I’ve seen a lot of blogs over the years, that have started and stopped in the first year. If blogging is a novelty to you, then once that interest is done, the blog is done. That’s why I decided to put together a list of questions to ask yourself before starting a blog.
I’m not discouraging anyone from blogging. I think it’s great that anyone would want to share what they know, or their experience. It’s a beautiful thing. However, it’s kind of disappointing to see when a good blog just fades away.
So, take these questions as more of how to plan for your blog.
7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Blog
1 Why do you want to blog?
If your goal is to make money or just tell your story, or share information that you think people will enjoy, that’s great! You’ve got a purpose. However, if you want to blog just because it’s cool, you’ll quickly find out how much work it takes to build a blog, gain traffic, and readers. You’ll end up facing this question and have to really answer it.
2 What do you want to blog about?
Do you have a specific interest or story to share with others. It’s okay to have a personal diary for a blog, or teach people, or sell stuff, or whatever, but you’ve got to be able to have a focus.
If you intend to become serious as a blogger, eventually you will need to have this down, as it will be part of the answer you’ll give to people when they ask what your blog is about.
If you are already blogging, and reading this, and you don’t know, sit down and get that straightened out.
3 Can you commit enough time to blog?
Blogging can be a commitment. Whether you want to be ambitious and blog frequently, or if you don’t want to blog a lot, you should set a schedule a time to sit down and blog.
If typing is not your thing, you can try podcasting sometimes, or get an app for your phone or computer that will translate your voice to text.
You will want to try to blog at least once a week to keep your readers coming back. If you can’t, they’ll lose interest.
4 Can you commit enough time to promote your blog posts?
Once you publish a post, you’re going to need to promote your blog content. I’m not just talking about once, but several times. And depending on your niche, you’re probably going to want to cross post it at some point. Then, you’re going to need to throw in creating an email newsletter for your blog’s subscribers (which you will want to set up an email list early on.)
Promoting takes time to master out a schedule that works right for your readers, especially for maximum reach.
5 Are you willing to research topics for articles that you don’t know everything about them?
You may or may be a real smart cookie, but you don’t know it all. And, depending on your niche, you may run into evolving and always changing information, which means, you need to research your topics. Let’s face it, you’re going to be reading other blogs, news resources, and more, so to aid your research, you’ll want to take URLs and refer to them so you those fact checking readers will know that you’re on top of it all.
6 Can you commit to engaging with readers and other bloggers?
As your blog grows, you will have people who will comment or engage with you on social media. You need to make some effort to acknowledge and respond. Sometimes, time can make it hard to interact with your readers and followers. That’s okay. Just try to make an effort.
7 Can you accept that building a decent blog will take time?
Building a decent blog or even a successful blog takes time. It’s not an overnight thing where you’ll get a ton of followers and make lots of money. It really is a commitment that you will have to designate a little time here and there for.
If you can answer these questions, and all signs point to blogging, then have fun, and good luck!
Hey Nile,
These are the general starter questions for both businesses and even individuals. Yes, a bit overwhelming for first timers, but necessary. Blogging is a great way to express ourself and share our ideas with the world. It can provide rewards many times over. I, personally, have tremendously enjoyed blogging over the years.
Everyone has a different experience with blogging. I’ve seen blogs launch, publish a few posts, and become overnight sensations for various reasons. Sure, it can happen, but it’s not the typical growth pattern. It can take months or even years. And we have to be resilient enough to ride it out. Surely, there are additional ideas that would help new bloggers jump in more successfully. Eventually, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
With best regards,
Amar kumar
These questions are good. But most of the times newbies are tempted to start a blog and after that they don’t find to post regularly and promote the blog.
Hello Nile,
This is really an excellent article. Thanks for your awesome sharing. I have learned a lot of different things from your article. You have done a great job. Every blogger should know something important before starting blogging. Otherwise, they will not go far. Blogging is a lifetime achievement. But you have to sacrifice something to reach the goal of success.
What we should sacrifice in blogging. Every blogger gets their answers if they read your article. Excellent thinking, I really appreciate you.
Great sharing. You have nicely done everything here. All the bloggers especially the newbies should know about these facts you have shared here before starting blogging. Perfect thinking and it will be helpful. Glad to see your blog. I hope I will get more interesting article in your site. Stay with us. Thanks.
Hi,
This is nice post for blogger and what you shared for me is right to see before starting of blogs. this post will really help you to everyone about it.
Regards
Rama Krishna
Hy NILE FLORES
Many Newbies are fail to run a blog so i think newbies read this awesome post then he start a blog because this post help to newbies and also these questions are good and This post will really help you to everyone about it.
Yes you are Right. this post is really good when any person start blog then he asked some question to owm self. Thank you for sharing this post its really helpful
Hello Nile
Great post ! All the 7 questions you asked are all revelant to ask ones self before starting a blog. Because as you know it’s a lot of hard work ,persistence and constant promotion is needed once you hit that publish button. Again thanks for sharing this value-packed post and I wish every person who wants to start a blog could read this post first.
Nice post, Nile! Only if more newbies answer these questions before starting up! They don’t, clearly too much excitement! Thanks for sharing this post! Cheers
we should analyze our skills before we start a new blog. Start a blog on a Niche you know well about.
Hi Nile Flores,
This is really a good questions before starting a blog, cause sometimes lots of bloggers failed with their purpose. blogging is a platform where someone can share ideas, experiences, thoughts as well as to give information. So before starting a blog we must have knowledge on our topics.
Thanks!