how to build a blog (a Cleo interview)
I was quoted in this month’s CLEO magazine. I thought it might be of interest to anyone who’s thinking of start a blog and is not sure where to start. I know I had noooooo idea when I first decided to launch this one.
The other advice I would give is:
* Follow really strong bloggers and check out which style you like. You might like a vertical style, or a text only one like Seth Godin‘s, or a visual one, or a very simple style, like mnmlist.com. I’m quite liking the text-based ones these days…they cut out the bells and whistles and rely on pure, good, substantial content. Which is good. It’s the way of the future.
* Many use a standard blogspot or wordpress template. Most blogs will mention which somewhere on the homepage or in the address (if they’ve used a template). Google “the best free blog templates” and you will find a stack of options to choose from.
* Me, I use wordpress and I designed mine (not from a template)… which can get a bit expensive if you’re not careful. I share my office space with some great kids called The Makeroom who design blogs: info@themakeroom.com.au
* Start following a few blogging blogs which post about blogging tricks. Problogger is a great place to start.
* I can also recommend trying the 5-week Online Business Overhaul that the divine Clare Lancaster from Women In Business has built.
* Just start. Enter the fray.
Do you have any other tips that worked for you, that you’d like to share with the crew??
Hi Sarah,
The link to Clare Lancaster’s 5-week e-course doesn’t seem to work!
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Thanks Sarah!
To be honest, I find it really easy to get bogged down in all the blogging advice. As somebody who is using her blog to share and communicate, rather than building a business, I think it’s best to ignore the tips and just work it out on my own. Trying hard to be a “pro” blogger sometimes works to compromise my own voice and instinct. The expression of which is the whole point of writing a blog!
That said, I do read the advice now and then, out of interest. After all, as they say, you have to know the rules before you break the rules.
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My best piece of advice would be, make sure you have the time to devote to regular updates (which will really help you build a following) – and think about this carefully AT the design stage of your blog. It can be very tempting to add a million sections to make it look super-hot and provide lots of different areas for your readers to explore, only to realise down the track that updating all those little sections can take ages. If you update quite regularly, it can end up being a huge drain of your time (worse if your blog is not a paid one).
If in doubt follow the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid
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Thanks for sharing! I started a blog a few days ago so this is very helpful and reassuring… especially the “just start”! I agree with Laura about the advice. It’s hard to find any that isn’t about making money off your blog.
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I agree about the regular updates. I have blogged on and off for years, and the only way I have been able to make it successful (as in fun, engaging, and something other people actually want to read) is to commit to regular posting. These days, I try to blog every day — I make myself. (Every now and then I have a rough day and can’t access the Internet for long enough or my health plays up. I suffer from auto-immune diseases like Sarah!).
I think a blog also has to be visually appealing. It doesn’t necessarily require pictures — although I believe that carefully selected or personally produced images help create interest — but it does need to be designed in a reader-friendly way. Dark fonts on light backgrounds are easier on the eye than the reverse, for example. And too many ads or links cluttering up the header and side-bars can be a bit… blah.
Unique voice, too, is so important. I decided what style of blog I wanted to create, but I also made a commitment to be true to myself. My voice. My passions. My opinions. I rate the success of my blog in terms of how satisfied it makes me feel. And the discipline I’ve developed, coupled with the “bloggers’ eyes for everything” have helped float me through one of the most painful periods of my life — I call that success!
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