Beginner Blogger’s Cheatsheet

How long have you thought about starting your blog?

Me? I’ve thought about starting a blog for years. 

And, on December 8th, 2018, I finally pulled the trigger. As a university professor, I have free time over winter break. There is no better time than the present to start something new.

This is the first post in the “How to Start Your Blog Over Vacation” series. Like many other bloggers, I want to share with you my steps in starting a blog. In real-time. If you are like me, you want to hear the “real scoop.” This post is a non-expert guide to starting a blog. Want to know where to start? Maybe this post will help.

1) Find experts.

I’ve read a lot of blogs over the last few years. And, really, quite a few of them offer sound advice. I chose to follow two bloggers, Logan Allec at Blogging Done Right and Bobby Hoyt at Millenial Money Man. I signed up for their free email courses and I read the information on their websites. And, even better, Logan offers a free Facebook group for future bloggers. Eventually, when I have some extra money to use, I’d like to take the Blogging Done Right course. I think the content would be helpful and probably would have saved me a lot of time, already, if I could have jumped in with both feet.

Pinterest has a wealth of information and free resources for starting blogs.

I found so much information on Pinterest. While the learning curve is great, a quick search of my boards usually provides an answer. In fact, you can follow my Pinterest boards and this may help you learn to blog over your vacation.

For instance, on Pinterest, I found blogs that taught me about the “legal stuff” of a blog, such as the affiliate disclaimer below, which is required by law.

2. Choose a domain name

What should you name your blog? I think choosing a name is one of the most difficult tasks of starting a blog. So much rides on a domain name. The name needs to be easy to remember. And, it needs to give insight into the purpose of the blog. With some help from Logan’s Facebook group, I finally chose familysidegigs.com. 

3. Purchase Hosting Through Blue Host

Blue Host is a one-stop shop for a domain name, hosting, and Word Press integration. I bought the 36-month plan so that I could save the most money. After your purchase is complete, just log into Blue Host and follow the directions. This was the easiest step of the process so far.

4. Choose Your Word Press Theme

Blue Host includes Word Press installed and ready to use. But, Word Press has many different templates to choose from, inclusing free templates. But, all those blogs on Pinterest were clear on one thing, splurge on your WordPress them if you want to be successful in blogging. After reading some reviews, I chose Elegant Themes Divi Theme. It was on a Black Friday sale and had some great options, including drag and drop template design. Even though I’ve used similar systems, Divi still has a steep learning curve. They also have a great training library, if you choose to use it.

5. Design your blog

Quite honestly, this was the most time consuming task. Since Family Side Gigs has multiple goals (not recommended by the expert bloggers) I wanted a landing page that pointed people to my husband’s product recommendations, my daughter’s craft designs, and my son’s start-up videography.  Someday soon I’ll blog about those experiences and link back to this page. But, for now, let’s just say this part takes determination. When you find yourself thinking, “this isn’t easy”, power through.

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Bonus Step: Write Something

It is important to feel successful. And that is why this last tip is so crucial. Don’t bog down in design (and many other things like contact managers and SEO) that we haven’t even talked about. Just WRITE SOMETHING! This is a learn by doing kinda gig. Writing something is doing. Show it to a few friends. Tell them, I did this! I wrote two articles. First, my “why” article, which you can read here. I think that it is important to stay clear on the vision of any project. Second, I created my daughters first how-to craft article, which can be found here. Her craft project (Christmas Cards) is pretty awesome. But, my first attempt at a craft blog is not. And, seriously, that is ok because I accomplished my primary goal. I chose to write something, to just get started.

 Blog Goals: What’s Next

In the process of building the blog and creating the first posts, I had to learn a few things. First, I had to learn how to create graphics. Second, I had to figure out how to get those graphics to Pinterest and other social media pages. Third, there were contact pages to build. And, fourth, in order to point you to the products I use, I had to sign up for affiliate programs. Of course, those affiliate programs require disclaimers and I needed to figure those out. There have been plug-ins to assess and install, contact forms to build, and new terms, like SEO (search engine optimization) to learn. I plan to blog on all of this later. But, I also hope to take the Blogging Done Right course. Logan’s free emails have been so helpful and I imagine the course is even more helpful. Maybe I’ll make that my Christmas present. Who knows?