HomeWithAndrew is a real blog written by a real work-at-home Dad (me). And that's why when you come here sometimes it seems I'm a little behind in my writing or my blog's out of sorts. I run a full-time home catering business with my wife and manage my websites on the side. Or is it the other way round?
The original plan was for our catering business to provide us with our monthly financial sustanence while my websites grew and then we would treat the catering business as the part-time money maker. That was then. We didn't really plan on the catering business AND my websites both growing at the same rate. In plain practical terms, my catering business takes priority because that's where our income comes from - in stable cold hard cash - whereas money from my websites comes up to 2 months later when the banks have cleared the checks!
And so, bleary eyed and totally pooped, I can understand where people come from when they say that they're just too tired to start a blog or they just can't find the time to even think about starting a website. With a full-time career and the family all jostling for whatever precious time you have left, it's a miracle you have any time left for your ten-minute sitting on your throne (the loo) let alone think about starting a blog right? Well, do it the way I did.
- Set aside half an hour a day for your blog. If you haven't started one, and don't know where to start, then use that time to find out about blogs and think about what your blog should be about.
- If you're not familiar with how blogs work, fiddle with them. Play with the free blog services available - start a test blog and have fun. Learn to post, edit and insert pictures.
- Visit other blogs and websites that interest you. As you do, keep mental notes about topics that interest you and keep you coming back. If you find yourself drawn to specific blogs about a topic, you have probably found your niche - the topic that you should write about.
- Now try to write short simple posts. There's no hard and fast rule about how blogs should be written. One of the best ways to keep up the momentum is to start a blog based on your hobby.
- Right now, your "play" blog would probably have been viewed only by you and maybe a couple of close friends. As you get familiar with the mechanics of blogging, you'll want to consider re-designing your blog for public viewing. The great thing about blogs is that you can change the way your blog looks but the content stays the same because its stored automatically in a database (which you don't have to mess with).
If you're consistent with your half-hour routine every day, it should (hopefully) become a habit and keep you going for a while. However, there's nothing better than blogging about something that turns you on to keep the adrenalin and creative juices flowing consistently.
One of the biggest hindrances to people starting a blog of their own is that they consider the BIG picture before they've even learnt how to doodle. Meaning - when they visit other people's blogs or websites, they see how fantastic it is, how much content they have and they get discouraged. They tell themselves, they'll never be able to do it like that, and so they give up even before they begin. And if you're holding a full-time job with a family to take care of after work, it's all too easy to avoid starting a blog because you're too pooped.
Me... well, I'm pooped all right. Comes from chopping and cleaning chicken, gutting fish, slicing and dicing veggie, working in a hot kitchen and then delivering the chow to my customers. And when I get home, my kids are waiting bright eyed and excited, ready for a 2 hour round of badminton or just plain horsing around - whatever strikes their fancy. And even though I absolutely love helping people discover the many opportunities to make money online, I'm just a regular work-at-home Dad and I get pooped, just like you.
Believe me though, if I hadn't started my websites and this blog with my half-hour-a-day routine, we would only be enjoying half our present income. Plus, I get a kick out of telling other parents at school that I run my own websites and blogs. These days, it doesn't take much to give me a thrill. Sigh.
