I am no expert and I don’t claim to be one either, but I learn along the way, read a lot and find ways to improve on what I do constantly.  I hope these 5 tips will help you when starting your blog.

1.   What is the central theme of your blog?

Having given this some thought, I realise that, perhaps, my own blogs do not really have a centralised theme.  I am going to be changing this shortly and to have 3 blogs.  One for Direct Assist Online, which will focus on Social Media and Social Media Tools, another one Romany Thresher.com, which will focus on personal development and my views, and, lastly, a South African blog where the theme will be centred around a South African audience.

2.  Who is your audience going to be?

Who is likely going to read your blog?  I found this to be a difficult question to answer, especially for my Direct Assist Online blog, as I felt that most business people, who are in fact my target audience, don’t really have the time to read any blogs for that matter.  However, giving it a bit more thought, I realised that doing some “how to” blogs focused on Social media tools, perhaps, may do the trick, as I have found that many small business owners are currently managing their own social media. In a survey I conducted recently I have found out that this audience is spending roughly 30 to 60 hours a month on Social Media. Wow, they need to be using a social media assistant to reduce the time thus spent, so they can focus on face to face networking and other income producing tasks.

3.  Big picture audience or a Detailed audience?

Another important factor to consider is whether you are writing for the “big picture audience” or, perhaps, an audience who likes plenty of detail.  I am very much a big picture person, and I know I write in a big picture way, so I thought it would actually be a good thing for me to mention this in the about me section of my blog.

4.  What type of blogs your audience would be interested in?

This is a good exercise to do, then you can explore they style of writing, what makes it readable, what about the blog gets people to comment, etc.

5.  What topics could you write about?

For example, if you had a blog site with a photography theme, you could write about various types of cameras and do reviews on each, various types of lenses, lighting tips, ways you can take pictures in the best possible way and so on.  But you need to make sure you have the list of topics in mind, and not just start a blog because you feel like starting it.

In a nutshell, do some thorough research first, and start your blog later.