Blogging 101: How To Start A Blog

How did I begun blogging? Honestly, I can’t remember the details. I can’t even remember my first blog post. But this blog is not my first blog, this is not even the first title of this blog, this is far from what it was 10 years ago. OMG!!!!! I am a blogger for 10 years now.

I do remember though that whenever I had the chance to learn something new, I have this urge in me to share it to world. So it has been the fire that keeps this blog alive, the need to share and help others. Sorry na, may pagka epal talaga ako most of the times. I even opened a “tech” blog back then pero hindi ko naman na maintain.

How To Start A Blog? I am often asked by my friends, FB friends and followers. And often than not, I am lost for words. It’s not easy to summarize 10 years of blogging. But I do want to help. I want to encourage people, specially moms to start a blog.

Why start a blog? For one, it’s a great breathing post. Whenever you feel the need to talk but there’s no one to talk to except your baby and the dirty dishes (or unfolded laundry), a blog is a good listener.

Another reason, blogging, specially mommy blogging is very rewarding and somehow profitable. A year supply of detergent? Who would say no to that? Or even a month’s supple of your favorite milk. Those freebies can really help stretch the budget! And the event invites which is a good motivation to dress up and wear lipstick. Blogging builds confidence too.

Lastly, for me, it brings back a lot of memories, specially of my kids. It’s like a photo album only filled with words. What was it called? ah DIARY! When I feel down, I read my blog posts, and I feel better instantly. Blogging is therapeutic and you don’t have to pay that much!

I thought about my answer to question “How To Start A Blog” for a long time. And I feel like this is the best way to answer that question.. by answering a series of questions.

What do I need to do to start a blog? 

Do I need money? Yes and No but we will get to that later. What do you really really really need to start a blog? What is that one thing you need to start a blog? 

You need an EMAIL to start a blog.

That’s how you will start your blogging career or blogging journey. An email will be your access to everything. Already have a personal email? I would suggest not to use that.

Get a new email, the same name that you plan to use for your blog.

Blog name right away? Yes, its’ like having another child, you need to name it. If you can’t think of any name, just use your name and add Mommy or Mama.

3 MUST DO IN NAMING YOUR BLOG: 

• It should be short.
• Check godaddy.com if still available as .com
• Check gmail if the name you choose is still available.

Trust me on this threes, this is 10 years of blogging experience talking.

Where should I blog? WordPress?

So I heard to be a blogger, specially if you want brands or company to notice you, you need to start a blog in WordPress. NOT TRUE!

So I heard WordPress is more professional than any other blogging platforms. NOT TRUE!

I’ll make this simpler for all of you, in WordPress, you need to invest more money but you have access to almost anything that you will wish your website to have. But it doesn’t mean that it’s the only way to start a blog. Sometimes, the price plus the technicality of it discourages upcoming bloggers.

I prefer and always encourage new bloggers to use Blogspot or blogger.com. It’s a platform by Google and it’s free to set up. Using your new email, create a blog at Blogger.com

How much is the initial money that I need to spend to start a blog?

You can start a blog for free. NO COST At all. Just follow these steps:

1. Think of a blog name.
2. Create an email using that name.
3. Sign up at Blogger.com and name your blog.
4. Start blogging!

But blog with blogspot.com?

I want the same as my idol bloggers, their own dotcom.

That’s the good thing about blogger.com, you can have your own dotcom while using that platform. Not all people knows that. You just need to buy your own domain (that’s what it’s called) and a little click here and there and you have your own!

Here’s a detailed blog post on how to>> How to use your own dot com in your blogspot blog. 

You will need at least 800 Pesos if you want your own domain name. But if you are lucky, godaddy usually have a sale of 50 pesos per domain. You will need to renew that domain yearly, rate is around 800 Pesos yearly. 

What to write first to start blogging?

Kailangan ba English? Pwede ba ang Taglish? Hindi ako magaling sa grammar.

Kahit ano po. It’s your blog, your wordings. I prefer using taglish but since I also have readers that are not Filipino, I use English most of the times.

Hindi magaling sa grammar? Hindi din po ako magaling sa grammar. In fact, bagsak ako sa Comm subject ko in college. Practice makes perfect. And reading too!

What to write first? Start by answering these simple questions:

• Who are you and name at least 3 things that you love doing.
• Why did you start a blog?
• Name at least 3 topics that you will most likely to talk about and how frequent do you plan to write on your blog?
• A year from now, how do you yourself as a blogger? How many posts have you written by then?

How about Social Media? Facebook Page? Instagram and the likes?

If you really want to take blogging professionally, I highly suggest creating a Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter page for your blog using the email and name of your blog. It’s called branding which can be discusses in another day, another blog post.