Blogging 101 : Start A Blog Today

Starting a blog is therapeutic and profitable.  On Sept 1st, I started this blog, to try and get some normalcy and stability in my life.

I started with what I had at the time: Knowledge 

In a span of a few weeks, I was able to get work, exposure and grew my following exponentially on LinkedIn. This did a very good job in positioning me as a thought leader in my field. 

I did all this with no money, just internet, my laptop and my knowledge.

I even got invited to be a guest speaker at European digital week! I am going to show you how you can start a blog today, with limited resources.

What you need to know before starting your blog:

1. Blogging is not a get rich quick kind of thing. I have seen this with many many people who start a blog because they heard it is "profitable". They expect to just write anything and boom! Make a ton of money.

Just like any other business, you need to put in work. Write interesting and value packed content and really market your blog. There are no short cuts!

2. You need a niche. A niche market/audience is the group of people/ topics you are focusing your blogs to. Eg my niche is in digital marketing and Hr. 

Why? Because I am knowledgeable in digital marketing and matters Hr. given that I work in a HR & Payroll Software Company.

Focusing on a niche makes it easier for people to understand what you are blogging about. It also helps you get content and kick **s in your area of specialization.

3. What are your blogging goals? Yes, yes, you need goals. You cannot just start blogging without having an idea of why you are starting it. Your answer cannot just be "to make money "if it is, at some point, you will run out of blogging juice and go stagnant.

Blog about what you are passionate about. Eg my goal is to educate business people on how to use digital marketing in their business and how to automate their payroll processes using a reliable payroll system.

Start Your Blog Today

If you are just starting out with very limited resources like I did, you can create your blog using a platform such as blogger.com. You get to build your site for free, without having to worry about hosting or getting a domain name. 

If you feel as though you need your own custom domain, you can buy a domain and connect it with your blogger account.

I gave a detailed step by step on how to create a blog using blogger here.

Remember to have an idea of what you want to blog about. That is, know your niche. Know what you want to write about.

• Describe your blog in 3 sentences. Say what your blog will entail and what readers should expect from your blog.
• You should now have a clear idea of how you will be marketing your blog. Is it via social media? Paid adverts? SEO? Pick the best way that will reach your audience quickly.
• Which main keywords will you be using in your blog? The keywords are going to be easy to get when you have narrowed down your niche

How will you monetize your blog? Your blog should be able to make you money. There are different ways you can make money blogging: Selling products/services, affiliate marketing, Google AdSense, offering consulting services/coaching? You need to know your financial expectations in order to map out which revenue streams you will use.

 

Finally, write write write! You need to be consistent for your blog to do well. Know what your topics are about ( can you tell someone in a sentence what your blog is about?)

Avoid clickbait content. This will just make people lose confidence in you and stop reading your blogs.

I have created an in-depth eBook that will take you through the process of starting and monetizing a blog. You can get it here for $1 (sh100).