Lifestyle Blog

For example, maybe I want to start a blog about easy, no-bake recipes for busy moms. I wouldn’t just make up “Jane” a mom of three who wants to make healthy dinners for her family.

I would choose my friend, Maggie, busy mother of three, going to nursing school after a fews years off from her career in politics. Along with my friend Lori, an attorney for a major lending company, mother of two, avid marathon runner and keeps a watchful eye on cholesteral as heart disease runs in her family. Also with my friend and previous business partner, Jody, mother of two, full-time marketing consultant and vegan. #ihaveawesomefriends

Between these three real-life women, I can definitely create something that speaks to each of them. I can dig into their daily challenges with kids, schedules and desire to create healthy dinners her kids will eat.

Finding your target audience isn’t hard – you probably have something in mind already. Just don’t make up the person you are writing to. Go out and find that person and actually address their pain points.

Mmmmkay?

Now, You’re A Writer

Now that you’ve really drilled down on who you are writing for – you need to wrap your head around the concept that you are now a writer.

Say it with me “I AM A WRITER.” 

Creating a lifestyle blog means you are forever creating content. One of the most shocking realizations I had when I started Chic CEO was that I officially had just become a writer. I remember being very surprised by the amount of time I spent creating content vs. what I thought I’d actually be doing.

The sooner you get comfortable with content creation the better off you’ll be. It’s a lot of work, but incredibly fun!

You may decide videos are your thing – that’s awesome, but you’ll still be doing an insane amount of writing – so get comfortable with it now.

If writing isn’t your thang – no worries, there are so many products out there that will ease the load. Grammarly, for example, helps to make sure you’re spelling and grammar are on point. Temi will transcribe your video or audio files for you for 10 cents a minute. So you can record what you want to say and they will transcribe.

Create Your Website

Now it’s time to create your website. There are a lot of website builders out there that you can easily and beautifully get up and running. 

Squarespace is probably my favorite builder for ease of use and beauty – but there is very little you can do to customize. Wix, Strikingly and Bookmark are also great. 

However, if you are serious about getting your blog to upper level status – WordPress is the gold standard. Much more complicated, but not impossible. 

If you just thought to yourself, “I definitely want to be upper-level status, but I’ll use one of these easy platforms first” STOP RIGHT THERE. 

The more content you create – the harder it will be later to move platforms. Take a few hours and watch some youtube videos and get familiar with WordPress. Creating a lifestyle blog just to let it get lost in the ether of the internet is wasted work. Your website platform matters if you need readers. And let me tell you right now – you need readers. 

Commit a Saturday morning and a pot of coffee to your learning of WordPress. You can do it, I promise. 

I think everyone should know how to work their website. Look at it this way: you can call an Uber, but you should at least know how to drive and put gas in a car. That doesn’t mean you need to know how to change the oil or put in new spark plugs – no need to get under the hood – but you should be able to drive yourself from point A to point B – EVEN IF THAT MEANS SOMEONE ELSE CAN TECHNICALLY DRIVE YOU AROUND.

Making Money

When you’ve made the decision to start blogging – you should be compensated for it. There are a lot of ways for bloggers to make money from their blog and you should try any and all of them. Think about how you plan on making money with your new blog – it’ll inform your website design and your writing.

Here are some ways to make money with your blog:

• Physical Products
• Affiliate Products
• 1:1 Coaching or Mentoring
• DFY: Do It For You services
• Courses

There are, of course, more ways to make money online, but these are a few to get you started. Make sure you build out your money making strategy and incorporate it into all of your content.

Side note: In my 10 years running Chic CEO, I’ve talked to hundreds upon hundreds of women in business. If you are in the camp that you “don’t need to make money” or “I’m afraid to sell” – it’s time to shift your mindset. Giving, giving, giving your time and information creates unbalance of value which will be detrimental to your energy. Don’t do this (speaking from experience here) you’ll end up hating your business or your tribe as you slowly start to feel taken advantage of. Your time and expertise are worth being compensated for.