This post has been looooong overdue, and it’s going to be wordy.. but hopefully it will answer a lot of your questions. I get asked at least once a day why we started our blog, how someone can start their own blog, how to grow an already existing blog, and how to make it into a business.

Disclamer: I’m not in any way an expert on this subject, and I’m only speaking from my own personal experience, but it’s worked for us so hopefully it can at least point you in the right direction.

• This is honestly probably the most important rule. Be yourself and write about what you love. Don’t write about what the more popular bloggers write about, they are already taking care of that niche pretty well. Have your own voice. I’m not saying don’t talk about DIY because it’s been done, but talk about it in your own voice and show what you bring to the table. Your readership will appreciate this, I promise.

• Just write like you have the coolest blog in the world because it should be. At first it may seem like no one is listening to you and that you’re pretty much talking to yourself, don’t worry.. you are. For the first few months of blogging we had one reader: my mom. Then as the months went on and we really honed in on what to write about our readership continued to grow. If you just focus on trying to get readers though, you’ll never get them. The whole point of blogging is to write about what you love. If you build it they will come.

• Get personal. Oddly enough, readers love knowing about your real life. Just as we love reading about our favorite bloggers that we don’t even know. I used to feel weird talking about myself or our lives, but every time I poll our readers, I’m asked to share more about our lives besides the design and DIY stuff. The more open and honest you are, the more readers will relate to you. It’s like a bloglationship. Don’t worry this is a real word.

• Whoever said blogging is easy is a dirty dirty liar. Blogging regularly takes some time. If you really want to have a successful blog you should plan to write consistently. We originally started out writing whenever the mood struck, but our friends who consistently read our blog complained that we don’t write enough. So then we started writing every weekday at the same time. That way our readers can work us into their routine of blog reading. Unless there are dire circumstances our readers can expect a new post Monday – Friday at 6am CST. It’s so bad now that we even have people ask us if we’ve died, if a post isn’t up by the time they get their coffee. If you have a routine, it will be much easier to stick to.

• So before blogging everyday you should understand how long each post takes to write:
  2+ hours – doing a project [our longest endeavor being 3 weeks from start to finish]
  1 hour – taking progress photos, setting up items to be photographed
  1 hour – editing/arranging photos/graphics
  1 hour – actually writing the post
  30 min – arranging your photos/graphics into the post
  2 hours – answering comment questions/emails/networking/brainstorming the next post
  Meaning that a total of 8 hours are dedicated to blogging EVERYDAY. Where do we make the time? See next bullet.

•  People always ask me how I always know what to write about. Well trust me, it doesn’t just happen. Each month I develop a blogging schedule where I’ll list out the topics/projects I want to cover each week and how they fall around our different weekly series. This really helps to keep me on the ball so that on any given night I’m not wondering what to write about for the next day because it will all be planned out for me on our schedule. Easy peasy.

• All blogging platforms [Wordpress, Blogger, etc.] allow you to schedule posts, and we try to have at least 5 in the “hopper” at all times. This really helps for the nights when I’ll get home from work and the only thing I want to do is curl up in front of the TV with some mac and cheese. So to take care of those nights it helps to have some backup posts already written for us. Also scheduling allows us to have each post go up at 6am CST every morning without fail.

• Deciding what to write about can be the hardest part. Well what do you love? In our case we love a lot of things, so at the beginning our topics were a little random. We’d write about all the cool things we came across on the internets as well as our own personal projects, plus insights into our lives, plus random recipes, plus technology reviews. It was a little crazy. So we really tried to hone in on what we truly love and now you will consistently find a plethora of DIY projects, how to’s, styling, lately some wedding hoopla, and a few quips about our lives. For us it works much better. We feel more focused and our readers really seem to enjoy our topics. So pick what you love and write it about it like there’s no tomorrow.

• Having a clean and concise blog layout is critical. We’re constantly working on how to improve our layout to make our blog more user friendly for everyone. You want your information to be easy to find and organized. There are some blogs out there [I won't name names] that are a little graphics/text/photo overboard and it gets a little busy and distracting. You want your posts to be the main focus of your blog, so let those stand on their own without too many crazy flashy headers/sidebars. If you need help with developing a clean layout, let me know.

• Also, try and proofread every post. Some people are easily turned off by typos and grammatical errors and will instantly stop reading your blog, while some will let it slide and just wince along the way. I try to read every post twice before publishing it to check for mistakes. Even OCD crazies like me will still let a few slip through the cracks, but if you make an honest effort to put those middle school english classes to work, it will definitely pay off.

