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@janellebelovedpig @euodia-vision @acancello @joy-calle @gracie-j
Ok y’all… I have a very hypothetical idea to maybe start a blog. So I have some questions. (Again, this is a hypothetical idea…)
Do you have any tips on how to start a blog? What website builder do you recommend? What do you write in your posts? How often do you post? How much effort does starting and continuing a blog take?
Anything else you think I should know would be super helpful!
Thanks!! 😀
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
I just recently started a blog to show everyone we know where we are traveling when we move. At first I thought it would be crazy hard, but I went online to a place called Blogger (which is free) and found out how crazy easy it was! It takes a bit of time to get everything situated and for me, it will not let me post more than I think 10 pictures. In my posts I am doing travel tips and tricks until we go on the trip I am posting where we go and what we see and do. I try to post everyday and if I think I am to busy or I am really motivated to make posts, I will make some and save them as drafts so when I am busy I can just post the publish button! Hope this helped and if you have any more questions feel free to ask me! 🙂
That’d be so cool! Hypothetically.😁
I suppose I would start by thinking of your audience. Who do you want to read it? For me, when I started it was for my family. I’m pretty quiet and many of my family aren’t at home anymore, so I wanted to make a greater connection with my siblings who may’ve never gotten to know their youngest sister as an adult. The first year of blogging, though, I was timid about promoting myself and didn’t share it widely. I also didn’t post regularly; occasionally I would post songs, poems, real life stories, and devotionals. But had maybe only one or two people check it out regularly.
Then starting this year, I joined with the Rebelution in “Crazy Writing Week,” a two week long community of young writers. I chatted about this with one of the instructors, Jacquelle Harris, and she challenged me to think about why I write at all. “It’s not to promote yourself but to bless others with your writing, right? Why wouldn’t you want to share a blessing?” That changed my perspective and made me more intentional and evangelistic in my writing, often sending a link out to my unsaved coworkers if one of my posts shared the Gospel or sending it to someone that I wrote the piece with them in mind. And I try to publish a new post every week on my weekday off, usually Monday. Working full-time and being involved with my church and family, writing is often far down on the priorities list, so sometimes I don’t make that deadline or my rushed post scribbled out Sunday night is far from my best work and I take it down later in the week. But I’ve gotten great feedback from my readers, and that encourages me to keep going!
Joining Facebook and posting links to my “friends” also helped grow my audience.
The website that I use for my blog is called strikingly. It’s free and simple and also has additional features like photo galleries and even a store. But also, some internet protectors (I’ve noticed on Chick-fil-A guest wifi and a Christian college’s internet) won’t allow people to access it to read it. I’m not sure why. Perhaps someone else has a good suggestion for that.
Like I briefly said, my posts are songs, poems, real life stories, and devotionals. Recently I have begun sharing my fictional allegory, a long dream coming to realization. Often I’ll post work stories that point me to some spiritual truths. I’m excited to keep typing. I want people to see what everyday Christian life applied looks like. And people to be certain that our God is a loving God who sees them and is still at work in the lives of His people.
Sometimes I’ll type up several posts and “work ahead” by scheduling them out for weeks in advance, so that when writer’s block or time restraints come up, I have a stockpile.
What would your hypothetical blog be about? Do you think you would post any of your fiction WIP on there? Who’s your audience? If this hypothetically maybe possibility becomes a reality, will you share a link with me? 🤗😁
AHHHH YAY ESTHER!!!!!!! (even though this is all hypothetical it’s still exciting. XD
Sooo, I’m not the *best* blogger out there (Acancello and Janelle had some very good advice), and I didn’t launch my blog in the best manner so I shall share what I wish I would’ve done and some of the things that I’ve found have worked over the years.
