Learn how to start blogging in less than an hour. Follow these simple steps to start a blog now. The blog we have created has been read by more than 20,000,000 people.
You're thinking about beginning a blog, but you don't know where to begin. You're not alone! We weren't either! We wanted to create a blog to express ourselves and share our thoughts prior to when we became "The Minimalists". However, we were overwhelmed by the possibilities.
We were lost, confused and overwhelmed by the choices that were available to us. We were unsure of how to begin a blog, or how to get started as a blogger. When should we start? What is the best way to register a domain name? Hosting? What blogging platform should you use? What should we consider when choosing a blog theme? What is an plugin? What is the best topic to write about? In fact, we can't even make a word in HTML, let alone build blogs!
It turns out that starting a blog can be more simple than you thought. We've learned a number of lessons along our climb to millions of people who read our blog. You can now take what we have learned and use it to help you avoid the process of setting up a blog.
There are many blogging platforms, such as Blogger.com as well as Tumblr.com. However, virtually all serious bloggers use self-hosted WordPress website due to its flexibility and creative freedom.
The Minimalists makes use of WordPress since it allows us greater control over the look and feel of our website--more flexibility than other platforms. WordPress is .
Many emails are sent seeking advice on how to begin the blog and what topics to pick and how to make meaningful content. The bulk of this piece covered the steps to begin your blog, but it's only the beginning. It's time to start creating and publishing content.
Find Your Niche. There is no need to have a niche but it's helpful. As you begin to learn how to become a blogger, you need to determine what you're interested in. Running? Cooking? Parenting? Are you finding your passion? Write about it if you have. If not, you'll need to first discover your passion.Note that we generally suggest that people don't start blogs about minimalism, keto or any other heavily popular topic. However, what we really mean when we say this is that: Don't start a blog about something unless you've got an unique viewpoint. If you have an original perspective and you are able to be a minimalist, then go for it.
Define Your ideal audience. Once you've chosen your topic, it is important to determine who will be reading your blog. For instance, we write about how to live a fulfilling life with the least amount of. Thus, our ideal readers are those who are looking to explore minimalism so they can clear the path toward more satisfying lives.If you want to share your story of your new infant growing up then that's awesome Your ideal readers are probably your friends and family. If you're planning to write about restoring old cars, that's fine, too. Tailor your writing to your readers (whether it's your family members or your local community, or anyone else who is reading your blog).
Create value. Your blog should add value to its readers' lives. It is your goal to assist people to solve their issues. This is the way to bring in readers of high quality to your website and keep them coming back. Offering value is the only way someone will keep supporting your site over time. This was something we both learned after a decade leading and managing people in corporate America. It's worth asking yourself whether you're creating value in the content you write.
Be Unique. There are numerous blogs that cover the same topics as yours. What makes your blog unique? Answer is because you are. You are the reason that makes your blog different. It's all about your viewpoint, your creativity, the value you bring to your blog.
Be interesting. Write interesting blog posts. Particularly if you want people to share it with others.
*Be You. *Part of being interesting is telling your story. Each person is different, and your story is a significant one. It is essential to eliminate unnecessary details in storytelling which can make it dull. A great storyteller will eliminate all details that aren't pertinent and leave the fascinating 1% to the reader.
Be Honest. If you want people to visit your blog, it must be real. Your blog can be your blog or you can be your blog. Can you truly be the person you write about? If not, people will notice the flaws. Gandhi's famous phrase says, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." Perhaps bloggers should start a blog they'd like to publish for the world.
*Transparency. *Being transparent is different from being honest. Transparency differs from honesty. (Because everything we write must serve the betterment of humanity, you will not ever see photos of our bathroom trips--that's just not important.)
Time. When you've learned to create a blog, you'll learn that blogging takes quite a long time, particularly when you're as narcissistic as we are.That said, once you have your layout set make sure you don't alter it to frequently. Instead, focus on writing.
Vision. Vision. We both was ever involved in design prior to launching the blog. It's hard to create an appealing blog if you don't know what you want it to look like.
Find your voice. The best writers discover their voice with time, and their writing develops an aesthetic that appeals to their readers. Your writing will feel more alive, real, and timely when you have found your voice. For additional reading read our blog post about Finding Your Voice.
We Instead of You. If possible, use plural in the first person. Particularly, when discussing negative tendencies or behavior, statements made by us and our are more powerful than those made by you and your. The negative tone of the first person is much more effective. It's not a god-like relationship.
When to publish. The question is: What's the best time and day to post a blog post? Answer: It doesn’t really matter. While we don't publish at the exact hour of the day, consistency is crucial. You needn't get bogged down with the specifics, though.
*Social Media. *Yes, we recommend using Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to make connections with your audience and other bloggers, but don't get too involved in it. Writing is the most important part of blogging. Social media is followed by.
Ignore Negative Criticism and Stupidity. Sure, we get a many negative feedback and questions from people who don't actually read our blog. ("You're not really minimalists! ").We call these people seagulls. They fly into your blog, then fly away. We don't pay them a mind because we didn't create our blog to please them. Move on and delete their comment.
*Research. *Do some research on the topic you're writing about. We can use a variety of relevant and helpful websites in our essays due to the fact that we've spent time researching our subjects.**
Keep It Simple. This is why minimalism can be applied to beginning any blog, regardless of its genre. There is no need to include unnecessary ads or widgets to your site. Be simple and eliminate any irrelevant ads or widgets.
