How to Start a Blog

The 10 most common mistakes when starting a blog 1. Not spending enough time planning your project In general, when someone wants to start a blog they choose the first idea that comes to their mind, buy a domain and hosting, hire an online essay writer, and start publishing and sharing their articles on Facebook. As starting a blog is very easy, they believe that the rest will be too. This strategy does not usually give very good results. Just as you would never think of opening a clothing store without first studying where to locate it, deciding on the style of the clothes you are going to sell and doing the math to see if the business is profitable, you should also not create a blog without first stopping to define the details of your project and study its viability. Yes, I know it's more fun to choose a template and set up plugins, but investing some time in planning what you're going to do will help you spot serious problems before they occur and ultimately save you hundreds of hours. Watch out! Be careful not to fall into the opposite extreme: spending too much time thinking and not enough time doing. It is impossible to plan everything in detail and in the end the only way to check if your idea is good is to put it into practice, so don't obsess either. Clarify the pillars of your project and get going. 2. Not knowing what you want to achieve with your blog I have said it a thousand times, but I will not tire of repeating it: have a clear reason for doing things. Most people make decisions \"just because\", and creating a blog is no exception. Sometimes I wake up, open my email and have a message from a visibly excited friend: \"Angel, man, I've decided I'm going to start a blog about the mating of the Iberian Lynx\" \"What for?\" \"Well... what's it going to be for, to have a blog!\" I automatically know that that blog will come to nothing. As its author doesn't know what he wants to achieve, he won't have the motivation to write every week either, and as soon as La Resistencia visits him disguised as being tired or having a beer with his colleagues, the blog will be the one sacrificed. 3. No value Why do you read Live to the Fullest? Let me answer for you: because it gives you something of value. You may find my articles entertaining, inspiring, or teach you new things, but they are clearly USEFUL. If you wouldn't read me, it's that simple. Unfortunately, most people think of their blog as that little golden page journal with a little lock they had when they were kids. How to write a personal blog is simple because they only have to

\"translate\" that diary they write about their life without realizing that their life doesn't give a shit to that stranger who has found him searching in Google a solution to his problems. After a few months, they get tired of being read only by their mother and two colleagues and come to the conclusion that it is not worth having a blog. 4. Not knowing who you write for You're clear: you want to start a travel blog. For a month you work day and night to write epic posts that position you as a reference in your niche. \"5 activities to do in Chiang Mai that your kids will love.\" \"How to enjoy Paris without spending a fortune\" \"Top Ten Destinations for Digital Nomads\" \"Why shouldn't you be afraid to travel to India alone?\" \"21 pictures of Africa that will blow your mind.\" Your articles are well written and provide a lot of value. However, the project has not just taken off. A commentary here and there, a few subscriptions... but little else. What's going on? The problem is that you don't know who you're writing for. A lot of people like to travel, but a family with children doesn't want the same thing as a girl going backpacking for the first time. In order to add value week after week, you need to be very clear about who your audience is and understand what their needs are. Only then can you give your readers what they want. 5. Not being credible The Internet is full of \"life coaches\" whose lives are a mess and of fake gurus who teach you how to get rich even though they have trouble making ends meet. People know this and don't trust it. That's why, when they get to your blog, the first thing they do is go to your \"About\" page to see who the hell you are to write what you're writing. Most bloggers fail this test. I'm very sorry, but we don't need any more blogs from seducers who don't flirt, from travelers who don't travel, or from SEOs that have never positioned a website. If you want us to believe in you, first you're going to have to PROVE with FACTS that you deserve that trust. 6. Not having enough content Perhaps the most common cause of death among newborn blogs is a lack of content. They start out very strong, posting a new post every day, but it takes them longer and longer until they reach a point where they run dry and die. What a shame! Not knowing what to write about is usually a symptom of lack of passion. If you don't live and breathe the theme of your blog, you will be unable to generate ideas for new articles every week. 7. Not wanting to offend anyone

If you have ever exposed yourself publicly and someone has criticized you, even if it was a stranger, you will know that it is quite annoying. It doesn't matter if 100 other people have told you that you are the best; the one you remember is the one who insulted you. So, to protect yourself, you begin to soften your opinions. Instead of saying \"learning English is important\" you say \"in my humble opinion I think that learning English can be important\", and instead of saying \"the quota of self-employed people in Spain is nonsense\" you say \"it's a very complicated subject with many nuances\". This way no one can criticize you, right? The problem is that a blog is just the opposite: to expose yourself, to openly express what you think. The public wants blood, and if you try to get everyone to like you, you don't make enemies, but you don't get followers either. You go unnoticed and dilute yourself like a sugar cube in the big coffee of the blogosphere. 8. Not to be different On the Internet there are millions of blogs on all kinds of subjects. So if you want yours to be successful, you need to answer one key question: Why should someone read your blog instead of anyone else's? Most bloggers are unable to give a good answer to this question, and their project ends up becoming \"one more\" and being lost in oblivion. Now more than ever, differentiating yourself from your competitors is a prerequisite for success, because being different is what makes readers stay on your page, remember it and tell their friends about it. An example of the power of differentiation is Chuiso, who in a matter of months made his way into a niche like SEO, full of boring jacket and tie consultants, with his blog of cartoons and irreverent articles. 9. Not focusing on what's really important The first time I wanted to create Vivir al Máximo I spent a whole week deciding on the design. I wanted a WordPress template that was perfect, and I spent nights looking and looking without finding one that convinced me. In the end I got tired of looking and decided to postpone the blog launch. Five months later I couldn't wait any longer because I was going to Thailand, so I started the website on a platform called SETT that wouldn't let you change templates or install plugins. That forced me to focus on what was really important: the content. And you know what? People read me even though my blog was \"black and rusty\" (that's how one reader once described it). A lot of beginners do it like me. They spend months choosing a good logo or retouching their blog template, only to realize a few weeks later that writing is harder than they thought and that nobody will read them because they have a nice design. Instead, remember that 20% of your efforts are responsible for 80% of your results, and devote yourself to writing good articles, growing your mailing list and establishing relationships with other bloggers. Everything else is detail. Do the minimum necessary and don't get blocked - there will be time to optimize later!

10. Not understanding that a blog is not the same as a business One of the reasons many people start a blog is to make money. However, these people don't understand that posting free articles every week is not worth a penny. Unless you have AdSense advertising on your website (and I don't recommend it because the profits are ridiculous), a blog is not a business but a marketing tool to attract a certain audience and position yourself as an expert. The business is in selling something to those readers. If you don't sell, you don't have a business, you have a hobby. That's why, in case making money is one of your main goals, you should have at least an idea of how you are going to get it before you start. Generating content is not enough.