Fashion. Beauty. Lifestyle

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

HOW TO START A BLOG IN 2020


 When I first started my blog I had no idea what I was doing and back then there wasn't as many articles as there are now. Everyone was just figuring this thing out as they went along. I have learned so much throughout the eight years I have been blogging. Chile I have worn more hats in this industry than I have ever in any of my full time jobs combined! There is always a learning curve.
During our recent stay at home orders I have been reflecting on changing the context of my posts for you guys.

I want to post less inspirational posts and more informative posts. 

I am going to share more tips, resources, guides and strategies that have helped me grow and monetize my blog and social media platforms. I am excited to share more career and also faith based content on my blog. 

If you have any requests please leave them down below or send me a message on Instagram.

Don't forget to check out my check list down below to help you guys stay on track of the process of setting up your blog! Its a one page PDF but I figured it would help you guys stay focused, organized and accountable! Hope it helps :) 

HOW TO START A BLOG CHECKLIST (FREE)

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    HOW TO START A BLOG IN 2020:

    What is a blog?

    According to Merriam Webster, a blog is a website that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks, videos, and photographs provided by the writer. 

    Is blogging easy?

    I wanted to add full transparency in this post because I don't want to deceive you all and be another IG or Facebook that is advertising how easy it is to make money blogging. NO! It takes a long time! For the small percentage of people that take off within their first year that is great but happens to very few. For most of us it toke a lot of time and hard work but can it happen..YES!

    Many people quit within their first year so if you are really passionate about blogging my best advice is to keep going! If you love it your blog will grow! 



    Step 1: FIGURE OUT YOUR WHY

    Think about your why and what is your intention for starting a blog. Do you have a skill that you want to share and teach others how to do? Do you have a passion for beauty and want to teach others how to apply makeup? What is the thing that is inspiring you to want to begin this journey and connect with others? This will help you define your blog and eventually create your blog's mission statement. 

     If you are stuck on this then what are things that your friends and family always come to you for? 
     In this same step figure out what kind of content you want to cover? What is your niche? 

    I have a further in depth post on discovering your niche here!←←

    Tip: When choosing your niche I suggest that your posts are helping your readers solve some sort of problem. You want to create a balance of both inspiration and informational posts. 


    Step 2: WHAT DOES YOUR IDEAL AUDIENCE LOOK LIKE

    Who do you envision is the type of person that will benefit from your blog. Strip this down to as specific as possible. Where do they live? What do they like? How old are they? What is the career? 
    When you create a profile for your ideal audience it will make it easier when you are writing captions and blog posts because you know how to speak to this person. This will  help you build a tribe that you can serve and create a community. 

    Action plan: Write down all the traits of the woman or man you are speaking to. Come up with at least 15-20 traits. If you need a head start here are some traits to think about: age | race | marital status | income | career | hobbies | personality | interests | 


    Step 3: SELECT YOUR BLOG PLATFORM

    Many posts recommend so many different platforms and hosting services. I am on blogger but I wish when I started out that I  used a hosting server from the beginning. Do your research on this and make sure you pick one that works for you financially and fits your best blogging needs. This will make live easier because if you use blogger like me it is going to be really hard to transfer all my blog content to a hosting server! Pray for me ya'll! 

    While choosing a platform start thinking about a domain name. This is what your blog is going to be called. It tells people who you are and who they are visiting. Try to pick a name that you will be happy with down the road and that people can find. Once you chose a domain name register it. You can google how to do this and will find many services on registering your domain name. 

    Tip: Google and look up on social media that the domain name you chose is available!

    Also in this step figure out what social media platform do you want to jump on to drive traffic and engage with your audience. Your website and a social media platform go hand in hand. Just remember that you don't own any of these platforms beside your website! 

    When starting out I would focus on just one platform because trust me you can quickly run into creative content burn out and it can be discouraging to your momentum. Once you grow and are able to obtain a consistent schedule and/or an additional team member then you can push content and time into growing on other platforms.

    Tip: If I could suggest any platforms to start on I would focus on either Instagram or Pinterest!

    Step 4: DEVELOP A PLAN

    What are your short and long term goals for your blog? What type of content are you going to post? In a notebook write down all your content ideas and topics. 

    Action plan: I would suggest writing in a notebook or a spreadsheet 15-20 posts ideas. Group similar items together and label them into categories. Being this organized before you launch will help you when you are ready to make your blog live. You can strategize a consistent schedule for your audience so they know when to expect a new post to go live.

    To schedule your posts you can use: 
    Google calendar

     In blogging consistency is key 🔑

    This is a great step to create a content calendar! 

    I have a content calendar post along with a link to a free template here

    You can find some free templates on the web from sites like Hootsuite or use google calendar as your content calendar. If you would like a more in depth post on tools for creating a content calendar let me know. I have since used a new system and I can update you guys on that.

    Step 5: SET UP AN EMAIL MARKETING SERVICE

    This is something many of us that started out so badly wish we did in the beginning. 

    Obtaining emails from subscribers early on will save you so much work down the road. When starting out you can set up an account on Mailchimp or Convertkit for free. There you can create a landing page and a welcome newsletter!

    Step 6: DESIGN A THEME 

    I suggest you don't get too caught up on this. You can get stuck on this for daysssss and then end up never starting your blog! If you don't have the start up funds to hire a web designer don't let that stop you from starting your blog. 

    Make sure to start out with a simple clean design and that it is easy to navigate. You can always change it later.

    If you chose Wordpress for your blog platform they have many templates to start out. You can also find themes from freelance designers on Etsy for a affordable price or goggle templates. 

    Step 7: JUST START!!!!!

    You can spend hours that turn into days that turn into weeks researching and researching on how to start a blog and other related topics that you may never start! You will never be 100% ready to start a blog so just START! You will probably fail on some things in the beginning but guess what we ALL HAVE! 

    It is in those failing experiences that you learn some valuable lessons in this industry. 

    FAILURE = KNOWLEDGE

    Keep going.

    Keep creating.

    Keep evolving. 







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