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Did you know that you can actually start your very own blog in less than a half hour? I know, crazy right? Well, I’m not kidding. No jokesters over here.

You are going to get the blog low-down and then literally start taking action to creating your blog, today! With the printable worksheets I have embedded throughout this post you can actually get started while reading along.

But before I do, I want to give you a little background leading up to how I came up with this post.

I don’t go into the technical stuff in this post, but I do have a few posts that do. Definitely recommend you check them out because I know they will be helpful for you.

Here are a couple posts that do go into the technical side:

Post #1

Post #2

I can confidently say that those posts will help because I was so clueless when I started blogging. My only goal with publishing those posts was to help bloggers not have to feel so clueless and give an easy layout of the technical side. Make it super easy for you.

It’s ok if you don’t know anything about blogging. You gotta start somewhere right?

I want to make even the more complicated parts of a blog easy to understand, and not only that, but easy to implement for your own blog. That is why it is so important to you.

Bada BING….Bada BOOM

Like I said, we have no idea what the hell we are doing when we start our blogs! That’s ok. You shouldn’t know a lot unless your already in the field. I created this step-by-step to keep things simple amidst the overwhelming feelings you have right now + printable worksheets so you can get started right away.

In the blogging world, it is super easy to get side-tracked. Or at least for me that’s what I have experienced. It’s pretty much the main reason I decided to write this post.

I also knew that one could use that as a reason to quit or make an excuse to never start and I am not about to let that happen!

Come hell or high water

If there is one thing to remember it is to never quit during this building and creating process.

Let’s take a second to think this through really quick. There are millions of successful bloggers out there making $1k to $10k to much, much, more $$ per month.

What did they do to achieve that? 1. Yes, they had a plan. but 2. they didn’t quit! Now, yes I’m sure some may have had it easier than others or this or that but everyone’s journey is going to be different and unique. THAT’S THE POINT.

What you think is easy may be tough for the next person. You and only you have a unique, special, no-one can take from you, story to tell. All you have to do is build the foundation on which you are going to share that story. And repeat after me- not quit until it is done.

Nothing that you are about to do is something you can’t finish, it is literally a combo of daily focus, consistency and discipline.

Keep moving forward, no matter what

Once we have the basics of your blog down, then we can go back and pretty it up aka add affiliate links, forms, all the strategic blog stuff that you will need to learn later down the line.

How to Make Money Blogging is a fabulous how-to monetize your blog article. But, remember for now we are getting the foundation created! All that fun stuff will come in due time. Don’t be like me and waste a ton jumping ahead, only having to re-do it all. Remember no squirrel chasing allowed, laser focus time. Let’s get to the juicy stuff.

Steps to Start Your Own Blog

1. Choose Your Web Hosting Platform and Blog Platform

Your blog platform is the service you use to publish your content. I am using WordPress. I love it. Super easy to use. When it comes to blog theme, you’ll find that there are lots of options. Having many options is a good thing.

Be in the Right Hosting Plan

Your web hosting platform is where the website is stored. The hosting platform I decided to go with is Bluehost. Not only is it the best web hosting, but there is a special intro offer.

Starting at just $3.95 per month (normally $7.99) with a 30-day money back guarantee. You also receive:

• FREE Domain Name for the 1st Year
• FREE SSL Certificate Included
• 1-Click WordPress Install
• 24/7 Support

Once you decide on your web hosting and blog platform, next up is domain name.

2. Choose Your Domain Name

What’s nice about going with Bluehost is that you get a free domain name included for the 1st year. Step 1 and 2 go hand in hand for this reason. Makes sense to choose a hosting platform that offers the benefits that Bluehost does. So much easier to have it bundled, especially getting started. You don’t have three separate platforms to worry about. Plus, it is so affordable!

When choosing your domain name, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you plan to write about?
• What are your passions?
• What are your goals?
• Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

The domain name should be something you take some time to think through. You want to make sure it aligns with the questions above.

