New Blog Ideas

1. Hey guys. I'm just starting to take a leap into the freelance writing world. I heard its pretty easy to start writing if you can get motivated. Well, I'm motivated enough to get started with the transition into making this my full time career, but there is one problem: I don't know where to start. So, I'm asking you. What topics have you always wished there was a blog about? What would you read, week after week? What are you interested in enough that you might consider contributing to said blog?

   Thanks for the help. Hopefully this can be the beginning of something larger than I can imagine at the moment.

   
   

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   0dyss3us
   

   Reputation:47

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

2. Well, I like blogs that do a subject I'm interested in, and do it in depth - so is there anything you're really quite good at?

   
   

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   Phoshi
   

   Reputation:63

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

3. Well I'm a bit of a Generalist. One of my goals in life is to know a little something about everything, a true bred Renaissance Man. One thought I had was to call it Jack Of All Trades and learn about a requested topic and then do a write up on it. I realized that this would just be an unnecessary step in the middle, though. Why couldn't they just do the research themselves and skip my site?

   I'm an avid rock climber-hiker-outdoorsman, I enjoy technology, I am a fan of the arts (painting, drawing, photography, acting, poetry, fiction, graphic novels), I have some good ideas on keeping things simple, and on living life to the fullest. These are topics that have already been covered a thousand times, and in far more depth than I could hope to accomplish.

   
   

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   0dyss3us
   

   Reputation:47

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

4. Really, your blog could be about anything. Everyone has different interests and it's all a matter of getting the right people to your site to build up an audience. There are two schools of thought on whether general blogs or niche blogs are better, but I would suggest you only create a general blog if you have a very strong personality that comes out on your site. If not, stick with one theme of subject for the site.

   
   

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   akishore
   

   Reputation:50

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

5. You could start out as a blog aggregator-type deal, scouring the net for other interesting works and alerting your readers to them. Then as you see more and more stuff and build up readership you can start writing your own articles as you get inspired to.
   Along similar lines, you could start reading the free books on Gutenberg and letting others know which are the good ones, and which ones are too old/outdated/passé to be worth the download. It would be like a modern review of the classics, letting us know what is still relevant and entertaining.

   
   

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   Brady
   

   Reputation:75

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

6. Thanks for the feedback everybody.

   @ akishore - I think I do have a unique enough personality that shows through my writing to make it as a general blog. In addition, i don't have a strong enough interest in one single topic to stick with it for the entire blog: variety is the spice of life, right? I do see the logic in your point though.

   @ Brady - I like the idea of the aggregate material, but the main reason for this is to showcase/practice my writing. I will probably incorporate that into the blog, though.

   I'm going to keep sleeping on this and see what other ideas people might toss out. But the general format of the blog is starting to take shape.

   
   

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   0dyss3us
   

   Reputation:47

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

7. I found out that style matters sometimes more than the topic itself. I have a blog in Hungarian that is mostly about Japanese animation, books and games; a topic that is already heavily covered all over the internet. Yet when I asked my readers why they visit my blog especially, they said that it's because they like my style and taste. So you can be successful even in a heavily covered topic :)

   As for what I would like to see: a blog about musical instruments is always welcome, especially if it's not only about guitar and such, but other things like ocarina, jaw harp etc.

   
   

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   SunyiNyufi
   

   Reputation:47

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

8. I like the idea of a outdoors-man blog - then you have a fairly general topic, but also has a somewhat specific audience.

   I am a big scouter, and [might] be willing to contribute [part time].

   
   

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   matteotom
   

   Reputation:21

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

9. @ SunyNyufi - Great point. And hopefully the more I write the more my style will be able to come out. The music idea is great too, but I'm not the one who should be writing it, I can barely play an instrument...

   @ matteotom - The more I think of this idea, the more I like it. I'll return later with some more thoughts on that.

   
   

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   0dyss3us
   

   Reputation:47

   Posted 7 months ago

   
   

10. Question 1 answered: I'll do an outdoors-man blog, anything from camping to climbing, and hiking to tree hugging. It'll offer lifehacker-esque tips on everything outdoorsy, some how-tos, and highlight great travel destinations and things to do while there. I might even through in some posts on simple living, and some ecological stuff here and there. But-

    Question 2 : How should I begin? I never set up a blog before. I'm thinking I should invest in my own domain name, but I don't know the first thing about web development...

    and Question 3 is even more important: What should it be called?

    
    

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    0dyss3us
    

    Reputation:47

    Posted 7 months ago

    
    

11. for Question 2: If you want your blog look porfessional, I think you should go with this combintion: own domain + paid/free host + Wordpress. At least I found that the Wordpress.org blog engine is the most easy to install and use.

    edit: fixed some words, I really shouldn't mix English with Hungarian...

    
    

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    SunyiNyufi
    

    Reputation:47

    Posted 7 months ago

    
    

12. Yes i definately recommend getting your own domain name, there are many companies out there who offer low cost domain and hosting bundles. Google top hosting companies in your country and take a look at what is on offer.

    I personally recommend you install wordpress as your blogging platform, its feature-rich, has 1000's of free and easily customisable templates to choose from and most importantly has a VAST development community to help you with any issues you may have.

    Name wise, I'm not great at this part but I'll pop a few down to see if any catch your eye.

    The Wild
    Yonder
    The Outdoorsman

    Not really know much about your topic I can't think of any more :)

    
    

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    alexward1981
    

    Reputation:101

    Posted 7 months ago

    
    

13. Haha, thanks for the names! I was kinda thinking out loud there, but posted it to be funny. I appreciate the feedback, though. And thanks for all the info, too. I'm gonna try to research a lot of this stuff over the next couple of days, even though I work more hours this week than I have in a while (not complaining, cause that means I can pay for my domain, haha). I'll keep posting updates and questions.

    
    

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    0dyss3us
    

    Reputation:47

    Posted 7 months ago

    
    

14. @0dyss3us to start with i would recommend testing the waters. i'd get a wordpress blog, use their hosting customise it to a minimal extent and just write. this way you're spending no money, minimal time on customisation and getting to concentrate on the meat of the project - the writing.

    use twitter to spread word about your blog posts, tell friends (both online and real) and ask them to subscribe.

    in terms of the subject matter - don't ask us what we want to read about, ask yourself what you want to write about! then do it. one of the biggest kills is procrastination. to quote Nike, just do it.

    
    

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    matt5409
    

    Reputation:12

    Posted 5 months ago