So You Want to Start a Blog?
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Anyone can start a blog online. It's easy to do and takes virtually no technical knowledge to get started. But just because you get an inkling to start a blog doesn't mean you should. Blogging can take up a lot of time and it's not always fun to do. So before you start a blog, or a second blog, etc... keep these things in mind:
- Time commitment - How much time is it going to take you to write, publish, and promote a blog? Will it take away time from your family, other commitments, or from the Lord? If so, you might want to rethink starting a blog.
- Is it for fun, ministry, or for work - Before you start a blog know from the get go how you are going to run your blog. Is it something you are doing just for fun, as a ministry to the Lord, or do you plan on making money from your blog? Of course, it can be all three but you need to know what your goals for the blog are up front in order to make it successful and worthwhile in your eyes.
- Prayer - Before starting a blog pray about it. A blog is so much easier to run and keep up with if you are doing the will of God. Remember Philippians 4: 13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
So if after taking the above 3 considerations in mind, you still want to start a blog here are some quick and easy steps on getting started.
- Decide on your blog's purpose. Before choosing a name, setting up your blog, or anything else, you need to decide on the purpose of your blog. You blog can be as topic specific as you want or it can cover a wide range of topics. Just know in advance what you are willing to write about and what you are not will to write about.
- Choose a blog name. Hopefully with a matching domain name as well. While it's not necessary to purchase a domain name for a blog, if you plan on using it for a ministry or business purpose, I highly recommend it. I buy my domain names through Name Cheap.
- Choose a blogging platform. In my personal opinion there is only one option - WordPress. But I know this isn't an option for everyone since you have purchase web hosting in order to use WordPress. Other options, which are free, include, Blogger's Blogspot, WordPress.com, and Tumblr. In the upcoming weeks I will be discussing the differences between the different blogging platforms available.
- Start writing and publishing posts. I personally think it is a good idea to have about 10 posts published before you start promoting your blog to others. You want new readers to be able to get a good sense of what your blog is going to be about and they can't get that with just one post.
- Promote your blog. Unless you are blogging for just yourself, you want people to visit your blog and leave comments. With the sheer number of blogs on the Internet today, chances of people just stumbling over to your blog by themselves isn't likely. Especially in the beginning. Promote your blog by commenting on other similar blogs, tweeting, or by using Facebook. Just remember your time commitment. While promoting your blog can be important, you don't want Twitter or Facebook to take over.
These are just 5 basic steps. I could go on and on but by following the 5 steps outlined above, you can start a blog. The main thing is to just get started. Don't get hung up on the design or look of your blog. While yes, it is nice to have a pretty blog, the content is what is more important. Don't get hung up on what other people are doing. Concentrate on what you are doing. Also don't forget to pray and to make God a part of your blog.
P.S. Join me on January 13, 2011 at 1:00pm CST in a free webinar for a chance to ask me anything you ever wanted to know about blogging! Click here to find out more information and to sign up.
