Today is the first day of my 21-Day Blogging Challenge. I have committed to writing 21 blog posts in 21 days. That’s a lot of writing, but I know I can do it, and still keep my posts interesting. Since I’m running the challenge, I really need to make sure I act as a good example, and write all of my posts.
Why do this challenge? For me, the purpose is to get into the habit of writing on a daily basis. I love to write, and I love to share knowledge, so I expect this will be a fun challenge.
The challenge has 4 phases, which I will explain in this, my first challenge post.
Phase 1: Get a Blog
Before you can write anything, you need to actually have a blog. If you already have a website, there’s a good chance it has blog capabilities, so you should start there.
Don’t have a website? You can create one! I very highly recommend WordPress. It was literally made for blogging. You can get a WordPress site through one of these hosting providers (some of the links below are affiliate links, so I’ll receive a commission if you make a purchase):
My personal favorite is WP Engine, and that’s where we put a lot of our client websites.
WordPress is pretty easy to use, but if you want a jump-start, check out my WordPress Crash Course.
Phase 2: Select a Niche
You probably already have a general topic for your blog in mind. That is your niche. When you select your niche, I suggest you to try to make it somewhat narrow, but not so narrow that you won’t have an audience.
I currently have three blogs, each with a different niche:
- Pongos Interactive – Getting Your Business Online
- Pongos Learning Lab – STEM Education for Kids
- Blog Name TBA (I’m starting it this weekend!) – RV Camping
Why make it your niche narrow? In my opinion, it makes it easier to write. For my Pongos Learning Lab blog, coming up with posts is often a no-brainer. I just need to pick an activity that we do with the kids, and write about it. Easy! It’s often a little harder to come up with post ideas for the Pongos Interactive blog, because it’s more broad. There are so many things we can cover in that niche.
Another reason to select a narrow niche is because it may appeal more to your specific audience. With the Pongos Interactive blog, my audience is business owners who want to get online. Many of them will appreciate the posts we add about SEO, social media, and the like. But some of my potential audience might not like the breadth of topics that we cover, and won’t take the time to read my WordPress posts when they use Squarespace or Wix.
Phase 3: Plan Your Topics
Yesterday I took the time to write out 22 blog post titles, so that way I’m not scrambling to come up with something every day, and I can just focus on writing. Here’s my list:
- Pongos Learning Lab
- How to Make Unicorn Slime
- How to Make Oobleck
- Toys We Tried: Snap Circuits (not sure which set)
- Toys We Tried: Gravity Maze
- Toys We Tried: Makey Makey
- Toys We Tried: littleBits
- How I Became a STEM Educator
- My Favorite STEM Books for Preschoolers
- Just What is a Pongo, Anyway?
- Favorite Messy STEM Activities
- Pongos Interactive
- 21-Day Blogging Challenge Check-In – Day 1
- 21-Day Blogging Challenge Check-In – Day 7
- 21-Day Blogging Challenge Check-In – Day 14
- 21-Day Blogging Challenge Check-In – Day 21
- Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing
- 5 Ways to Monetize Your Content
- 5 (More) Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website
- Creating Social Media Graphics with Canva
- 25 Years as a Web Developer
- New Blog (Name is TBD, but niche is camping)
- Camping During COVID-19
- Merry Meadows Recreation Farm
- Brunswick Family Campground
Phase 4: Write Your Posts
The goal of the challenge is to write 21 posts in 21 days, but that doesn’t mean you have to write one post each day. Today is Day 1, and this is my first post, but I will probably write a couple more posts today, so I can spend the weekend relaxing.
The purpose of the challenge is to get into the habit of writing content for your blog, but posts don’t have to be super long. In fact, you could write a post that’s only 3-4 paragraphs long, and that will count just as much as a post that’s however long this one is.
What’s Next?
I’m going to keep on writing! Expect to see some more posts about the challenge during the next 21 days.
If you’d like to join a challenge like this one, sign up for the 14-Day Blogging Challenge, which I hope to start on the first of every month. You can request to join the Facebook group to get all of the details.