Introduction: Avoiding Analysis Paralysis
Creating a blog for your hobby or small business is simple, and incredibly rewarding! However, the process can be daunting and questions loom. Small niggling decisions tend to make us freeze in our tracks before we can even get going: Who has the best hosting service? Should I order my posts chronologically or reverse-chronologically? Trying to hammer out every detail before you even start is a clear sign of the fear of failure, and something called Analysis Paralysis. Our guide is designed to help you take that first step and get the ball rolling! Inertia is a bitch, isn’t it? Step 1: Choose a Topic It can be any number of things. Blog about your business! Couponing! The stock market! Data! Your experience doing Crossfit! Your 2,000-mile road trip! What you had for breakfast!It doesn’t matter – just start writing. Remember what we said about inertia? As your blog evolves, the content you write will evolve and grow right along with it. But to start, you must choose a direction. Feel analysis paralysis setting in? See this ad monetization matrix to get some ideas of different industries. Maybe you hadn’t even thought about blogging about your experiences as a college intern who needed to master underwater basket weaving. Search out lists ofthings you could write about. Point is: pick something! Step 2: Getting Hosted One of the biggest obstacles we see when we hear about getting started with blogging is finding good hosting. It’s really not that bad. You may think of hosting as a big deal – and it is, but not until you’ve become a super big fish. For now, you’re just a small fish. Or a tadpole. There are free options for hosting and paid options for hosting, and of course, pros and cons to each. One thing you’ll want to keep in mind, whether you go for free hosting or paid hosting, is that you’ll probably want the ability to expand further down the line. We recommend choosing a host that will allow you to export all of your posts automatically. That way when your blog becomes huge and successful and you’re ready to expand in years to come, you’ll be able to do so easily. Because it WILL suck to export all of your old blog entries manually, one by one, and re-upload them to another platform if you so choose. This could really stunt your growth. Choose wisely. Free - pros
Paid - GoDaddy, Laughing Squid, DreamHost, Bluehost, Yahoo!, HostGator Free - Tumblr, Blogger, Wix, Weebly, 000webhost Step 3: Time for design! Another roadblock that can contribute to “analysis paralysis” is designing your website. Now there are free templates available out there (WordPress being just one fantastic resource for this), but you may want to explore hiring a website designer or paying for a custom template to be made for your site. Remember that first impressions mean a lot, and a visitor to your blog may immediately turn away if the design is messy, convoluted or hard to navigate. You may want to choose a temporary template for now, so you can jump into the writing and posting portion of your blog before you have to decide on a “forever” design. This is something that can always be changed later, so you can even make drastic changes if you decide you hate the entire design in a month or so. Step 4: Write, write, write! This is the meat of your blog, and the part most bloggers are most excited about. Tell your story here! We’re not going to get all grammatically correct on you right now, but here are a few tips for keeping your blog posts interesting:
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