Back to the Beginning

. . . re starting a blog when you’re in a fog . . . about what to do.

<LMAO>  I’d actually thought of a cute little poem while lying in bed last night and—dang!—gone it was come the morning.  Goes to prove, when an idea pops into your head, write it down or lose it.

I digress [again].  Anyway, someone who readily admits to being non-blog-savvy, had asked me to check out an old blog, provide opinions and tweak, if necessary.  . . . Realization upon doing so: creating a new one would be the better option.

Are you in the same boat, non-blog-savvy, but considering becoming a blogger?  Quash the anxiety, my friend.  Move beyond the how-do-I-do-this daze.  You can and will be a boffo blogger.  Just believe and do.

You’re thinking: yeah, I could wrap my head around getting a blog going and belonging to the ever-increasing, ever-exciting blogging community.  But what do I blog about?!

Easy-peasy.  Blog about what: ♥   you know       ♥   floats your boat—your passion.

Maybe you want to make extra money via a blog?  Totally doable.  Go for it; the WWW world is your oyster.  But let’s focus on the elementary steps: the beginning of the beginning blog.   Something like that.

Concentrate on creating a blog that features you—your writing, recipes, photos, travels, family adventures, whatever it is you want to share.  Utilize an approach that’s “you”.  Look at other bloggers to get a taste of what’s visually appealing and well presented.  But remember: your blog should incorporate your unique voice (style, slant).  Sing out loud, sing out strong.

You’ll want to think of a blog name—something catchy, memorable.  Google.  See what others with your interest have named their blogs.  Look at items, people and/or products related to your interest; maybe they’ll inspire you.

Ensure that whatever the blog focus is, it’s incorporated into the name.  If the blog is about you, use your name or a version thereof.  Once you’ve selected the perfect blog name, see if it’s available.  (If it already exists, you can vary it or use a different extension—like .net instead of .com.)

Once the aforementioned is all set, get that blog going.  Pick a platform and webhost—software and services used to publish your blog content on the Internet (I’m partial to WordPress, of course, but there are many others to choose from).  Register it.

Just for the record, to be clear, a domain name is your website address that people would type into the URL bar of a browser when they’re looking to visit your blog.  A webhost serves as your file storage/service location.  When folks enter your domain name into a browser, that name is converted into the IP address of your webhost.  (Oof.  Anything technical and I feel a headache coming on.  <LOL>)

A webhost is pretty much a must, or you really won’t have much of a blog.  Yes, you can go for self-hosting, but there are limitations, such as not having your own domain name, not being able to access free themes or upload an abundance of vids/pics and the like.  Nothing wrong with that, though.  It depends on what you’re looking to do.  Investigate the pros and cons of self-hosting, and determine what’s best for you.

Use a template (theme) for the blog design/layout that speaks to you and tailor it accordingly.  Remember: you don’t have to stick with it forever.  The beauty of having a blog is that you can change the look anytime you like.

Once it’s designed and up and running, go for it—write that first post.  How exciting is that!?

Happy blogging!  . . . And, on that note, I’d better take a gander at that blog to be.

Author: tylerus

I'm primarily a writer of fiction and blog posts, and a sometimes editor and proofreader of books, manuals, and film/television scripts. Fact-checking and researching, organizing and coordinating are skills and joys (I enjoy playing detective and developing structure). My fiction audience: lovers of female-sleuth mysteries. My genres of preference: mysteries (needless to say), women’s fiction, informative and helpful “affirmative” non-fiction. So-o, here I am, staring up a new blog for aspiring and established e-Book writers. The plan: to share the (long) journey of getting to this stage, and share "learnings" and "teachings". There's a lot I hope to accomplish with this blog, but it may be a while before that happens as there's a lot on the ol' plate - taking care of Mom, working full-time, and attempting to get another book in the Triple Threat Investigation Agency series written (never mind blog postings and other writing projects). It's very challenging and it's all good. As I like to say: teeny focused baby steps are just as effective as long forceful strides. It may take a little longer, but we will get there. View all posts by tylerus