What made you decide to start up a website or a blog? What is the purpose for it? Have you actually thought about why you wanted to set up the website or blog?
For some people it was sort of a “peer” pressure thing — my friends all have blogs, so I wanted to keep up with all my friends. Or perhaps somebody “talked you into” starting a blog of some kind even though you really weren’t all that interested.
The reason you began your website or blog will determine how much effort you put into maintaining and updating the site or blog. Websites and blogs are a lot of work, so don’t let anybody tell you there isn’t much to it – just a few minutes a day is all you need. WRONG! If you really want your website or blog to grow, you will have to spend several hours a day gathering new information, researching topics, etc, and if you want to put some of your projects online, keep in mind that you’ll need to do a lot of “one step at a time” type of pictures for your tutorial so that other readers can easily follow along and be able to duplicate your project.
Websites and blogs are a lot of fun and you can hear from tons of readers, which makes the work worthwhile. You may spend several hours putting together a single tutorial post, and then when you get comments from people thanking you for the excellent tutorial, it’ll make you want to jump into the next tutorial!
Analyze the real reason you are doing your blog or website. Are you making money from it, or just doing a few little personal posts just for the fun of it? In the next few weeks we’ll be breaking down some of the goals you’ll need if you plan to make a little extra cash from your blogs, or if you’d like to earn a living from blogging and your website. We’ll work right up to the first of the new year so you can get some goals set for the next year. Websites and blogs are the hottest things going – you just need to figure out what you want from yours.
Hi, I am looking forward to your series. I am planning on starting a lifestyle/hobby blog and have been busy developing content. Two tips I have learned recently is to describe the person reading your blog (can’t remember where I saw that, Sorry!) and to create a simple “About Me” intro (http://thinktraffic.net/personal-intros-that-instantly-grab-your-attention).
You are so right about a blog being more work than it at first appears! I really like writing it though and it keeps me sewing.
Hello. You are absolutely right about blogs and a website. I started my first blog (sewing) in October 08 and had to re-do the entire blog from scratch when I made a fatal mistake and lost my original blog. All of my blogs are for fun. I also have a few fitness blogs.
I did start a website in April, but I’m still a beginner (advanced one), so I’m not where I can post tutorials, etc, so I realized a few weeks ago that I did the website prematurily and most likely will shut it down at renewal time, but hold the domain name just in case. 🙂 Thanks.