Blogging can either be a hard-core commitment or just a hobby. If your goal is to get as many readers as possible and consistent readers that aren’t just your friends and family then having a reliable posting schedule is crucial. A day that readers know they’ll receive an email saying you have a new blog post up. Blogging isn’t a huge commitment for me, but I try to post monthly. It’s most common to post once a week, though. In the ‘honeymoon phase’ of blogging, as I like to call it, you have so many ideas and want to post every week but after a few months the excitement dims, and then you lose inspo but feel the burden to continue posting. This results in your posts being messy and not interesting or original. To avoid this I would recommend starting out by deciding to post half as much as you think you would want to at first, but don’t strictly work on one post during that time, if you have post inspiration, write the post and save it so you can have something ready during a time you don’t know what to write about! Continuing a blog is the hardest part, but if you plan ahead it will be easier to stay committed.
For launching a blog, doing a launch tour is very helpful (that’s where you do a week-or-so-long tour and you get a hand-full of other blogs to have a day during the tour that they interview you, have guest posts, etc., and then promote your blog). Before you launch your blog I would recommend having two or so posts already posted so that when you start sharing your blog people will have things to read and click on.
The most common website builder is WordPress, but I couldn’t figure out how to use it so I chose to work with Wix instead! It was very easy to navigate and make my blog my own. I’d love to help you in any way you need it. Two of my friends started blogs using Wix as well so I was able to help them design and format everything.
You can blog about almost anything! It’s nice to pick a specific area to stick to with for your posts so readers/visitors know what to expect. Some bloggers who are more on the creative/artist side share exclusively photography and art. Then there are those who do mostly tags, tours, and launches, and then share snippets from their writing (I find that these blogs are the most common). In my opinion, the best blogs are those that you can tell put effort into their posts. Everything they write/share is original, creative, and meaningful. It all comes down to what crowd you want to draw with your blog. You can begin by making a list of all the things you might want to post about then decide what you want your blog to represent and then narrow down the list to the things you believe would promote your blog’s purpose.
Wow, that was a lot more than I was planning on. XD Hope that was helpful!
Feel free to ask any more questions!
I rolled the log over and underneath was a tiny little stick and I was like, "That log had a child
Ooo, how exciting! I know it’s hypothetical, but still, that’s great.
I started one this year and am totally unexperienced, but I have figured out a few things.
First, make sure you have your content ready the day before you post. If not, chances are it’ll be seven o’clock at night the day you’re supposed to post and you’re hurriedly trying to throw something up there (ask me how I know …).
I have three categories on mine, which makes it pretty manageable. Personally, I picked topics I knew a lot about or could research easily and loved to talk/write about. I post once a week so I wouldn’t overload myself and fall behind. Once you decide what you want to write about, start experimenting so when you get your hypothetical blog up there you have content.
Something I found out when I started blogging is you have to be careful about what pictures you put up there. Some photos on the internet aren’t allowed to be used by anyone and if you’re caught with one on your website, you get in trouble. I use photos from Stockvault. They have some awesome, free, good quality photos. I’ll include the link about the photo thing below. (Crossing fingers that this link will actually load!)
Other than that, I really can’t think of anything else. Hope that helps!
This girl is armed with books, coffee, and writing accoutrements!
Ok, thanks!! That’s a really good idea about having a post ready just in case. 😄
Thanks for the tips!!
What would your hypothetical blog be about? Do you think you would post any of your fiction WIP on there? Who’s your audience? If this hypothetically maybe possibility becomes a reality, will you share a link with me? 🤗😁
I’m thinking along the lines of posting some of my WIP, short devotionals, maybe the occasionally poem or artwork that I do, and posts showing how God has been working in my life. 😀
AHHHH YAY ESTHER!!!!!!! (even though this is all hypothetical it’s still exciting. XD
Ikr?! XD
Wow, that was a lot more than I was planning on. XD Hope that was helpful!
Yes, it was really helpful! Thanks so much!! 😊
Thanks!! I never would of thought of the copyright issue with using pics off the internet. I’m glad you mentioned it. 😅😄
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
You’re welcome! I like your ideas for content. 😃
This girl is armed with books, coffee, and writing accoutrements!
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