5 Tips for Starting a Blog

Thinking about starting a blog?

I started blogging (maybe not super regularly) before I even started Practice Your Lasagnos. In that time, I’ve learned a lot & still have lots more to learn.

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These are just a few of my thoughts at the time. They might change in the future, so be sure to check back every so often.

So….here are my tips!

Start with WordPress.org

Start straight away with WordPress.org. I started the Fischarper website on Weebly*, which was quite user friendly. But save yourself the hassle of migrating & start with WordPress. WordPress.org is pretty straightforward, so don’t let it intimidate you out of starting.

Plus WordPress.org is open source, which is pretty cool!

I believe that the amount of affiliate links you are permitted to use per page on Weebly is pretty low, which is one reason I decided to move Fischarper.com to WordPress.

One thing: make sure it’s WordPress.org (there’s also WordPress.com, which can be confusing).

I use Bluehost* for hosting. (If you sign up for Ebates*, you can probably get some money back…or you can just use my Bluehost affiliate link*.)

Don’t bother with Amazon affiliates

It seems like a lot of people on the interwebs get some extra income from Amazon affiliates, but it didn’t work for me. I tried it on 2 different occasions, and neither were a smashing success…or much of a success at all.

There’s the stress of making the minimum affiliate sales (it’s not a high number, but still…), & then my affiliate account was canceled because of this post (the second time, the first time was because I didn’t make the minimum number of sales…I told you it didn’t work well for me!).

Just Start (eventually)

It can be overwhelming trying to figure all this stuff out. Just start. If stressing over WordPress is holding you back, go ahead & start on another platform like Blogger, WordPress.com, or any of a bunch of other options. You can even try out blogging on Blogger, WordPress, & some other hosts for free.

Are you ready for me to make this part really confusing? If you want to give yourself a little time to ruminate on it, that’s ok. (After all, I don’t recommend spewing out every feeling on the internet…but that’s me.) Just don’t let it go on forever if you do want to eventually start a blog!

Consider giving yourself a deadline for your first post to go live. You can save drafts & schedule them ahead of time, or you can even draft a post out in a word processor. You don’t have to write something out & post it all in one sitting.

Go ahead & start an account & get familiar with your blog host, even if you’re not ready to hit that publish button yet.

If you keep at it, you’ll learn as you go.

Follow other blogs (or don’t)

Peruse other blogs. This can get you familiar with how blogs work, & might give you some inspiration for yours. If you leave thoughtful comments, this can also help you network (& it’s nice & helps out the other person’s blog too). Or you can purposely stay away from other blogs to keep your blog less influenced by them.

Don’t be afraid to explore blogs outside of your niche!

Here are some blogs that have been on my radar at some point:

• A Beautiful Mess
• A Pair & A Spare
• Color In My Piano

Use What You Have

I often use an external keyboard with a computer….because not all the keys on the computer’s keyboard work. You don’t have to go purchase a bunch of stuff (or really anything) to start a blog. Keep an eye out for a blog post with some of my favorite open source software!

You can start your blog on one of the free blogging platforms linked above. If you don’t have internet at home, consider visiting your local library or coffee shop. Check out sites like Unsplash for images or take your own & Gimp (Gimp is another open source software) for photo editing (please, please, try to stay legal & not use pirated software or copyrighted images without permission). If you don’t have a computer, visit your library, or if you already have a smartphone or tablet, you can try it from that. It might not be as easy & you might not be able to do quite as much, but don’t give yourself excuses. As my grandma used to say, “Where there’s a Will, there’s a Rogers.”

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Are you starting a blog? Drop a link in the comments so I can check it out!

Happy blogging!

-Barbara

Looking for some other tips? Check out this post on PR/Marketing Ideas.

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