Do you have a story to tell? Have you been thinking about writing your own blog?
Well guess what - that feeling is not going to go away until you make it happen.
This is for you to do. This is for you to make a reality. Do it today. Do it soon.
And the best part, writing a blog is easier than you think. There are many sources to get you started with a blog but we'll start with the tool that I use and trust myself - and it's called Wix.com
Just a little over six months ago, I had never written a blog. I had never had my own website. I never really understood the power of owning your message and sending it out into the internet for the world to read. I was analogue but I needed to become digital. But how? I definitely wasn't someone who 'knew' computers. I wasn't sure how to start.
Insert my good friend and trusted advisor Craig Cherlet, with well over 1000 blog posts to his name, over a dozen websites that he owns and operates, Craig is the true definition of an online entrepreneur. Craig helped me with the idea of taking my own message into the digital age. "Writing a blog is easy," he told me, but I didn't believe it until I actually took the plunge.
And for me it all started with a youtube advert from Wix.com
Wix allows you to setup your own website without paying anything up front. So you can play within the 'sandbox' of a webpage you create, and using Wix's templates, within a few clicks your website is ready. From there you add free features like blog page and away you go. Only once you are ready do you have to pay to get it started. The prices are reasonable but most importantly, the tools they offer allow anyone to create and launch their own blog website with ease.
Now for those Wordpress fans out there, I'll be providing a follow up blog on the pros and cons of Wix vs Wordpress and more about how to build your own website. But I can definitely say if you're new to blogging, new to setting up a website, Wix in my opinion offers an easier user interface than Wordpress. Wix will allow you to move images, words, fields, and objects around the page by simply highlighting the item and moving it into position the way you would a Microsoft powerpoint presentation. Wordpress not so much.
As for blogging, if you already have a topic in mind, then you know what you want to write about. So once you are setup just start typing. Free flow those ideas and go back to edit later. I'll also be sharing tips on how to be a great blog writer - more on that coming soon!
One tip on blogging length, the more content and the higher the quality of your writing, the more likely you'll reach the audience you are looking for. Google bots sweep the net looking to index blogs that fit the right criteria to help improve your likelihood of being found. But in my opinion, be careful not to write a blog that's too long either. The sweet spot might be somewhere between 1000-2000 words. As most readers probably only have around 5 mins to read what you have posted if it's in the middle of a busy workday.
As for me and my adventure, from zero sites six months ago I now have five websites and three active blogs all working to help get my message out. The hope was that my message would help others, to give them some of the advice I'd been sharing over the years but only to a small group of friends and coworkers. I knew if I could reach a wider audience I could have a bigger impact and that prospect excited me.
But one of the best parts of blogging that I underestimated was the almost immediate feedback loop you get from your online community. Words of thanks, encouragement, support, and suggestions to help you improve your message all came in.
And so, in just a short time, my blogs and websites, in particular www.the-inspired.com, have been accessed in 14 countries around the world.
Like a message in a bottle, most of the time I don't know who the recipient is, but I know the content I'm providing is from the heart and that hopefully in some way I helped that person today. That in itself is a tremendous feeling.
Comments