My blog did a beta launch in May of 2018, and its official Launch in June of the same year. Looking back on the last seven months or so of officially blogging my only regret is that I didn’t start sooner! For me blogging is a creative outlet, my own personal therapist at times (check out my random relationship posts, and mom rants). It is also my accountability. It keeps me continually working to do lots of fun activities with my daughter, it keeps me from being depressed about my single mom status, and right now it earns me a tiny bit of extra money. Its also something I’m proud of! I’m proud that I’ve been able to keep up my blog for this long. I’m still going strong as well. I have lots of fun posts coming up and tons of activities and homeschool moments to look forward too. So, if I haven’t already convinced you to start a mom blog, then I don’t know what will. Sure its a lot of work, but its also a lot of fun!
I started looking into starting a blog, January of 2018. I tried articles, tried to write some, etc. etc. Nothing was really catching on though because I hadn’t found my niche. It wasn’t until I decided to write a mom blog, because I felt I needed the accountability myself to form a lasting relationship with my daughter, that things really took off for me. Not only did my relationship get better, I started reading lots of other mom blogs, and go so many more ideas on how to be a better mom myself. By April 2018 I knew this had to be my niche, it was improving my life by leaps and bounds. I had written a few fun posts that I could start a blog with and now I just needed a host and a plat form. I had heard about BlueHost all over in my research, so I went with it! Everything turned out great there, and it was super affordable, only $3.95/ month (use this link to get the deal)! Next, I decided to go with WordPress, for one reason: it was cheaper than Wix at the time. I don’t regret this decision at all, I was defiantly able to tailor my blog to look just the way I wanted it. 
So if you are looking to start a blog in 2019, I was in your shoes just last year, here’s my current advice for launching your new blog!
1.) Find Your Niche
Without my niche “single mom blogger” I was lost, none of the posts I was trying to write made since. So even if your niche such as single mom of girls blogger, own it!
2.) Pick Your Names
For this I mean pick your brands, what going to be your website name. Some sources say that this part isn’t important, but as I’m looking through blogs on Pinterest to see what latest content I want to follow, the first thing I look at is the branding. What’s the websites name? Next, (not something I look into very often, but occasionally I do) is the authors name, for my blog, I use a pen name. I don’t have a large internet presence in my life so I just felt better about this move. You might feel the same.
3.) Experiment with Writing Posts
I experimented with writing blog posts, and taking photos for about two months before i ever put anything up on my blog (before launching). I must tell you those first posts never went up, they were awful, but the more you write the better you get!
4.) Get a blog related email:
I just signed up for a Gmail with my pen name and my website name. Pretty simple, and that way i have all my blog stuff together. This also gives people a way to contact me aside from the form on my blog. Feel free to contact me through either method if you need to ask questions about blog start up!
5.) Get Canva:
Canva is a life saver! ever scrolling through Pinterest and wonder how all those fancy Pinterest images with the works and photos that are just the right size are made? Its Canva! A free program (I use the android app) that lets you edit photos and create Pinterest pins. There is literally a section for creating pins. You can create a pin in a minute flat, and have it exported to your camera roll in the perfect size. just plop it on your blog and you are ready to go.
I cant rave enough about Canva, because I started out trying to use snipping tool and Microsoft word to make my images, and they were not good! Do yourself a favor and get Canva now! I also use Canva to make all my daughters scrapbook pages, so its good for more than just blogging! (ps. I also used it to design my Christmas cards this year!)
6.) Use Your Phone to Blog (and get these apps)
I rarely ever touch my laptop when working on my blog. In the beginning I did but it was a real pain. I always have my phone on me so I just do some “blogging on the go” style blogging. It works really well when you are a busy mom.
Color Note: I use color note to type out all my blog posts so that I can color code them to the category they will be posting under. It also has a voice to txt feature, which allows you to outline your post while on a long drive home.
Canva: Of course I use the Canva app to make my images!
WordPress App: I use the WordPress app (even though I have my own domain through Blu Host.) to upload all of my posts. Its super easy to upload images for the posts as well.
Google AdSense: I use the app to track my earnings!
Google Calendars: This is how I keep track of the posts I have Scheduled!
7.) Give yourself time, and start small:
This is where you have to give yourself grace, a good blog doesn’t happen over night, in fact I’m still (after 7 months) adding new features to my blog. Get the basics in like what you need to launch and to get Google AdSense and relax for a little bit. Just enjoy creating content and get more familiar with posting.
Give yourself a time frame of when you want to launch your blog as well. have at least 5 posts already on your blog when you officially launch. I refer to this phase as the Beta phase of your blog. its your test run in that first month of having a WordPress subscription to make sure you can do it. With WordPress, if you get a year package you have a month to get a full refund back, so keep in mind this time frame. Lastly start small. I started out with attempting to write a post a week and worked my way up to putting up three posts a week (aside from series posts).
8.) Don’t be intimidated to get google AdSense
I was so intimidated to try for google AdSense, id read reviews where it took application after application to try to get ads on your blog. I read all about the criteria when I first went up for AdSense, and I unnecessarily stressed myself out about it. Here what you will need: privacy policy page, contact page with email, an about page with a name, a personal statement (mines in the side bar of my blog) and a home page. when I applied for Absence I had 15 posts up because i had heard you needed as many as 300 depending on the content. Well I got AdSense first try with what you read above.
