An Oversimplified Checklist for Starting Your Own Blog
Hello! and welcome to the Oversimplified Checklist for Starting Your Own Blog. These are pretty much the steps that I took to take my blog from an idea to launching my website. So how can you make the same thing happen for you…? Well you just have to…
Start with the idea. The Who, What, When, Where, Why?
Who is your audience?
What am I trying to convey?
When will I post?
Where will I get this info out to them?
Why do I want to do this?
After you’ve established those, start with branding. I had help with this part of the process from a colleague from college named Desmond Hilson. After working through the brand, Desmond designed my logo. If you want to check out his amazing work, you can follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/designxdesmond/.
The Blooming Babe: Logo
Another really good resource if you don't have a brand plug is 99 designs. This is what I used for my first round of branding: https://www.99designs.com/blog/logo-branding/how-to-create-a-brand-style-guide/amp/
The Blooming Babe: Brand Colors and Voice
Next, I’d figure out your medium. If you want to do a website, I suggest Squarespace. It’s very intuitive and relatively easy to use. If you want to save a quick buck too, any and every podcast has a promo code for it. I used a promo code from The Read. If you want to take it a step forward, then you can purchase a template that teaches you how to go about creating the look that you want. I used a template from BIG CAT CREATIVE to customize my website. I now have a design that I heart eyes over everyday.
The Blooming Babe: Website Template with Brand Colors
With your website up, it's time to work on your Social Media
I use Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
As someone with minimal experience in these areas, I went straight to my podcast app seeking help. I found not only podcast, but lots of resources by Julie Solomon of Pitch it Perfect and Jenna Kutcher of the Goal Digger Podcast.
Always promote your business pages on your personal pages, and feel free to invite your friends to like your pages.
Follow me on Social Media at: The Blooming Babe
#igotmyinstagramfeedonmyblog #shamelessplug
Before launching, the best thing to do is to have a plan. This means knowing how often you are going to post,update your website, and publish content to your social media. The easiest way to do this is to create a content calendar.
I bought an actual planner and wrote in my due dates for each in it.
Lastly, keep those skills up and invest in your craft. I have occasionally spent some extra cash on a course or 31 and if you have no extra cash, podcast are a great place to start.
And that’s it! I would love to say there are ways to get this % right the first time, but all of the podcast, webinars, and worksheets will not replace your intuition. So just go for it! Its not going to be perfect at first, but it’s definitely worth it.
If you have any questions moving forward, let me know :) Until next time.