Starting a New Blog? WAIT!
Photo by el clinto
If you currently own a blog, you have probably had the itch to start a new one. Maybe you see other people succeeding in other niches, or maybe you’re excited about a new hobby you just took up.
Wait to start that blog! Here’s why:
1. Gauge true interest. How many blogs are started every day in this vast internet? And how many of them die within a few weeks or months. You don’t want to invest time and money into a new idea just to find yourself burnt out before it even takes off. Waiting lets that idea simmer and helps you see if that’s really what you want to do.
2. Write content. It’s always advisable to launch a new blog with several strong posts already written. You can’t do that if you set it up and just start posting. A little bit of lead time lets you build up some pillar posts and enables you to have some in reserve for the inevitable time crunch.
3. Network. No venture should take off without some analysis of the current market. The same is true for blogging. Find the other blogs in your new niche and meet their owners. Figure out how you can add to the conversation and not just be shouting “me too.”
4. Plan. What kinds of things will you be writing about on this new blog? Will you monetize it in any way? Is there anyone who might like to guest post? How will you promote the blog to start gaining readers? Can you guest post at other blogs in the niche? Answer questions like these ahead of time for a smooth launch.
5. Design. Waiting also gives you crucial time to mull over your design plans. What will the blog look like? Can you hire a custom designer to make it visually stand out from the crowd? Heck, what will you name it? These are all things you need set in stone before you hit “publish” on your first post.
There are plenty of other reasons to wait to start that new blog. Most importantly, you need to have a solid plan in place and have the steam to keep publishing for years to come.
What about you?
Have you rushed out and started a new blog, only to be sorry later? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
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Comments
32 Responses to “Starting a New Blog? WAIT!”
January 2nd, 2008
If only our readers heeded your advice, perhaps we could do the same.
-stop blogging
January 2nd, 2008
Good advice and it’s always good to have a reminder. I received this link via someone in my twitter stream and I was expect a blog post on legal considerations before you start blogging. How’s that for an idea for a future post?
Look forward to reading more. I’ll add you to my news feed.
January 2nd, 2008
Thanks, Andrew! I wish I’d read this 2 months ago. I’ve got several sites/blogs started and the work is overwhelming. I’m going to use your suggestions to modify my current approach and certainly apply them to any new endeavors. Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2008
got here via a twitter post from chris brogan. i agree with linkerjpatrick about this being a great reminder. it’s also a great set of guidelines for those of us wanting to “reinvent” our existing blogs — it being the new year and all.
January 2nd, 2008
Andrew, good stuff, wish I’d had access to this kind of info when I started in Social Media nearly a year ago. Acquiring skill sets and chops on the fly means making mistakes and learning from them – which I don’t mind, usually – newness = learning curve. But I could have saved myself some virtual skinned knees if, for example, someone had said: “Instead of trying to create or control the conversation in your blog, research, and become part of the conversation across other channels first.” That was a hard lesson to learn.
And thanks to Chris Brogan for the link to your blog via Twitter – subbed to the RSS feed now.
mariana evica
http://www.cslf.com
http://www.myspace.com/first_rate
January 2nd, 2008
Hi everyone! I’m really glad you found the post useful. It never hurts to have friendly reminders in this world.
Also, I think you’re all new readers (or at least commenters). Welcome!
January 2nd, 2008
Very useful post. I started blogging not so long ago and had to leave an old blog to focus on the new one.
You have a new reader in me.
January 2nd, 2008
Oscar – Thanks for your comment. I’m definitely glad to gain new readers anytime!
January 2nd, 2008
See if I knew any of this before I wouldn’t have even bothered blogging. I’m failing miserably.
January 2nd, 2008
Jenny – Give yourself more credit than that! Trying anything is a great step. And you never know what you’ll do well at, unless you give it a go.
January 3rd, 2008
Great Post! Everybody should heed this before starting a blog. Content is king. Alot of blogs (most in fact) are nothing more than an excerise in smelling your own farts. Content that is creative, meaningful, insightful and that can help create dialogue is what people are yearning for.
January 3rd, 2008
Andrew, your post was informative. Sincere thanks for sharing such valuable information and am sure that all shall have benefited from it..
Could you please shed some light on the promoting of websites, as the marketing/promotion of the website created is important? Moreover, I had chanced upon the following:
If you wish to win more traffic to your site / blog, there is a site called http://www.whoistopofthelist.com, which lets you do that free. You can also write about your site, post and link, as well as a photo. It does it free.
Please comment.
January 3rd, 2008
Well organized and nicely written. I am struggling to set up a new blog. This comes handy. I have stumbled your post.
January 3rd, 2008
A good list – and timely in my case!
January 3rd, 2008
Some blogs are are fake. this one is real….
ilovedietsoda.com is made by a company that boasts the diet soda industry because it is run by a PR firm Called Kellen Company. They have contracts with aspartame and sucralose.
This stuff kills.
January 5th, 2008
At one point I had three blogs however, as you say, so many blogs are started everyday that it’s sooooo hard to make even a little dent in your niche. I quickly dropped my third blog when I realized how saturated the market was. My other problem (if you want to call it that) is that my first blog, Organize IT is and will always be my main focus, my pet project. It took lots of effort to get it to where it is now and I simply didn’t have the same motivation/time to focus on my 2nd blog at the same level. So, with some hesitation, I dropped that blog too 🙂
January 5th, 2008
@Business Toolz – “smelling your own farts” LOL. You’re right that good content is key.
@mary – There are lots of great resources for blog promotion. I’d suggest devouring Darren’s archives over at ProBlogger.
@jessie – Good luck with your new blog. Thanks for the Stumble!
@SeaBird – I’m glad you liked the list. 🙂
@Kellen company – Interesting blog there.
@SpiKe – It sounds like you made some difficult decisions, but you’ve set your priorities. Great work!
January 6th, 2008
I have fallen victim to this many times. I want to start a blog and spend 2 hours thinking of a great URL, I buy it, then spend 2 hours on my theme. I write 3 posts the first day, then a few during the week. Two weeks later, it gets old and I’m wondering why I started the blog.
The good thing is that URLs cost only $7 and wordpress is free! 🙂
January 6th, 2008
Ghillie – At least you’re looking at the bright side of things. Maybe those abandoned blogs could at least sell some link ads.
January 10th, 2008
It’s true that I can use those abandoned blogs for some SEO or link love. Some have PRs of 1 and 2. They don’t get much traffic because they aren’t updated, but some search results still provide small traffic. I guess I could post them on TLA and see what happens.
Oh BTW, I never learn I just started a new blog today. LOL
January 11th, 2008
When someone is looking to start a new blog, I suggest they first write about 40 pages of content broken down into 300 to 1000 word articles. This will give you about 10,000 words. This can often help refine the scope of the site and you may find something else that you are more interested in writing about.
The problem is that most people want to first register a domain name, setup a blog etc. In some ways this is a form of procrastination–they want to work on everything except for actually writing.
January 11th, 2008
I have rushed in and created a blog that IMO failed miserably! Thanks for the pointers and I’ll try again.
January 19th, 2008
Thanks for this post! I have currently begun a blog and I have run into quite a few of the issues you have mentioned above (especially burnout).
I have since hit the drawing board and am now realizing the importance of careful planning.
Thanks,
Max
Houston Lawyers
Elder Care Lawyers
January 20th, 2008
Max – I am glad that things are working out better for you. Planning is always the best option!
June 6th, 2008