I’m starting into my fourth month of blogging on the internet, and I’m at a point where I realize I’ve learned a great deal. I ran into a friend tonight who discussed with me the idea he had for a blog. It was a very good idea, and as I asked him more questions I realized that in just a few short months I had learned a lot about blogging. He was a bit overwhelmed by all that I asked, and so I simplified my advice.
In the end, I presented him Five Universal Tips For Beginning Bloggers:
1) JUST GET STARTED – Probably the most important tip is to simply go for it. Sitting around waiting for the perfect idea or the perfect blog design idea is unlikely to happen. Pick a blogging platform (I use Blogger and WordPress) and go for it. Every blog that is never started fails, and starting a blog isn’t hurting anyone. Once you actually begin to put words on the screen, you can begin to work out what you really want to do with it.
2) Be Passionate About What You Want To Write About – Sit down with a pad of paper or your computer and simply spend five straight minutes noting any and all ideas about the the topic you want to write about. If you find your page full of ideas, then I’d say you’ve picked a good topic. That will come in handy in a few weeks when the initial glow of your blog wears off. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, the blog will end pretty quickly.
3) Stick With It – Be prepared to write for several months (probably over a year) before you garner a decent-sized audience. Blog for yourself, first and foremost. Write what makes you happy, and eventually your audience will find you.
4) Publicize Your Blog With Social Media – Use your Twitter or Facebook accounts to post a link to your blog and its posts. Let your friends know what you’re doing. Start a separate twitter account just for your blog. The more you post, the more Google will eventually find you and put you higher up on search results. Until that happens, publicize your blog in any way possible.
5) Stick With It!! – Okay, I know it’s also #3, but the key to successful blogging really is keeping it going week after week, month after month. You will have good weeks and bad weeks, but as long as you love what you’re doing, you should continue it. I’ve had a couple moments in the past four months where I thought I wanted to possibly quit. However, I found that simply taking a break for a day (or even just a few hours) would get those creative juices flowing.