How to find out if blogging is for you before you blow any $$$.
Starting your own blog or website is a big undertaking. From the tech setup and marketing to the long term writing commitment, blogging is not something to jump into lightly. This is the advice I wish I would have gotten before I started blogging: Test your blog idea first.
And, honestly, I don’t want you to jump into it without knowing (even a little bit) whether or not you’ll even like it long term. Plus, if you don’t like it, you won’t be out any of the money that is required to get started.
The Advice
Test your blog idea on social media for 3 months before spending a dime.
Why?
The essence of blogging as a business is consistency, marketing, writing, and content creation. All of which you can do on social media!
After 3 months or so, you’ll have a good feel for whether you want to start blogging, or not. The worse case scenario is that you find out you don’t like content creation and all your out is a few months. Not a dime lost!
Let’s get started!
#1: Choose a Topic or Theme
Decide what you want to write/create content about. Ask yourself who you think you want to reach with your content.
There are a couple different approaches you can take here. You can choose a theme that is about a specific topic or for a specific person. Here are a few examples:
Topic: Knitting, Dessert Making, Motherhood with Twins, RV Lifestyle, Money Management, Christianity
Person: Help other mothers of multiples, teachers struggling to make ends meet, you 5 years ago, person living with chronic illness,
You might have a little bit of both in your chosen theme, that’s okay! Just have an idea of what you want to talk about.
#2: Break your Topic Into Categories
Break down your overarching topic with 3-5 categories. Having these at your fingertips will help you when you get to content creation. that you could fit a bulk of your content into.
Don’t stress too much about this part. You can ALWAYS adjust these later. So, These can always change, so don’t stress too much about “getting it right” the first time. The point of this, though, is to help you create a brand that has a focus. That little bit of focus gives you an edge!
#3: Choose your Platform
The platforms I recommend to test your blog idea AND get the best possible scenario if you decide to move forward after 90 days are Instagram and TikTok.
With both focusing heavily on video and community they are a perfect place to start. Plus, these two platforms will give you the best leg up if you decide to move forward at the end of this experiment.
But if Facebook, Twitter, or another platform have your heart, go for it!
#4: Brainstorm
3 months means lots of brainstorming, so let’s get started! Come up with 3 content ideas for each of your categories. Keep this loose and just let your ideas flow out.
I can hear you perfectionists now: “What if I don’t come up with good ideas?”
And if you fall into that category, there’s something I want you to know:
Brainstorming is all about letting ideas out of your brain and onto paper. No ideas are good. No ideas are bad. Let your creativity shine. Take chances and let this be fun!
#5: Get Set Up
Choose a username for your account and set it up. You can also use a personal account that you already have if you want. Remember, you can always change this later so don’t get hung up on this part.
So, what’s next?
Now that you’ve got your account and your topic ready to go, it’s time to make a plan.
This plan will help you create a plan that works for you and keeps you on track during the next 90 days.
But before you get started I need you to repeat after me: “I am committing to creating and posting content over the next 90 days. Someone needs to hear what I have to say. I can do this. For them AND for me.”
Let’s get started!
#1: Choose how many days a week you’ll share.
I recommend at least 5 so that you get a good idea how much content bloggers create on a regular basis. BUT, make sure that you take into consideration your life. Some weeks you might get 7 posts out and others it might only be 3.
#2: Lay out your content for week 1, then get creating!
The first week will be the hardest. Lay out what you want to post and share in the first week on a calendar and either create all the content in one go (this is called content batching!) or put time in your calendar each day to create.
#3: Follow through.
Keep the promise you made to yourself. Detach from the results. The goal of this isn’t to become an overnight success (because that isn’t real!) it’s to decide whether you like content creation and marketing enough to pursue regularly with income potential.
The measure of success here? A yes or a no.
That’s it.
Wrap-Up
That’s a lot of steps, but you made it! Are you surprised that you can dip your toes into blogging without actually spending a dime?
Not only are you ready to dive in, you know how to choose your topic, break your topic into categories, and do some seriously effective content brainstorming.
Just stick to the steps above to test your blog idea and you’ll finally answer the age old (your age!) question, “Am I cut out for blogging or content creation?”
Why wait to get started? I made a free resource just for you to help you get out of “should I do it?” to “I’m in. Let’s get started!” It’s a workbook designed to walk you through each step of the process of getting started and track your progress along the way.