Are you super ready to buy your domain name, design your blog, and start dishing out great content?
Patience young grasshopper!
I know it can be exciting to get going, but first, we need to make sure you are choosing the right topic and right name to build the back of your business on.
Determine Your Blog Topic
Choosing the wrong niche or too broad of a niche is one reason that many blogs fail.
Most people say you should start a blog about something you’re interested in and the rest will follow.
That’s a nice easy way of thinking about things, but I don’t believe it’s entirely true. Not all topics are going to bring you success.
You should, of course, be interested in the topic you are writing about, but it also needs to be a topic that has the potential to make you money.
So, what topics are great for blogging?
Here are my top choices for you. Under these umbrellas you can niche down further:
-Fitness & Health
-Cooking
-Event Planning
-Parenting
-Home Decor
-Self Help
-Finance
-Business
-Fashion & Beauty
-Destination Travel
Now, why do I suggest these particular topics? Well…
1. These are all topics in which people tend to spend a lot of money
2. These are all topics in which you can easily create your own products
3. These are topics in which you can solve a problem for your readers
Although these are my top categories for you, that doesn’t mean you need to limit yourself to them.
However, do your research before you commit to something else.
Maybe you know there is a fanatical community out there of bonsai garden lovers who are always looking for advice and will happily buy any quality bonsai related products.
Well, go for it!
I’m not here to hold you back, only to make you a bit cautious.
Tip: I don’t suggest choosing to build your career on the back of the hobby that gives you the most peace. For example, cooking is my relaxation. I would never start a cooking blog. I don’t want to have to take a million pictures every time I cook and carefully record every ingredient I put into my meals. This would take away a lot of the joy.
Under My Umbrella, ella, ella, ella, eh
Once you have an umbrella blog topic it is best to narrow it down into an even smaller niche.
Niche that niche!
Keep in mind that your goal is always to take your reader from Point A to Point D. So, think about what specific problem you know people have and how you can solve that problem for them.
I know it can be difficult to think of a defined niche. I suggest you start by brainstorming struggles you’ve been through and how you came out on the other side.
These types of struggles are great because you have lived it. You know how to get your future blog readers to the solution of their problem.
Also, remember the reason you need to niche down is because in order to get your readers to love and trust you, you need to take them on their own little treasure map.
Did you ever play Candy Land as a kid?
You want to be Queen Frostine, the friendly person that wants people to get to the end of their journey rather than Gloppy, equally friendly but just wants friends, so tends to get them stuck in molasses so they can’t leave him.
Remember, the journey for your readers will be
– Have a problem (Point A)
– Discover your awesome content and begin to see their problem more clearly (Point B)
– Begin to trust you and start to see how their problem could be solved (Point C)
– Use your knowledge/ products/ and services to actually fix their problem (Point D)
When you focus on a smaller niche it is easier to leverage yourself/blog as an expert in a specific topic. This allows your readers to trust you on another level as they would for a more broad blog topic.
For example, maybe you want to start a blog on parenting.
Ok, let’s narrow that down a bit more.
Maybe you want to blog about parenting teens on the autism spectrum. Maybe you have successfully raised two children on the spectrum and would love to share your knowledge with others.
Let’s narrow down once more and focus on helping parents of teens on the autism spectrum to transition their child from high school into the next step of life.
You would take your reader from:
Loving parents who just want the best for their teen with autism, but are feeling a bit lost about what will come after they graduate. (Point A)
All the way to
Loving parents of a young adult on the autism spectrum who is thriving in life after high school. (Point D)
Tip: Keep in mind that you don’t need to only start one blog. You can eventually start several. I say this because often people struggle to niche down, but it makes it a bit easier when you realize there are millions of future opportunities for you to start another blog. Once you do it once, starting again becomes a piece of cake!
Lifestyle Bloggers
I know. I know. There are a lot of people out there killing it as lifestyle bloggers. These are the people who write about all things related to their typical lifestyle.
People want to become a lifestyle blogger because they see the potential for success. Plus, who doesn’t love to write or talk about themselves and have loyal followers?
However, it is extremely difficult to become a lifestyle blogger. There is a lot of social media work that goes on and you really need to establish yourself as an “influencer.”
Again, I’m not saying “don’t do it”.
I’m just saying, if you plan on following my framework; if you plan on starting your blog as a business as fast as possible; if you plan on making your dream income from blogging, it is best to niche down and focus on one small topic for your blog based business.
Tip: Sign up below and I will give you access to my Success Library. There is a great workbook in there that will walk you through the niche defining process in more detail. It’s awesome!
Your Mission Statement
Once you have come up with your narrowed down niche topic it is time to define your mission statement.
Having a mission statement makes it easy for you to explain your blog to others and allows you to maintain a clear mindset on what your blog topic is.
Creating your mission statement is really easy. All you need to do is state the problem your readers will have in the beginning (Point A) and where they will end up (Point D).
So, let’s stick with the example I used above of starting a blog about helping teens on the autism spectrum transition from high school into the real world.
My mission statement would be:
(Your Blog Name) helps parents find the best post-high school options for their teens on the autism spectrum so they can thrive.
Easy peasy!
I suggest writing your mission statement down and putting it somewhere in your office that you can always see.
It helps when writing blog posts, partnering with companies etc. to look at your statement and think “does this reflect my overall goal?” If the answer is no, don’t bother putting it on your site.
Name That Blog!
When it comes to naming your blog it is best to name it something that easily distinguishes what you are writing about.
For example, I run a blog about Costa Rica travel. I, of course, have the words “Costa Rica” in the name.
This blog is about blogging. So, I of course, have the word “blog” in the name.
It’s not too complex. And naming your blog should be fun.
Here are a few fun names I’ve helped come up with for clients or for my own blogs:
Updated Urbanite– A DIY home decor blog for people living in small urban spaces
The Minted Suitcase– A travel blog written by a woman who has bad motion sickness and always uses peppermint oil to cure it
Spruced Up Blog– My blog layout site. I liked the double meaning of “spruce” and kept a woodsy theme throughout the site.
If you need help coming up with names, I suggest the free site Namechkr. It can sometimes be glitchy, but it is great for seeing if your name is available across all platforms.
Another helpful tool is Thesaurus.com. Check out tons of different alternative words.
Keep in mind that if possible, your site should be a .com. This gives your blog an image of authority and legitness to your readers.
Tip: Sign up below and I will give you access to my Success Library. There is a great workbook in there that will walk you through the blog naming process in more detail. It’s awesome!
Once you think you have come up with a great name I suggest sleeping on it and asking a few close confidants for their opinion.
Don’t buy your domain name yet. We will get to that in just a moment.
Summary:
- Write about something you are interested in, but it should also be in one of the profitable blog topics
- Niche down your topic to leverage yourself as an expert
- Everything you do with your blog based biz should be a reflection of your mission statement
- Name your blog something that reflects your topic
