I can’t believe it’s been 18 months since I started blogging. It has been a lot of work, a lot of research and a lot of learning, but it’s also one of the most rewarding adventures I’ve ever taken.
Keeping up with housecleaning and laundry while running a blog has been a challenge. To all the moms out there who hold a full-time job and somehow also care for their families, I salute you. From where you get your stamina, I’ll never know.
I started exploring blogging in February 2018. I read and read and read. I was afraid of the unknown, the time commitment, the startup costs, what it would mean for my family, my lack of writing skills; I had every reason to not get started.
Still, I wanted to share what I was doing — what I loved doing — from decorating to DIYs. I wanted to inspire and help others who enjoyed the same things. That seemed like a big enough carrot to chase.
If you wait until your ducks are in a row, you never will.
I had so many doubts. Did I have what it took to be a blogger, I wondered. Did I have enough articles in me to keep it going? Would I be any good? Would I give up? But I finally realized what every other person who ever started anything realizes, that not starting is far worse than starting and failing.
I had long dreamed of working from home, so I cast aside the excuses. I began to focus on what I might gain from the experience. In October 2018, in spite of my anxiety, I started.
Hubby and I brainstormed the name. I love peonies. They’re my favorite flower. Everything we thought of was taken — up until “Peony Street.” It was available as a “.com” and I loved it. Having a name, I was ready press the button.
Full disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
Stop dreaming and get started…
The key to getting started it getting started. It’s really that simple. The worst kind of dream is the one that sits in the back of your mind for years. Don’t put it off. If you wait until all of your ducks are in a row, you never will.
Blogging is a journey. It’s learning. It’s not the money-making opportunity some sell. Money can be made, yes, but that can’t and shouldn’t be the carrot.
Like anything worth doing, building a blog takes hard work. There are no secrets. Tricks and tips help, but 99% is persistence and hustle. If you put in the work week by week, month by month, you’ll discover the tricks and tips as you go.
Do I wish I started sooner? You bet. But God’s timing is God’s timing; I’m just glad I leapt. Everyone has ideas, but some never go any further than that. I was going to have an adventure whatever the outcome.
The key to getting started is getting started.
I’ve had this post tucked in the back of my mind for a while. What I learned after 18 months of hard work doesn’t make me an expert, but I believe I’ve learned enough to help someone who is where I was 18 months ago.
…but mind the journey, not the destination.
When I spoke to my husband about my idea to start a blog and what it might mean regarding my time, his main advice was to make it about the journey and not the destination.
He said make it about what you feel you can give and share, and not what you feel you might get out of it. There is greater joy in life in the one who shifts his focus from destinations to journeys. God made everything in it’s place to be enjoyed.
Right now, what you love may get you out of bed, but enjoying the journey is what’ll keep you going. Serve others through your art. God puts a different spark in each of us and He would have us user our gifts to the good of others.
Choose a niche.
A niche is whatever it is you want to write about, whatever interests you and preoccupies your thoughts and activities. It’s a cause, an opportunity to impact, improve, inspire and help others. It may involve a few related subjects or just one.
Do you like to cook, to organize, to follow fashion? What are you better at than most? Where do you exhibit creativity where others don’t? Do you have a message you need to share?
What “sparks joy” for me is decorating and DIY. They’re always on my mind.
Be realistic. If you’re to sustain an effort, it’s not unreasonable to hope to support it monetarily. To that end, you need to identify whether there’s a market for your niche. Are others succeeding in the same area or are you trailblazing?
Choose a name.
A name is also a brand. Avoid using a niche-specific name. If you pick too narrow a name you might paint yourself into a corner.
Rather pick something creative with a nice ring to it that is evocative of your message, but which is nebulous enough to allow you room to grow.
Don’t pick a name that pigeon holes you unless you’re really committed to the subject matter.
If you can’t make up your mind, use your name. Your name is a brand worth building. Nothing says you more than your name does!
Choose a platform.
WordPress is ubiquitous and practically synonymous with blogging.
What sets it apart is its community and its pluggable ecosystem. If you want to add a feature, there’s a plugin for it. And the there’s a world of knowledge and videos to support you as you’re learning the ropes.
As you’re getting started what you need more than anything is the ability to outsource a newly discovered need to plugin providers (some free, others premium), or to lean on the wisdom of community experts. WordPress is as full featured a platform as you’re likely to find.
Don’t let this step trip you up. Choose WordPress. You’re not locked in for life. Trust me. Your vetting all the popular blogging platforms is not worth the delay.
Choose a host.
Your host is your virtual landlord. You want a good one. I read good things about Bluehost and signed up for a couple bucks a month and a free domain name for the first year. No problems at all.
Don’t get hung up on ferreting out the best deal among hosts. What you want is trustworthiness, reliability and good support. Bluehost has these.
Don’t waste your time researching every detail, especially since you can change your mind once you’re established. What you need at this point is forward momentum. Don’t add decisions to the process, subtract them.
