Creating a blog is easy – and most of the time it’s free. But the challenges of keeping up a blog and understanding what will bring in readers is where things get tricky. If you’re a writer, a collector, a finder, a searcher, or just an average collegietteTM looking for something to do in your spare time, then making a blog can be a great hobby to acquire. Blogs have hype because they explore life in the eyes of one individual and are creative and inspirational. It sounds silly, but we’ve see it happen time and time again – being a blogger can be the start of your career or your career itself. All of this sounds fabulous doesn’t it? Of course it does, but keeping up with your blog and making new posts without slacking is what will make it stick. Here at HC we have some easy tips to start a blog, keep a blog, and even some of our favorite blogs to inspire your creation.
1. Figure out what you want to write about:
– In order to write a blog you have to have passion – and by passion we mean you wish you could live, eat, breath, drink, dance, party, BE the thing, person, place, or subject of your blog.
– Having passion will allow for you to explore you’re creative mind and soul and will ultimately make your blog a hit.
2. Manage a schedule:
– Decide if you want to write every other day, every day or on weekends. By having a consistent schedule you will ensure that you get more traffic.
– Making your “bulk look bigger” helps viewers search around and can create followers.
3. Accept that some days you just won’t have time to update your blog, but prepare for it:
– Blogs only become hits with traffic, so if you know that you have a ton of work coming up, prepare by writing an extra post ahead of time.
4. Always think about new content:
– It’s easy to miss out on opportunities for creating new content. We get stuck in our routines more than often, but with a blog you want to make sure you are current with the times.
5. Take advantage of the internet, family, friends, fellow bloggers, and school friends:
– There is no doubt that the internet is a great way to stay updated on your blogs theme. Search for other blogs that relate to your’s – there’s no shame in doing a post about your obsession with another blog.
6. Don’t just use words:
– Although writing may be your forte, please don’t bore your readers with just words. People like to see pictures, videos, hear songs – it gives a fuller interpretation of what you’re writing.
7. Encourage your readers to contact you:
– Blogging is a publishing medium, that means people can and should respond to your posts.
– Include a contact space in your blog (not just an email address) such as a section for conversation, in order to let your followers interact based on your posts.
– You can also increase contact and participation with readers/viewers by posting questions, having contests and creating interaction.
8. Avoid excessive quoting:
– We all love a good quote, but sometimes using them to jump start your posts over and over again can get old, make sure that when you use a quote you do it justice.
– Another way to have a lot of quotes without over using them is to simply make a quote page that you frequently update, that way your readers can just go to it for inspiration.
9. Have an about me page:
– We want to know about who we are reading. Don’t be vague in your personal description, tell us about who you are, what you do, where you go for fun – this way the readers truly get to know the writer behind the words.
10. Pick a catchy name
– Be creative.
– Think about a quirky, fun, catchy,ironic, symbolic or meaningful name that will stick in people’s heads. You want people to be able to quote you!
Some ideas to get you started:
If you want to post about art/design/fashion: show your readers you know what you are talking about by posting your favorite artist, piece, or collection and writing about it. Include a short bio, a link to the artists website or some words about how the art influenced your life and where readers can get more.
If your blog covers technology: be on top of it. Know when new releases come out and find articles about their performance and review them.
If your blog covers your life: make it interesting! Post something funny, bizarre, crazy, or insane that happened to you or that you over heard that day. Make sure you are writing about topics readers can relate to.
If your blog covers music: recommend a new song each day and compare it to something else. Provide play lists, back end concert tips, and upcoming artist beats. People who love to hear music want to hear and see that you, as a music blogger do too!
Two places where blogging is easy and free:
Successful blogs that you should look at:
1) http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/
2) http://breakfastwithfashion.wordpress.com/
3) http://www.thesartorialist.com/
4) http://www.seriouseats.com/
5) http://collegefashionista.com/
6) http://www.youaintnopicasso.com/
7) http://www.hearya.com/
8) http://gizmodo.com/
Now that you know how to start a blog, where to start a blog, and what to do once you have chosen your blog’s topic, there should be no hesitation to get going, all it takes is your own motivation and passion.