If there’s one thing I know, it’s that we all have a story to tell. You might be wondering how to share your story. Maybe documenting your style is the way you express who you are or maybe you want to write about your personal experiences. Whichever way you feel called to share your story is completely up to you. For some of you, maybe you’ve been toying around with the idea of taking the leap and starting your own blog—a fresh space completely dedicated to anything you wish to share. This is definitely the way I prefer to share my story. I created my blog a year ago where I share my experiences, no matter how mundane, and express the pieces of myself that make me who I am. While I’m no blog expert, luckily, our community is chock-full of people who are. I reached out to our community members with blogs and asked them how to create a successful blog.
I think you will find all of their golden nuggets of advice to be everything you needed before you embark on this new journey. The world of blogging is empowering. I encourage you to check out what our community has to say so you can feel prepared and inspired to create your own blog.
If You're Passionate, Then You're Already on the Right Track
The first step to deciding whether or not you want to start a blog is to understand if you’re truly passionate about the blog. Anna Kubitz, a first-year student at Bowling Green University, said, “You should start a blog with the intent that you would share your content without being paid, because you are passionate about what you are doing.” I completely agree. This should be the driving force behind your desire to whip up a website and put your story to a blank document. This is especially important when wondering how to create a successful blog—it’s about having true passion shine through your words when people read your content.
If you’re worried your passions are just a dime a dozen, don’t be. Just because other individuals are sharing similar pieces of content, doesn’t mean your content is any less valuable. Kubitz summarized it best when she said, “It doesn’t matter if you are posting the same types of things that other bloggers are posting because an original voice and creative content make the best type of blog.”
Stick to Content That Is Meaningful to You
Aside from being passionate about sharing your story with others, you should also create content that is meaningful to you. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to fall into a trap of only creating content that you think others will want to read. Create content you would be interested in reading if you were to stumble upon your own blog. When you create content that is meaningful to you, then you are actively creating in your own voice. And your voice is awesome. Kubitz understands it can be hard not to pay attention to numbers and views but urged you to realize that “at the end of the day, it isn’t really about engagement or numbers. It is about a creative and personal outlet to share your creations and ideas.”
Believe in Yourself and Your Content
Before starting a blog, it can seem like every thought is against you. Khadija Sillah, a third-year fashion merchandising and management major at Thomas Jefferson University, can definitely relate. She had toyed with the idea of starting a blog since she was in middle school, but self-doubt always kept her from pursuing her passions. In fact, for three years several instances of self-doubt kept her from starting a blog, especially when she considered how her hometown could compare to bloggers in larger cities. Sillah worried her hometown would make it look less appealing “compared to others who lived in New York or other big cities with easy access to cool spots.”
It may be a difficult journey, but in order to start a blog and then create a successful one, you must believe in what you share with others. When comparing yourself to other bloggers or doubting the value of your story, she said it was about wanting to work with what she had believe in my content, and hope for the best.”
Plan to Be Consistent
You will hear this piece of advice from everyone. You’ll also find it on just about every article about how to create a successful blog. But, it’s actually a golden nugget of advice to consider when thinking about starting a blog. Ask yourself if you can really commit to creating content or if you see yourself making your blog a priority. Even if you’re intent is not to break into the influencer industry, creating consistent content will show your dedication and passion for this project you’ve created.
Anna Wade, a third-year student at École Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode, definitely agrees that consistency is a large component of creating a successful blog. And she emphasized being “as consistent as possible.” Consistency will not only ensure you’re creating content but will also allow you to hone in on your writing voice and find your niche in the blogging world if you haven’t already. I personally struggle with being consistent with blog posts, but I understand that I should dedicate time to my passion of telling stories. Carve out a window of time each week to creating new content, and you will find yourself more motivated to continue sharing your work with others.
Proofread, Edit, Proofread
On the editorial side of things, you want to make sure you are sharing content that is grammatically correct and ready to be published. Your blog is a passion project, so it makes sense to nurture it and make sure it is the best version of itself. Sillah suggested creating fake posts and having your friends read them before publishing a blog. Taking the time to draft a few blog posts and sending them to family and friends to proofread and edit your work will prove to be a great resource in your blog arsenal.
If you don’t want to send your drafts to anyone, then you can definitely try out in-browser proofreaders or other programs. And don’t let the effort of proofreading and editing your work deter you from starting your blog. It will all be worth it when you have clean blog posts that are easy for people to read. Plus, it’s always a great idea for all of your published work to be professional and free of errors.
Authenticity is Key
You may be wondering what it even means to be authentic. I know, I struggled with this too. What I’ve come to understand about being authentic is it is about staying true to who you are, whether that be sticking with a style or embracing differences you may have with someone else. In the world of blogging, authenticity also means finding your aesthetic and niche. I think the pursuit of authenticity is sometimes muddled by a competition to be the most unique person in a room (or online). I just want to say that we all have our differences and similarities. Those differences and similarities should bring us together and not tear us into a competitive frenzy.
So, when expressing your authenticity through your blog, consider what colors and images speak most to you. I’m more of a neutrals kind of person, so I stick to those color hues in my social media and blog. To Sillah, finding your aesthetic and “visuals are the most important part of a blog. And it’s important that what your blog looks like reflects what your vibe is.” All of these components of a blog combine to create your original space where you share your passions in a way that is completely you. Let yourself shine through in the look and the content of your blog, and you’ll see that authenticity is a lot simpler to achieve than you imagined.
Comment below what you think makes a successful blog!
Opening image by Yusra Siddiqui