Here are a few tips to consider:

• The name should be easy to remember and easy to spell. You don’t want any weird or whacky spellings. People won’t remember and it’ll affect your website traffic.
• Try to stick with .com because those are the most common and people are more familiar with them, which means your reader is more likely to stay on your website. That’s what you want!
• Keep it short or at least shorter. You don’t want www.howtobethebestbloggerintheuniverseandloveyourlife.com. That’s just too much.
• Check out other blogs and what they are doing. Not only is it smart to find out what other successful bloggers are doing and do it for your own blog but what are the blog names? Why did they name their blog what they did? Get ideas by researching the bloggers you look up to.

3. Choose Your Niche & Write Down Why?

You probably already have an idea of what topic you plan to write about.

Is the topic you choose something you can write indefinitely about? Is the topic something you can see yourself becoming an SME (subject matter expert) on?

Think about it, you want to love what you are blogging about b/c otherwise you could get really bored of the topic.

A great best practice is to come up with a Master Blog Post Ideas List. That way you can never run out of ideas. I actually just finished this one, Blog Post Ideas Galore- never run out of blog post ideas! Check it out for some ideas.

Next, make sure you write down your why. There are two parts to this. First, write down your why, as in your reason for starting a blog and second, write down why you chose the blog topic that you did.

When the going gets tough (and it will) you be able to refer back to your why and it’ll help you get on track and remember why not to quit.

Finally, organize all your ideas, your Why Statements into a cool Boss Babe Blog Planner. I have created one bc I needed to not only get my thoughts down on paper but I needed them to be organized. I’m telling you this will come into play and be super handy.

4. Who is Your Audience?

This step is super important bc it helps make sure your content is king. Which means that it is speaking to the right group of people. Remember in order to offer value and be considered to have great content, you have to address the following:

• What problem are you solving for your audience?
• What is the goal of your blog post?
• Does it create value for the reader and keep them engaged?
• Is the content backed up with credible sources?

Another helpful resource is the Blog Post Checklist: Before & After You Publish. This along with the Boss Blogger Confident Content Checklist, you be on your way to creating amazing articles. They don’t have to be perfect. Just start writing and get them going, you can always go back and update, add links, delete, etc.

I actually wrote a whole post on content here because it is crucial.

Content is king and if you can truly understand your audience, their problem, what they want, how to bring value, solve a problem for them and then create a call to action that they follow through with, you’ll master blogging in no time.

The last piece of this step is to create your avatar. Again, how well do you understand your reader? You have to really put yourself in their shoes for a minute so you can see, hear and read from their perspective.

Take out a piece of paper and let’s describe your avatar. For this exercise, make a list of questions to help you really get into it:

• What are my avatars likes and dislikes?
• What kind of problems or issues am I having to want to read or research your content?
• What am I looking to accomplish?
• What is most important to me?
• Why would I come back to your blog?

I’m sure you were already thinking, but yes I have an Avatar Worksheet printable with the questions above already listed for you. <<Click Here to Download the Avatar Worksheet>>

Once you’ve taken some time to really understand your avatars point of view, start a new blog post and see how much easier it is when you have this new perspective.

Save your avatar to refer to when you are writing your posts. It will definitely help you to stay in align with your target audience.

Take your Blog Posts to the next level and download the <<Boss Babe Blog Post Outline Template>> this takes organizing your blog posts ideas to the next level. Take a peek and you’ll see what I mean.

5. What Do You Want to Accomplish? What are Your Goals?

This might just be my favorite step! Let’s do some reflection. If you downloaded the outline template from above all the questions below are list there.

What exactly are you looking to accomplish with your blog? Is this something you want to do as a hobby; in your free time, just because? Maybe to relieve stress? Do you write to because you thoroughly enjoy it? Or is this something that is passion of yours? Why is it a passion? Did you always have a dream to start your own blog? How do you want to help others through your writing and putting out amazing content?

Here we go again, start getting your thoughts written down on paper.

If you hadn’t thought about your blog as a business opportunity, what do you think about that? Do you plan to monetize your blog? If yes, how? Affiliate marketing or brand sponsorships? What about the content are you going to create your own or just promote someone else’s? How are you going to grow your blog? Which social media platform?

There are many areas to think about. Luckily, I have your back! I have created an amazing worksheet to help you write down all your blogging goals down in one place!

