On Friday last week I put out a call for questions about anything related to blogging on my afternoon post and Facebook page in hopes of putting together a Q&A-style post to address the questions you have have about starting a blog, marketing a blog, etc.
The questions poured in and I quickly realized that a one-time post wouldn’t be sufficient or would be entirely too long that you’d likely pass out from information overload about a quarter of the way through. Plus, I want to give each topic and question the attention it deserves and not skimp out because I’m worried about the overwhelming length of a post.
All of your questions inspired me to start a mini series on the blog: Blog Talk Tuesdays!
Each Tuesday for the next few weeks, I will dedicate one post a day to a topic related to blogging. I’ve divided your questions into several different categories and will tackle them that way. I’m a stickler for organization and flow and this seems like the best way to handle your questions.
Plus, having the posts categorized by topic will hopefully allow you to read the posts with topics that interest you and scan or browse over those that don’t apply to you.
Maybe I should create a blog post composed solely of Sadie pictures to publish in conjunction with the Blog Talk Tuesday posts for those of you with no interest in blogging? 
Now that the introduction of Blog Talk Tuesdays is done, let’s get crack-a-lackin’ with the first topic!
Oh! Before we delve into it, please know that I am not a blogging expert by any means. I’ve been blogging for just shy of two years, so my answers to your questions are based on my own experiences, research and trial and error.
I will eventually post all of these posts on my Blogging page as a resource so you may find them easily in the future.
Blogging Basics: How to Start a Blog, Blog Focus, Self Hosting and More
- How did you start your blog?
I started by blog through WordPress.com, a website that allows you to set up a free site using pre-fabricated templates. I selected a template that they already had available, made my own banner in Microsoft Paint (anyone out there remember the peanut butter cookie banner?) and started posting!
Of course I was overwhelmed and confused about the set up a bunch of times, but I turned to the valuable resource that is Google and read many different tutorials and eventually figured everything out myself. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it. I am horrible with computers.
- Did you design your own blog?
Yes and no. But mostly no. 
I worked with The Blog Fairy on the design of my blog. We emailed back and forth many times and I gave her ideas and color schemes and overall guidance, but she was absolutely the brains behind the blog design that you see today. I highly recommend her services!
Another great resource for any blog-related questions, design and assistance is my friend and computer genius Tim Parkin, who may by reached by email at tparkin@gmail.com.
- In your opinion, what is the best blogging platform?
WordPress, without a doubt. This may sound harsh, but for the most part I don’t even try to comment on Blogger blogs anymore because I am blocked from commenting 99.9 percent of the time. But there are ways for those who use Blogger to change this. As Brittany explains, “If you use Blogger, you should allow Anyone to comment instead of Only Allowing Registered Users. I often times don’t comment on blogger blogs if I can’t just use the name/url option, which is turned off when you choose to Allow Only Registered Users.”
Also, the vast majority of bloggers I know who began blogging on Blogger have switched to WordPress. Michelle actually put together an amazing post detailing exactly HOW to transfer your blog from Blogger to WordPress which you may see here.
I also want to add that while I created my blog through WordPress, I write all of my blog posts through Windows Live Writer, a free downloadable program for PCs that syncs up with your blog when you hit “publish.” It is an AMAZING program and cut my blogging time in half thanks to the ease of uploading and cropping photos, automatic linking and other fantastic features. Highly recommended!
- Do you think it’s important to own your own domain?
Yes. Longtime PBF readers will remember when my web address was peanutbutterfingers.wordpress.com. Talk about a mouthful! It took me a LONG time to buy and set up my own domain (pbfingers.com) and I wish I would’ve done it sooner.
Domain names are so cheap (under $15!) and are easy to set up on your blog (click here for step-by-step directions for WordPress users). Having your own domain name not only conveys a sense of professionalism (do you know any companies with “.wordpress.com” in their web address?), but it also makes it much easier for people to remember you and find you online.
- How did you decide what to blog about?
When I decided that I wanted to start a blog, I always kept in mind my number one tip for bloggers: Create a blog you would want to read.
