So you’re thinking of starting a lifestyle blog, huh? Good for you! There’s never too much great advice out there for folks who are looking to feel better and live their best lives. If you’re trying to give them help and advice, that’s such a wonderful mission in life. The only question is where to start. Should you go for a WordPress site or design your blog on Wix? Maybe you should just keep to Instagram—or even TikTok! There are so many options out there, and they all depend on exactly who you want to reach and the type of content you’re excited about sharing.
That’s why the very first thing to decide, before you choose a platform or craft a brand, is who you’re trying to connect with. Are you excited about helping postpartum moms build up ab strength by posting the best ab workout on the web? Do you want to inspire people to set out on a worldwide adventure? How about getting business savvy—maybe your passion lies in motivating folks to achieve their career goals. However you’d like to move people toward living the dream, there’s a way to get it done.
Starting a Travel Blog
What could be better than a blog that inspires people to set out on a grand adventure, outside their comfort zones and into the great wild somewhere? If you’re interested in this route, it’ll probably be a significantly image-based venture. You’ll be shooting pictures of all the locations you visit, and you’ll want to make each beautiful place even more beautiful by pairing the scenery with some travel fashion, of course. That may mean comfortable shoes for a hike, or merino wool in cooler climates. You’ll probably want some versatile clothes that can work equally well at a fashion-forward brunch in New York City and as you hike the mountains in the Carolinas. Either way, a travel blog should be tailored to the purpose of sharing each beautiful place you visit, and that probably means you should start it on a photo-friendly platform like an Instagram profile that’s paired with Squarespace.
Starting a Fitness Blog
Helping people get healthy! That’s a pretty wonderful mission, too. In the end, we need our health before we can visit any beautiful place in the world, right? In this case, you’ll probably have a strongly video-based blog. You’ll be posting videos with titles like “Ab Workouts for Men” that provide tips on the best plank position or how to work the obliques and how to crunch properly. You may have a full video of plank exercises to work the lower back and lower abs, or you may post a series of ab workout options and workouts for glutes, core strength, and upper body strength, workouts with dumbbells, or other muscle groups and topics. Either way, you’ll want to make sure you choose a platform that pairs well with YouTube since that’s likely where you’ll post most of your videos. Many site builder platforms also allow you to upload videos to stream right on your blog, so be sure to look into that as well.
Starting a Business Blog
Another popular topic for bloggers is business success. One can draw a straight line between business success and overall quality of life, and that’s probably because money is often a huge cause of stress. To do this, you should probably choose a text-based platform, like WordPress, and lean heavily on LinkedIn and Twitter to find followers. Just look at Prabir Purohit, for example. As vice president of finance at Dominion Energy, Purohit can give concrete advice on the best way to work toward a financially successful business and where to invest for the best success. He wouldn’t be just posting on Instagram about it, though. You’re more likely to see Purohit speaking or writing on these topics. Learning from success stories like Purohit can guide your business blog to success as well.
Whatever your goal is, taking on a new endeavor like a blog is an advanced challenge for the entrepreneur in you, and it will take the endurance and motivation of a gladiator to get it done. Don’t lose heart, though! With the right coordination between all the moving parts, and by learning the basics from those who’ve gone before you, you can take your dream and make it into a reality. You don’t need an MBA to have a successful lifestyle blog. You just need to look at those who are succeeding and ask yourself what they’re doing that works. Then, ask what you could do even better. Make an actionable plan (try SMART goals to really get yourself on the right track) and dive in. You’ll be surprised just how capable you are. Your own vision plays an integral role in your success, so don’t ever forget that it’s your dream that’s driving you forward.