The Boss Blogger Goals by Gratitude Worksheet has just the right format for your blog goal setting. Download and print it so you can start setting goals and getting all your thoughts, ideas, goals, deadlines, everything in one spot.

To download the whole Boss Babe Bloggers E-Book, click here. It includes all the worksheets I’ve reviewed thus far in one easy to download, print and save format.

6. Choose Your Blog Theme & Emailing Marketing Software

Alrighty, we are at the final stretch! The last two steps of how to start your own blog. This might be the most fun step. It is on the more creative side when you get to start designing. A best practice is to choose a couple design programs and play around with them. Decide which one or ones work best for you and your blog.

Sometimes housed within the Designing Softwares you can view and test different themes for your website/blog.

Within WordPress there are a ton of themes for me to use, so check out the ones available on the blog platform you chose. You definitely want to see how it will/could look.

Lastly, we will talk about how to generate leads with the email marketing software you choose to work with.

Like I mentioned, I am using the xxxxx Blog Theme that is available within WordPress.

When it comes to the Design Programs there are two that I will recommend. I personally use them both.

• Canva Pro, here you have access to millions of stock photos, design templates, logos, branding ideas, you name it! There is a free version, but I decided to upgrade to Canva Pro for $12.95. Try out the free version here or if you want to go straight for the good stuff, click here. Canva Pro is amazing.
• The other option is Creative Market. This is super awesome and powerful and I’ll be honest I wish I had dug into this website sooner bc there are some pretty fabulous Blog Bundles for anywhere under $10 to over $50 depending on your budget and of course yes, there are free templates!

If you want to start creating your own content, definitely check out Creative Market bc the Blog Bundles are amazing. The wording is done for you so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel! Click here so you can see what I mean.

It’s not uncommon to use both design programs! Both offer some great features so be sure to look into both.

Make sure you have a Blog Theme picked out and check out a couple Design Programs you like!

Now which Email Marketing Software? How are you going to generate leads and grow your email list? Again, I have a couple recommendations here: ConvertKit and MailChimp.

ConvertKit 101:

MailChimp 101:

This is the missing link to really bring your whole together bc now you can start generating traffic to your blog with the amazing opt-freebies you created with your design program, then once you capture that email, have an automated email sequence ready to speak to that particular visitor (avatar)

The best part is once you set it up, it is on auto pilot and the email sequence does all the work for you!

What a beautiful world

Now last but certainly not least, let’s make sure that you have all we just reviewed organized. You and I both know, without blog organization, you could have all this amazing content but if it’s not being delivered correctly, effectively,timely, you name it, none of this will matter. We don’t want that.

Blog organization is key to buttoning up your blog and getting it ready to launch!

7. Blog Organization – This Part is KEY!

What is you had a layout or plan already created for you that basically all your had to do was one day your content, your thoughts and ideas? Well, drum roll please! You do!

The Boss Babe Blogger Strategy E-Book. At this point you are already familiar with what is included bc I have went thru each piece individually. This literally guides you thru each of the steps I just went through so you have one spot to keep all your hard work stored. We have two options here! You can download the E-Book and print out each page or (coming soon) order a pretty copy. Depends on your preference. They are both beautiful. Here is more of what you get with your E-Book:

• Blog Post Ideas Galore + Worksheet
• Boss Babe Blog Planner
• Boss Blogger Avatar Worksheet
• The Ultimate Blog Post Checklist
• Blog Post Checklist: Before & After You Publish
• Boss Blogger Confident Content Checklist
• Boss Babe Blog Post Outline Template
• Boss Blogger Goals by Gratitude Worksheet
• Boss Blogger Daily Task List
• Boss Babe Monthly Task List
• Boss Babe Blogger: 25 Steps to Being Your Best Self, Increasing Your Confidence While Starting Your Own Blog

What are you waiting for?

Decide to start now, your life is happening right in front of you!

I want to hear from my readers. What do you do to hold yourself accountable and be the best version of yourself? Why do you want to start a blog?

Please comment below!

Sharing is caring, please share on your favorite social media.

Ash💋