Greetings, Curious Crowd! You may have heard us talk about some of the work we do here behind the scenes, and perhaps you have wondered what you would need to do when starting a blog of your own. If you are looking to start a blog, then you will need to know some of the basics to set yourself up for success. These are just some of the ways we have found to be effective for starting a blog.
Nerdspiration: Starting a Blog
You will need to start by thinking about which topics are the most interesting to you, as writing about what you know and love will come as second nature and will make the blog feel more like something you are looking forward to doing rather than work. A more specialized blog will also entice a more specific crowd of people. You will be able to find specific topics at different times of year depending on the season and your area of specific interest.
So if you specialize in fashion for example, then where to find the best Star Wars Christmas Sweaters would generate some interest among those looking for information about where to find unique Christmas sweaters as well as those who are interested in Star Wars clothing.
Be Unique
When creating a name for your blog, you should come up with something that relates to your audience and the intent behind your blog. It should also be unique and catchy so that readers can easily remember the name of your blog. It may take a little bit of time to come up with a name that has never been used before, a truly unique name will help to make sure your blog is popular. You may even change the name again after a while based on feedback and your changing taste. For example, we shortened our name from Nerdy Curiosities to Nerdy Curious as that was how more people recognized us anyway. Do some research about which blogs are out there already and check to see if that awesome domain name you came up with already exists.
Once you get your blog name confirmed, you need to go about getting it all set up. At first you may want to choose to use a blog hosting site such as ‘blogger’ or ‘wordpress’ before investing in buying a domain. Later on you can pay to get this converted into a unique URL. It is a good idea to ensure that your blog is going to be a continuing effort before you begin investing your personal funds into it.
Find (and use!) your voice
One of the best parts of blogging is being able to write whatever you like, as yourself completely. You will have already decided on the genre you’d like to represent in your blog, but it is now time to work on how to portray yourself to your audience. You should write as though you are speaking to a friend. If you’re unsure as to how that sounds exactly, talk to yourself about the topic in hand (it’s less weird than it sounds!) This way you will begin to gain an understanding about your idioms and tempo. You will soon be able to reflect this in your writing and will begin to appeal to like minded individuals.
Post regularly
Don’t feel pressured into posting three blogs every day. Nobody has time to write anything of any great quality in that time and you may soon find yourself running out of things you wish to write about. We should know as we made the mistake of burning ourselves out by trying to produce more content than we realistically needed. Create good quality posts of about 300-500 words a few times a week, sticking to a regular schedule so that they end up coming back to read more.
These are just a few of the basics we stuck with when we began our blog. Once you have found your voice and your platform, the rest boils down to how much work you are willing to put forth to engage with and grow your audience. Have you thought about starting your own blog? What topics would you write about if you had the chance? We always try to help support other bloggers, podcasters, and social media personalities when we can!
Stay Nerdy!
~Jams
