It’s Never Too Late to…Start a Blog

I realise I’m blogging about blogging, but wanted to share my journey with you, for it has been a long one, with plenty of twists and turns in the road.

Starting, and more importantly, sustaining and building a successful blog has been a goal of mine ever since I became aware of the concept of blogging over a decade ago. The key word here being sustaining. Sure, I’ve half-heartedly started many blogs, but then failed to blog beyond the first few posts. And as for building an audience, I was too shy and vulnerable, didn’t share my blogs openly, found no one read them and I soon lost motivation and stopped posting.

You may be very familiar with the concept of blogs, and you may even have or previously had your own blog. But for those who are unclear, a blog is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.

The term blog, first appeared in the 1990s, although the term blogging evolved a little later. Blogs started life as an online diary where people would keep a running account of their personal lives, often referring to themselves as diarists, journalists or journalers. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s blogs gained popularity and while circa 2014, some have declared the blog is dead as other forms of social media evolved and the speed of responses and reactions online increased, it is estimated, by Wikipedia, that in 2019 over 500 million blogs and blog site exist and new blogs are launched daily.

Over the years I’ve attempted to start many blogs. I can’t remember the name of my first ever attempt, but I know I certainly started a blog called Go Diva, a play on the idea of female divas and Lady Godiva…but it soon fizzled out. I’ve aspired to publish a regular blog with each of my business ventures as a way of sharing knowledge and value as well as building engagement, but they have been very hit and miss. Well mainly miss!

But no matter how inconsistent I’ve been, my ambition has remained. I wanted to legitimately call myself a writer and believed to do this, I needed published demonstrable content. The fact I write bids and tenders for a living didn’t seem to apply! I’d decided on a definition of a writer of my own making, and it took me a while to realise I could gift myself that heady title without having to wait for the recognition and validation from A N Other.

During the pandemic a friend started a writing group based on the positive impact writing was having on her mental health during lockdown. The group aimed to encourage everyone to write a blog each month based on a shared theme. As a wannabe blogger I joined the group and after much lurking finally started to publish and share some of my writing with the group. Unsurprisingly, I procrastinated, dreading the negative comments and ridicule I may receive (thank you childhood trauma), but when I finally plucked up the courage to press publish and share the link to my ponderings, I was delighted to receive warm positive and encouraging comments.

And so, with the launch of my coaching practice and the publication of my new website I have launched this Blog series, aptly named It’s Never Too Late, to capture my adventures finally achieving all the things I have wanted to do, but allowed fear, lack of confidence and limiting beliefs to get in my way of achieving.

For those of you feeling inspired to start a blog, here is ten top tips along with some resources you may find useful:

Top Ten Blogging Tips:

1. Have a clear focus/theme for your blog series that appeals to your target audience

2. Write to one reader. Don’t try and be everything to everyone. I recently attended a talk by a copywriter who said this was the single most important thing she had learned over the years when producing a piece of writing. Write to one person. That way your message is more targeted and more personable and will therefore resonate with individuals in a way an article aimed at the masses could only hope to achieve.

3. Draft an outline and then fill in the gaps. If you struggle to keep your ideas  and message ordered and logical by starting at the beginning and working through to the end, start with a skeleton outline and then go back and fill in the gaps, adjusting the order etc as required.

4. Once you’ve started a blog, finish a blog. I can’t tell you how many half conceived and half written blog posts are languishing on my computer or phone notes or notebooks. If you don’t finish writing them in one go, the chances of you going back to finish them or remember exactly what you were trying to get across and recapture that initial energy and enthusiasm will be difficult

5. Let go of perfectionism – done is good enough. Get your blog down, no matter how messy and unpolished. Once you’ve got to the end, you can go back and refine

6. Use bullet points and pictures to make your blog easier and more attractive to read

Top FREE Blogging Sites

Here are the best free blogging sites you can use to start your own blog today:

• Wix (www.wix.com)

• WordPress (www.wordpress.org)

• LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

• Weebly (www.weebly.com)

• Medium (www.medium.com)

• Ghost (www.ghost.org)

• Blogger (www.blogger.com)

• Tumblr (www.tumblr.com)

Happy Blogging!!