This is a guest post from my brainy brother Justin Wise, reposted from October.
Not too long ago, I was at a grocery store picking up some last-minute items for dinner at home. My wife needed broccoli and my son needed almond milk (little guy doesn’t do dairy … at least not well), so daddy went shopping.
I picked up my items and dashed to the checkout line, hoping to make a quick exit. I put everything down on the conveyor belt, then zoned out reading the latest headlines on the Courtney Cox/David Arquette split when, I heard it:
“You’re Iowa Girl Eats’ brother!” The checkout girl was seemingly in awe.
“Yes, yes I am.” I stated matter-of-factly.
She nearly launched out of her checking cubicle with glee, “Omigosh, I LOOOOOOVE her blog! Is she here?!”
“No. She’s not.” I had to inform her of the bad news.
“Oh.” She was less than pleased.
I tried to cheer her up a little bit using a dash of humor, “I guess you could say I’m ‘Iowa Brother Eats!’”
Crickets chirping. Blank stare. Awkward silence. She was clearly not impressed by my humor. I paid for my things, put my head down, and walked ashamedly out the front door…
Truthfully, I am in fact the brother of Iowa Girl Eats. My name is Justin Wise and I write over at JustinWise.net.
When my sister asked me to guest post here on IGE, I was thrilled. Why?
1. Whenever she links to my blog, I get a ton of traffic.
2. She has one of the best online communities that I know of. She takes care of her audience and you all, in turn, take care of her. That’s how blogs are supposed to work. Any chance to get in front of an audience like that and I’ll take it!
Kristin asked me to cover the question of how to start a blog. I’ve started a few different blogs with different purposes, most with a respectable amount of success. That doesn’t make me a pro, but if you’ve been wanting to start a blog yourself, I’d love to walk you through a few easy steps to get you started.
So let’s take a look at how to start a blog.
Beginning a blog is very, very simple. And easy. And, in most cases, free. Starting a blog is not the problem. Maintaining a consistent blog presence is where most people get snagged, but I’ll get into that later. First, the basics.
1. Who Are You Trying to Reach?
Before you write your first post, you need to ask the question, “Who is this blog for?” Knowing your audience will save you countless headaches as you move forward. Kristin’s audience? Foodies. My audience? People with spiritual questions and the like. Knowing this is key. It’s a huge win. If you know who you’re writing for, the rest of the process will go much smoother.
If you’re unclear who you’re writing for, you can narrow it down by asking a few clarifying questions:
Who do I want reading this blog?
If I were to describe the typical reader of this blog, what would they look like? Where would they work? How old are they? Where do the live?
Whose blog do I enjoy reading and why?
If _____ left a comment on my blog, I would jump up and down with joy!
You get the idea.
Once you’ve identified your audience (some people call it a niche), you’ll be able to generate ideas and posts much faster. Think of it as “targeted advertising.” Knowing the direction you want to go before you set out will save you time, heartache and effort. Who are you trying to reach?
2. How are You Going to Maintain It?
As I alluded to earlier, this is where most people fall. Here’s what usually happens with new bloggers:
Blog gets started. Rush.
First post gets published. Rush.
Your mom leaves your first comment. Rush.
You write another post. Rush.
Someone you don’t know comments on your post. RUSH.
Someone retweets your blog post. DOUBLE RUSH.
You write your next post a week later. rush.
You check your stats. No rush.
You get discouraged that no one outside your immediate family is reading. No rush.
You don’t post for a month.
You post about how you never post anymore.
You curse the day you ever started blogging.
Poor defenseless blog is abandoned.
Don’t let this happen to you! The easiest way to keep yourself from being a blogging statistic is by setting up a maintainable process.
Frequency. Post once a week. Every day. Once a quarter. Whatever. Just establish it from the onset and you’ll be better off. That doesn’t mean it can’t change, it just means you’re starting out by setting yourself up for success.
Schedule. Schedule the time that you will blog throughout the week. Is it one hour on Sundays? 30 minutes each day? One whole day? Whatever it is, set a goal and be accountable to it. Get a process down.
Editorial Calendar. You may not want to start out with this right away, but I’ve found setting up an editorial calendar to be most helpful. Schedule out your topics well in advance and you’ll never have to worry about “blogger’s block” ever again. It’s amazing what being able to see a few days down the road will do for your writing clarity.
Bottom line is that you need to have a process for your blog if you hope to maintain it long-term. If you want to abandon your blog after three posts, ignore this advice. If you want to succeed, take it to heart!
3. What Technology are You Going to Use?
Last, and least, you need to pick out the platform you’re going to use. This is the least important because if you’ve done your job with steps 1 & 2, picking a platform should be easy.
Blogger is good for beginners and people who want a no-hassle blogging experience.
Tumblr is good for those who want to post a lot of rich media: pictures, videos and the like.
TypePad is good for a dependable platform without a lot of frills. Just the facts, ma’am!
WordPress, the system my sister and I both use, is good for those who want to start small but move towards a more robust blogging experience. WordPress.com is a good wading pool in case you want to move to deeper waters with a self-hosted blog using WordPress.org (yes, there is a difference).
Your platform, though important, won’t make or break your blog. It really won’t. If you have a good blog with solid content, it won’t matter (ultimately) what system you’re on. Trust me.
Your Thoughts?
So what do you think? Have you started a blog, only to desert it on the sandy mounds of mediocrity? If so, maybe it’s time to pick it up, dust it off and breathe some life back into it.
If you do have a blog, what’s the biggest blogging challenge you face?
