With the upward surge in the creation of blogs, put at about 172,800 daily, you may have thought about starting a blog; taking up blogging as a career, a medium of expression and connection with the world.



Blogs produce tons of contents every day, making it one of the most lucrative modern day careers. The Linda Ikejis, Darren Rowses, and Omojuwas of the blogosphere have gained fame and fortunes with their

blogs.



However, there are basic thing you must know before starting a blog, so you don't join the millions who are bent on starting a blog only to abandon it after a couple of blog posts.



Blogging is Not All About Entertainment and Gossip
Gossip and Entertainment

Sometime ago, I was discussing with someone and I told him that I have starting a blog and the next thing he said was that “na una won dey carry all those gossip abi?

I tried explaining to him that opening a blog is not all about gossips and the mad world of breaking news prevalent in the entertainment/news niche.



If you’re interested in starting a blog, chances are that you may have heard that Linda Ikeji and some other bloggers are “making it” and so, the best thing for you is to join the bandwagon.



However, there are a million and one topics you can blog about, provided it is fueled by passion, knowledge and a well-mapped out plan.



Maybe you still want to go into the news/entertainment/gossip blogging niche; it is not a bad idea but just know there is more to blogging than these areas.



Choose a Niche
Choose a Blog Niche

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when you begin blogging is to focus on everything. Yes, everything!

You do music, sports, comedy, motivation, fashion, writing etc in one blog.

Haba! Na only you waka come?



You might be find it had picking up a particular area –niche –to work on, but at the end of the day, it’ll speak well for you.

When you are blogging about many things, without choosing a niche, your readers will not only end up being confused as to what you’re doing, you might not easily get targeted traffic and even advertisers when you want to monetize the blog.



Imagine if you start a blog where you talk about politics today, religion tomorrow, sports next week, and a sports wear outfit wants to place an ad or sponsored post.



What do you think the outfit will do? Go! No one wants to put his ad money on where they are not sure of it reaching the right audience.



Again, you lose the chance of becoming an expert in any niche. Check within yourself and discover those things you’re passionate or knowledgeable about –they may be pointers to the niche you can blog about.



Blogging is not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme


When many people hear “blogging”, they think “sharp money” –faster than Ponzi schemes.

You may have heard about the Linda Ikeji blog that rakes in millions yearly but that didn’t come over night.



Aside having the first timer advantage, Linda Ikeji’s blog is a product of determination, perseverance and hard work.

You invest your time, money, intellect; name it, to make your blog profitable.



If you are starting a blog and expect to rake in millions of naira in one month, then you’d reconsider your calling.

It takes consistency, provision of value and a well-thought out plan to get monetary value, directly or indirectly when you open a blog.



Be Ready to Provide Value


Now that you’ve succeeded in starting a blog, traffic and money are not going to pour down as rain.

One thing that can get people to visit your blog is when it solves their problems.



This is one basic reason you should consider a niche, not just talk about everything, before you start a blog.

When people visit your blog, they are there to learn, get solutions to their challenges –if you’ll do this, your blog will stand out among the myriads of blogs sprouting up daily.



Good Writing Skill is a Basic Requirement for Blogging
Writing Skills

Don’t think I’m talking about bagging a PhD in English language.

No. In fact, you don’t need a degree in such area if intend starting a blog.

However, if you are one of those that dread writing, blogging might be out of place for you –except you hire a ghost writer to produce the contents for you.

You’d be able to string one or two good sentences together as a blogger –it is not negotiable.

That’s not saying you can’t still learn on the job if you're starting a blog.



Now you know it is never enough starting a blog. You need loads of consistency and hard (smart) work, and erasure of some erroneous conception about it if you intend going far.


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