Three Things To Do BEFORE You Start Your Blog

Starting my blog, I had no one to hold my hand. No one to tell me what to do. No guidelines. Fueled by advice I’d received at a writer’s conference, I started my blog to promote my memoir.

On May 23, 2012, I posted my first blog called Samuel’s Diagnosis. It was a 1,111-word document with no pictures, headlines, or photo keywords. I didn’t even add spacing between paragraphs. This first post clearly showed I was a newbie to the blogging world.

Over the years, I have gained experience through continued posting and gaining an audience for my miraclemann.com blog. I even created a training class for first-time bloggers covering topics ranging from technical aspects to social media sharing strategies.

Several of my writer and networking colleagues reach out and wanting to know “How To Blog.” I typically find they focus on the technical side of blogging rather than the creative end. However, just like writing a book, a blog needs a direction. A table of contents, if you will.

Step One

Hash out the theme and direction of your blog. What message do you want to share? Who is your audience? Who is your ideal reader?

A fellow writer colleague, Odell Sauls, asked for assistance in starting her blog. She is crafting a historical fiction book set in 1950’s New Orleans. The tentative title is St. Philips Street. Before creating her blog online, I asked her to send me her first blog as a Word document.

Her response: “Not sure what to say.” As a writer interested in blogging, have you ever felt this way? I shared that a blog needs structure. It requires a theme — a reason for a reader to read your words. Since her book is historical fiction, the blog could be about historical New Orleans. She could pull stories from her book as well as stories from other historical sights and craft her blogs around those topics.

She can then create an Instagram page with pictures from various historical locations around New Orleans with a link back to her blog.

Step Two

Write a Table of Contents, of sorts. Jot down 6–12 titles for your future blogs. In a recent job interview, the prospective employer asked me to share blog titles that I would like to create. Here they are:

1. How To Connect With Other Solitary Writers

               Headline Analyzer score of 71.

               Audience: Writers

• How To Create A Tribe To Share Your Blog

                Headline Analyzer score of 73.

                Audience: Bloggers

• 3 Ways To Reach Out To A Special Needs Mom

                Headline Analyzer score of 75.

                Audience: Moms & Social Media

• How To Avoid Medical Advice From Dr. Google

                Headline Analyzer score of 76.

Audience: Moms

How To Market Your Book Without Being Pushy

Headline Analyzer score of 75.

                Audience: Authors

Note how I clarified the intended reader or audience for each blog. In creating your titles, the audience should be the same in keeping with the theme of your blog. Another added detail is the Headline Analyzer score. Strive to achieve a score of 70 or above. Click on Coschedule.com/headline-analyzer to craft your blog title and discover your score.

Creating sample titles, takes the sting out of the question, “What am I going to write about?” Having a plan is half the battle. If you write monthly, plan out your first 12 titles. You can always change or move titles around later.

When crafting your blog titles for the year, remember to add in themes for the holiday season. For example, Odell could write a blog about Christmas In New Orleans featuring several historical sights and post the blog in late November or early December.

Step Three

Write three sample blogs in a Word Document. This will help you not only envision the direction of your blog but, you will be able to answer these questions.

1. Do I have enough content to write blogs for the long-term?
2. Do I need to change the direction of my blog to produce more posts?

Focusing on content before technicality will help you craft your blog and set you up for success.

First Blog

As you write your first blog, create a document between 500 to 1000 words. If it takes 1200 words to share your topic, check to see if you could split the blog into a two-part series. Or, keep it “as is” if the blog holds your reader’s attention. Have a friend read it for flow. Then ask them the following:

1. Did they want to stop reading at any point?
2. Would they prefer reading your topic as two blogs?
3. Would they want to share your content?

If they say, “Yes,” to number 3, you have a winner.

For more tips on crafting your blog, check out this previous post on blogging.

Do you want to create a blog? What is your motivation? Share what you know and then follow the steps above. If you have questions, share them below. I read each one.

Evelyn Mann is a mother of a miracle and her story has been featured on WFLA Channel 8, Fox35 Orlando, Inspirational Radio and the Catholic News Agency. A special interview with her son on the Facebook Page, Special Books by Special Kids, has received 1.4M views. Along with giving Samuel lots of hugs and kisses, Evelyn enjoys hot tea, sushi and writing. Visit her at miraclemann.com.