I knew I loved reading healthy living blogs every day, so I figured that genre was a good fit for me. I also wanted my blog to be a little different and I knew I couldn’t limit myself to talking solely about food and fitness because I’d pass out from boredom and quickly lose the fervor I have for blogging if I could only write about what I ate or what workout I completed every day.
When I expanded my blog to include musings about my life, I knew I’d always have something to say.
Plus, Sadie loves the spotlight.
- Do you feel like it’s better to have a focus to your blog? Do you not include certain things on your blog because they don’t necessarily fit into the main focus of your blog?
While blogs are great in that they give you freedom to write about whatever you want, I think a focus is extremely important. Sure, I blog about my life, random thoughts, The Bachelorette, my dog, my wedding and travels, but my blog has consistency through food and fitness.
Every day readers know they can expect to see my breakfast, lunch and dinner and typically they’ll also see a recap of my workout in the morning. I think that this continuity is imperative because a blog full of random thoughts and musings can be hard to follow and overwhelming. Of course there are exceptions to this, as I can think of a small handful of blogs that were created on the principle of being totally random, but they attack randomness with humor and diligence that somehow gives their blog a sense of focus and organization.
- Do you think it’s necessary to post all the time to have a successful blog?
No. I think you can post once a week and still have a successful blog. If you do this, make sure that when you post, you’re posting on the same day, around the same time each week. To me, the most important aspect of posting is having a schedule. Your readers want to know when you’ll be posting so they know when to come back!
- How did you tell your friends, family and coworkers about your blog?
I didn’t right away! For a couple of weeks, Ryan was the only one who knew about my blog. I then told my family and then a small handful of my friends, explaining that I wanted to create a blog as an outlet to write about food and fitness since my desk job had me writing about pharmaceuticals and their side effects all day. It took me a couple of months until I felt okay with sharing my blog with all of my friends.
As for telling my coworkers, I wanted to keep my blog separate from work since it follows so much of my personal life and never actually told any of my coworkers. The coworkers who knew about my blog at first discovered it on their own. Eventually the vast majority of my coworkers knew about my blog. In fact, when I quit my job and explained to my boss that I was going to be pursuing freelance work, he said “And your blog, too, right?” Apparently everyone knew!
- What does it mean to be self-hosted? What is the benefit of self-hosting?
With a self hosted blog, you have a lot more freedom and flexibility and you have complete control over your site. You have the ability to install more plugins, have dynamic advertisements and can customize your site to your heart’s content. I personally switched to self-hosting for the advertising opportunities, which I’ll cover in more detail when I post about making money through blogging in this series.
***
And that was the first installment of Blog Talk Tuesdays! Phew! I hope this post was beneficial for some of you out there.
Also, please know that it’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed and nervous about starting a blog. I can assure you that every single blogger has been there. I’ve done so much reading and research about blogging and still sometimes feel like I know nothing… but I continue learn something new every single day. Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.
If you’d like to read more blogging tips, please check out my Blogging Tips for Beginners post.
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
This was great, Julie. Especially considering I’m still fairly new to blogging, I’m happy to take all the advice I can get! Looking forward to the upcoming series : )
Thank you so much for putting this up! A few days ago I went live with my own blog and 100% look up to your blog for inspiration! You’re Awesome!
This was awesome, thanks Julie. Your blog prompted me to begin my own. I have now been blogging for three months and have loved every single second.
This is a GREAT idea for a series…I’m (mostly) new to this, and any help I can get is great!! I’ll be reading every post 🙂
Can I just say that I love you? I have so many ideas for my blog, but don’t want to toll them out until I switch to WordPress, but every time I try I get overwhelmed. Thank you for posting the tutorial!
Great tips Miss Julie
A couple notes
Blogger is terrible — I thought I was the only one that got blocked. I literally can’t comment on most blogs. If you’re on blogger, switch, please!
WLW is pretty great — so much better than trying to write posts within wordpress.
And for keeping your voice, please please don’t copy other blogger’s voices — it’s so apparent. And while imitation is flattery, it doesn’t read authentic!
100 percent agree w/ your last comment! nothing annoys me more than when bloggers rip off other bloggers.
Thank you so much for doing this! I think once a week is great! I started my blog in March and I still feel like i have a lot to learn/i need to find time to do some of these tips. I don’t tell coworkers but i tell EVERYONE else.