*Picture. *Your blog should feature your photo. People want to look at the face of the person who's writing the blog. It's not necessary to be worried when two fun-loving men from Dayton, Ohio put their photographs on their blog.
Comments. Scott Stratten's five Words that Kill Your Blog If you're looking to encourage comments on your website, then read Scott Stratten's The Five Words that Kill Your Blog.
Live your life. You're starting a blog on your life (or about specific aspects of your life at the very least) and you have to be living your life. You should always prioritize exercise, health and relationships. Simply put, live a life worthy of writing about.
After reading Joshua Becker's 15 reasons why I think you Should Blog and we were moved to investigate this topic further and then create. In it, he discusses 15 reasons for you to begin your own blog.
Why is the keyword here. Importantly, Becker writes about the reason of blogging, not just how to get started with the blog. That's the thing that many of these others "blogs on blogging" are missing and miss: the reason behind the blog,the reasons for creating a blog.
Here's a brief summary of our three favorite motives from Becker's list of
You'll become a better writer. "At the core writing is a form of communication. Becker says that writing is about putting your thoughts down on paper and getting others to accept your ideas. "To that end, writing (just like any other form of communication that has ever existed) improves with practice. You won't be forced to blog better as it happens in a natural way as you work at it. You'll be able to write better for the rest of your life, regardless of whether you're writing a novel, a presentation or an anniversary card. Spot on! This isn't just a fantastic way of improving your blog writing, but it's an excellent opportunity to improve all aspects of your writing--business texts, emails, and even the novel you've always wanted to write. Find new friends. "Whether it's via email, comments or through social media, you could be amazed at how quickly you meet individuals online," writes Becker. That's true! It's real! Minimalists blog is responsible for several of my most important relationships in the last decade. These include long-term business and personal relationships that resulted from this blog. You will become more confident. "Blogging will help you discover greater confidence in your life," writes Becker. Soon you will realize you are a worthwhile person and a unique view and something you can share with others. So true! Writing helps us better know our lives and the consequences of what we do.
Now you've got 15 reasons to create a blog. In addition, we've taught you how to begin a blog step-by-step from our own personal experience.
After giving you these detailed instructions, which could save you thousands of hours of wasted time, we also want to give you some excellent reasons to not start your own blog. (Keep the fact that these reasons are just our personal opinions and we don't pretend to offer them up as a collection of empirical blogging rules.)
Money. You should not create a blog solely to earn money. This must be done first. Don't even think about blogging if your main intention is to replace your full-time income. It doesn't work this way. Do you think Jimi Hendrix bought his first guitar to "supplement" his income? No, he didn't. He did it because he enjoyed it for the pleasure, fulfillment, and income that came with it. It was a long time later, however.
*Notoriety. *Don't plan on getting "Internet famous" right away. It's not every site that grows like ours did, but that's fine. We were lucky. We managed to get the perfect domain name and created a website design and logo that people liked. Our content was unique and shared with the world. That would be a stretch. The site was designed to assist people in becoming bloggers and to spread the word. The popularity of our site was a shock to us and was a result of a little luck and a lot of hard, committed work.
Traffic. There are many types of traffic. Don't fret about getting thousands of readers right away. If you can help people resolve their issues, you can spend your time creating valuable products. Don't be focused on increasing the amount of traffic.
It's incredible that these things are feasible. You can earn a full-time living from creating a blog. We do this, Corbett Barr does it as do numerous others. You could even become an Internet well-known blogger, such as Leo Babauta or Chris Brogan.
If you're solely motivated by these motives behind your blog then you'll feel miserable since it'll feel like an occupation. If it's a job it's going to be boring and you won't enjoy it.
Instead, become a blogger and write what you're passionate about it...
WordPress allows you to start a blog. All you have to buy is hosting, as explained in the step-by-step instructions in the previous paragraph.
You can also set up a blog using free services such as Tumblr as well as Blogger. Be aware that you might not be able to manage your blog's content if it's published on a different website. This is one of the many reasons we prefer WordPress.
In my conversations with my students in writing I encourage them to write every day and writing blog posts at least once per week. We usually publish two blog posts per week on the blog. Seth Godin blogs every single day.
We advise you to remain constant no matter what you do. Making a schedule for your week can help you build accountability relationships (your readership) to make you feel more compelled to write, even if you're not sure if you want to write.
Avoid grandiosity. Beware of throat clearing. Your blog's first post doesn't have to be an extravagant mission statement. Your blog's first post does not have to be boring and bland intro to your blog.
Instead, choose one thing that is interesting to you right now and write about it. Follow the suggestions in the "What should I write about" section.
To help you, go back to the blog's first post of this blog circa 2010 Be on the Mountain.
Don't worry about how you introduce yourself in each blog article. Instead, make an "about" page for new readers to look up if they want to know more about you, your life and the projects you're involved in. Take a look at The Minimalists About page for an example. Derek Sivers, our friend is also a great Now page that might work for you.
Blogs may fail for at least three reasons:
Bloggers have very low expectations. If you begin an online blog today and anticipate millions of readers in the next few days, you're setting yourself up for the possibility of failure. If your motivation is genuine and you are trying to add value to the world, you will find that your expectations change.
Some bloggers don't add value. The Minimalists do not focus on the metrics like followers or subscribers. Instead, we are focused on adding value for our audience. Success will come from solving problems for people, and not the other way around.
Bloggers tend to put money first. While it's fine to make money by blogging (we do), that should not be the primary goal. Good blogs generate income but great blogs also have a positive impact. Said another way: we allow money to have an automobile seat but not the driver.