5 Steps to Take When Starting a Blog for your Small Business
So…you want to start a blog for your business but don’t know where to start. This is a common issue for a lot of small business owners ~ if this is you, I promise you’re not alone!. Maybe you’ve played around with the idea of starting a blog and thought to yourself, well I don’t have enough writing experience to do that. Or maybe, you really feel passionate about starting a blog but just don’t know how to get it off the ground and bring it to life. And just MAYBE, you don’t think your business would even benefit from a blog so you think, why waste my precious time and energy there when there’s a million + 1 things to do as a business owner?
There could be a hundred other scenarios going through your mind, but I’m here to put all those negative thought bubbles to rest. Below I’ll show you 5 steps you can take right now, no matter your experience level, to start that blog and grow your audience.
Pick a niche
First step you’re going to take is selecting your niche. Take time to write down some things you’re really passionate about ~ imagine if I were to ask you to talk about something for 30 minutes straight. What topic would you choose? What topic do you really love talking about and sharing your knowledge on? That answer is going to be your niche.
Now if you’ve already established your small business, you most likely already have your niche ~ for example: If you sell skin care products, then your niche would be beauty and skin care.
Select a host site
There are many host site options out there - they all are going to give you similar writing capabilities but make sure you do your research on the design aspect. Some host sites will have tons of pre-set design templates for you to choose from. You can choose your template and make minor changes, like fonts, colors, etc. to match your brand. But some will give you a little more creative freedom. This is perfect for the business owner who enjoys web design and wants the options to create their own brand design.
Name your blog and find an available domain name
Based on your niche and who your ideal audience is, decide on a name that would speak to them and one that you love. Take some time here ~ make a list of any and all ideas that come to mind. Mull it over and choose the name that feels right to you. Pro tip: Once you choose a name and start growing your audience, it’ll be more difficult to change your blog name in the future. Then when you have your blog name, search available domains you can use for your blog. Most times, you can purchase the domain through your host site, but there are many 3rd party companies you can buy your domain name through (Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc).
Set up and design your blog
Next you’re going to want to get started on the design of your blog. As you’re working through a template or designing your blog on your own, make sure to look at it from the viewer’s perspective. Figure out the fonts and colors that identify your brand. On your home page, be sure to showcase how your blog can help your ideal audience so there’s no questions asked about what you do and how you can help.
Brainstorm topics
Now before you jump into writing, I find it helpful to create a list of blog topics that you can keep adding to as the ideas come to the forefront of your mind. This is SO helpful when you may be on a time crunch to get a new blog post out, but don’t have time to brainstorm the perfect topic!
Once you have all the steps above taken care of, there’s only one thing left to do, WRITE :) If you’re feeling apprehensive about starting to write, a favorite mantra I like to tell myself is STOP DOUBTING, START WRITING! And it’s SO true. You don’t need a journalism degree, or 5+ years of writing experience to build a successful blog ~ you’ll learn as you go and if you’re passionate about your niche, the words will come naturally - so just have a little faith in yourself <3
Wandering with you,
Emily