Blogging 101 : How to Start a Blog

Today I'm going to address one of the most frequent questions that I get…"How do I start a blog"??? That is such a loaded question. I don’t think a lot of people realize that there are a lot of questions that you first have to ask yourself before you even get started.

Because I want this to be an ongoing conversation, this post will serve as an intro. If you guys leave questions for me below or on my Instagram post, I will address them. But first, read this!I started blogging 6 years ago. My sole intention in starting a blog was to let other plus size girls know how and where to get stylish plus size clothes and how to style them. I had been following Gabi Gregg for a couple years and wanted to do something similar. I had a growing instagram following and wanted to give more info than what I could write in a caption. So I started my blog. I'm going to stop there because the first step is establishing what you actually want to do and have a good understanding of your goals. Do you want a actual blog?  A blog is: a website where you push content out on a weekly/daily basis? Or do you want to be an influencer (insta-famous). Or do you want to be a model. I'm not knocking any of these choices but they will definitely have different paths.

Here are a few initial steps for starting a blog:

Establish a Brand -  Branding is everything! Honestly the trend now is to use your actual name. Eventually I might change my brand to Rochelle Johnson, but for now I'm going to stick with “Beauticurve”.  Once you have a name you need to establish a site name and hosting. Wordpress.org is the most popular but many people are switching over to Squarespace or one of the other website building sites. Most of these are diy but there are tons of graphic designers and web builders that can design for you. Also Etsy is your best friend. There are tons of templates and other things you will need for your site at a reasonable price.

Find Your Uniqueness - Let's be honest, the world doesn't need another blogger with the same perspective as every other blogger. Your uniqueness will be what makes you great. Ask yourself what makes your blog different from everyone else’s.  Choosing a topic or a niche that you are passionate about makes the process of starting a successful blog so much easier. Post about the things that you are genuinely interested in, your passion will shine through and keep your readers interested.

Use Social Media - Social Media and blogging are two different things but in order to grow your blog it would help if you were actually on social media. You can not do this if you are afraid of social media. It sounds bizarre but I've heard a lot of people say that. So Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are all tools that will assist to grow your brand. Also make sure that when you're on these that your page is not private. People don’t decide to follow you based on your profile picture. They follow you based on your content, so they will have to see it.Post Quality Photos - This is one of the most important part of building your blog/social media following. Everything is visual. People like to look at nice photos and will be deterred if your photos aren’t quality or if you haven't put in any effort. I've seen someone’s page grow tremendously buy hiring a photographer to take her pictures. The quality of your photos really make a difference and is so important. If you can't afford a photog or a camera, use a current iPhone and get some presets to enhance the overall appearance of the photos.Have Patience - There are very few people that are an overnight success in this industry. Most of us just won't have that happen. I saw a quote that said, “most people don’t want to start because they don’t want to be seen on the bottom”! Wwhhheewwww if that’s not the truth!  Everyone wants immediate gratification. You want to go from 100 followers to 10k overnight. It just doesn’t (normally) work like that. Right now it’s even harder to grow because of over-saturation but understand consistency and patience is key.

Don't Wait - If you are waiting for a sign from your blogger fairy godmother, this may be the very thing setting you back on your goals. One of the common misconceptions about starting a blog is that you need to be a great writer, expert on a certain subject, or have all the right equipment to get started. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your life as a bomb blogger awaits. The faster you start, the faster you will get to your goal. People don't like the idea of perfection as much anymore anyway. Be your authentic/transparent best and the rest will fall into place. I promise.

I would love to answer any questions you have on this topic.  Please leave them in the comments and in the next post I will answer them .

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