7 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start a Blog

Thinking about making your writing public? Whether you write for readers and shares or financial gain, certain issues should be considered upfront. Following are seven questions you might want to ask yourself before you start a blog.

Do I Have a Clear Mission Statement?

This does not need to be something you make public. It can {and perhaps should} be written for yourself—a reminder of your purpose and motivation to keep going and stay on target.

Note that “mission” differs from “goal” {discussed in the next section}. I see a mission statement as being more of a personal pep talk about how you want to portray yourself, whereas goals are more specific action items.

A mission statement might include points such as keeping your blog and social media pages positive, showing kindness in disagreements, and keeping your writing reader-focused.

What Is My Ultimate Goal?

Sometimes I get the impression people think bloggers must choose one extreme or the other: Either you write strictly for yourself as a creative outlet or you blog as a business with earning money being the primary objective.

Honestly, for most bloggers their reasons for writing will be way more complex than hobby versus hustle.

Unpopular Opinion Alert: I’m not really thrilled with the evolution from blogging as a way to share information and ideas to blogging as a way to make a side income. Now everyone thinks they are going to get rich from blogging, and sadly many will simply be misled.

Consider your desired end goals before you begin: Do you want this to become an at-home business and replace part or all of your current income? Do you want to grow a social media following where you can share your platform? Will you eventually be using the blog as a springboard for other marketing {e.g., publishing a book}? Are you just pouring out all your thoughts to prevent your introvert brain from imploding?

Keep in mind, once you get started, your ultimate goal may look very different than what you originally imagined.

Is Self-Hosting Worth It?

This is more than just a consideration of cost. As with everything else related to blogging, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Self-hosting will definitely provide more options to customize your blog the way you want. You will have a huge range of plugins to choose from, and have more choices for themes. However, you will also be responsible for keeping everything updated, security, backups, and the like. Minor coding skills might be involved, so keep that in mind if that concerns you.

With a self-hosted site you can also use the domain of your choosing without having the cumbersome site name {dot} something at the end of it. It looks more professional, and search engines are more likely to pay attention to your site. Whether you’re writing to sell or writing for readers you definitely want people to be able to find you.

An alternate to self-hosting would be to keep your blog on a site like WordPress {dot} com but pay a fee to be able to have your own domain address and no ads. However, you will quickly discover that this will add up to more expense than just going with self-hosted to begin with.

A word of caution: Many hosting sites will offer great new-customer initial rates, and then the renewal prices will shock you. This is the reason I left my original hosting site after the first year. If you find a hosting company you love, make sure you can afford the renewal rates, and consider signing up for multiple years in advance, as they often give a substantial discount for two- or three-year commitments.

How Much Effort Do I Want To Put Into Marketing?

Even if your primary goal is gaining readers not selling, you are still going to need to do some amount of marketing—otherwise no one will ever find your blog. You will need to consider how much time you will spend advertising your blog, and where you will share it.

For most bloggers, this will mean being active on social media sites {Facebook, Twitter, Instagram} as well as creating new pins for Pinterest with some regularity.

This could also include participating in blogging groups and sharing threads. These are a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers and encourage engagement on your social media sites. I do not recommend joining more than a few, however, as most will have participation requirements {e.g., leave your link and then engage with three others} and it can become time-consuming.

A few words of warning here: You will discover literally thousands of blogging groups on Facebook alone. Not all of them are, shall we say, run with your best interest in mind. I have personally run across some that seem, well, sketchy. As in, the owner of the group is clearly taking advantage of inexperienced bloggers and attempting to sell them expensive courses and memberships. Just be vigilant.

Should I Use My Real Name?

Only you can decide if you want the Interwebs to know your true identity. You may have very good reasons for wanting to keep your writing anonymous or using a pen name. I decided to use my own name on this blog from the beginning, and here’s why:

When I first decided to make my writing public ten years ago, I wasn’t very honest or open. I was trying so hard to be edgy and noticed that I sacrificed my true personality for what I imagined readers wanted. I created a fake version of what I thought a blogger in my genre should be, and while the likes and shares tumbled in for a moment, it fizzled quickly. 

When I decided to give blogging another go, I wanted to be more forthright from the start. I wanted to be a real grown up writer who genuinely connected with followers this time.

Still, I hesitated whether or not I should attach my real name to this blog. What if I regret not choosing a more obscure blog title, or at least a catchy pseudonym? What if I write something that provokes anger or confrontation and I receive a bunch of mean comments? What if people I know in real life actually read it and judge me for it? What if I attract a stalker? 

The truth is, though, I can never be completely transparent as a writer if I’m hiding behind a facade instead of authentically sharing. I want readers to be assured there will be no pretense going forward. Using my real name helps me to be a more authentic writer. 

How Much Time Can I Reasonably Commit To Blogging?

One very important consideration: What else other than blogging is competing for your time? 

For instance, do you work outside the home? Do you have small children who require a lot of individual attention? Do you need to devote specific hours of the day to being “on call” in some other capacity?

Also, what does your free time look like currently? Are you interested in devoting a large chunk of your presently uncommitted hours to this venture? 

Do you get up early? Would you be able to work on the blog in the mornings before everyone else is awake and needing things? Are you more of a night owl? Are you good with blogging into the wee hours, even if it means sacrificing sleep?

Of course, you might decide an hour or two a week to crank out one post and share it on a few platforms is enough. In that case it’s probably going to be easier to fit in blogging to your days or weeks naturally.

What If I Just Want To Write?

It is okay to simply write and share because you want to write and share. Period. You do not need to justify the time you spend on your blog to anyone. You are A Real Writer, and your writing has purpose.

My entire blogging experience is going better for me this time, partly because I’ve had so much practice and partly because I feel like I have made so many mistakes and learned from them. I feel like I know more about what I’m doing this time around.

I also feel that I’m not going into it with lofty expectations. Really I just want to do this for my own self-care and to connect. Not that I necessarily think that other bloggers have an ulterior motive, but sometimes it’s difficult to focus on just writing and just sharing when you always have selling in the back of your mind.

How are you progressing on your own writing journey? Before you start a blog—or if you have recently started one— I hope you will find these questions useful in deciding what direction you want to take.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you enjoyed this post, I would love to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.