So you want to start a blog. What are the first steps? I have posted on this previously with So You Want to Be Blogger? I have also offered some tips on how to develop a list of potential blog posts.
What I would like to do is expand on some of what I have said before. These are the first concepts that you should wrestle with before you decide what website you want to host your blog.
I will say that this was not what I did. When I started my first blog, Down by the Bay, I did it because I read someone else’s blog and thought that was neat. My vision and mission was simply to blog. So I blogged on everything. People were gracious in their support, but it was not a very good blog, at least in the beginning.
Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before you do any of the technical stuff.
- Who are you? What makes you you? Is there something about your personality that makes you unique? What do people talk about when they mention you?
- What are you passionate about? What gets you excited? What is it that you could sit down and write about even after a long day at work?
- What do you know about? Do you have knowledge that the average person does not have? What have you experienced that gives you an edge over the person beside you?
- Who do you want to reach? It is fine to blog as a public diary. But is there a group that you would like to read your blog? Who is your target audience?
- What is your intended outcome? If you blog on the subject you are interested in and your blog is read by the people you intend, what should follow? Are you looking to expand your network? To sell a product? To pass on information to like-minded people?
If you want to have a blog that you enjoy and that others will read regularly, these questions will help you get started. Blessings on your blogging.
