The Nike Method of Launching a Blog

Launch a blog the Nike way

There are a lot of guides out there about how to successfully launch a blog, and I’ll admit there are some great tips in those guides. They usually have good advice about keywords, starting with several posts, having a specific vision, being focused and several other topics.

This is great for some people, but it’s not for me.

I tried having a plan and pulling together all the data and picking the perfect topic and keywords, but guess what….I never launched a blog that way. I could never get everything on the checklist done. I couldn’t feel good about launching. I felt like I was failing by not having my blogging house in order before launch.

Then, I just gave up and hit the publish button. I launched my blog with one article, a basic theme and not much else. Whew! I felt this weight lift off my shoulders. I felt accomplished and ready to move forward. Now, it was time to really start my blog.

Everyone knows the Nike slogan of “Just Do It.” Well, when I did just that, I finally had a blog and topic to work on. With a public blog, I now had the motivation I needed to actually start building my blog. Now, to clarify just a little, I’m not saying just buy a domain and launch with no direction. You still need a few things in order to launch your blog.

Passion

You must have passion for whatever you want to write about. I love technology, so I launched a blog about tech tips and tutorials. Those blog launching guides would probably tell you this topic is too crowded, but if I followed all of those tips perfectly, I’d probably be blogging about a topic I don’t care about.

There is still plenty of space online to write about what you want even in “crowded” areas. I’ve grown to a nice audience in a “crowded” space. Okay, so passion for your topic, what’s next?

A Name

The idea of this one is pretty simple, but it can be hard to find the right name. There are lots of tools out there to find a name for your website, but I recommend something simple and memorable. All of my blogs have obvious names, so if I tell someone my link, they know exactly what type of content will be on it.

WordPress

This one is really easy – just use WordPress. Don’t worry about the alternatives. WordPress is the most common and most supported platform, so this step is easy.

Conclusion

The second two things above are so small when you compare their importance to passion. Passion for your topic is what will keep you going. It’s what makes you excited to launch and what makes the Nike method of launching work.

Passion will help you keep your momentum after launch. This momentum is so important, because in order to become a better blogger and grow your blog, you need to write as much as possible. Write on your blog, write on other blogs, just write (even if you don’t publish).

Being a successful blogger takes a lot of work, but at the end of the day, you need articles to even be on the map. Just doing it gets you better at writing and gets more content out there. Sometimes the simple way can be they better way.

How about you – what are your thoughts on launching a blog?

image: sling@flickr

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NoahG_Tidbits 6 pts

Passion is a key component with blog writing. It will drive the desire to write and post. I think passion is something that comes from within. It can permeate through writing that others will notice. Thanks for writing this post and reminding us of the importance of passion :-)

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keepupweb 22 pts

Hi Kyle,

I'm of the Nike "Just Do It" mindset too and I agree with you that it's the passion that differentiates a blog from the rest. Readers can tell if you're "phoning it in" or writing from your heart and they do care.

AnitaDismore 8 pts

What a great article Kyle. Yep that's also what I did. I installed wordpress, a simple theme, and began blogging about kitchen remodeling. You really need to be passionate or it will be hard to keep your motivation. But now it's time to work more on my blog: give it a nicer look, launch a newsletter...

Have a good day!

Anita

KyleJudkins 13 pts

AnitaDismore Sounds like you have it planned out. :D I definitely gave my blog a makeover once I had my posting schedule down and the basics figured out.

help_nonprofits 10 pts

Thanks Kyle, I have been on the fence about a blog for the longest time. I know the value of having a blog, but I am like you, I would focus on keywords and all that jazz, and never accomplish anything. I always felt like you needed to be some writing professional to have a successful blog.

Thanks for such an awesome post. It was very inspirational, and now I am going to "Just do it!"

help_nonprofits Glad I could help! It's so important to just put yourself out there and see what happens. You'll grow your skills so quickly and really learn where you want to take it.

Danie 5 pts

"Just do it" is a great rule for a lot of things in blogging. The wonderful thing about a blog is it can always be tweaked, added too, or morphed into something almost entirely different from that first post. I also agree 100% about just starting with WordPress. I wish I had, but I was figuring it out all on my own. Blogger just seemed simple to use. Thankfully, I jumped ship before more of my blogging friends began having seemingly continual problems with Blogger.

Danie I was the same way, but I was just lucky in picking WordPress.

Tia Peterson 78 pts

Hey Kyle - I agree with you about not having the whole house in order before launching. I do like to have all of the technical components in place. But then, I just launch. Just launched a new blog last week, actually. I am planning to draft out the next 10 posts, but I didn't do that before I officially "launched." It was launched by passion, like you have described here.

My latest conversation: New LiveFyre Feature - Link to your latest post in your comments

DannyBrown 2711 pts moderator

I'm a big fan of the frequent writing, Kyle. Even if it stays private to you, the way it helps build your style and gives you confidence to question things is well worth it.

Cheers!

DannyBrown Writing frequently has also helped me in my day job. It's amazing how much those skills transfer to building a great presentation or crafting a delicate email.

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