• You can never go wrong with lots of good high quality photographs. This doesn’t mean you have to invest in a DSLR, but as long as you capture what is important and take the time to edit your work, it will make a HUGE difference. This goes for your graphics too, layout everything nice and clean so that the important information reads clearly. Plus if you start seeing your work pop up on other people’s blogs or even Pinterest you don’t want to think “man that sure looks out of focus” you want to be proud of your work! There is no point in showcasing that stellar dresser you just repainted if the pictures are all grainy or over exposed. Take pride, and it will pay off.

• If you want to grow your readership you need different ways for people to “follow” you. No we’re not talking about getting a restraining order we’re talking about social networking! I suggest at least setting up a Facebook page and Twitter account if nothing else. We like to go the extra mile here at YMC so you can also find us on Pinterest, Instagram, Bloglovin’, RSS readers, you name it! If you want your blog to be accessible to the masses then you have to be everywhere at once. I know it probably sounds a little overwhelming to have to post on all of these social networking outlets, but have no fear.. that’s what Hootsuite is for! It will automatically post whatever you want at the same time everyday and sync it to all of your social media. Word. Also don’t just be on these social media platforms, but interact on them! We love talking to our readers and friends daily and these just make it so much easier, especially if you’re on the go! Oh and the more you mention your blog the more likely you are to show up in Google’s search results. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

• Comment comment comment! How can you expect people to come and comment on your blog if you never even comment on theirs? You need to be proactive and tell your favorite bloggers why you love them, or a particular post, or their puppy, or whatever. You will always just be a number to them unless you make yourself known and strike up a conversation! We’ve met so many great blogging friends this way. Don’t forget to link back to your blog though so that they [along with their readers] can find you. Oh, but don’t do the whole “I’m following you, follow me back” jazz. This isn’t myspace.

• You should also contact some of your favorite bloggers and ask about collaboration opportunities. This will send all of their readers to your blog, and if you love that blog then you’ll love it’s readers too. Everyone wins! But don’t be disheartened if they say no, some of the bigger bloggers out there are very busy, but at least you’re reaching out to them so they can think about you for future endeavors. We started a great series a while back called 10 things where we featured our favorite creative people including some totally awesome bloggers. This was such a great way to get connected and dive right into the blogosphere. That’s a place. Yep. It also ended up being one of our most popular series, too bad it’s over now.

• Try to find out about tweet-ups and blogger parties in your neighborhood. If there aren’t any, start one of your own! I’m actually in the process of creating one for San Antonio with one of our sponsors, and I couldn’t be more excited! This is such a great way to get out in your community and tell everyone what you’re all about! Build up your readers in your own home town and then see where that gets you! Of course most of our readers are from Texas, but we also have a ton in the UK, Greece, and Australia! What? They must be friends of mothers of aunts of brothers of 3rd cousins twice removed of our original five readers from Texas! Right?

•  You shouldn’t even consider sponsors until you’ve been blogging for a substantial amount of time. We waited a whole year. You want to give your blog time to grow on it’s own, and it will save you from getting shut down a lot from companies who “just don’t think it would be worth the money”. You can still have a sponsor tab that has information about your rates or how to contact you for rates, etc. This shows companies that you’re interested without being in their faces.. yet. Then once you’re awesome and brave email all kinds of vendors and companies that you like (I usually find them from other blog’s sidebars) and introduce yourself, tell them about your demographic, your traffic, and your rates and just see if anyone bites. You’d be surprised! A lot of our sponsors have also found us through other people, so the whole sponsor thing is a huge dating game.

• Once you have the sponsor ball rolling, I would suggest setting up a Paypal business account to keep all of your invoices organized. Then you can easily email your sponsors invoices through the Paypal system every month. It really takes the headache out of everything for sure!

So there you have it, my crash course in blogging. I tried to mention all of my  tips and tricks, but if I’ve left anything out, or you still have some questions please let me know! I want everyone who wants to start writing a blog to jump in and enjoy every moment. I think that everyone who wants to start a blog can and should, it’s such a great creative outlet and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. If this was all a little too long for your liking then here is my last bit of advice:

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel like anyone cares about what you have to say. Blogging should be first and foremost for yourself and those who read it will read it because they want to hear what YOU have to say. If you’re just wanting a get rich quick scheme, this definitely is not it. Blogging definitely takes patience, time, and severe dedication. Just write about what you love and everything else will fall into place!