So You’d Like to Start A Blog
I know I have quite a few readers who don’t have their own blog. I’ve also had a number of online friends ask for my help with setting up a new blog. So over the next few weeks I’m planning to write a few very basic posts to help people through the process.
The first question I want you to ask yourself is WHY you want to start blogging. Do you need a reason? No, wanting to start a blog IS a valid reason.
BUT….. you knew there’d be a big BUT in there didn’t you? 
If you really understand WHY you want to blog, it’ll make it a little easier (hopefully) to make some decisions about how you’re going to go about blogging.
I guess another way of framing this question is to ask “what do I want to get out of blogging?”
There’s no right or wrong answer here - each one of us is slightly different when it comes to why we blog and what we want to get out of it.
Some of the possible reasons for blogging are:
- For yourself - to keep a record of what you’re doing or have a place to “think outloud
- For your family and friends - to keep them up to date with what you’re up to and post photo’s etc.
- To provide people with information on an area you know a lot (or a bit) about. Eg. gardening, cooking, technology…….
- To connect with others who have similar interests, goals, ideals etc
- Because Lightening does it and anything she does must be a cool thing to do! (LOL - just threw that one in to see if you’re awake)
- To build a way of earning money
These are just a few of the myriad of answers you may give to this question.
So, before you jump in boots and all, take a few moments and consider the purpose behind your desire to blog.
Here are a few more questions for you to consider while you’re at it:
- Am I interested in people reading my blog?
- Do I want people to comment?
- Do I want to be able to accept paid advertising?
- How worried am I about spam?
- Do I require this to be a free hobby or am I interested in spending some money on it to make it more enjoyable?
- How much technical “know how” do I have and am I interested in learning more?
If all of these questions feel overwhelming, don’t panic. That may just mean that you’d like to have the simplest and easiest to use blog available and the ins and outs of what it can and can’t do don’t matter.
In my next post I’m going to go through some of the options that are available for setting up a blog and why the answers to some of the above questions may affect which blogging platform you choose to use.
If you’re interested in reading this series on Blogging for Beginners, you might find it helpful to enter your email address up the top there where it says “subscribe via email”. That way you won’t miss a post. Down the track I’ll write a post on reading via a feedreader. But if that term is unfamiliar to you, subscribing via email is an easy way for you to keep track for now.
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
It isn’t for everybody and it’s nice that you’re happy doing what you’re doing. I’m certainly happy that you read and comment on my blogs. 
Loading ...
I enjoy reading and commenting on other’s blogs, but have no desire whatsoever to start one of my own. quite a few people have asked why and there are several reasons, the most important of which is I just don’t wanna.