I mean I’m starting a blog without knowing how to start a blog and one of the key components is that I find people who are interested in what I’m writing so naturally one of the first things to do is look up how to start a blog. Has anyone ever googled ‘How to start a blog?’ The information is WHOLLY overwhelming. Well I can tell you, I’ve been doing it, and the amount of things you should have in place before starting a blog makes you want to give up before even starting! Who knows what a SEO is raise there hand (and no its not a CEO role for blogging)! What about a landing page, pillar articles, CTA and RSS? No? Well obviously you haven’t gone to Blogging University.
First of all the majority of posts dedicated to ‘how to start a blog’ should really be read as ‘how to make money from starting a blog’. And am I the only one who finds it ironic that there are so many persons blogging about starting a blog? And those are only the blog advice bloggers! What about what seems to be the millions of travel bloggers, food bloggers, fitness bloggers and everything else in-between! I didn’t realize everyone and their grandmother was sitting down blogging!
So how do I, Matthew, son of Rory, first of his namesake dare to launch a blog in 2017 and hope that there are persons out there to read it? One of the biggest recurring themes seems to be find your general topic and then zone into a niche’ within that and sometimes even zone in further and make sure you’re writing relevant posts that your readers want to see but that’s basically DON’T STRAY FROM YOUR TOPIC. But unless I move to Mars and colonize, at this point how am I going to find a niche that 10 other people haven’t done before me? And furthermore what if I WANT to stray from the topic and write about something random that I thought was funny or helpful or just a good read, is there some kind of Blog Regulation Committee that’s going to put me back into my little box?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I wont be able to live by the ‘20 ways to make your blog successful’ and thankfully I don’t have to. I’m well aware that many of the people who blog make a living from doing so and therefore the time and energy they have to spend in making a blog is equivalent to a full time job. Some have editors, hire Photoshop workers, pay for promotion, plan posts weeks and months in advance. Of course I’m going to take advice of what’s practical and do-able to engage readers but I definitely don’t want that small voice in my head (or pressure) telling me how many ‘how to’ posts I need to write or that I have to end each post with a question to solicit opinions from readers. I’m not saying I wont want to, I’m just saying I’m happy to try blogging on my own terms.
Cheers!
Nobody knows how to start until after they’ve already started. And you’re already off to a fantastic start.
thanks for the kind words man. I’m just over here drowning in blog world, not really sure what i’m setting myself up for so any kind of validation right now is more than appreciated!
Haha. You learn as you go along really. I don’t think there’s anything you can read that’ll teach you more than the actual experience of doing it can. With that said, happy blogging lol 🙂
i figure it will come organically or so i hope! thx for the well wishes!
hahaha, you’re hilarious. Already loving your blog <3
lol was gonna leave an emoji but turns out i dont know how to. it was the blowing kiss one. haha
Love the feedback and engagement your blog is getting!!! You’re off to a great start. Excited to see how it will progress.
excited to see as well although its more of an anxiety excited. thanks man!
The hardest part is getting started but you’ve taken the plunge! And I’m sure all your readers will agree: we’re glad that you did! Kudos on writing that’s entertaining, genuine and definitely humorous. Great stuff buddy!
thanks for the kind words Stuart!
I know this post is older, but I agree that the work you find when asking how to start a blog definitely makes you exhausted and intimidated before you start. My blog has not taken off, much due to the fact that I haven’t devoted that much time into it as I did when I first started, but I do plan to rectify that situation, but I do not plan to place myself in a box. I prefer to write about anything and everything that interests me or makes me think reason being , I am not a person who is solely focused on one thing in my life. I have many areas of interest, and things that I learn. So, I agree do not place yourself in a box. Write about what about whatever you are feeling, or find interesting, and there will be people who those particular posts speak to, and will look out to see whatever else you may post about even if it isn’t focused on that one particular area.
thanks for the feedback Quimsically! As you said its an older post but ur response came at a time when I was wondering about whether or not i even wanted to blog anymore and what id even write about. call it renewed energy. cheers!
It’s definitely worth continuing. And I say write about whatever you find interesting in the day or week, because there is always at least 1 person who will agree. Plus we Jamaicans can’t stay still for too long. 😋