These are great tips and a very accurate description of new bloggers! An “editorial calendar” is something I need to do, and something that’s actually been on my mind lately (though not in that awesome new term! haha). I sometimes get bogged down with either too many recipe posts in a row, or too many non-recipe posts in a row, and want to keep it consistent! I want to give my readers a good mix of who/what I’m about.
Anyway, great post!
I have a blog and I agree with everything you said. I find it can be discouraging sometimes when I feel as if no one is reading what I have to say, but then I remind myself that I really started as a journal for myself and my husband and if we still like it, well then that’s all that matters
at first, my blog was just for friends and family, but after reading IowaGirlEats and other healthy living blogs, I decided to join in on the fun! check out mine at http://fitnessfanatic007.blogspot.com
Thanks for reposting this! It’s great to get other perspectives on blogging successfully. I can use all the help I can get!
ok so this has nothing to do with this post, but I saw this and totally thought of you! you must recreate!
http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/01/chocolate-cupcakes-with-flaming.html
oh my goodness – these are amazing – and the drinks it links to – even more so !
omg this is the coolest thing ever!!! Change the cupcake to a vanilla one and you have a PERFECT 4th of July dessert!
I missed your last guest post, I was busy trying to keep the sand out of my eyes.
My biggest challenge is the quality of pictures, as I feel that really makes a blog enticing!
I also wavered about content, food, weight, debt reduction, frugality. I have finally came down and settled on food and frugality.
It has been almost a year now in July and I have kind of flatlined… what can I do to give it a kick in the blog!
Thanks,
dmc
I like this post from your brother.
I know that I need to keep a calendar to better schedule and manage my blog. – iamahoneybee.com
Thanks for this!! Reminds me I need to get back on my proper schedule!
I’m in the audience rut.. I fear I still don’t have one!
I just started a blog, mostly to keep my family updated on what I’m cooking. I find that taking good pictures can be hard but I’m not complaining yet! It’s all just fun right now.
Good guest post!
I think you’re both great.
Nice post, Justin. I’ve been a big fan of your sister’s for a few months! What a fun family.
Good blogging tips.
This is such an informative and timely post…thanks for reaching out to us floundering newbies whose husbands are wanting to retire on our blog earnings (suckers!). My biggest challlenge is writing for a niche. I am having a really hard time narrowing my focus…it almost feels like I can’t!
My biggest blogging challenge was the death of JournalSpace.com. I had a five-year blog there with a lot of writing that was important to me. Since it was blogged, I wasn’t careful about backing it up. Pretty dumb. I’ve since started a new blog, but it just doesn’t feel the same…
I think both you Iowa people are awesome.
These are great tips! You have a great writing style- must run in the Iowa Eats family!
I started a blog because I live far, far away from family and friends. My stats show that it remains mostly for family and friends and that’s okay with me- it’s way easier than trying to call all of them on a weekly basis, and keeps everyone happy. I like having a space to write and post pictures! The blogs I read (with the exception of IGE) are blogs like mine- friends that are keeping everyone up to date with their lives. 
Excellent post, thank you! While I’ve had a ‘family and friends’ type blog for quite awhile, I’ve only recently branched out into ‘niche’ blogging for the past 3 months. It can definitely be a time suck – especially cropping, post-processing and resizing photos – but it’s been such fun meeting new online friends and talking food with so many offline friends too. Thanks again for the great tips.
I love the “rush” when mom leaves your first comment. That totally happened to me. One thing I did when I started blogging was I only told my mom and not a single friend. I wanted to gain an audience outside of my frineds and family. Now that I have achieved that and have been getting a ton of traffic. I have slowly started to tell friends and facebook about my blog. Even became an Official Blogger for the Cleveland Marathon!
Wow, this was a nice, perfectly timed post.
I keep going back and forth between:
SOMEONE FOLLOWED ME THAT I DON’T KNOW!
and
I ONLY GET 300 HITS A MONTH? WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE ME?
But if I’m honest, my biggest problem is consistency in the timing of my posts. 3 in one week, then wait a week, then 9 days out, then two in a week. I really need to get back on schedule. Thanks!
haha SO true; what a great post! I’m glad I landed here today. I’m totally a bad blogger!
Great post! I struggle the most with keeping a blogging schedule. Sometimes I write 5 posts a week, sometimes its only 2. I don’t know if my readers care, but I get frustrated with myself for the lack of consistency.
On a side note: I made your prosciutto wrapped goat cheese chicken breasts the other night, fabulous! I ran out of prosciutto so my husband got bacon instead (poor baby). I think it’s going to be a frequent weeknight meal for us now
Great advice and very timely! My biggest challenge is consistency in posting. Some of this stems from just taking regular time to post and the other is from sometimes feeling like I’m just rehashing something that is probably out there.
Thanks for the refreshing post! My blogging frequency has gone down since first starting in December and I’m trying to be more consistent. My greatest challenge is that I’m an editor by day, so it’s hard to come home after 8 hours of having my eyeballs glued to layout pages and my research and want to write another word. The idea of an editorial calendar really jives since I follow one at work!
PS, @ IGE – first time commenting, really enjoy your posts, your Buffalo Chicken (crockpot) is a staple every month. Keep up the good work!
[...] blog that I followed was Iowa Girl Eats. So one day when she had a guest post from her brother, on How To Start and Maintain a Blog, I was intrigued. It sounded so easy! I could totally start a blog after reading that! Well that [...]
My biggest blogging challenge is identifying my target audience. my blog is about my many interests…so i have a lot going on. I’m not sure if I should narrow down my topics and use a separate blog for each or some. UGH! not sure what to do at this point.