Carrie This Home is 6 months old and over these past months I’ve learned a lot about the blogging world. Today I’m going to share 8 quick tips for new blogs including the best pieces of advice and some valuable resources for people who are thinking about starting or have recently started a blog.
Things to think about BEFORE starting a blog:
Never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. This is by far the best blogging advice I’ve received and it came from my friend Mandy from House of Rose. When you’re first starting out, don’t expect your blog or posts to be as good as someone who’s been at it much longer than you. This gave me the freedom to jump in and be happy with what I was doing instead of comparing myself to others. It takes a lot of the pressure off. You have to start somewhere. Just start doing it and learn as you go.
Take a lot of time time and write down a lot ideas for blog posts. Take time to find out what you’re passionate about. After the newness of blogging has gone, your passion will keep things going. After writing posts for awhile, see if there’s a recurring theme to what you like to write about. This will help when you create a blog name and a theme that goes all around your passion.
Speaking of names…
Choose your blog name, domain, and theme VERY carefully. This is so important because these things can’t be changed very easily. Put a lot of thought and strategy into this step. I think it took me almost a month to decide on my blog name.
Here’s an example of what not to do: Let’s say you want to blog about parenting little ones. Great. Your blog name idea is “I love my baby.” In a short couple years this baby won’t be a baby anymore so what are you going to blog about then? Make sure the name, domain, and theme doesn’t narrow your potential material down but is broad enough to give you plenty to write about.
As you’re thinking of blog names you also have to find out if those domains are available on social media. Knowem.com is a great place to find out if potential blog names are available.
Write when you get the inspiration. In the beginning, I kept a notebook in my purse and I would jot down ideas for blog posts as they came to me. Then I can return to parenting, changing diapers, cleaning, etc peacefully knowing I hadn’t lost my great idea. The best ideas usually come to me at very random times, so I have to be ready when they come.
Ask yourself: If your blog doesn’t make any money–will you still want to do it? This is hugely important because a blog will take a ridiculous amount of time and you need to evaluate if it’s truly worth it. I went into blogging as a hobby hoping that eventually it would make money. I’m still waiting for the money to start coming in! However, it’s turned out to be something I really enjoy so for now that’s okay. There’s no wrong answer in this; you just need to be honest and realistic with yourself.
Once your blog is up and running, here’s some things to think about:
- Any task with blogging will take at least 4 times longer than you think it will. It happens to me EVERY TIME!
- The more pictures in a post, the more work and time it takes. I am very picky about pictures. They have to look good. So naturally I spend a lot of time and effort with pictures.
- Keep going! You will have times when you want to give up. Go back to your passion and hopefully the inspiration will come.
Valuable resources:
Pinterest. There’s a lot of great blogging resources out there on Pinterest. To see some great tips, check out my blog board. Engaging and sharing your posts on Pinterest is also a great way to gain exposure and blog subscribers.
Blogging With Amy: Amy has a wonderful website dedicated to helping others start blogs. I am not technically savvy but through watching her videos and reading her articles I was able to start my self hosted blog all by myself.
The Blog Maven: Jeni writes about a variety of blogging topics that have been hugely helpful to me.
Something Swanky: Ashton’s desserts and designs blog shares lots of helpful posts on DIY design. And some really awesome desserts that make me drool!
PicMonkey.com: I used this free photo editing website to make my header, buttons and a lot of the images in my sidebar. The Blog Maven and Something Swanky both have excellent tutorials on how to do this.
Me! I’d love to help in any way I can. I’m no expert so if I’m not able to help you I’ll try to point you to someone who can! Feel free to leave a comment or email me at carriethishome@gmail.com.
I’m curious to know:
- Have you started a blog recently? If so how’s it going?
- What was the best piece of advice you’ve gotten about blogging?
- If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
- What are your favorite blogging resources?
This post was linked to: Inspire Me Please Weekend Blog Hop, Tatertots and Jello, and In and Out of the Kitchen.
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you!