So You Want to Start a Blog?

I’m doing things a little bit differently around here today because I’m sharing my best tips on how to start a blog!

I honestly cannot tell you the number of times I get asked the question, “Can you help me start my blog?” or “I’ve been thinking of starting a blog, where do I begin?”  It’s probably so many times that if I had a quarter for every time I was asked some form of that question, I could quit my day job!  But why would I want to do that?  I love blogging and I love that you feel confident enough in my blogging to seek my help.   As much as I would love to meet up for coffee with each and every one of you, sadly, there just isn’t enough time in the day!  So I’ve decided to create a compromise that hopefully will help you in your blogging journey!  So grab your coffee future bloggers {you know I have mine}, and let’s get to work!

1. 1. Decide What You Want to Blog About-   Are you a fashionista and want to show off your favorite designers?  Are you a crafty little soul who just loves to make things? Or are you the mom that can just do it all – planning perfect parties and creating delicious food recipes all while handling diaper duty?  No matter what your topic is, start thinking about a vision for your blog and what you want to do with it.  It’s important to have a topic, a vision, and then a plan.  Make sure it’s something you are passionate about.  It makes it more enjoyable.  Live a life you love.  Isn’t that goal?  I certainly won’t be boring you with accounting, that’s for sure!
7. 2. Choose a Name–  This one is tough, so take your time with it.  You want to choose a name that fits you, because it’s going to stick with you.  It’s going to become part of your brand, so choose wisely.
13. 3. Purchase Your Domain– Do this the second you choose a name.  Here is why.  You can build your brand and your name using a generic website like blogspot.com, and then come to find out your domain was taken!  What do you do?  Start over?  That sounds horrible!  Of course there are ways you can work around this, but just trust me on this.  Buy your domain name early.  If it’s not available in .com form, try .net, or .org.  The best form to have is under .com though.  If your blog name is still unavailable, I would head back up to step 2 for another option.  You can use sites like Godaddy.com  to set one up.  They are usually $15 a year, so not very much money.  TIP: Buy at least two years of your domain and set your domain name up on auto renewal.  You don’t want to lose your domain name two years into it!

4. Set Up Your Social Media Accounts-  ALL of them!  Never tweeted before in your life?  That’s okay!  Now is the perfect time to learn.  Social media is going to be your very best friend if you are starting a blog.  It is truly one of the keys to a successful blog. The top social media programs are Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin, Snapchat, Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest.  At a minumum, I would start with those.  TIP: Keep in mind when you are setting up your social media, you want people to find you so be consistent with your name across all social media!  My social media names are all @ashleypletch3 because Afternoon Espresso was too long to fit.

5. Choose a Platform– By now there are so many platforms to start a blog on.  There is  Blogger, WordPress, Squared Space, and I’m sure many more.  I started with Blogger and switched to WordPress because there are just many more tools and plug-ins available to you to help analyze your data, use SEO, and design your blog.  I highly recommend just starting there.

6.  Create Your Brand– This is different than deciding what to blog about.  Say you want to blog about fashion?  Is your brand edgy or is it feminine and flirty?  My brand is the girl next door who loves coffee.  I like to combine high and low clothing pieces that can be worn casually or dressed up.  I try to make my outfits relatable so anyone can wear them!  Choose your brand and stick with it because you want your brand to be evident in your blog so you can easily market yourself as that brand.  TIP: Be sure that all of your social media, logos, and website design are all branded (i.e. use the same fonts throughout all of the previously mentioned social media platforms, so you have one cohesive brand.  It becomes recognizable).  Think about Coca-Cola’s brand… You immediately recognize their red can and their font for example because its consistent across the board!  That’s what we want for our blogs!

7. Design Your Blog-  This step, I have to admit, was pretty overwhelming for me.  I’m not a techy person so I actually hired someone to design mine.  It’s been designed a few times, but I know people like The Grits Blog and Yes! Wear That who have designed their own blogs successfully!  It’s just not my thing.  Megan from Lush to Blush is a blogger and desiener.  She was so lovely to work with and she is very reasonably priced!  As a blogger herself, she fully understands your needs when it comes to design.

8. Invest in Your Equipment-  People love looking at pictures.  It’s important to have crisp, clear photos, so I would highly suggest investing in a good camera.  I started off using the Canon Rebel series.  Costco usually has an excellent bundle price that includes everything you need to get started, but don’t be afraid to look for a gently used one, also!  You also should consider a good editing software.  Adobe now offers the Creative Cloud membership starting at $10 a month.  There are a few types of memberships for photography or videography, whatever will fit your needs!

9.  Create Content– Create a content calendar to get an idea of what you want to post about and stick to it.  This is really important because it will help you stay on track with your blogging!  TIP: One of the major keys to a successful blog is to be consistent.  If you only want to post one day a week, post on the same day EVERY week.   Once you have your content laid out on a calendar, start your pictures and writing so you have content ready to post.  Trust me, for weeks where 20 things come up and you have no time to blog, this little back up will come in handy.

10.  Have Fun-  Honestly!  Just enjoy the journey.  If you are blogging to make an income or become insta-famous, you are doing it for the wrong reasons.  Do it because you love it.   Do it because you are passionate about the topic you want to blog about.  A blog is a lot of work and it takes nurturing, patience, and lots of time and hard work.  It’s a labor of love.  If you aren’t having fun, then you won’t be happy.

I hope you enjoyed this blog edition of Afternoon Espresso and found it helpful!  Please feel free to email me and let me know what other blogging questions or topics you want to know about!

Afternoonespresso@gmail.com