1. Before you start blogging, step back and think in big picture terms about the blog you’re about to launch. You’re about to start an exciting journey that requires that you write and publish articles [content] regularly, consistently and over the long haul. The more time you spend preparing and planning, the easier it will be to maintain your focus and commitment long term. At the same time, don’t agonize for years since you are embarking on a journey of constant experimentation and exploration. [Todd suggested starting a blog for business with 30 blog posts ready to go.]
2. Realize that you are starting from scratch with no one but yourself [and maybe your mom] subscribed and reading your blog from day one. You will be building your audience one subscriber at a time.
3. Get yourself a notebook and maybe even a really fun pen. This is where you will capture ideas for your blog. It’s also a low tech and private version of your blog.
4. What is your blog topic? Pick a subject you are passionate about for your blog. Make it broad enough so you don’t run out of things to say, but narrow enough that readers will want to subscribe and come back for more. If you think of your blog as a publication, the subject you decide to write about is what makes your publication unique.
5. Figure out why you want to blog. It is personal? Is it for business? What’s your vision? What about your audience? Who might be interested? What matters to them? How can you offer them value?
6. How often are you willing to publish? A good rule of thumb is twice per week. You’ll see faster results from search engines if you publish frequently, but it’s also easier to burn out.
7. Become familiar with other blogs. What do you like? What don’t you like about them? Learn about the mechanics of blogging. There are different blogging platforms; you’ll need a subscription mechanism; what about photos? How will you get the word out?
8. Be sure to create a list of blogs you admire that are relevant to your blog topic. Can you include them or refer to them in your blog content?
9. Identify buckets or categories of content that you can write about regularly. Plan ahead so you have articles already written that you can publish per a content calendar.
10. What are the keywords that are relevant to your topic? Search engines like keywords!
If you are considering starting a blog for business and looking for ideas, you might enjoy exploring the Social Flooring Index blog reviews, which I do three to four times per month.
What would you add to this list of tips?