Blogging can be a lot of fun and profitable at the same time. It can also turn into a living nightmare. One way to avoid the bad dreams is to take some time before you begin your blog to organize and define some basics.

4 Basics to Define Before you Begin

1. What type of blog do you want to write?
2. What type of blogger are you?
3. What types of blog posts will you write?
4. What blogging platform is best for you?

Let's look into number one first. In future articles I will cover the other 3 in depth.

1. What type of blog do you want to write?

Over the last few years I've taken quite a few different blogging courses. Each course had it's own focus and specialty. One common thread of them all, however, was the concept of determining where you want to be in the blogosphere before your begin. Defining your main topic area will save you a lot of time and effort down the road.

Top Blog Topics

Self Improvement
Includes Lifestyle.

Creative
Includes writing, cooking, hobbies, art, crafts, and DIY.

Business
Includes all different types of business blogs as well as Entrepreneurship.

Parenting
This is a very wide topic and includes groups of bloggers like the Mommy Bloggers.

Marketing
Includes marketing for profit businesses as well as nonprofits.

Personal Finance
Includes everything from budgeting to all the different types of investing.

Freelance
Includes everything from writing to high tech.

Technology
Includes personal and business technologies as well as gadgets.

Blogging/ Social Media
Covers both business and personal use.

Careers

News and Entertainment

Religion / Spirituality

Note: While each of these topic areas can stand alone, the most successful blogs use one of the topics as its main focus and then add several of the other topics to draw in a wider audience.

This works well because most of us have lives that touch into several different topic areas. By combing topics while maintaining one main focus you help people who are interested in multiple areas so they don't have to read several blogs to find what they are looking for.

Before you dive into your first blog take some time to define what your main focus area will be. Pick something that you love so that the blog will remain fun for you over time. Then add in some other topics you feel fit well together.




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