How To Start A Blog | The 5 Necessities New Bloggers Need for Blogging Success (Lesson 2)

What next?

The 5 questions have been answered in the first step on how to start a blog what do I do next?

This must be the first question on your mind after reading Lesson 1 in this series - The 5 Questions Every Beginner Blogger Needs To Ask 

The next step is familiarizing yourself with the necessities for new bloggers. A lot of times this is skipped in the haste to 'just start'. When we finally come round to it, there is sometimes a disconnect that leads us to need to start something entirely new. 

Well what's next is 

• A new mindset (a bonus)

• A name

• A domain

• A logo

• Brand colours

• Site design/layout

Does this sound strange? I've heard some people say they need a DSLR camera, they need to have a truckload of products, a beautiful room (I've been in that position before), they need to know the owners of makeup brands so they can get products (for beauty bloggers) and some fun stuff like that.

I mean, you'll get there eventually but those are not the things you need to START.

The 5 Necessities New Bloggers Need

- You need a name

What are people going to call your blog? 

You need a name that is a reflection of you and what your blog stands for. For some, the blog name is entirely about the blog or a nickname from when they were little. 

Unless your blog really is just a hobby and you are not planning on making a business out of it, you should brainstorm a name that will still be relevant to you, your blog and your brand as a whole in 5 - 10 years from now. 

It needs to be sustainable otherwise your blog will grow and 5 years later when you've achieved blogging success, you'll be looking for another name or be too ashamed of the name you have.

- You need a domain

Once you decide on a name, the very next thing you need to check out is your domain - to be sure the name you have picked is available and then purchase it. Godaddy & DomainKing are great domain purchase platforms for beginners either doing it yourself or with some assistance. 

For your blog business to stand the test of time, it needs to have a domain of it's own regardless of whether it is self-hosted like on Wordpress or free, like on blogspot.

Having a domain name gives your site credibility and makes it look more professional. Also, a domain name is most times easier to remember and will make people take you seriously.

So you need a custom domain.

- You need a logo

As a new blogger, part of your blog identity is a logo. It helps you stand out, grab the attention of people and is a key part of your brand. 

A good logo doesn't have to be complex or complicated. It should be a visual representation of your style and can be as simple as just a text or an icon. 

While you may want to hire a designer to create the logo, you can create an equally iconic and striking logo using Canva. The Bloggers 'n Brands logo was created with Canva.

- You need brand colours

This is a personal favourite of mine actually. 

Being in the branding/marketing industry, I've come to appreciate this a lot. Having brand colours defines your brand aesthetic. 

Check out the biggest global brands and you'll see that they have a colour that is primarily associated with them. Even in football, this is true i.e. Chelsea FC (The Blues), Arsenal FC (Red Devils).

Brand colours will help to guide your branding in everywhere and ensure consistency in everything you do for your brand - business cards, social profiles, blog design and even sometimes permeates the brand offline too.

- You need a site design/layout

The key is to do something that fits the aesthetic of the blog you want to have. Should it be a simple design, colourful, fresh, whimsical. The key is to unique and ensure the design & layout matches the type of brand you want to create and is also user friendly so people don't come on  your blog, read one article and are not happy to stick around. 

So those are the 6 things you actually need to start your own blog. It's a step by step process so don't rush it. 

How To Start A Blog | The 5 Questions Every Beginner Blogger Needs To Ask (Lesson 1)

Starting a blog begins with a decision but after that decision comes a whole series of actions that require patience, guidance and strategy. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is actually the easiest phase of the whole journey but if not passed right, can ultimately become the hardest part of it all because it will keep drawing you back and keeping you behind. 

You need to ask yourself the following questions: 

• Why do I want to start a blog 

• What will it be about 

• What will be the purpose

• Who will it cater to 

• How will it function 

These are literally the building blocks to your blogging success so take time out, have a notepad and pen, go to a place to think about it and then write out the answers. 

The 5 Questions Beginner Bloggers Need To Ask & Answer

1. Why do I want to start a blog 

I'm going to be using myself as an example most of the time.  

So when I started my blog, I knew I wanted to teach regular women how to apply makeup and I knew the type of makeup I had in mind. At that time I didn't know anything about makeup and to teach people about it, I had to know about it myself so I started watching YouTube videos. You'll be surprised to know that when I learned more about makeup I knew my mission had to change and that's when the purpose of my blog changed again. 

 

If I had taken time out to properly think about the purpose of my blog then I would have known that my first purpose was a boatload of crap. Hazardous, full of potholes and bound to fail because 

1. I didn’t know anything about makeup 
2. I'd have known better than to promote cheap makeup that literally has no source 
3. I'd have been promoting a mix of affordable Nigerian brands and other foreign drugstore brands which were available in the market but no one knew about. 

= I'd have moved several steps at a time instead of one step at a time. Image having these 3 steps squashed together into a 6 months period as opposed to having to use about 3 years to learn them all. 

The good thing is that I always wanted to teach so even when I finally came round to the true reason, it wasn't too hard to do a turnaround.

