Coming up on my year anniversary of staking claim on this little piece of the internet, I wanted to share with you guys how I actually got my blog started. I had always wanted to do something on the internet. Youtube. IG influencer. Blogger. SOMETHING. But I was honestly too chicken to put myself out there for a really long time.
Last year during the holiday season, I told my husband that I really wanted to go for it. I wasn’t really sure which way I would take things, but I knew I just needed to get started and let things work out from there. I decided to go with a blog, as I wanted to have a home base for any other platforms I chose to dominate. And the more that I have learned about making this into a business, the happier I am about starting a blog first.
I have always loved the blogging community, and have been an avid blog reader for years. Following some of my favorite writers through young adult life, marriage, kids, moves and divorce. It has just been such a great way to connect and make friends with people I would have never had the chance to meet. It is truly such a gift!
There is a whole lot of work and behind the scenes stuff that goes onto having a blog, which I promise I will get into more of that in another post. For now, let’s dive into how to actually get a blog up and going! Because that is the first step. Just starting!
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Find a Topic – But Stay Flexible
When I first started my blog, I thought that I was going to create a mom blog. Lots of parenting chats, I was hoping to get pregnant, and all I would write about would be mom life and kids. This was my chosen topic and I thought I would rock it.
I came to find out very quickly, that my blog was moving in a very different direction. I found writing about parenting to be totally boring for me. Whoops! And with a kid in school all day, and no bun in the oven happening, it jut wasn’t working for me. I decided to be even more brave and start talking a bit more about what really took up a lot of my brain power on a daily basis. Self love, learning to dress my plus size body, finding confidence and truly allowing myself to be who I always wanted to be. A clothing obsessed, beauty junkie with a passion for helping other find the beauty in themselves.
The best thing that you can choose to blog about is the one thing you never get sick of. Find that passion, and if you don’t know what it is yet, start writing about all the things. You can start to narrow things down a bit later on and focus your blog down as you get to know yourself and who you are writing your blog for.
Find Your Target Reader
This is often skipped over, but it is truly key in finding a voice for your writing and seeking out your audience. If you don’t know who you are talking to, all of your writing will feel discombobulated. I first started talking to all plus size women, but came to learn that plus size mamas were where I would be focusing.
The more specific you can get, the easier of a time you are going to have with literally everything in your blog, from content, to sponsors and advertising, to hashtags on Instagram. All of this relies on knowing who you are talking to.
A few things to think of when you are finding your target readers… It all comes down to demographics. It helps to think of one specific person you are going to write to. You will loosen things up later, but find that one, perfect reader you want to speak to.
- How old is your perfect reader?
- Where do they live?
- What is their home life? (Married/single, kids/no kids)
- What is their income? (This matters! Especially when it comes to sponsors.)
- What is their job?
- Hobbies, pets, likes/dislikes
Get a list going of all of these attributes. If you are ever stuck for what to write, you can take a quick look at this for inspiration and literally give your readers what they are searching for.
Pick a Name
This can be one of the hardest parts of creating your blog. Choosing your name is a big deal. Think of it like naming your kid. You are going to be stuck with it for the rest of your life unless you want to deal with a lot of paper work, headache, and a big adjustment period.
Think of it as branding. Nike is never going to change its name. Neither is Taco Bell. Sure, Dunkin Donuts is going to lose the “donuts” at some point in the future, but they have been working for a long time to completely rebrand, and make it a smooth transition.
Your name is also going to be your domain, or url. Keep it on the shorter side, without any funky spellings or different characters. The easier it is for your readers to type, the better! I decided to just go with my name, as I knew that I was going to eventually want to brand ME, and it has worked out really well!
Something to consider is looking on social media, as well! I purchased my domain before really considering this, and unfortunately, all versions of my domain are taken across the board. So, my Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter are all “MaddyGutz” instead of “MaddyGutierrez”
Set Up Your Blog
There is so much conflicting information out there, but I learned a lot in my first few months of blogging. The most important step is getting your blog set up on the right platform. Especially if you hope to monetize your site. There are so many companies that can “help” you get started, but at the end of the day, you want to OWN your blog. And that means you need to be what is called “self hosted.”
For me, that meant starting on a WordPress.org platform. There is a bit of a learning curve to it. I promise that if you make YouTube and the Pinterest search function your best friends, you will have your site up and running in no time. With a self hosted wordpress.org website, you can guarantee that you will be holding all the cards to your business. You will own your content, your images, and set yourself up for success in the future when it is time to start advertising.
I did a lot of research and decided to go with Bluehost for my hosting service. I have had an awesome experience with them. The very few times I have had any issues at all, they have immediately helped me out or answered my questions. The 24/7 support, the awesome services they offer, and the really great pricing made Bluehost an easy choice for me!
Choose a Theme – Now Comes the Fun
Now that you have the bare bones of your WordPress site set up, you get to move into design. Thank goodness for themes! There is very minimal (if any) code work needed nowadays thanks to WordPress themes.
You can change your theme as often as you like, and it is a fun way to freshen things up. It might take you a few tries to “find the one.” Kind of like the search for the perfect wedding dress. There are plenty of beautiful themes out there, but the one that ticks all the boxes for YOU might take a bit to discover. Here are my favorite places to look for themes.
- PipDig – this is where my current theme is from and I absolutely love everything about it. Amazingly easy (seriously… SO EASY) installation, easy updates and beautiful themes. So pretty!
- Creative Market – If you want a ton of choices, this is the best place to look. So many small shop creators put their themes on Creative Market. You can literally find anything you want here.
- Etsy – Need I say more? Etsy is always my go to for all things creative!
- ThemeForest – I found my first theme over on Themeforest and LOVED it. It was really easy to customize and had great support (something that is super important to me!).
Don’t get overwhelmed with the choices. It is pretty easy to change out your theme, and even easier to overthink which one to choose! Find one you love and go for it!
Next up… Write!
There are a ton of other things that go into blogging, but this is all you need to get up and going. Write, write, write. And then be brave and bold and LAUNCH YOUR SITE! Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell the world.
You can do this!
Do You Want More From Your Blog?
When you are ready to take your blog to the next level, I would highly suggest looking into a few courses. The one that I have taken and would highly recommend is Blogging Blastoff. It is INCREDIBLE and completely invaluable if you want to monetize your blog and really fast track your site to becoming profitable.
I was a little hesitant to really invest in my blog so early on. Was I going to stick with this? Did I know enough to make this a business? I decided that this was really something I wanted to go after, and took the plunge for Blogging Blastoff.
Up until this point, I had made a few pennies from ads, and maybe a couple bucks from affiliate sales if I was being generous. But within the first 30 days of Blogging Blastoff, I had made back my investment in the course and then some. I have since been able to exponentially increase my income, and it is 100% the reason I have found the success that I have. Highly recommend checking it out and just going for it if you ware serious.
Sign ups are pretty short and you can only get into the course once a month, so get after it if you want to! You don’t have to have your blog fully set up or launched to get started with Blogging Blastoff. The course creators go over everything you might need to know about starting your blog and getting started on the right foot!
Have you ever thought about starting a blog? What is holding you back?
