Are you considering starting a blog, but not sure if it’s for you? Do you need some motivation and guidance on where to get started? This post is for you!
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Considering Starting a Blog?
Starting a blog can be both an easy and difficult decision. Blogs can be tedious to set-up, frustrating as you struggle to figure out what to write about and can take up a good chunk of your time, whether you pursue it as a hobby or full-time.
People make the decision to start blogs for several different reasons. Some do it to make money, others to help them document a hobby or particular area of their life. Whatever the reasoning, if you’ve landed on this post you’re likely considering starting a blog of your own, so that’s what we’re going to talk about!
In this post I will share a bit more about why I started a blog, my history with writing, and the process I took to get this blog started. I’ll also talk to you a little bit more about some of the factors that make a blog successful.
I love writing and have been doing it for years as a hobby. But let me make this point abundantly clear: I don’t think that you have to be a professional writer or have a background in writing to begin your own blog. There is one thing that I do think is important though! It is probably the essence of every blog you’ll come across on the internet.
When blogging gets tedious, hard, or frustrating it is the one thing that can keep you going. That is why I believe it is the key to running a successful blog. I will tell you more about it later, but first, let me share a bit about why I decided to start a blog.
My First Experience with Starting a Blog
Stay with me for a while as I share my journey. It is to help you understand how you can take a similar path in starting your blog!
Several years ago when I first opened my private practice as a psychotherapist I started a blog focusing on child and adolescent mental health and counselling related topics (my niche).
My goal in starting the blog was to talk about relevant issues that I regularly encountered in my practice, and to offer general solutions and feedback to the parents and families that I worked with.
Many of the parents that I engaged with (my audience) enjoyed reading the weekly articles, and were able to utilize some of what I shared with their own children or in their daily lives.
I loved being able to share my perspective with parents and getting their feedback on topics such as anxiety, self-esteem and delinquency (my passion). I had also recently moved to the area, so the blog was a great way for me to get some exposure.
A New Role, a New Love
A couple of months after the blog started to pick up I was offered a position at a local school as a School Counsellor. Although I loved being in private practice the fact that I was new to the city limited my clientele and I felt that I could make a stronger impact in a bustling school with a great need for a Counsellor.
I started on a contractual basis, just to try it out, and I fell in love! With my students, my work, and how I could help families and those around me. Seven years later, I still work in Counselling, although I also maintain a private clientele of children and adults as well.
When I gave up my private practice years ago, it was hard for me because I loved working for myself and being able to diversify the cases that I chose. I loved blogging about common trends that I saw and tips for parents.
Even though it was hard to transition to the school initially, I knew that I would be serving a wider population and that a lot of the issues seen in the school really warranted intervention. That made it an easy transition.
As challenging as the cases were on some days, being able to see the positive impact I made in children’s lives made it all worth it.
How a New Role Created Change
Along with giving up my private practice I also stopped blogging. Because I was taking on a new role, I immersed myself in it and spent a lot of my free time doing additional work to support the programs and plans I had for my students. As much as I love what I do, I’ve always regretted stopping my blog. I missed being able to interact with others on topics that I was passionate about online and told myself that one day I’d start again.
My Motivators for Starting a New Blog
Fast forward 7 years, and I believe that I’ve found the inspiration to spark my desire to write consistently again.
I got married last year to the love of my life. Someone who encourages and inspires me daily.
I also became a mom to a beautiful baby girl who I just want to spend as much time with as possible. She is absolutely amazing, and watching her grow and change on what seems like a daily basis encourages me to document nearly everything she does.
During my pregnancy I loved learning from those who shared ideas and inspiration on topics I was interested in. I read a lot of parenting, family and mom life blogs and found them so enlightening. I think there’s something about hearing others’ experiences that speaks volumes.
Reading about the experiences of others got me thinking again about my desire to write. My new growing family also gave me the opportunity to pair my educational background, experience and day-to-day life to create a unique perspective.
What fueled me to start my own blog is primarily my motivation to document my family’s experiences, in hopes that some of our stories inspire and help others. I am hoping that my newfound inspiration, as well as my education and experience in psychology, mental health and child development can bring a unique perspective to topics that I am passionate about.
