Hey friends. Today I’d like to talk about how to get started with blogging, why you should be blogging, and where you can set your blog up if you don’t have the resources to put together a website like this one.
Several people have expressed their interest in blogging, but don’t even know where to start. I hear a lot of things like, “I’m not a good writer” or “why would anyone care what I think?” Well first of all, you don’t need to be a perfect writer to start a blog. That’s the beauty of it is that you can write it ahead of time, then post it later. You can edit everything before letting anyone else read it. The first step is to stop thinking about blogging as public speaking. There’s nothing to be nervous about; you’ll get the opportunity to refine your blog post before it ever goes live.
And why would people care what you think? It’s simple, really. You make a niche for yourself and make yourself relevant. I firmly believe in not competing with others in your industry or even in the shared space of ideas that could turn into some kind of business. It’s a waste of resources because only one entity can be the first at something, and only one entity can be the best at something. But what if you are neither of those things? How do you stay alive in your industry? You make the competition irrelevant. So when it comes to blogging, it’s the same thing. You have to carve out your little area of the industry where a market didn’t even exist to begin with. When you start blogging, talk about something that you’re interested in, but don’t do it like everyone else is doing it. I get loads of emails every single day about “the best ways to do X.” But none of them stand out. Why? Because they’re saying it exactly the same as their competitors. Put a new spin on your ideas, and you’ll have a winner.
Another common hurdle for new bloggers is why they should be blogging. Anyone looking at starting a blog has heard something about how they’re important. Whether you’re looking to rank better in search engines like Google and Bing, or you need another source of revenue that works completely online, there’s always a reason to start a blog. One of the biggest reasons to start a blog goes hand in hand with what we were just talking about: creating a market space for yourself. If you have a great idea, how will anyone find out about it? We live in a world where information travels quickly and gets all over the world within seconds. Take advantage of that, and start spreading the word about yourself and what you do!
Finally, it’s good to know where to blog. My personal favorite option is to start a website like this one, and tack a blog onto it. It’s good for your rankings on Google, and it gives you a bit of credibility. But it isn’t always easy to find the time and money to get a full website going, so here are a few free options for you to get started:
- WordPress.com – my personal favorite of the free blogging platforms. It’s easy to edit a blog post, just like Microsoft Word. There are many themes you can choose from to customize the look of your blog, and it’s probably the most user-friendly experience of any of the blogging software out there.
- Tumblr – this one isn’t a bad option. It’s great from a search engine perspective if you’re trying to build links to yourself here and there because when someone links to you from Tumblr, these links actually count. A few easy to use themes, but pretty customizble all around.
- Blogger – Probably my least favorite, mostly just because I don’t like the way it looks in the back end. It’s still easy to use, and it’s run by Google, so it integrates quite nicely with Google+.
So there you have it. Get started on that blog. If you have any questions, give us a call at (970) 480-5878 and we’d be happy to see if we can help!