Blogging is a powerful and authority building tool

So, you’ve identified your passion, weighed your options, and decided to start a blog. Whether it is personal or business-related, identifying a plan for your blog is part of its long-term success. Blogging is a large time commitment, and you’re more likely to feel motivated if you’re not feeling overwhelmed by time commitment.

Creating a plan is a powerful tool for developing and organizing your blog. As you are moving forward, keep these key planning points in mind:

Pick a  blog topic and direction

What is your niche, or specialty? By focusing on your topic, you can pick an appropriate name, choose a platform, identify an audience, and create posts appropriately.

Schedule blog posts

Life is busy, and you don’t want it to get in the way of your blog. Develop a plan for when you will post each month, and outline the specific topics you want to cover. This allows you to write and schedule posts in advance, so you’re not rushing last minute.

Research facts

Many blogs incorporate facts into content in order to support arguments, share accepted strategies/policies/touristy material, and more. By planning your topics in advance, you can make sure you have the time to research facts to complement your posts and materials.

Determine a writing/researching schedule

Once you have established your topic, done the research, and scheduled your posts, you actually need to follow through with the writing. Setting a writing schedule and following through will keep you moving forward.

Blog editing is important

Plan time to edit your content. Whether this means walking away from your post for a day or using another set of eyes, make sure you don’t skip this step. If you don’t edit, you could easily miss a grammatical mistake or two that make you feel (and potentially look) unprofessional.

Never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.