So you are interested in blogging but are not sure where to start…

This secret is free – start at the beginning.

Right, what a smart ass huh? I am amazed, though, by just how many would-be professional  bloggers start somewhere other than the beginning, intending to come back to it later.

How much sense does that make?

So, where is the beginning. This could probably be argued a bit, but I suspect the beginning is when you select what your blog is going to be about. This is known as the “niche”, though I think “topic” will do just fine.

How do you select a topic?

Don’t do keyword research just yet. This is where so many people go wrong. Your passion is not about keywords in a Google search, it is about who YOU are. We don’t care at this point how many people are searching for your area of interest. Let’s keep going one step at a time.

Imho, it should be selected by weighting the following factors .  I think your selection should come from as high on this list as possible, with the weaker choices further down the list

Think of something you:

  1. have a great deal of passion for; (gardening, woodworking, quilting. raising kids)
  2. tend to focus a great deal of your attention and energy on. (raising kids, teaching at cubs, local charities)
  3. are trained or professional in; (nurse, mechanic, lawyer, author)
  4. get asked your opinion on all the time; (relationships, interior design, raising kids)

Yes, raising kids is in there 3 times to show you that a subject that fits into a number of these for you might be the best subject for you to blog on. Sometime these blog are incredibly successful. I know one blog on making frugal clothing purchases for kids that pulls in $1500/ month from each of 4 advertising spots on the front page alone.

If none of these seems to be turning on any little lights in your head, think about the last time someone asked for your advice. It might surprise you a little to discover what other people see you as an expert os demi-expert on.

Don’t just grab the “most economically sensible niche” because they have been done to death. Blog where your passion is if at all possible, and go down the list from there. Expertise is great, but people respond to passion just as well as expertise, and usually find their visit to your blog much more memorable when it is obvious that you are passionate.

Now, this in mind, there are a couple of areas I strongly recommend you avoid like salmonella poisoning:

  • work from home;
  • affiliate marketing;
  • gambling;
  • business opportunities, etc.

These are about as far from possible to dominate as anything could be, and I don’t honestly feel it would be easy to be genuinely passionate in them.

So think a little on what drives you. You need to be a little vulnerable for people to respond to you, and get close to you, as absurd as it may sound across the vast nothingness and anonymity of the web. It really does happen.

Ask a friend for suggestions, dig deep. and write down 10 topic choices or niches.

Agonize over them a bit, and narrow those down to two choices.

Write them down on a sticky pad, and stick them on your monitor for a day or two staring you in the face. You will know which of them is right by them time you come back for the next step.

Please don’t continue to the next step until you have finished the above.

Cheers,

Ron