Want to Know What I think is the Key to a Successful Blog?
Passion!
Whatever the reason behind the start of your blog, blogs can be a great way to share your ideas and perspective on topics that you’re passionate about.
I have listed a basic 5-step process to getting your blog started below. Feel free to send me a message if you’re interested in learning more.
STEP 1: Selecting your Niche.
If you are still considering starting a blog, my advice is that you start by thinking about what you’re passionate about in life. It will be different for every person; it can be your marriage, your kids, cars, travel, clothing sewing, cooking, interior design…the sky’s the limit! This will be your NICHE.
Once you have a general idea of the area you are comfortable with you can further narrow it down, so that you can focus on a particular market or audience. An example would be if you want to blog about dogs; That is a very broad category. Narrowing down to talking about Dalmatians or feeding dogs may be a good way to narrow your niche.
Once you have a strong interest in a topic and the desire to talk about and discuss it with other people, I believe that is the most important ingredient to a successful blog.
STEP 2: Choosing your Hosting Platform
II’ll give you a tip: to be successful you need to start with the right platform. This should be a self-hosted platform to give you the most control over your blog.
I used Bluehost as my hosting company and I couldn’t be happier with that choice. They offer great pricing plans, awesome customer service and it has been very easy to use, especially for someone with very little technical know-how.
Bluehost offers WordPress sites, which again, I am recommending for your blog. It is easily customizable and gives you a great deal of flexibility in terms of what you can produce.
You can check out Bluehost’s rates here, using my STEP 3: Choose your Blog Name and Domain Name
Once you choose your hosting platform, you will have to choose a domain name (which is what goes between the www. and the .com (or other suffix, but I recommend .com). This should be the name of your blog or something very relevant. Do some research to ensure that it isn’t already taken and that it will be a name you will want to keep moving forward. Your theme is the basic layout of your site, although you can do a lot to customize a theme. You can get free and paid themes within WordPress or purchase one from other sources (Etsy for example sells themes for WordPress). Your theme can be changed later on, so don’t spend too much time choosing one, but pick something you like and can work with for the concept you have in mind for your blog. Use the WordPress or Bluehost editor to help you build your blog. You can also use plugins to edit your blog (a great one is Elementor, which offers a free or paid version) or to add features. After selecting my theme and using the built in WordPress editor to create the main pages for my blog, I used Elementor to significantly upgrade the look of my blog. It was mind-blowing what I could do on my own, with very little know-how or experience, simply using tutorials and self-help videos. Don’t be discouraged if you’re not tech savvy! If this is something that you want to do, just set your mind to it and get going! Once you are comfortable with your design and have created your required pages (for example, home, blog, about me, privacy policy and disclaimer page), it is time to start writing! Create your first post and then the sky is the limit! If you’re reading this and considering starting your own blog, I suggest that you let what you’re passionate about inspire you. Find motivation in your life: in what you know about, what you’re good at and how you can help others. Most people read blogs because they want help with something: they want to learn how to do something or solve a problem. If you can help them with this, you’re on your way to success. The best blogs are ones that are original, dynamic and are based on knowledge and experience in a particular field. I would never start a blog about building computers, because I know nothing about that topic. But I do feel very comfortable writing about family, love, children, motherhood, travel and mental health, all core areas around which my blog focuses. Some say you should choose one specific topic, but I feel like as long as you have focused interconnected content it’s ok to write about a few interrelated topics that you know well. You may be surprised to hear you don’t even have to be the best writer. There are tips and tricks to help with just about every aspect of your blog once you’re motivated. My biggest suggestion remains to write what you know, and to always write with your audience in mind. If you have any questions on why I started my blog or anything else in this post, please feel free to contact me! I would love to hear from you. You can also share any other tips in the comments. STEP 4: Choose your Theme
STEP 5: Set up Your Blog and Start Writing!
I’ve also summarized 5 essential ingredients for making your blog successful!
Find your passion to start a blog of your own!
I would love to hear from you!
What is your motivation for wanting to start a blog?
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