The few friends who know that I blog find it cool. They don’t usually say much about what they think about me being a blogger. But, when they uncover that I write for more than one blog, then curious minds start to wonder.

So, today, thought I’d do a quick recap of how I got to here. What made this possible. Of course, this is not a self-help guide to becoming a successful blogger. I’m just celebrating this journey at this milestone that I’m making up for today.

This Blogger’s Journey: A quick recap

In the beginning, it was just a concept. Many of my friends were writing blogs. Most of the podcasts I was listening to at the time said blogging was a very great place to establish a corner on the web. However, the warning was in the air that it was not an easy thing to do anymore. The landscape was getting pretty thick with many aspiring writers hoping to capture a huge audience.

While the thought of a huge audience was appealing, in all honestly, I never had the delusion that my stuff would captivate a huge crowd. I’ve had enough playing experience online to know that many folks don’t find my day to day stuff of any interest.

I’m just an average Joe who would like to be seen as more than average. It would be nice to be that source of interest that makes other’s lives feel motivated and inspired.

This reverie was not doing my writing hopes any good at all. I stayed in fear and played small. Which, by the way, doesn’t help anyone at all! Especially yourself

Started Small

I figured I’d just start a small blog about topics that would be serious and important to readers. Then, of course, I realized, most readers were shifting to mobile and that is not ideal for serious existential type long reads. And so the worry kept getting to me.

However, there was another side of me wanting and hoping to get free. What if, instead of making this one super cool informational blog that carried my name, I just focused on learning how to start a blog. this is part of the reason this post is here… instead of a yet to be created super blog with my name on it

Learning the basic mechanics in a non-threatening way with a low commitment bar felt less scary. Earlier on Monday, I blogged about breaking goals down into bite sizes. That was how I got started.

My launch sequence:

I narrowed the small steps into just a few that I could easily handle. And surprisingly, the hardest part was finding a name for the blog. Especially one that was not used by any other sites.

So. Let’s cover the basic steps I took.

1- Relax. Breathe. Remind yourself that no one knows of your blog. No one cares. No one will see it. Not until you put it out there and market it to your friends anyway.

2- I spent a few days Googling names that would cover my area of interest, mean something, and sound cool but not cheesy. And lo-and-behold I found that photographers didn’t use lens too much in their site names at the time.

3- Once I found a name, it was time to figure what platform to use. One that was free and had room for me to grow if ever I was so lucky to hit it big online. I’m still waiting on that day by the way.

4- I then signed up. I opted to go generic. Keep the SEO thing clear of my name…just in case the blog flopped or someone thought my name was worth taking (silly in hind sight really). Today, not sure that was a good or bad idea yet.

5- I started to write once in a blue moon on the blog. Started to experiment. Then, discovered I actually enjoy writing. Now, of course, no one is really seeing all my ‘brilliant’ ideas. But doesn’t matter. I was periodically writing and that was good enough for me.