Before starting a blog you need to have a plan for what you want to write about. By clearly defining your goals your blog will have more focus and a greater impact on your community.
You will also want to read other blogs that are writing to your target audience and make note of what you like and what you don’t like about each of them. These blogs aren’t your competition, they are your future community so save them and reach out directly to the writers. Building these relationships will help your own blog gain traffic.
If you are starting your blog for fun and not for a business, I would still suggest going through most of these questions to help you form your ideas and get them on paper.
How to Write a Blog Business Plan
Complete the following questions to start guiding you through what you want your blogs purpose to be.
What is your big idea?
My blog will be about _____________________________________
My blog is solving the following problem _____________________________________
What makes my blog unique? _____________________________________
Blog Name Ideas
*Make sure to pick a blog name that will grow with you. I suggest googling your blog name ideas and check out what the search brings up so you know your competition and if any negative connotations correlate with your blog name. I use Instant Domain Name Search to find out if the URL is available, (I don’t purchase the domain name from this site).
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List 5 – 10 keywords that you will use for your blog’s content:
* A good way to research keywords is through Google AdWords: Keyword Planner. It will show you the keywords that are high vs. low competition and the number of searches for each.
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Who is your competition?
After an internet search for other blogs, these are 3 blogs that I see as direct competition.
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What do you like about these blogs that you could include on your own blog?
What do you not like about these blogs? Why?
List 3 blogs that are well established, that you would like to build your blog to be like:
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Who is your target reader?
Your target reader is who you are writing for. Instead of writing to a large group of people, think of one person and write to them. Your blog will be more personal and engaging to read.
My target reader is _____________________________________
Their hobbies are _____________________________________
Age/Gender/Profession etc.? (be as specific as possible)
I am going to reach them by (ex. website, social media, search engines, word of mouth) *be specific
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What do you plan on writing/creating?
What type of content will your blog have?
* a good mix of a few of the options listed below will help keep your blog interesting
ex:
- Informational
- Educational
- News
- Interviews
- Product Reviews
- Case Studies
- How To post/Tutorial
How often do you plan on updating your blog?
(2x/week, 1x/week, 1x/month etc.)
* Setting a schedule will help you stay organized and let your readers know when they can expect to hear from you. Consistency will help your blog thrive.
List out 10 ideas you have for blog posts
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What will your blog look like? (structure)
Domain Name _____________________________________
(tip: search for available domain names at Instant Domain Search – but don’t buy it here)
Where will you purchase your domain from?
(tip: I always purchase my domains from Bluehost)
Where will you purchase your hosting from?
(tip: if you are planning on using this for your business you will need a self hosted site)
Blog Host _____________________________________
Theme:
(tip: I have had a lot of success with StudioPress Themes for WordPress. I personally don’t recommend Theme Forest after hearing of others past experience with bugs in the themes)
Office Systems
What Invoicing system are you going to use? _____________________________________
(tip: we use Freshbooks for our invoicing for smaller companies)
What Accounting system do you plan to use? _____________________________________
(tip: we use Quickbooks basic)
Check to see if the social accounts are available.
You want to be consistent as you build your brand, so ideally you can get the same social name across all of your social accounts.
- Facebook:
- Twitter:
- Pinterest:
- Instagram:
- Google+:
- YouTube:
Go ahead and sign up for them if you are confident in your name. It’s better to have them than to have them taken later.
How much will your blog cost?
Domain _____________________________________
Host _____________________________________
Theme _____________________________________
Other: _____________________________________
Other: _____________________________________
How much time per week can you realistically spend working on your blog?
How do you plan to make money?
*We will do a separate series going into more detail on how you can make money with your blog – stay tuned!
Sponsorships
Affiliate partnerships
Selling products
What type of products?
Other:
How will you measure success
*We will do a separate series going into more detail on how you measure success of your blog – stay tuned!
- Analytics
- Comments
- partnerships
- time spent
What do I still need to learn?
You’ve listed a lot of goals and plans for the future of your blog, what specifics do you need to learn or get better at to make them happen?
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What does my day-to-day schedule look like
I plan to post _____ times per month.
I will block out the time from ________ and ________ to write.
I will connect in the community for _________ minutes a day. How?
I will get involved in the following Twitter Chat ______________
*Start by picking a popular one in your community and engaging.
The following hashtags are important to my niche
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Whew! We made it through a lot today, and there is still so much more to go over! Take some time to think through these questions and get a better picture of what your plan is for your blog. Next, I will help walk you through, step by step, how to start your mom blog and set it up as selfhosted WordPress blog.
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