I recommend you sign up for the basic plan. If you don’t have the up-front money you can choose the 1-year plan but it’ll cost more in the long run. I chose the 3-year plan. I figured I was at least committed to a 3-year adventure.
It only took me a few minutes to get started and if I can do it with no technical skills to speak of, you can too!
If you need help setting up your blog, watch tutorials or join a Facebook group. I love Blogger Education Network, Help a Blogger Out, Blogging Babes Collective and MomtoMompreneur. The community is so helpful.
Choose a theme.
I chose a free theme and hubby tweaked my stylesheet to make it look a bit more custom. I may eventually buy a paid one or a custom one, but that’s a down-the-line decision, not a day-1 decision.
I repeat: prefer taking action and maintaining forward momentum to perfecting your launch. Close the gap between setting up shop and publishing your first post.
It’s easy to get distracted by the periphery of things that go into having and running a blog. Don’t do it. Blogging is first and foremost about getting the message out.
The aesthetics matter, of course, but you can always renovate later. Pick something that has a reasonably nice look and suits your niche and move on.
Get the message out.
I mentioned the importance of maintaining forward momentum. I’ve told you to eliminate distracting decisions like your theme or your host or your publication platform. That’s because all of those things amount to nothing if you’re not getting the message out.
Writing is not my strong suit; however, blogging is writing. I am fortunate to have a husband who doesn’t mind editing my posts.
Having ideas, developing them, writing and publishing them is your publication pipeline, the hook on which everything else hangs. You can throw out everything else and still have something, but if you subtract the writing you’ll at best have a fancy storefront with no interior showroom to speak of.
80 percent of life is showing up.
Woody Allen
You’ve got to regularly mind the publication pipeline even when it’s inconvenient, even when it feels like work. I like how Allen emphasizes the importance of showing up. If you’re not prioritizing for the publication pipeline, you’re not showing up no matter what else you might be doing.
Get a decent camera.
Niche-depending, you may need a decent camera. I am in home decor and DIY which means lots of photos. And almost any blog will benefit dramatically from photos.
Initially, I had been using my smartphone camera. Mistake. The photos were subpar. And on a blog that necessitates visual impact, it didn’t make sense. Plus, using a subpar camera means more photo editing and that’s just wasting time. I’ve got more important things to do — and so have you.
Eventually I wised up and borrowed my sister’s old DSLR camera and bought a good lens and a photography lighting kit. Good lighting, I have found, greatly enhances your picture quality.
I’d caution you to temperance as you get started. Yeah, certain tools and accessories will help, but you shouldn’t get everything you imagine useful until you’ve vetted your commitment. Once you have, it may be reasonable to acquire some things, but try to make due and borrow while you’re getting started.
How many well-intentioned people have practically-new dumbell sets in their basements, I wonder.
Get a decent laptop.
You should have a descent laptop.
I had a Chromebook for the first 9 months and it was a detractor. I saved money but it cost me time — and that is almost never a good trade.
I bought a pre-owned MacBook Pro (on the Facebook Marketplace) and while it’s not top-of-the-line it’s far better for my purposes.
When it comes to deciding where to put your money when you’re launching a blog, optimize for your time. I now know how important a good laptop is to saving you time.
Promote your posts.
You may be surprised, as I was, but putting eyes on your posts is a significant part of your publication pipeline. You might think posting great content is enough; it isn’t. Volumes could be written about just getting people to notice what you’ve written. I’m barely touching the surface here.
98% of my traffic comes from Pinterest. It took me a long time to figure out how to drive traffic to my blog and I wasn’t comfortable with spending a lot of money on an e-course. Instead, I read article after article on how to increase traffic but nothing seemed to work.
I finally stumbled upon Pinteresting Strategy. Carly Campbell’s an expert and her course is modestly priced (use discount code PINNINGS for $5 off) and thoroughly explains how it works. She advertises only by word of mouth so it helps keep things affordable.
I can definitively say she helped me increase my traffic. Since taking the course I’ve seen a dramatic increase in my affiliate income and page views! This month I finally qualified (based on total viewership) to apply for Monumetric which will help me up my ad income.
Is blogging worth the effort?
Yes! It takes a lot of hard work and patience but totally is. And take that from someone who at the outset felt lacking in a lot of categories. What I lack in ability, I make up for in enthusiasm. I’ve enjoyed the journey, every step, every article I read, every skill I developed along the way. It feels like running a small business, like you’re actually building something. The more I’ve grown, the more excited I’ve become about it.
There you have it. I hope I’ve given you the courage to act. It’s hard but it is sooooo rewarding.
It means so much when people tell me I’ve inspired them. For me, that’s what it’s all about. I want help others enjoy what I enjoy.
Have you been dreaming about blogging for a while? If so, maybe it’s time to get started. The biggest single obstacle is sectioning off your little corner of the Internet. See if you can’t set up shop and post something in 21 days or less. I suspect, like me, you’ll be glad you did.
Jennabel
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