’ll see how easy it is.
Step 2: Decide WHAT your blog will focus on
People start different classes of blogs.
Travel blogs. Vegetarian blogs. Romance blogs. Writing blogs. Marketing blogs. Political blogs. Religion blogs. Fashion blogs. Photography blogs.
So… what type of blog should you start?
What will be the focus or theme of your blog? This theme is called a niche –– and you should have one.
The best is to choose a niche you’re passionate about. Blogging is to be enjoyed. You know, there’s fulfillment in connecting with others and providing helpful information. You’ll experience this joy, and be able to do it for long, if you’re passionate about what you blog about.
When I finally launched my first blog, I found I was really passionate about writing and publishing. So I made that my niche and was able to connect with, learn from and impact many nice people. I even made money from it. I was fulfilled.
What are your hobbies?
What do you feel happy doing? What are you always excited to talk about to your friends?
Is it fashion, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, food, traveling, relationship, movies or fiction? That’s probably what you should be blogging about. If you’re passionate about it, you can keep sharing useful information about it.
Create a blog today, and talk about what you love, what you know, and what you’re learning. It’s easy, and you CAN do it.
Step 3: Decide WHICH of the blogging platforms you’ll use
The question, “How do you start a blog?” has many alternative answers. You can do it on blogging platforms like:
- Blogger: e.g. yourfashionguy.blogspot.com
- Hosted WordPress: e.g. yourfashionguy.wordpress.com
- Self-Hosted WordPress: e.g. yourfashionguy.com
The first two options are free. But they’re also clumsy and ugly, don’t you think?
If your interest is to start a blog for business, a self-hosted WordPress blog is more professional. If it’s to do it for a cause or as a hobby, a self-hosted WordPress blog is more elegant.
The free blogging platforms aren’t really free.
They come with TONS of annoying limitations that just enslave you. Here’s 5 of them:
Limit #1: if you think the companies allowing you to create a blog on their blogging platforms for free do so because they love you, you’re wrong. They only do so to make money off of you. That’s why they put up adverts on your blog and ask you to pay to enjoy upgrades. Go for a self-hosted blog so you won’t be a wheel in a car working to make another company rich.
Limit #2: you’re not allowed to do affiliate marketing on free blogs. Some of them further prohibit Google Adsense and other cool ways to make money blogging. That’s not how to start a blog rightly.
Limit #3: you can’t use any of the thousands of amazing plugins and themes available to a self-hosted blog. After making a blog, plugins help you extend the functionality of the blog, the same way apps extend the functionality of a phone. Imagine having a phone without being able to install and use apps. Is it cool to live in a house you’re prohibited from painting and designing? If it’s not, then it sucks to have a blog without being able to use a theme on it.
Limit #4: you can’t use a custom email like John@YourFashionGuy.com. That’s not cool. You deserve something better.
Limit #5: on free blogging platforms, your blog can be deleted at anytime if the company’s server mistakes your blog for a spam, or if you accidentally violate their rules. And guess what – you have no remedy if that happens.
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