7 Things to Think About Before Starting Your Blog

If you're starting a new blog, you're in the right place! If you're already a blogger, you're also in the right place - these things apply to everyone and since it's an ever changing and evolving business, you can always learn/grow and implement things along the way. There's nothing more exciting than following your dreams and doing what you love and if you're a blogger or soon-to-be blogger, you likely love to write, network and help others. Your knowledge is more important and useful in the world than you think, trust me! :)    My very favorite part about blogging is being my own boss. It's the best thing to have ever happened in my work life, and I highly recommend it! It takes more than just coming up with a few ideas and throwing them out into the world. It takes effort, time and diligence to succeed but realize all of this and you will do just that - succeed. That being said, here's 7 things you should think a lot about before diving in and starting your blog:

Why are you blogging?

This question is essential to running a successful blog. It also helps you to maintain your focus and narrow down your thoughts, which you likely have hundreds of when y oudecide you want to start a blog in the first place! While I think it's totally okay to be a multi niche blogger, you also have to know what the topic(s) are that you can talk about nonstop. Make a list of your favorite things to talk about, the things that you're interested in and narrow down your niche(s) from there.

Knowing your purpose and what you can do to help solve people's problems (no matter what it may be) goes hand-in-hand with writing about something you're passionate about.

What do you want to write about?

Can you write about it a lot? Do you enjoy your topics? Are you able to ramble (in a cohesive, organized manner, of course ;) and like I mentioned in point #1, is it something you know you'll be able to share relevant facts about for hours on end? These questions are essential to ask yourself when you begin thinking about your new blog! I wish I had done this - or would have known to - before beginning, but once I started putting together my brand, I wrote all of these questions and their answers' down. I still have all of them in a notebook and refer back to it quite often, so I highly recommend writing it down and having a physical copy to look back on!

Is there a demand or need for your niche?

You don't need me to point out just how saturated the blogging world has become. There's tons of bloggers and online influencers, so sticking out in a sea of people writing about similar topics is crucial to your success. This isn't something you'll nail from day 1 (unless you have some sort of magic!) and that's okay. I still ask myself before writing each post if it's something that's been done a thousand times or if it's a question that needs answering. If it's been done before but it's something I'm passionate about, I tweak my idea and try and turn it into something even bigger or more in depth. Moral of the story is don't get sucked into the comparison game and stay true to your writing style and your perspective and there will always be a demand.

Once you decide on your blogs name, can you claim the domain and social handles? If not, can you tweak anything a bit?

This may not be one of the very first things you do, but before becoming established it saves a LOT of time and headaches if you claim your social media handles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) and can purchase your domain. Even if you aren't ready to be self-hosted or have your own domain, it IS beneficial to have these from the start and it IS smart to claim them while you can. You never know who will have the same idea name-wise as you, and you don't want to have to fight for a blog name that you likely already took a LOT of time to come up with! In the end it only helps save a few headaches ;)

That being said, if one or more of your names is already claimed, consider tweaking it. You don't want to risk getting into a copyright battle if it's too similar! If you don't think that'll be something of an issue, consider tweaking your domain or social handles; add a dash, a period, a number, "the blog" at the end of your name. All solutions to claiming your name!

Have you taken into account costs that will incur?

Once you're up and running and can monetize your blog, the costs will seem minimal and as the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money! This is something you have to take into account and budget for, but I promise, once you're writing away and can monetize your blog, these costs that'll help you grow will seem minimal at best.

Some of the costs you'll face include purchasing your domain (I highly recommend GoDaddy!), web hosting, courses to help grow your blog, scheduling apps like Buffer and Tailwind, Adobe programs, memberships, blog design - the list goes on! All are invaluable to your blog and business, so invest in yourself - it'll pay off in the long run.

Are you ready and able to put in the time and effort it takes to run a successful blog?

Blogging is extremely rewarding and SO much fun, but it's a LOT of work. More work than some may realize. When I began my blog I was rather naive to the whole process and didn't know just how much time would go into all of the tasks that are important for growing, promoting and networking. Now it's my full time job and it's much easier to prioritize, but when I was still in college and juggled my blog, classes/homework and my other job, it was near impossible to get anything done in a timely manner. Knowing that being successful means a lot of hard work is crucial. Once you commit, put 100% in and you'll see results.

Do you know what you want your brand to represent? How you want your blog to look?

Your online appearance in your little corner of the worldwide webs says a LOT about you, what you stand for and essentially what kind of audience you'll attract. This is the funnest part - picking a theme, how you'll represent yourself and your blogs design. Once you've chosen your blogs name, you can pick the style of your website, the colors of your brand and the overall feel that your blog has to it. The most important part of representing your brand is being confident and sticking to it.

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After you can answer these questions, don't waste any more time - get started! I highly suggest writing things down (sort of like answering homework questions all over again!) so you can refer back to them and use them as your own, personal mission statement of sorts. Happy blogging!!
XOXO -A