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How to Start a Blog and Write Like the Pros

September 5, 2014 by: Jennifer Gretson 2

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Starting a blog is not as difficult as you may think. If you have a love for something, anything, you can write about it and share it with the world. However, like anything of importance, you’ll have to be committed to making it a success.

Step #1

The first step, and perhaps the most important, is choosing a passion that you can share with the world. It makes it much easier to write blogs and articles about the things you’re passionate about. It makes writing even more fun if you’ve been interested in a particular field for a long time. Over the years, you may have gathered enough information to be considered an expert. For instance, you may be an expert on the topic of customer service. Decide on a name! Your blog’s name will set you apart and make it easier for web surfers to find you when they need your product or service.

Step #2

Choose a blogging platform. It can be free or self-hosted. WordPress is one of the most popular (self-hosted) blogging platforms on the planet. It’s used by millions of websites and blogs and has a number of advantages. You can choose form a near-endless list of free themes. It’s easy to write blogs and upload images. You can choose to let people comment on your blogs.

Free blogging platforms, like Blogger.com or Tumblr.com are not really free. They don’t allow you to acquire your own domain either. By placing your blog in a sub-domain, you may be preventing yourself from earning money. You’re given a sub-domain that you don’t have control over. The website themes don’t allow for plugins. Plugins allow you to customize your blog. Customizing your blog is what differentiates you from everyone else. Essentially, you’ll end up writing for free even if your blog becomes immensely popular.

Step #3

Strive to be unique. Everyone writes differently so it stands to reason you’ll have a different way of presenting yourself to readers. Are you funny and humorous? Are you serious and enjoy sharing the hard facts? Whatever your style, interested people will find you as long as you have a passion for your topic. How you write, and what you write about is what keeps people coming back for more. There are million, perhaps billions of blogs on the Internet. So it’s impossible for you to have a unique topic. It’s how you present your chosen topic that counts.

Step #4

Scope the competition. No topic is unique, but scoping your competition can give you a good idea of how others approach the topics you want to write about. Take a look at what other bloggers are doing and give your topic a fresh approach. People know they’re reading about the same topic. You’ll gain their attention by presenting it in a different way.

Become an expert at finding blog topics. By now, you’re probably quite familiar with social media. After publishing content on your blog, you can easily promote it through your social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Ask for your audience’s opinion. You might be surprised at how people respond.