So you want to start a blog from scratch, ready to be blog entrepreneur, all set to go for the adventurous journey of writing and publishing your thoughts, life-experiences, while being yourself and pursuing your dreams. You find many people who advise you to follow your passion. But it sounds nice but doesn’t translate in practice, until and unless you have made decisions with data points or experience and research. Here, I am talking about the technical setup of your blog, along with what you are blogging about, and fundamentals of blogging. Here are few considerations that you should take care of before stepping into world of blogging.

Purpose and motive

Just because you are passionate about acting, don’t mean that you need to go the Hollywood or Bollywood right away.

Before starting a blog, ask yourself, “What am I trying to achieve?” why blogging? Maybe some has told you that you can make 10K a month with it. Maybe your friend suggested having a blog?

Remember, blogging is not such profession where you make a quick buck. If you are behind money, don’t jump into it. Blogging is a serious business that demands commitment, consistent efforts, and original ideas that can build an audience over the time.

Blog Idea will not fall from Sky

Blog idea will not accidentally fall from the sky or not emerge from thin air. It is the result of critical thinking, exploration, and curiosity. You can find it by discovering what you find engaging. Try to pick a big niche, so that you can grow your traffic and monetize your business. Google trends can be used to find a suitable niche.

Let’s suppose that you are passionate about healthy food (Fish oil supplements), but you have no idea about it. So how do you create content from scratch for a product that you’re not related to? Obviously, you need to spend lots of time on research, before you even begin writing.

Name your blog and selecting a Web host

Your blog is your baby and picking a name for it is not as easy as most would think. Blog or domain name is important to build your brand. You can run domain name at roughly $10/year. The domain name with .com is easy to remember. After deciding on the blog name, you need to select a web-hosting service that allows your blog to be accessed through the Internet. There are many companies that offer hosting services with a price range from $3 – $1000/month.

Blogging software- WordPress

A blog can be started without blogging software. WordPress, one of the most popular publishing platforms is a user-friendly, free and powerful content management system that powers millions of websites all around the world. You can easily design your blog on WordPress themes. In addition, you can also purchase premium themes for the site like Themeforest, StudioPress and Thrive Themes.

Customize Blog

 So your blogs background color is not matching with company’s color scheme exactly? You can make endless customizations to your WordPress blog. Your WordPress plugins can be added to forums, contact forms or sliders. Your next task is to look for particular SEO keywords and phrases that help you to build your networks and net worth. The WordPress site will send you congratulatory message for successfully optimizing SEO setting.

Use other platforms also

You are not married to WordPress, it is wise to use Social Media, Google Ads, EDMs, Affiliate Marketing business platform to promote your product/services/content out on as many platforms to offer that you’ll get the most exposure.

Write your first post

WordPress uses an intuitive editor that allows you to start blogging. Editing tools give you editing option to spruce up your posts. There is an option to add visual assets to your post.

Be punctual

One of the biggest mistake bloggers make is they become irregular in posting blogs. They usually post ‘when they feel like’. Think like, if you have a dinner date with your friend or have an appointment with the dentist, you’re going to honor it. In the worst case, you will reschedule for the next available time-slot.

Your fans are looking for more content and you are busy with something else.

Try to stick to the editorial calendar without compromise. How often can you post? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? You can use Google calendar to set up calendar.

Build community

Blogging is about creating conversations. Without readers and community, there is no conversation. You require building up a social profile to create a community around you. Your social media reputation will manually grow your follower counts.

Don’t open all your cards

Especially a few early months, when you just started, your blog is not the best place to post content. In the beginning, placing your best content on the sites like Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Your Story could build up an audience and making brand recognition.

Monetization strategies

Just accept that the monetization aspect of a blog is not an easy task. After you set up a good blog and before you start to monetize it through selling physical products or ad spots, you must first establish yourself as a company so that you can sell. There are some legal formalities that you need to follow. Do check out the rules and regulations in your state. If you don’t have anything to sell, you can sell advertising space using Google Adsense.

You can make consistent income by selling ad spots on your website to large corporations.

Bottom Line

Starting a blog is not tough. However, Creating one that could generate money needs hard work, dedication, and grit. In today advanced Internet world, blogs are more accessible and affordable than they have ever been before.

Like anything else, problems and obstacles will come and would encourage you to stop or change your path. It is up to you want do you want. Be adventurous. Be honest and transparent. Be you.