Believe me, I know. I see a lot of that advice in the blogging Facebook groups that I frequent and fellow bloggers I follow.
Related read: What I’ve Learned About Blogging Since Starting My Blog
(This post includes affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission.)
While I don’t always agree with all of the advice I see, there is a lot of good, even great, advice out there about starting a blog. To help you sift through the advice, I’ve compiled a list of the best pieces of advice about starting a blog I’ve come across.
Start an email list before launching
Why is this something you should do? Email lists are like gold for bloggers. Especially ones who plan to eventually make money from blogging.Email lists give you a group of people who have raised their hands and said they are interested in what you’re offering and want more of it. Because of this, they are more likely to buy from you.
If you’re starting a blog and may not have any posts live you can still collect email addresses and build your list. To do this, create a coming soon page that lives on your blog’s URL. Then you can use an email service like Kit or MailerLite to create a signup form and collect the email addresses.
This is something I missed out on. If I had done my research like you’re doing before starting my blog I would have done this.
Action items:
Determine which email service you’d like to use and get your account set up. Then set up a coming soon page and include a signup form. You may want to include an incentive like a printable, tutorial, or a sneak peek at your blog before it launches which only email subscribers will get.
The reason for this range is
Related read: Which Email Service Is Right for Your Business Or Blog?
Have live posts when you launch
If you have a coming soon page this gives you time to get your blog content ready in the background before you launch. In all of the advice I’ve read, and from my own personal experience, having 2-5 posts live when you launch is ideal.The reason for this range is
- If you’ve been promoting your blog you want people to have something to read when it’s finally live.
- Having multiple posts lets visitors get an idea of the flavor you and your blog bring to your topic.
Action items:
Write at least two posts and set them live before officially launching your blog. One of the posts could be an introductory post so people get to know you and what to expect when they visit your blog.
I’m one of the few who's in the middle. I agree that you need to blog for yourself. What that means is you need to blog about what interests you. If you’re not interested or into it, it shows in your writing. You tend to not write in a way that reflects your personality and is something that your audience wants to read.
Now speaking about your audience, you also want to make sure what you write about isn’t just interesting to you, but also to your audience. If they don’t care, they won’t come back and tell others about your blog.
Related read: Starting A Blog Part 5: Launching Your Blog
Know who you’re writing for
This is probably a controversial piece of advice as most bloggers seem to be in one of two camps. They are either in the camp write for yourself or write for your audience.I’m one of the few who's in the middle. I agree that you need to blog for yourself. What that means is you need to blog about what interests you. If you’re not interested or into it, it shows in your writing. You tend to not write in a way that reflects your personality and is something that your audience wants to read.
Now speaking about your audience, you also want to make sure what you write about isn’t just interesting to you, but also to your audience. If they don’t care, they won’t come back and tell others about your blog.
Action items:
Make sure your blog topics are ones that excite you. As you write your first couple of posts for your launch, make sure you’re adding touches of your personality to them. I find I’m better able to do that when I talk aloud when typing or dictating my posts.
I recommend starting with a short-term goal and a long-term goal. That will give you something to immediately work towards and something to work towards in the future. You can update these goals with new ones after you reach them.
When I started my blog I only had a short-term goal in mind. I wasn’t thinking long-term. I hadn’t thought through about what I wanted my blog to become and this stunted my blog’s growth and resulted in a rebrand a couple of years in.
Determine your goals
This is probably more important than the other pieces of advice about launching a blog. Having clear goals impacts so many things about your blog. Things such as the platform you choose, your blog name, and even your blog design.I recommend starting with a short-term goal and a long-term goal. That will give you something to immediately work towards and something to work towards in the future. You can update these goals with new ones after you reach them.
When I started my blog I only had a short-term goal in mind. I wasn’t thinking long-term. I hadn’t thought through about what I wanted my blog to become and this stunted my blog’s growth and resulted in a rebrand a couple of years in.
Action items:
Figure out what your short-term goal (to be achieved in under 3 months) and long-term goal (to be achieved in 6+ months) for your blog. Then for each goal list out what you are going to do to achieve each one.
Now you don’t need to be creating your content to start social profiles for your blog. You can build your following by sharing posts of other bloggers with content similar to what you’ll be creating.
The more you tweet, post, and pin the more likely your future readers will find and follow you. Then once you launch your blog and have your own original content to share you'll have people to share it with.
Related read: Setting Blog Goals For A New Year
Begin growing your followers before launching
Social media is a great way to promote your content for free. But this is only effective when you’ve got a decent following.Now you don’t need to be creating your content to start social profiles for your blog. You can build your following by sharing posts of other bloggers with content similar to what you’ll be creating.
The more you tweet, post, and pin the more likely your future readers will find and follow you. Then once you launch your blog and have your own original content to share you'll have people to share it with.
Action items:
Determine which social accounts you want to have for your blog. Set them up and brand them so there is consistency with the look of your blog. Some ways to do this are:
- Use your blog name as your social username
- Use the same profile picture on each account
- Only share graphics that use your brand colors and logo
- Include in your social media profiles info about your blog and when it will launch
Have you run across any great blogging advice?
Great tips! I've been blogging for a decade now and wish I'd known a lot of this before I started.
ReplyDeleteThanks! WoW. I'm impressed. Do you have any additional tips you're blogging experience?
Delete