Blogging Basics: Let’s Get this Started!

I have been blogging for quite a while now (since 2008) and doing it as my full-time career for the last 3 years. I can hands-down say it is my favorite job (and my most well-paying job) that I have ever had. The best part is that it was something that started as a hobby that I was doing for fun and evolved into what it is today. Granted, it took a LOT of work, but it was all more than worth it.

Over the years I have often had people ask me about blogging – basically what it is, how to get started, and how to make money at it. I have also helped plenty of people who are newer to blogging figure out how to do new things, solve problems, and the like – so I decided it was about time I actually start WRITING about blogging.

Have you been thinking about starting a blog? I say – GO FOR IT!! Whether you have a great idea for a site, want to share your amazing recipes and projects with your family and friends, would like to keep a centralized place to record memories of your travels, or whatever your reason, there is no reason to NOT give it a try.

If you’re not quite sure why you should start a blog or what you want to write about, we have a post below that a contributor submitted on one of my sites that WAS going to be all about blogging. Since Thrifty Jinxy is all about living a fabulous life on a frugal budget and includes ways to earn money, I realized that this information about blogging belongs RIGHT HERE on ThriftyJinxy.com and not off on some little site all on its own.

So, let’s start out with:

Why Start a Blog?

 
Have you been pondering the idea of starting your own blog, but aren’t sure how to get started? We know there are lots of potential bloggers out there, but taking the first step isn’t always easy. To give you a bit of a helping hand, we’re starting a Blogging 101 series to give you that little push you might need. To kick things off easily, lets start at the beginning with Blogging 101: Why Start a Blog?

There are a lot of reasons you might want to start a blog. It could be anything from earning an income to promoting a cause special to you, to sharing with friends and family and more. Whatever your reason is, you need to have it figured out before you start your blog. If you don’t have your reason set before hand, you’ll likely end up blogging about a million and one topics and eventually end up confusing your readers.

If you’re starting your blog specifically to make money, don’t. You won’t make money if you’re trying to. Blog readers are very observant and they will pick up on the fact that you’re only trying to earn from them. Its fine to have a desire to make money, but making that your only reason will cause you to fail. Instead, work on building lots of quality content and THEN about monetizing.

Personal causes and charities are a fantastic reason to start a blog. Pick a topic that you’re passionate about and get to writing. Passion always resonates with blog readers, so be sure that you’re truly passionate about your topic. You are going to be writing about it on a regular basis after all!

You can also start a blog to keep long distance friends and family updated. This type of blog would include things like regular updates on what the family is doing, updated photos, and more. With this type of blog, you may want to consider password protecting each post for privacy…especially if you have pictures of your kids you don’t want available to the general public.

Another reason you might consider starting a blog is to help teach someone a new skill. DIY and food blogs are very popular and can grow to be huge. Before you start, brush up on your photography skills and make sure that you’re at least proficient in the crafts or recipes that you’ll be blogging about. No one wants to visit a food or craft blog where the blogger doesn’t know what they’re talking about and the pictures look horrible.

No matter why you’ve started your blog, know that if you want it to be successful, it will take work. LOTS of work. Big blogs don’t happen overnight, but with enough work, perseverance and of course, high quality content, you just might see growth like you’ve never imagined.

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So, that’s our first installment of Blogging Basics. I’ll be back again next week and plan on every week after that to keep brining you more information to get started on blogging and growing your blog into your own success story!

Want some one-on-one guidance as you work on your blog? Join our new Bloguistics Facebook group HERE and I’ll help you through any stumbling blocks (and if I can’t, locate someone who will)! The group is a place for all of us to learn, discuss and grow.

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Ready to get started with your blog? You can use the same reliable web hosting I do with BigScoots!