 

The same goes for you - ask yourself the truth about why you want to start a blog. Is it for fame? Free event invites? Free products? Exactly what?

2. What will it be about 

For me, it was makeup. So what? The whole world is talking about makeup. 

But what about me? What EXACTLY will the blog be about? Will it be general topics like Makeup reviews, looks, stores, High-end products, drugstore products, tips? And remember, a makeup blog is different from a beauty blog.  

You have to decide which one you are.  

Imagine you want to write about vintage clothes, your blog could focus on vintage clothes for professionals which can then branch to casual vintage clothes for the off-work period. If you want to write about interior design, why not focus on kitchen interior for large families and you can still do recipes or interior design for the pantry or even the dining room or the rest of the house. You have to pick a niche and won't box you in but still give you room to wiggle. It might help to consider something you love + a skill you have = your niche. 

You just have to know what your site will be about. Write it down and make it plain. 

I started off as a makeup blogger but when I became a makeup artist and began working on shoots, people would ask me about skin and fashion. I always replied with "makeup guys, makeup", but somehow people expected it so I went into other aspects of beauty and the my personal fashion style. I knew how I wanted to approach fashion and though I had a few faulty starts, I've been able to do it the way I want and I'm happy with it so far but my mainstay remains beauty. 

3. What will be the blog's purpose?

I know you've already established what your blog will be about but to what end? What purpose will it serve? Will it just be there to flow with any whims that come upon you at any time? NO, that won't work you know.

You have to define the exact purpose. For me, the initial purpose of my beauty blog was to teach, when the direction changed, the purpose became to be a source of information, then it finally evolved to become a source of inspiration, information and education more than anything else. 

So you have to find the purpose of your blog - teach like Neil Patel or Adam Enfroy, entertain like Buzzfeed, just be a go-to source of information like Beauty in Lagos for Lagos beauty businesses, or inspire.

 4. Who will your blog cater to?

Who will you be writing for? Teenagers, the Working class, the general public, mums, mums with teenage kids, or mature mums. They are called your target audience. 

You have to properly define your audience. Your audience might be fellow bloggers or some kind of professionals like amateur makeup artists or professional makeup artists whose Clients are regular women and they want to know what products these women like to buy so they can sell them too or working single men & women who want to learn quick 5-minute meals they can whip up in a sec.

One thing I've learned is that your direct primary audience who are your main focus are people who are just like you. 

In my case, these will be females between the ages of 25 and 35, they either have jobs or work for themselves, they always like to look good but at the same time don't mind having off days, they want to be themselves while going with the trend, they love to hang out on social media, they like to meet others who are just like them, they are not afraid to ask questions but sometimes prefer to find out the answers for themselves. That's just a snippet of who my direct primary target is. 

There is also a secondary audience who are fallouts of the primary and you also have to consider them sometimes because they may be entering the sphere of your primary audience or they may just be growing out of it.

5. How will it function

Do you have a demanding 9-5 that leaves you almost no time for yourself on weekdays? Or maybe you work remotely and can juggle one and off all day every day. Better still, you work better with a tight schedule so weekdays are for work and you prefer to devote the weekends to all your personal projects. 

You get my drift though. How is your blog going to function? Will you work on it at night only or on weekends? Will you create a schedule for posting or you'll be random? Will you get other people to become active parts of it or will you work on it alone? These are important questions you need to answer.

 

Recap

The 4 questions that need clear cut, precise answers before starting your blog are 

1. Why do I want to start a blog - just an offhand decision or a genuine passion. Will it serve a worthy purpose?
2. What will it be about - is it a topic I'm knowledgeable about or one I'm passionate about? Can I tear my clothes in support of it in an argument? (ok, that's extreme but to what length will you go for it?)
3. Who will my blog cater to - my friends, my family, my colleagues, my little sister and her friends?
4. How will it function - maybe I'll just hire someone to write about this topic cos I don't have the time for it but I'd like to have this little space on the internet anyways.

How To Blog in 2022. A 7-Part Series.

Early this year, I read a lot of articles and posts on 'How To Blog in 2021'. I always knew the importance of having a blog (or a website) and I've talked about it in a previous post here.

Knowing how to blog is an important skill that brands and individuals will need for the future. It is an easier way to build a community of loyal followers than social media. Also more stable and reliable too. 

Just in case you didn't know, Blogging is staging a major comeback in 2022. Are you prepared?

That's one of the main reasons why I created this 7 part blogging series - to teach newbie bloggers the fundamentals of blogging.

This series has been in the works for a couple of years now and is in 2 parts - The Beginner Blogger Series & The Advanced Blogger series. This 7-part series is the 'Beginner Series' and will provide the foundations of starting a blog in 2022

'How To Blog in 2022'

Here are the 7 parts of learning how to blog for a beginner

1. The 5 Important Questions To Ask Before Starting A Blog
2. The 6 Simple Elements You Need
3. The Best Blog Hosting Platforms (Free & Paid)
4. Unlocking Social Media
5. Looking Your Blog Best
6. You Need Content
7. Spread The Word In 3 Ways

Are you excited? Don't miss a single post in the series, click here