One of the best things that I’ve ever done was start a blog. It has been a strange and wonderful journey filled with ups and downs and the occasional looking back and wondering “why did I decide to do this?” I also find myself wondering how I decided what to blog about.
What To Blog About
Is probably the hardest and easiest question that many people ask themselves. In fact, since I began my closed Facebook group The D.O.N.E. Society for future digital entrepreneurs (join here!) I’ve discovered that many people get stuck before they publish their first post.
Too Many Choices
The fact is it doesn’t really matter what you blog about that first day, week, or year. It just matters that you start. Like with most things blogging has become something that people feel that they have an in depth understanding of…even before they start doing it.
What people forget is that the first day, week, or months no one will be reading your blog except for you, your mom, and your best friend. Seriously. Also, and this one will sting a little bit, but for the majority of you your writing won’t be as good as you think (and it DOESN’T need to be perfect). But, your writing will become amazing over time.
What Excites You?
What do you geek out about? What do you think about and have a level of passion for? What is bothering you? What could you write about over and over again in 50,000 different ways and still enjoy thinking about? What situations are you fed up with and you just want to share and get it off your chest?
Write down every topic that comes up and see what topic keeps coming up.
Stop worrying if your story will resonate with someone. It will. There are billions of people out there and it’s guaranteed that a number of those people will connect with your story…and with you! But, how will they connect with you if you never start?
Create a Swipe File
What is that? Hopefully, you are reading other blogs about the topic you’re interested in writing about. Write down all of the topics that people are writing about and figure out your own special spin on it.
Spend time on Pinterest and type in different searches to see what types of posts people have written. Don’t overthink this process. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself, you just want to give yourself material to write about.
Don’t Worry
If you find that you don’t like what you’re writing about-change it! The best thing about running a blog is that it is YOUR space to express your creativity. You can change what you’re doing until you find the right fit.
I’ve noticed that people are almost too savvy for their own good when they consider adding a blog to their future business endeavors. People know that there is the potential to make substantial amounts of money via a nicely monetized site.
Blogging is a Long-Term Game
I can’t keep track of the number of people who ask if blogging is easy. It is not necessarily hard, but it isn’t easy. Why isn’t it easy? Because blogging is a long-term project. In fact, think of blogging like long-term investing and the Rule of 72. If you’re not familiar with this rule it is referring to the number of years it takes to double your money when investing at a certain percentage. Blogging works the same way.
Most people don’t realize this but it usually takes bloggers 2 years from the moment that they decided to monetize to make serious money (more than $10,000 a month) via their blog. If you don’t believe me email your favorite bloggers and ask them. You can even look through their blog earnings reports to see the trends in their earnings.
Because blogging is a long-term project the ability to be flexible in the beginning is a gift. Be comfortable with making mistakes, feeling a little unsure, and learning how to share your voice via the written word.
The major question that you should be asking yourself is not what you should blog about, but when you should get started.
Don’t let Analysis Paralysis keep you from starting what can be a transformative and life changing journey. I purposely decided to write about personal finance and lifestyle issues because I knew that there would be days when I just didn’t feel like blogging about money. I knew that I wanted to also share my thoughts on health, dating, and travel.
Three
I currently run 3 completely different blogs. The reason that I decided to launch 2 additional blogs was because I felt the need to share different different information and stories in a different space. I also wanted to connect with different people concerning topics that might not resonate with current readers of this blog. And, because I could.
Focusing on what to blog about should not keep you from telling whatever stories you would like to share. Please just get started and make adjustments along the way.
Latest posts by Michelle (see all)
- How Work Policies Against Black Women Birthed a Love of the Soft Life - 20 March, 2024
- How Taylor Swift’s IP Victory Could Change the Business of Music - 28 February, 2024
- Why Don’t More Personal Finance Content Creators Talk About Policy - 16 January, 2024
One of the things I need to be better at is creating a running list of ideas that I can turn to when I don’t have any immediate inspiration.
I think having a huge list of ideas is key to keeping writer’s block at bay.
If I have an idea I write and save, when I edit and I’m sure at 100% I publish but isn’t always easy
I am trying to always have a TON of ideas written down somewhere. I’m also doing some freelance writing so I have to make sure that have a ton of ideas all the town.
I use to struggle with topics when I first starting blogging. Last year I did a readers survey. It helped me figure out what my readers liked and didn’t like. It also helped me with about a years woth pf topics.
I am always writing down stuff. I have a ridiculous number of ideas written on a ridiculous number of journals all over the place.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas. I haven’t looked into posts on Pinterest, Michelle. I’d try to see if I can get a topic out of the platform.
If you’re needing post ideas Pinterest is the place to look!
Nowadays video blogging or vlogging is lot more popular and prfitable than a claasic blogging
I have a friend making $40,000 a month so she’s pretty happy with her process LOL! I think that all of these platforms can work as long as you have a strategy. But, video is looking to become a game changer for a lot of people.