First Steps to Starting a Blog

The Importance of a Website

If you want to get your name out there, and get your products or services noticed, one of the best ways to do this is by creating your own website.

Creating a website is by no means a magic bullet, but it is a good first step to getting your name established online. A website helps you establish authority, shows your relevancy, and allows you to connect with your audience.

Once you figure out the technical side (the real step one): domain, hosting, themes, etc., it’s time to deliver great content to grab your audience’s attention.

I’m not going into detail about this here because there are people out there much more knowledgeable on this subject than me.

(Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links)

Step 1.2

Like I said, the real step one is figuring out the technical side. Since I am not a technical guru, and since there is an abundance of info out there on this subject, I’m not going into this topic. Just know it’s necessary.

Step 1.2, the step directly after the technical side, obviously, is getting content on your site. This content will be different for each person.

A writer may want to share snippets of their work, discuss the process, share resources they find helpful, or even just share parts of their life to connect with their audience.
A craftsman will want to share their products, discuss technique, share their expertise, or even share project ideas.
If you are offering a service you will want to share what makes you an expert in your field, share changes to the industry, or share your portfolio.

Whatever you share, you want to make sure it’s relevant to the audience you want to connect with.

A great way to keep up with your ideas is to use the Journaling for Entrepreneurs process to do your research and keep up with relevant topics.

The Journaling for Entrepreneurs process will help you determine who your target audience is and keep up with what topics are generating the most interest with that audience.

Step 2

The second step is updating your site regularly.

The market changes regularly, and you want to make sure you stay up-to-date and relevant in the material you share. This goes back to establishing your authority and connecting with your audience.

Your audience needs to trust that you know what you’re talking about. Keeping your site updated with new trends and ideas helps establish this authority and trust.

While this is a simple concept, the steps and process to this can be a little daunting. There are so many options out there for domains and hosting, so many possibilities with themes, jargon to learn, not to mention figuring out what type of content to provide. And those are just some of the first steps.

With so many options and so much information out there as to the “best way” to get your site started, it can become a little overwhelming for a newbie.

The Good News

Creating a website is nowhere near as complicated as it can seem at first. With a little research and the right tools at your disposal, it can actually be very simple.

In fact, here are some tips to keep the process simple to start:

Go with what feels comfortable to you.
Focus on discovering your niche and creating content; the rest can be tweaked later.
Be willing to learn, but don’t take on more than you can handle to start.
Realize that growing your audience is a process, it will take time, work, and further learning.
Remember, you are not alone!

Everyone has an opinion as to the best way to set up a website, but that doesn’t mean what worked for them is going to work for you. You have to feel comfortable with your work and your ability to maintain your site.

By all means, take advice from other people, but ultimately you have to do what is comfortable to you. Getting used to the process is necessary, and everything else can wait and/or be tweaked later once you have a better grasp of what you’re doing.

Resources to Help You Get Started

If you are ready to get your blog started and just don’t know where to start, or you’ve been working at it for some time and just can’t seem to get the results you want; even if you are seeing results with your blog but just want help with moving to the next step, you can use the Journaling for Entrepreneurs process to help you get the most out of your blogging efforts.

There are many ways to use the Journaling for Entrepreneurs process with a blog (or any business for that matter). The first step is to get into the habit of a regular writing schedule. Even if this means just creating lists, you want to start putting ideas down. Some specific ways to do this include:

However you choose to start, the Journaling for Entrepreneurs process will help you determine what you want to get out of your efforts, how you can achieve those goals, and how you can continue to incorporate those goals and ideas into your business plan.

The Journaling for Entrepreneurs process is a step I believe is important for anyone that wants to get started with a new business idea. It is equally important to continue the process so you can stay focused on what is most important.

Would you like to get started with the Journaling for Entrepreneurs process? If you sign up for my newsletter, I will send you a free 30-day writing prompt to get you started. This prompt is a mix of fun creative writing topics, as well as some more serious goal setting questions.

Sign up today to get started on your Journaling for Entrepreneurs journey.