Thanks so much Julie! I’m so excited for this series! It couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed lately and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one. I actually contacted Tim Parkin last week at your suggestion and he was so unbelievably helpful. Thanks again and I look forward to continuing to read your tips!
isn’t he amazing!?!? he’s the husband of one of my former coworkers and has been able to answer every single one of my questions. so glad he’s helping you!
I am in love with this miniseries!
The blogspot tidbit does worry me a little, but luckily I changed my comments so anyone can. Maybe one day I’ll change to wordpress, but I’m one of those people who are helpless when it comes to technology and is not big on change haha.
I’m so glad you stress the importance of self-hosting wordpress.org blogs. I see so many people who use blogger or even wordpress.com and while yes they will work, you don’t own it.
If you are planning to monetize your blog or anything that you are wanting to make a business out of it you need self-hosted. Just knowing that the big Google could take down a blogger blog at any time because they feel like it was enough for me to go through wordpress.org.
My biggest suggestion to make it easier and to have it done “yesterday” is to outsource lol! My http://www.rozpearcy.com blog is something I set up all by myself, same with http://www.myvisalusjourney.com. Both took months to get it down. This time around with the redoing of rozpearcy.com (combining it with my other blog) I am having a friend redo the graphics, colors, my free giveaway opt in graphics and linking my facebook twitter and youtube so it’s all cohesive. Much better to pay someone else to do it than me have the stress and the headache lol!
Great post! I always thought it was “me”, why I cant always comment on blogs. I guess it is probably because I use blogger. Thanks!
Oh and thanks for the suggestion for ecto…I looked it up in the App store but didn’t find it? I’ll have to google it to see what I find.
For the other mac users if you have the parallels program on mac then you can use live writer…I might just have to get parallels so I can do this :D.
I agree with you on Windows Live Writer being absolutely awesome! I love that you can blog without an internet connection and then upload it later on. Plus the pictures import SO MUCH faster in live writer than they do if you try to import them directly to wordpress.
Fabulous post, Julie! I’m THISCLOSE to self-hosting and Michelle is definitely encouraging me to do so. I think next month might be THEE month. 🙂
Such an awesome post! All of my coworkers discovered my blog on their own, too. I was really shy about it, but I was happily surprised when they told me they loved it!
Great info!
Do you know of an equivalent to WLW for mac users?
yes! it’s a program called ecto, but i think you have to buy it & i’ve heard it’s not as good, unfortunately.
Great tips! I remember when I first started my blog, it was so scary. 🙂
This post is very helpful! I’ve figured out some things on my own but very slowly. I think this will help a lot of people! My next goal is to redesign my template…just got my own domain name set up and I agree – wish I’d done it sooner!
Thank you for all the helpful tips!!
Love this post Julie, & looking forward to the rest of the series!
Thank you so much for this post Julie,
I am at the total beginning with my blog and have so many questions…I am also not satsisfied with blogger:-/ Maybe I will switch to wordpress as well. The blogger serie is a very good idea and I am looking forward to read the next tipps.
Thank you so much for your inspiration!
Greetings from Germany!:-)
sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and just give up for a few days (or weeks) at a time with my blog… this info has been very helpful julie!! thank you!
I doubt I’ll ever become a blogger, but these seem like great tips!
I agree with your preference of wordpress over blogger, it often affects my decision whether I’m going to follow a blog or not. Another one is that it is MUCH more likely that I’ll follow a blog, if I can subscribe to it by wordpress (instead of having to manually click to a blog). For example, even though Susan (thegreatbalancingact) has her own domain, I find it very cool that I can still follow her through the subscribe option. I also like it if I get forwarded the replies to my comments, as otherwise I feel like I’m commenting for ”nothing”.
love this, Julie! you smartypants.
Thank you so much for this post!! I started with WordPress, didn’t like it and went to Blogger and now I feel like I should go with WordPress again..So many decisions and so much work to do!
You can comment on blogger! It blocks you but if you keep pressing comment like three times it then accepts your comment!!
I discovered this when I was frustrated with it!
I always wondered about self-hosting but no one went into detail and this was finally a straight answer!
