Many steps take place prior to making your blog public. These steps range from selecting your blog niche to the actual name of your blog.
These steps can take time or be quick, all predetermined by your overall knowledge of blogging techniques and what to do to get your blog started. One thing I have learned though is that you might have a niche picked out for your blog, but it could possibly change when you start writing your posts.
Your Content is Crucial
With content being a key factor in the overall success of your blog, I suggest you write 10 posts before making your blog public.
Make sure these first 10 blog posts represent all different aspects you want to talk about within your niche on your blog. You want these posts to be very different from one to the other. This will allow you to experiment and see how the content you want to write about will fit into your niche. If these posts are not very different from one to the other this will only hinder what you might come to notice months into your blog.
The problem would be that the posts you end up writing because you have either passion for them or are in response to a popular topic do not relate to your niche. Then you start to wonder if the blog you have started, months ago, is what you really want. This is why not only finding your blog niche is important, but getting a feel of where your content is going to fall into your niche is also important.
Not only will writing these first 10 posts help you narrow down your niche, but it will help you figure out your true passion in blogging.
The Charge
My charge to you, if you are starting a new blog, write those 10 very diverse posts. If you have already started your blog, still write those posts or maybe you have them already published. Then, I would ask that you find those posts that are distinct from each other and see if they all represent your specific blog niche.
If the posts do still represent your blog’s niche or purpose then make sure any further post remains transparent.
But, if you find that the posts don’t, like I have personally questioned from time to time, open up a blank text document and re-evaluate the niche and purpose you want your blog to uphold.
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I like your take on this thought. But I am not sure I want 10 post out there that have not been marketing and are destined to sit in archive. I think a weeks worth of posts (5) is plenty after which the publisher needs to get out there and market the heck out of them and get the post into the social media pool. Either way pre-posting is key before launching a site publicly.
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You make a great point. What I was getting across is that not necessarily publishing all 10 posts, but make 10 drafts.
Derek Jensen´s last blog ..Mix Your iTunes Music with djay
Great points. Not only is it important to have these posts written to discover whether you are truly interested in blogging in that niche, but it is also important for the initial success of your blog.
I cringe when I see blogs with just one or two posts – they could have been great blogs but the authors didn’t put the initial work or planning in to make their blogs successful.
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Thanks for the comment! Personally, when I first started blogging I made that mistake of only have two solid posts for a very long time.
I like what you say here. I know that I really enjoy reading the diverse bunch of posts that you write on your site. Not only that, but you would be able to see what your readers like the most also, and what they think you write best about. That would show in the number of comments and compliments that you would get about a certain post. It proves that the readers like what they are reading.
Great advice Derek! Even though I’m not a blogger myself, I read blogs and I know this would be a good advice to abide by.
Thank you Summer! Its always great to get feedback from people that just read blogs. But, have you thought about starting one?
Just curious. Thanks for the comment.
Derek Jensen´s last blog ..Mix Your iTunes Music with djay
Derek,
By site is product driven, and the blog is secondary to it so I can add reader involvement and the obvious SEO benefits of having a blog. I started my latest site with only a few articles (my niche is somewhat narrow) but have added about 60 pages involving my products, so have been busy over the last couple of months.
Nice read though…. submitted to Stumble Upon
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