How to Start a Blog with No Money, No Camera and No Experience (Yet)
The Blog Squad V.1
So you want to start a blog? Great! You’re in the right place.
Or maybe you don’t, and you’re just curious as to how this whole “blogging” process works. And that’s great too.
Either way, I wanted to give TWR community a little something different than my usual posts on food and fitness. So here it is; Volume 1 of a new mini-series I’m calling The Blog Squad, which I hope will help some of you overcome your blogging fears and hesitations, whatever they may be.
All right, enough pep talk. Let’s get to it.
When I started my blog over a year ago (when it used to be called Hello Cass), I had no freaking clue what I was doing.
SEO; what’s that? Professional pictures; no thanks. Getting traffic to my blog; oh, that’ll happen naturally.
Little did I know that starting a blog would A. become my passion, B. introduce me to so many amazing bloggers, and C. be really, really hard work.
The secret to starting a blog
There are a lot of things I know now that I wish I’d known back then. Things like how to write a good title that catches readers’ attention or the time of day you should be posting to Facebook, etc. etc. But the most important thing I wish I had known when my blogging journey began was that it’s okay to not know what you’re doing and start anyway.
“It’s okay to not know what you’re doing and start anyway”
I remember the idea of starting a blog popped into my head about 6 months before I ever put my words onto the screen. I was 23, I had just lost my dad, I was in love with a F-boy, I didn’t have a job, I was living at home, and I was confused as hell as what to do next. I needed something that would release my emotions because I wasn’t very good at doing it naturally. That’s when writing came into play.
It took me months to muster up the courage and put my emotions out there for everyone to see and read. It was scary. I thought people wouldn’t like my writing, maybe they would make fun of me for using incorrect grammar, or maybe no one would care what I had to say. On top of that, I had no money, I didn’t have a camera to take pictures (I still don’t), and I had no effing clue as to what I was doing.
But when I put my fingers to the keyboard and just started to type, amazing things happened.
Check out The Wellness Rookie’s first ever post here
I had gotten over my fear of failure and self-doubt, and just started to write what I wanted and how I wanted. I can’t even explain to you how good I felt when I had finished my first post. Ya, it might not have been the best or the most interesting blog post I’ve ever done, but it was definitely the most important one. I felt liberated, I felt accomplished and I felt happier than I had been since before I’d lost my dad. It was and will be my favorite post I'll ever write.
So after you get out of your own way and actually start writing, what could possibly stand in your way? Well, there are still a few things that hinder people from really going for it; money, a camera and experience. So here are a few tips to get over those "limitations" and start blogging like a pro.
How to start a blog with no money
You know that age-old saying “no money, no problem”? Well, that definitely applies here. You don’t need thousands of dollars to start blogging.
For starters, there are free websites you can use to host your blog that also give you a free domain name. Sites like Wix, Doodlekit and Weebly have a great selection of templates and themes. All you have to do is plug-in your information and content.
Another free way to blog is to do guest posts on other people’s blogs. Most bloggers love it when people approach them with ideas and content. Just make sure your style of writing, vibe and topics are in-line with the blogger you are interested in working with.
Want to write for The Wellness Rookie? Check out how you can contribute here!
How to start a blog with no camera
I’m amazed that this so-called “problem” exists. You don’t need a fancy-schmancy camera to start a blog. I’m living proof. I have never had a camera and I still don’t have one. Don’t get me wrong, if I had the money and the know-how to operate one, I definitely would have bought a camera a long time ago. But I don’t, and that’s my reality. So I make do as best as I can.
All of the photos I take (besides the professional ones of me) are with my iPhone and some really good editing apps. The 3 pieces of advice I can give you when it comes to taking good photos are:
- Make sure you have good, natural light
- Choose clean and consistent backgrounds
- Don’t over-edit your photos (unless that's your style)
Two of my favorite editing apps are VSCO for regular photos and Foodie for food shots.
How to start a blog with no experience (yet)
This “problem” is an easy one to fix…just start! Being a good blogger doesn’t happen overnight. I am constantly learning on new ways to improve things like my writing style, my website functionality, my opt-in (like my FREE Wellness Guide) and the way I share and market my posts.
Blogging is definitely one of those fields that will always be evolving and changing, so you have to make the time to keep up. There are lots of resources out there to help you learn the specifics and tips to become a better blogger. My favorites are:
- Bloguettes-for amazing online webinars, toolkits and even stock photos
- Business Coaches specifically for online entrepreneurs and bloggers
- Online education courses like the Secret Blogger’s Business (which I did last year and it immensely changed how I viewed my blog as a business).
- Researching and reaching out to other blogs you like to follow. Take note of the little things you like and don’t like…. wording, templates, colors, websites, etc.
These among many other things are great tools to help you gain the experience you need to start running a successful blog.
The moral of the story? Keep learning. Blogging is hard and it’s definitely something you can’t learn in one day. Just stick with it, keep writing amazing and valuable content and the rest will follow.
Stay tuned for the next blogging series post where we get down to specifics! Got a blogging question? Leave a comment below or email me here! It may be the topic for my next post…
XO, Cass