10 Steps You Should Take Before Starting A Blog

1. Ask Yourself The Following Questions:

• Will I put in the effort? 

You know yourself and your habits so this question should be easy. If everything you’ve started thus far hasn’t worked out because you didn’t put in the effort to cultivate it, then this blog idea will end up in the same trash bin.

• What do I want to gain?

It’s easier to stick to a plan when there’s a clear goal. Here’s a few goals to think about: build a community of like-minded people, build a list of future customers to funnel into the business you will eventually start, become a known expert in your field, etc.

• Am I ready to deal with negativity?    

No matter where you are, you will have to deal with negativity. Blogging will open you up to many more people who are rude for the sake of being rude. Is your personality strong enough to withstand the hate?

2. Write 10 Blog Posts

This goes against conventional wisdom of starting a blog and winging it until it clicks, but this advice is mainly for those who want to start a blog to get something off their chest. I’ve started plenty of blogs over the years and most of the time it resulted in failure. I realized there were a few points I wanted to address to help others, but I didn’t have enough material to talk about it forever. Writing 10 blog posts will give you a sense of what life will be in the future. Consider Medium, Twitter, LinkedIn, or another any other microblogging platform if you know you’re not going to be writing much. 

3. Think About Your Lifestyle

There are certain blogs that will require a bit more work than others. I would love to start a food blog, but in order to be the best it would require me to not only create my own recipes, but to take amazing detailed photos and videos too! Being chained to one place isn’t my cup of tea, which means I would have to outsource. It’s very important to envision your daily life as a blogger. Burnout is still possible when working for yourself.

4. Pick a Topic People Need Answers For

In order for people to come to you, you need to have the answers they’re looking for. Your job as a blogger is to pick a subject in which people need solutions. For example, if you’re a travel blogger and you want to write about your time in Italy, you have to remember that people come to you for answers in the form of inspiration. You would frame your blogs as the “Top 10 Places to See in Italy” or “What NOT to Do When You Go to Italy” instead of “My time in Italy” as most people are not searching for the latter. As time goes on, you can afford to be a bit more authentic as your readers will already be tuned in.

5. Consider the Ceiling 

There’s a ceiling to the earnings you can make in each industry. If earning a decent income is your motivation then take notice. For myself, my passions include cosmetic chemistry, app development, and statistics. I’ve started blogs in each category and soon realized my potential earnings were slim, because I approached it from a technical point of view. If I would have approached my cosmetic chemistry blog from a homemade DIY point of view, I would’ve done well, but I didn’t have the desire to write about it. Approaching the app development blog with the goal of selling courses would have ended with more money in my pocket, but I didn’t have the patience to create the courses. While the blogs had a chance to earn money, I knew that if I didn’t pivot, I would not generate the type of revenue I was after. It is important to think about this before you start. Look at Google’s estimator for AdSense revenue for an idea of how each industry pays differently.

6. How Will You Earn?

To continue the discussion in point five, thinking of how you will earn on your blog is crucial to early success. There are different ways mainly through placing ads on the website or providing courses, but I want you to think of the long game. It is true that blogs that focus on finances and business creation tend to out earn most blogs as the commissions are higher and people are more willing to part with their money in the hopes of making more money. A beauty blog, for example, may not earn as much as product prices are lower, but if the creator is willing to start their own beauty line they can out earn most people. One real life example is a well known blogger who owns bySophiaLee. She started off by focusing on decor blogs and has pivoted to owning her own decor business. Even if your blog may not earn what you think it will, think about how you can funnel your readers into something even bigger.

7. How will you promote?

A business is nothing if people don’t know about it. Before you dive in, think about how you will get the word out about your blog. Are you going to run ads, join Facebook groups, or use Pinterest? Be cautious about relying on family and friends especially if their network is not the target audience of your blog. 

8. Be Realistic

To be honest, most of the bloggers that generate a hefty income from blogging are selling dreams to future bloggers. Most of them do not have a business outside of selling courses on how to blog. When you see those blog income reports, take them with a grain of salt. You may not earn $100,000 in your first three months of blogging but know that the goal is achievable with more time.

9. Be open to change

If you know you’re one of those people that laments anytime there’s a slight change, then blogging is not for you. Algorithms are always changing and what worked last year will not work two years from now. You have to be open to change.

10. DIVE IN!

So you’ve been through all of the points and still have the gut feeling of starting a blog? I would suggest for you to go for it. This will satisfy the voice in your head saying to do it.