If you’re like a lot of people (hundreds? Thousands? Millions?), you’ve got something to say. Whether the topic be politics, food, kids, design and décor, fashion or any number of other topics, at one point or another you may have said to yourself, “I need a blog.” And why not? A blog is a fantastic platform for sharing your thoughts, writing, projects, designs and opinions with the world. A blog design template can be on a free platform, like Blogger.com or WordPress.com, or you can actually create your own footprint on the web with a self-hosted blog design template at WordPress.org (self-hosted WordPress). There are many choices for custom blog design (and custom website design, if you want to take that step), you can either set the blog up on your own using a free or pre-made blog design template, or you can hire a blog designer to assist you with getting the look and feel of your blog set up to clearly reflect your personality, and more importantly, the content you plan to write about. But once you get those steps out of the way, and you have your shiny new blog design, what do you do with it?
A lot of people today get into blogging because they immediately expect to make money from it. There are now hundreds of bloggers who have become relatively famous simply from blogging. It’s the infamous “X” factor (Coach x Cupcakes and Cashmere, for instance). So of course anyone would think to themselves (myself included!), I too can get rich quick sitting at home in my pajamas (and of course, occasionally setting up the Nikon DSLR!). But alas, it’s just my personal opinion that the market is pretty glutted with fashion and design blogs now, and you need to have something really unique and special to stand out. Which is not meant to be off-putting, it’s just that back in 2008, blogs were a relatively new thing and most of the famous gals now were at the forefront of the blogging revolution. So what makes a blog special these days? In my opinion, it’s not the custom blog design, though starting off on the right foot with a solid and professional-looking online presence is definitely a big plus), it’s more about authenticity. The bloggers that I like the most are the ones who seem real. I mean, come on, who really goes home at night after a long day at work and sits in a bubble bath with a plate of macarons from Ladurée? It’s fake, and fake is really unappealing I think. So the advice I like to give new bloggers is to let your personality shine though. Don’t copy others. I don’t copy other designs as a blog designer, and you shouldn’t copy others with the style of posts that you write. Stay true to yourself, and be real. Don’t make up a life. If you live in Idaho, big deal, you don’t have to front like you’re from New York City. I know what a New York City gal’s life is like, I can watch reruns of Sex and the City. What I don’t know about is what it’s like to live on a farm in Idaho, and how you make rustic chic and authentic. Or how much you hate it and can’t wait to get to New York City! The whole appeal is that it’s real. So, no matter what content you choose to write about, write from the heart.
