Blogging Basics: FAQ
It’s been just over 6 months now since I decided to dive into the blogging world. I wouldn’t call myself an expert by any means but it’s time to share my blogging journey. I’ve had so many people reach out to me asking about the blogging basics and how to start a blog, that I decided to create a FAQ post. You can also check out my resources page for links to the programs I use!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. Clicking on these links won’t cost you any extra money.
Q: What Pushed You to Just Do It?
A: I received this question soon after I launched my blog. This was a question I always had for other bloggers too. How do you go from having this idea and dream to actually creating a blog? Believe me, it didn’t just happen. It took me about 6 months of researching, planning, organizing and brainstorming to finally decide to take the step. During those 6 months, I spent time trying to figure out my niche, brand, name, topics and reading tutorial after tutorial to understand what it takes to start a blog. Now looking back, I wish I would have joined Facebook groups that focus on helping bloggers with the blogging basics from the start. Boss Girl Bloggers is a perfect example of a group that helps bloggers no matter where they are in their blogging journey.
Q: How Did You Find Your Niche?
A: This was extremely tough for me. All I could think about is – I have to choose only ONE thing to blog about? I’m the type of person who doesn’t really have a “thing” especially one thing. (Until I started blogging, now that’s my thing!!) I wasn’t about to let that stop me. After thinking about what I could vision my blog posts to include, I decided to focus on life and travel. Think about what you want to write about. Make a list and then try to see what categories they fit in. Are they mostly food related topics? Or do most of your ideas have to do with fashion and beauty? Think big – the last thing you want to do is minimize your options with something too specific. In addition, you can always change your mind. Don’t let this stop you from taking the next step in your blogging journey.
Q: Why Did You Choose Samantha Marie Blog?
A: Okay, choosing a niche was tough but choosing a name for my blog paralyzed my blogging journey. I spent day after day writing down every name that came to my mind. Nothing seemed like a fit. I always had Samantha Marie Blog in the back of my mind but thought that it was too boring. Choosing a blog name consumed about a week of my time. I was constantly sending ideas to my friends and family hoping it would spark the “perfect” name. Every blog post I read about choosing a name said that I was only delaying my time to start writing. That’s when I finally told myself to just go with Samantha Marie Blog. I liked having my blog named after me and even though it didn’t seem too creative at the time, I also didn’t want it to pull away from the person who was doing all the hard work. ME!
Q: Who do you use for hosting?
A: Long story short, I started with BlueHost but recently transferred everything over to SiteGround. There’s a couple of reasons why, SiteGround has an amazing reputation with bloggers and after a little mishap with BlueHost, I made the decision to switch. It was extremely easy to have everything transferred over. SiteGround’s customer service team took care of everything for me and answered all of my questions. And I had a lot of questions – remember I’m still learning the blogging basics too!
Q: Why Did you Start a Blog?
A: Waaaay back in the day, I started my first blog. I have always loved writing and sharing my story. Being at a unique time of my life, I felt that the experiences I had to share were different from those around me. I started blogging to share my story and connect with other like-minded people. There’s also my big dream of doing this full-time, making a full-time income and spending my days creating content and blogging. I found my passion with blogging and even though it’s a lot of hard work, I absolutely love it.
Q: How Do You Think of Things To Write About?
A: When I first came up with the idea of my blog, I was nervous I would run out of ideas to write about. So I made myself come up with a list of about 50 post ideas. Some were really specific and others were more of a basic idea. This gave me the confidence that even without a blog, I was able to come up with more than enough ideas. It is extremely helpful to pay attention to upcoming holidays, current events and fashion trends. I’ll use ideas from my followers if they are asking questions about a certain product or want to know more about my life experiences. The internet is also filled with lists upon lists if you need some writing inspiration.
Want to know more?
If you still have more questions about blogging basics or my blogging journey, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I would love to hear from you, connect and help you out in any way that I can. If I don’t have an answer for you, I have found so many resources that I can provide you with.
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