You decided to start your DIY and craft blog. You’ve got so many ideas for branding, blog posts, and marketing strategy. Before you begin, here are a couple of items to consider. There’s some strategizing you have to do. A little planning ahead of time can make a big difference in the end.

Here are 10 Things to Know Before You Start Your DIY and Craft Blog

1- Decide on a short term goal and long term goal.
Ideally, both of your goals would be attainable. For your short term goal, I suggest making it easily attainable where it’s something you can control: i.e. blogging at least 3x a week, research SEO, coordinate all of your social media pages. The long term goal would be things like getting a few thousand views a month, a few hundred fans on social media pages, or the opportunity to do sponsored posts. Setting some goals beforehand will help keep your focus.

2- Choose your narrative.
If you want this blog to purely be about DIY and Crafts, go for it. You could go into subcategories such as papercrafts, kids crafts, affordable DIY, woodworking. If you want to add lifestyle in there (topics such as parenting, recipes, etc.), do that at the beginning as to not alienate your following later on.

3- Decide on your blog’s purpose
Will it be tutorials? Will it be a memoir? Will it be entertainment? Are you planning to include photos? Maybe videos?

4- Pick a name.
Names are really important. It should be catchy to help people remember it and at least somewhat reflective of what the blog is about. I highly suggest choosing a name that is reflects on you. Also try to choose a name that will stick for a long time. Rebranding later is a pain-in-the-you-know-what.

5- Branding
Once you have a name, check to see of the social media handles are available. A consistent brand across social media will help your brand establish credibility

6- Do you plan to monetize?
If you do, then I would forego the free options such as wordpress.com or blogger. WordPress.org would be your best blogging platform, as it gives you the most freedom. When I started my blog, I used Bluehost as I was new to blogging, and they are super user-friendly, and they almost always have a deal for a few dollars a month for hosting your website. Think of it like Starbucks money. One grande frappuccino for a whole month of website hosting, and the opportunity to customize your website, have ads, and more control over your brand.

7- What kind of content?
What kinds of content will you produce beyond text? Photos? Videos? Printables? If it’s going to be graphic or photo heavy, I suggest investing into software like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator and learning the ropes. If you’re a photo and graphic noob like I was (noob is short for “newbie”), then I recommend an easy-to-learn web-based software like PicMonkey or Canva.

8- Connect with other bloggers
Look around your niche and read their materials. Leave comments, start building your tribe. These are the people you will go to if there’s news in your blogging niche or any great strategy to grow your audience.

9- The time commitment
If you’re looking to grow your audience or make money, know that it will come with time. Blogging successful doesn’t mean writing an article. It means promoting the article. Learning new ways to market the content. Implementing new tools to help drive traffic. Blogging is not only a hobby, it’s a learning experience. Some people pick it up right away. Others take a little longer (me).

10- Comparison is a killer
When you start comparing yourself to other bloggers, you’ll immediately be on a negative path. Try not to be jealous or envious of what other bloggers do or have. Make your blog the best it can be. And yes, people will have similar content out there. Write it anyway but put your own spin on things.

Getting Started:

Now all you have to do is choose a host (I highly recommend Bluehost. They are so affordable, and I used them when I first started blogging), setting up a domain, choosing a platform, and picking out your theme (My theme is “Marilyn by Bluchic, so chic and affordable!).

Here is the easy technical steps in starting your blog: How to Start a DIY and Craft Blog: A Step by Step Guide with Pictures.

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How to Start a DIY and Craft Blog

The Best Names for Your DIY and Craft Blog

How to Set Up Your DIY and Craft Blog the Easy Way (Tutorial With Pictures)

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