When I'm asked how to start a business, I think people expect a simple and easy answer but the truth is that it is more complex than a simple response. First, we need to talk a little bit about you and your business. Who are you? What do you do? Who do you serve? Who is your target market? That just brushes the surface.
Before you can start a business you have to figure out what you're doing. At that time I can honestly admit now that I was completely clueless on all levels when it came to running an online business (successfully). At that time I didn't have a focus, I was just making stuff and hoping to sell it. Don't get me wrong, at the time I loved what I was doing but reflecting back on it all I just didn't have the knowledge yet on what it took to run a business, or a blog.
Once my life took a shift and I found my passion with photography, graphic design, and creative business development the rest fell into place. I figured out who my target market was and I made it my priority to reach them through social media. This meant that I had to get my website up and running and start blogging consistently. So I'm going to break it down for you how I started my blog, step by step. I don't have all the answers but I can tell you that my blog drives more traffic than ever before and clients are finding me on Google now. Alright, let's get to it.
1. FIND YOUR NICHE.
Like I said above, you have to figure out what you want to say. The more focused you can get, the better. I'm going to give you a scenario.
blog A- You're scrolling through the net and find a beautiful graphic that says " RECIPE TO HELP KICKSTART YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOALS". So you click. You're taken to Blog A. The recipe is awesome so you browse around the rest of the blog. That's when things get a little confusing because you find posts about crafting, yoga, some recipes, and personal pictures of her children. You quickly leave because you're confused, and probably a little annoyed because you really wanted more recipes!
So let's replay this situation but with a different scenario.
blog B- You click on that gorgeous graphic about a recipe. You love the recipe and say to yourself, "Awesome! I want to see what other recipes this blog has!" So you start browsing around the blog only to be wowed by all the amazing recipes and tips on how to eat cleaner! You love it! So you stay on the site and keep browsing. You might leave, but you come back. You see that they even have a cookbook... um, sold!
In Blog A you were quickly turned off because there was just too much going on and you weren't able to find what you were looking for. However,
in Blog B you not only love the original post you read, but you find that every single blog post relates to eating clean and promoting healthy living. Instantly you become a fan and eventually you purchase a product from that site, a cookbook.
2.PURCHASE YOUR DOMAIN/WEBSITE
Choose a platform. A custom domain is just one little way to legitimize your business. Even if you aren't ready to start your blog, I strongly urge you to purchase the domain as soon as you know your business name.
3. DESIGN YOUR BLOG
You want your blog to be visually appealing. There are blogs I click into and quickly leave because they just don't interest me, aesthetically. Before you open your business or start blogging, you should have an established direction you want to go with your brand. It might change, I'm a testament to that, but it's important to have something set up before you start blogging if you want to grow and monetize your blog. I strongly urge those of you ready to take the leap to invest in a designer. If you find the right fit for you and your niche, they will help you develop a branding foundation that will allow you to grow and thrive as you continue to blog and gain steam with your business.
4. UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA
I try to think of Pinterest as one big search engine (because it is). You type in keywords and related posts show up in the feed. I strongly urge those I work with to develop strong pinnable graphics to incorporate within each blog post. Tips for a strong pinnable graphic:
- Large and easy-to-read text: keep it easy to read. I've played with the script on my graphics but have ultimately decided to leave it off all together as it just makes the graphic more difficult to read, even if it's super cute. :)
- Vertical Images: Vertical images are more likely to be re-pinned. You want those repins because that means more traffic to your website!
- Keeping it on brand: Colors, fonts, textures... keep it on brand. It's my goal with everything I post that whoever looks at an image before seeing my name will know that it's mine.
- Include your business information: Give your readers somewhere to go. I push traffic to my website because that's where I want people to go.
- Keyword optimization for SEO: Title every single image within your post. Every graphic, every picture, everything! All your images need to be titled with strong keywords.
- Opt in (if applicable): Freebies/opt-ins are an awesome way to drive traffic to your website and to grow your email list (that's an entirely different subject!)
- Evergreen content (won't go out of style): Evergreen content basically means that when someone reads a blog post a year from when you post, it will still be relevant.
5. KEEP BLOGGING AND DON'T GIVE UP!
I'm not perfect and it's a goal of mine to blog a lot more BUT I try to blog as much as possible. Consistency is important with blogging and continuing to put relevant information out there to your readers. If you aren't sure what to talk about on your blog, keep writing, keep drafting! Eventually you will get an idea and that idea will turn into several other ideas. When I have a blog post idea I immediately add it to my notepad in my phone and when I'm back at my computer and have time, I will add that topic as a draft so it's on my list and ready to be written! Don't give up. Blogging is hard, but once you get in your groove and narrow your focus, it's not hard to come up with what to talk about. I try to write when I know I'm the most productive, which is usually first thing in the morning (and sometimes late at night). And as I said in the beginning, I'm at a point with my business that I'm flooded with questions every week. I am unable to respond to everything but I do my best to answer as much as I possibly can. It's my goal with this blog to create a resource for fellow business owners to find inspiration and useful information to help them grow their own business.
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