Basics of Blogging

Where to start and how to progress in blogging?

This is an important thing because you will get many guidelines on blogging but this step-wise approach where you can actually build your base as a blogger. Before thinking of the lucrative amount that you will earn as a well-established blogger, strong basic work is needed.

Let’s see stepwise in this section how to actually find the blogger in you in these five steps. The detailed work-sheets for each step can be found attached to each lecture in this section.

5-steps of Basics of Blogging:

Step 1: Find your Niche: Actually, what you will write about?
Step 2: Name of your Blog: Most important, although can be
modified later.
Step 3: Content Creation: You need to have great content to give to
your clients before you start writing.
Step 4: Curating Content: Learn from where will you actually collect
your content from to satisfy your readers.
Step 5: Publicize: You are not writing for your own, you have to
spread the word to get known, learn how, here.
Bonus: Overcome ‘Writer’s Block’, get in the flow.

Basics of Blogging:

Step 1: Find your Niche

Actually, what you will write about?

A Niche is a focused subject from a broad topic. For example, cooking is a broad topic, but diet food is a niche. Sports is a broad topic but Basketball is a niche. Related to products, interests or services applied to a specialized group of population.

A blog Niche is an overarching topic your Blog focuses on.

Why you need a Blog Niche when you can write about anything? It’s because, you need to target a special group of followers that can relate and come back to your blog, whenever they need to know something about your Niche. That is where your BLOG success depends.

Work the below-given form to outline your Niche:
Step1: List your topics of interests
Step 2: Consider what you know best.
Step 3: Search your short-listed topics of interest for keywords and then search the keywords for their reach. (Google world)
Step 4: Find out the most profitable Niche in the area you decided to write about.
Step 5: Rule out your Niche. Start further research on your Niche and start writing, List and headings under this Niche to blog about

Step 2: Name of your Blog: Must be Irresistible

This is how the world is going to relate to you and come back to you, so this one is a really important thing to do before you move forward to the next lecture:

Tips:

1. Your Name:
   e.g. Ted McGrath, Robin Sharma, Ram Verma
2. It should be easy-to-say and Listen!!
   e.g. Fooducate, Sheconomy, Techopedia
3. Professional depending on your Niche.
   e.g. Technology today, Physioknowledge
4. Alliteration: Same sounds of beginning words.
   e.g. Barefoot Blonde, Cookie Crunch, PayPal
5. Rhyming: Same sounds of ending words.
   Yumm Tumm, Lazy Crazy,Okkie-dokkie
6. Rhythm: Words with the repetitive meter.
   Charismatic Benedict, Hot Pot, Movers & Shakers
7. Words: Use words that increase status and promise results.
   Booster, Expand, Deep
8. Strong Action Verbs or Passionate nouns: those that can elicit vigor or strong urge to read if someone comes across; catchy, attractive, promising, above all IRRESISTIBLE.

Step 3: Content Creation: You need to have great content to give to
your clients before you start writing.
Creating content can be a real pain in the neck if not done correctly:

1. Depending on the keywords we searched in finding the Niche, make a search of articles already showing up in Google search with that keyword.
2. Start with the closest topic that you can write then, just begin…
3. Select a catchy headline (Further elaborated in next section of course)
4. Keep simple Language and build relationship with client.
   Connect with the readers, let them feel, recognize visitor’s challenges as well as pains,
5. Use the right and most related Keywords and key phrases
6. Increase visitor’s attraction by a language to engage the,
7. Stimulate involvement of visitor’s, call for action, like, comment, suggest, etc.
8. Research on your Niche and be authentic in your collocation.

Step 4: Curating Content:

Learn from where will you actually collect your content from to satisfy your readers.
You need to have great content for the success of your blog, to gather this content you have to do “Content Curation” i.e. the process of gathering content from various resources.
Requirement: Have an account in “POCKET” or “Buffer”. You can log in using Gmail in either of these. This is an online folder where you can collect any good interesting and most importantly Any article, blog post, etc related to your Niche.
You just have to copy the URL and paste it in Pocket and then when you want you can simply refer it from Pocket. (Online as well as Android/iOs app available for free)

Steps to Curate Content:

1. Discover: Search and find the content that best corelated to your Niche.
2. Read: Read and collect the articles and key-points related to your Niche; Edit the title, keywords, hashtags, pictures, language and that’s it
3. Share: Share it on your blog, guest blog, e-mail, wherever you want to publicize
   Where to find Content?
   Newsletters, Communities, Social media, blogs, e-mails, anywhere you get a good read. Have a list if minimum 25 resources from where you can get the content you need.
   Content Selection: How do I know this content can be curated and posted in my blog?
4. Title: must be catchy and related to your Niche
5. Stop reading as soon as you feel its not helping. Don’t bother reading completely.
6. If you didn’t like it, it wont interest your readers.
7. Sometimes images say more then words.

Step 5: Publicize:

You are not writing for your own, you have to spread the word to get known, learn how, here.
How to Share your Blog so people read it and know its YOU.

Sharing your content:

1. Share it on social media
2. Share it to your e-mail list
3. Share it on sites with similar Niche
4. Share and comment on other articles on various platforms on your Niche
5. Register on various blogs related to your Niche, let it be a personal or collaborative blog
6. Keep open for comments and recommendations
   Blogging particulars:
   These were the things I struggled the most.
7. How long should be my blog: 500 – 2000 words.
8. Frequency of post: Min. 3 per week; Max.1 per day.
9. Should I include my pics? If related to content
10. Can I include links to other blogs? Yes, with reference.
11. How can I increase traffic to my blog? By including links of your related posts in your blog post.
    Anything else, mail me

BONUS: Overcome ‘Writer’s Block’, get in the flow.

Many times, we have a lot to write but the moment you hold a pen it seems as if all thoughts disappear. This particular feeling is known as Writer’s Block.
So here are tips to overcome your Writer’s Block, use these and start writing your mind and heart out right now, even before we go on blog platform because we must be fluent and expert in writing by then.

Tricks to Overcome Writer’s Block:

1. Write as you talk: If you write in flow as you are talking to your reader you will be able to express the best.
2. Make points: First, make points, leave spaces between points. Now just start writing 3-4 sentences in regards to each point without giving a lot of thought. This pattern of writing breaks the overthinking thereby avoids block.
3. Don’t Edit: Don’t try to edit when you are writing, edit later on. Once written your flow will be on, you will be in a state of writing so you will be able to easily improvise.
   We often get into thinking about what to write, how much to write, when to write, etc. We often spend a lot of time just planning to write so we can never just write. The above method doesn’t give your inner voice and overthinking affect your state of an idea about the topic you want to write so it becomes easy.
   Try it out and start Writing, NOW!!!