Blogging for Beginners: 5 Things You Must Consider Before Starting A Blog
In here, I want to talk about the things you need to consider before starting a blog.
Look:
Once I was just like you – a complete newbie to anything online-related. I remember the frustration I had with a whole bunch of information I received…
… And not all of that information was correct.
But since 2015 I gained a lot of knowledge which I’m happy to share with you here.
Let’s get started.
5 Things to Consider Before Starting a Blog
Before you begin your online journey, it is important to know your options and to make correct decisions.
1. Investing Money
The first thing you need to decide on is whether you plan to invest in the development of your blog.
That is,
- are you willing to pay money to freelancers to write articles for you?
- are you willing to invest in the promotion of your blog?
- are you willing to pay for the design of your blog?
- are you willing to pay money for the training programs that teach you how to build a profitable website (successful online business)?
… And so forth.
You need to decide whether you are willing to invest in a number of things which will make you life easier, or whether you plan to do everything by yourself.
If you say “yes” to the above questions, then set for yourself an amount you can afford to invest at the early stage of your blog development.
For sure you can get rolling online with $0 but inevitably you’ll have to make at least some investment (for example, buying a domain name for approximately $13-15/year).
2. Will You Be “Open” to the World?
The second and important thing to decide on is whether you want to be open to the whole online world.
What does it mean?
- Will you talk about yourself on your blog?
- Will you show your face and be sort of a public figure?
- Will you share your views and position on the world?
- Will you share your goals, your aspirations, your desires, and dreams?
In other words, will your blog be “saturated” with your personality?
Why is it important?
The problem with many websites/blogs is that they are not unique in a sense that most websites are simply websites, without the author being open out there to the world.
If you want to have an audience and to build a relationship with readers who then become your loyal subscribers, then you need to be completely open with them.
Your audience is your traffic.
Traffic means Google’s trust.
Google’s trust means having your blog at the TOP in the search engine.
Being at the TOP means having even more traffic and, therefore, more potential income ($$$).
Eventually, your name and your blog become a BRAND.
When the search engines see that YOU (and not the information you post on your blog) are being searched, then it greatly improves your position online.
Another thing to mention.
Having your own fans is important.
Imagine a situation when someone had a Youtube channel and then suddenly something happened, and this person’s channel was banned.
What happens?
Loss of income through the Youtube videos.
But with your loyal fans, you are not afraid to start another project and have a ready list of people who are ready to follow you further.
Do you see the point?
And finally, advertisers are drawn to webmasters/bloggers who have a brand.
Remember that!
No one wants to pay a lot of money for advertisements to websites with possibly useful content, yet with a lack of audience/traffic and which have no “face”.
Why do you think there are a lot of famous people, actors, and singers in advertisements?
Because advertisers know that if Cristiano Ronaldo is promoting Head&Shoulders shampoo to the whole country, then this shampoo will sell better.
Why?
Because he has a huge amount of fans, he has authority.
If you will be open to the world, your fans, your advertisers, and search engines will love you.
According to very popular bloggers I’ve learned from, showing yourself is 40% of your online success.
But please understand that it does not mean writing articles about how you drank coffee in the morning or how you took a nice bath.
Think about the way you will stand out among other blogs to build your brand. You need to come up with some unique idea that will be interesting to people.
Have you read the book “Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Outrageous Success“?
The main idea of the book is that if you want to achieve great success then you should not be like everyone else.
Same idea here.
Find something that will make you stand out in the online world!
3. Why Do You Need a Blog?
The third thing you need to decide on is what do you need a blog for?
This is an important one.
I assume that if you started thinking about creating a blog then it is for the purpose of making money online.
What you need to decide is what exactly do you plan to make money on?
Which will be your way to make money with your blog?
Do you plan to earn money through affiliate programs, through creating your own online products, banners, contextual ads etc?
Anyway…
What I am trying to say is that when starting your online business, you will learn a lot about your niche – so you will sell/deliver your knowledge to your audience.
You are or you will become an expert in what you do and you will teach others about it.
Same situation with me.
Even though I’ve been at it for over 3 years, I don’t consider myself an expert in the full sense of the word. I constantly learn about online business/blogging.
When I share my knowledge with you here on my blog, it is in my hopes that this way you and I together achieve success in online business and then eventually become financially free.
But I digress.
4. Who Are You Promoting?
The fourth thing to focus on is who are you going to promote?
Are you going to promote yourself or will you promote others and their products through affiliate programs?
One option is that you come to online business, you start from scratch and solely focus on promoting your own model and your own information products.
Another option is that you focus on building quality content and driving traffic while promoting the products of other people.
The difference is that when you promote yourself you are the one who is being paid for your products in full; when you promote others through affiliate programs, other people receive money and you receive commissions.
This is completely up to you.
Right now you just need to make a decision.
5. What For Did You Come to the Internet?
You need to decide whether you are going to be serious about your online business and stick to it.
If you still do not have it, create a PayPal account for money transfers.
One more thing:
I strongly recommend you open a new Gmail account with a 2-step verification.
This is important so that your e-mail does not get hacked and so that you always have access to it. Password recovery will only be done via your cell phone.
Create a new account and you will have a clean e-mail to work with.
5 Things You Must Consider Before Building A Blog
Now, if you are already serious about building your online business, then here is a homework for you.
Decide:
- Whether you are willing to invest in your blog,
- Whether you will be open to the world.
- Why do you need a blog?
- Will you promote yourself or others?
- Whether you will be serious about building your online business (for real).
It’s crucial that you decide about these 5 points before you move on to building your own website and ultimately making money online as a blogger.
Now I’d like to hear from YOU!
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About Author
Zarina
Hi, Zarina.
Very good information you have provided.
Easy to read and understand.
Written perfectly for beginners who are willing to start their own website/blog.
Even though you are just starting out you’ve done an excellent work in presenting your knowledge.
Thanks for sharing this post with us.
~Peter