Loveeee windows live writer
Awesome info, thanks! Looking forward to next Tuesday 🙂
Thanks for the tips, Julie! I can relate to a lot of these as my blog is not only very new, but I also just switched to self-hosting. I’m totally checking out Live Writer!
Also, I hope you will change your mind about commenting on Blogger blogs! I know there are a lot of Blogger users, including myself, who are avid readers and lovers of PBFingers who might be disappointed to hear this. Great tips in this post though!
oops meant to comment on my own comment (below), sorry!
i do try on occassion, but after trying hundreds of times (seriously!) and getting blocked time and time again, i got seriously annoyed. still, i will try every now and then if i really have something to say. if more bloggers who use blogger change their blogs to accept comments, that would be AMAZING!
I don’t think it’s completely necessary to pick WordPress over Blogger. I’m pretty good at computers and HTML, but I chose Blogger over WordPress. For the comments, I just use the IntenseDebate plugin (which can be used for both Blogger and WordPress) which adds some functionality to the comments section.
Wow all I can say is thank you thank you!! That post helped me tremendously and I absolutely can’t wait to hear more installments!
I especially want to hear about self-hosting in regards to advertisement opportunities and around what time you did that after you started your blog. I just started mine a couple months ago and it’s an absolute passion of mine and I’m loving it and fully invested in it. So with that, I’m wondering do I make the switch now, a couple months from now, in a year? If that topic isn’t in your questions yet I’d love for you to address it in your next installment, thanks! 🙂
Thanks so much again Julie, and I’m definitely going to check out The Blog Fairy and Live Writer! 🙂
Thank you so much for these amazing points, this post is PACKED full of information and is so helpful…I cannot wait to read the rest in the series, and am so thankful for all the time and effort you clearly put into this post. I just downloaded Live Writer too! 🙂 xyx
This is great, thanks for the amazing tips! I am now considering switching to wordpress!
Great post! Love the Blog Talk Tuesday ideas! SO much to learn, I’ll take all the advice I can get.
Amen about Windows Live Writer!
As a brand new blogger, thank you for starting this series! Today’s post was very helpful…and I’m glad to hear I made a lot of smart decisions setting up my own blog! I also had another question I wanted to add to your list for future topics…how do you get inspiration for topics and what do you do when your creative juices just aren’t flowing? Thanks!
I am excited for this series since I am currently trying to build up my blog. Do you know if there is a Mac version to Windows Live writer?
see response to comment #27 🙂
great post..can’t wait to see what you come up with next..Tuesday seems a long time away!
Love this series- such helpful tips!
How weird that after seeing this this morning my boss asked if I would create a blog for the company I work for!
Is there a way to make it where comments have to be approved before posted (on WordPress)?
Thanks!
This sounds like a great series! I’m looking forward to later posts about building up your blog. Thanks for all the info!
Love this! Such a helpful post! I was considering self hosting, but honestly I don’t think I have enough readers to do that just yet!
So excited about this series, thanks for sharing all your experiences! Live Writer is the ONE thing I really wish my Mac had… Sad. Everyone seems to rave about it!
Thank you! This made me realize I need to check my comments section too. I originally went with blogger because the layouts were so much more customizable, but I need to make sure people can interact with my customized layout!
I love this! Thanks Julie! I really enjoy hearing other bloggers perspectives on these types of things because although the basics are the same, every blogger approaches blogging differently, and i love hearing the “behind the scenes” to help me grow as a blogger. Can’t wait for next week!
This is fantastic advice, especially for us newbies to blogging! I’m definitely thinking about switching to word press now. Looking forward to seeing more
Great and helpful post, as usual! 🙂
I think it’s interesting that there are so many different facets and purposes to blogging. Love hearing your perspective. This is going to be a great series!
Amazing post! I am new to blogging so this is definitely great advice for me. I cannot wait till next Tuesday’s edition. When I get home tonight I plan to download WLW to try it out.
Thank you! I just started blogging two months ago, and this is sooo helpful! I’m looking forward to next week’s post!
Does anyone know of a program similar to Live Writer that is compatible for Mac’s? I’m so jealous….
see response to comment #27! 🙂