“Do I Need A Blog?”
Do you notice everyone around you with a blog and you’re feeling left out?
Blogs are extremely popular, and for good reason…
It’s a great tool for
- sharing your thoughts and experiences,
- getting in the habit of writing,
- creating a body of work to be referenced at any point,
- and building an audience around you or your business.
Have you been wondering to yourself, “Do I need a blog?”
If you want to know because you’re interested but don’t know how to get started, or unsure about the results you’ll get… read on.
But if you really don’t see a value for starting one and/or don’t want to… it might not be for you.
It’s just a communication tool, and if it doesn’t fit in to your goals, don’t use it. Just like a saw is a great tool… but if your goal is to drive in a nail, a saw won’t do you much good.
it could be that another medium will work better for you. All of the above benefits not only apply to blogging, but publishing in general. So if talking is your thing, maybe a podcast is a better place to start. If 6 second videos are your specialty, start creating on Vine.
Figure Out Your Blogging Goal
Let’s say you want to write a book. That can seem like a daunting task.
Some years ago authors would write and edit for ages, work real hard to get it published, and then hope the audience liked it.
If you don’t like the uncertainty of that, with a blog you can publish WHILE you write it.
So instead of writing your book for a year or two or seven, you can write and publish a short article every few days. Share it with your friends and followers. Get comments, see what people find useful or most interesting.
Then you can go back and edit or write more based on that feedback.
And if you do a short 500 word post every week for a year… you’ll have written 26,000 words! That’s already a 100 page book!
Take your year of articles, edit them together, add a little more content… and you’ve got a book!
Not only do you have a book, but you’ve also got an audience.
Would you rather try to publish a book without feedback or an audience…
OR publish material that’s already been tested, shared, edited, plus has a built-in audience that’s been waiting patiently for the whole thing to come out for a year?
How To Get Started
Even if you’re not writing a book, but do want to build an audience around you or a topic you’re passionate about it… blogging is the way to go.
You can read this post about mistakes to avoid when getting started. But the bottom line here is, if you want to start… GO FOR IT!
To start a blog, you should grab a domain name (whateveryouwant.com), pick a place to host your blog, and then start writing!
There are a lot of different free and paid options out there, but I recommend buying your own hosting account and installing WordPress. It’s fairly inexpensive and the best way to have control over your content while giving you room to grow in the future.
This is how I set up all blogs for myself and clients:
1. Register Your Domain and Get Hosting
Go to A Small Orange and register a new domain name and get your hosting account. It’s inexpensive, the domain name is included for free (normally $15/yr).
2. Install WordPress
From within the ASO control panel, there’s an option to install WordPress… it’s free!
3. Find A WordPress Theme
Don’t spend too much time on this at first. The most important thing is to create content, but there are plenty of themes out there either for free (WordPress will be installed with a couple that you can use) or find a professionally designed one you like ThemeForest.com.
4. Write, write, write!
Go write something awesome. Choose your schedule and commit to that. You’ll see some amazing results when you do.
Happy blogging!
Do you have any other questions about starting a blog? Leave a comment below.