How to write a blog

I am pretty sure that you will have all seen the questions feature on Instagram stories, it is thanks to someone asking is it easy to write a blog that I am writing this blog.

And that someone was BBC Radio Newcastle Presenter Alfie Joey check out his Instagram profile here   he wanted to know how easy it was, so I said that I would write a guide.

I was going to do a how to for a culture blog but you may not want to write about culture, you may have another passion that you want to write about.

Write what you know

And that is the first thing, you have to think about what you want to write about maybe its art, lifestyle, beauty, careers- maybe all of them? Make sure it is something that you are passionate about, it is no good writing something that you are not interested in. Think about what makes you tick and could you write about it confidently?

A lot of guides I read say you need to have an aim with your blog, so what do you want out of this? Is it for a business starter or to showcase your skills to add to a portfolio or will it help you build up your social media following?

What is your aim?

If I am honest, I did not have a full out aim- I just wanted to write about Culture and Journalism and help people who were in the same boat as me.  After a year or so from creating this blog, I would say that now I still want to help people but I want it to become a business. I guess what I am trying to say is, don’t worry about the aim- it will come to you.

Timing is key

How much time do you have ? Blogging is hard work don’t get me wrong, it takes up a lot of time so work out your spare time, how much you have to create content and when you can post that content. I only work part time so I have lots of time on my hands to post, now I do do other things so that does not mean I can post everyday. No, I tend to schedule my posts to be posted either every Wednesday or Wednesday and Saturday depending.

Getting to all the tech bits

Lets get down to all the nitty gritty- the outsources that you need to start a blog.

I use WordPress- the free .com version where you can choose a design for your site. WordPress is really basic and very user friendly, if you are a new to blogging then I would recommend using it.

What’s in a name?

In terms of creating a name, you want something personal and catchy that says you. Maybe not too specific in your blog encase you want to change topic, I like Gemma’s Journey as it’s like my personal journey and if I do change topic I can. Plus it is catchy and people recognize it.

One more picture

My blog isn’t very image focused- maybe it needs to be but I try to take my own when I can or I use Creative Commons for free images. What I am trying to say is don’t worry about needing a very expensive camera.

And that is the basics, from here you can start blogging. If you have any other questions just give me a shout.