If you are about to start a new blog it can be a useful exercise to think through the direction that you want to take it in as these decisions will direct just about every aspect of your blog work. For example, somebody using a blog to promote an existing business is going to have different goals to a political blogger.

Whether you have already got a blog or are about to start one, take a moment to think about the following factors and as you work your way through the course have your answers in mind.

Who Are Your Target Audience?

Think about who your target audience is for your blog. Are they male / female? What is their income? Are they married? Have children? Are they tech-savvy?

The reason this is important is because it helps you figure out how to market your blog. A young man who is heavily into the Internet is more likely to Digg your latest blog post than somebody who still finds email tricky.

Is your target audience somebody who is likely to carefully read through your posts in detail trying to glean as much information as possible (older crowd for instance) or are they a “give-it-to-me-quick” kind of person? These factors will affect your content and writing style. The former may respond well to in-depth how-to posts whereas the latter will likely prefer quick, easily-scannable lists.

Your Blog Monetization Strategies

If you want to develop a profitable blog then you should be thinking of monetization strategies right from the outset. For example, if you know that you want to run private ads on your blog then you will need to ensure that the design of your blog and it’s layout support adequate space and good placement for advertising.

If your blog will be monetized primarily through some kind of service such as consulting or client work, you will want to ensure that the promotion of your services is integrated seamlessly into your blog.

Another popular strategy that bloggers use is to place contextual ads such as AdSense. Even this requires some thought - should you place them straight away or wait until you have more traffic?

My take on that subject is that if you intend to blog for money then you should start placing those ads right from the start. This goves you a chance to experiment with them while your traffic is still low and what also happens is that your readers come to expect to see ads so they don’t resist them. Putting ads on later on can be met with some hostility from regular readers who object to you suddenly trying to make money!

Another benefit to placing ads straight away is that the audience that you build will often contain your future advertisers but they won’t think to advertise with you if you’re not in the habit of having ads on your blog. Start as you mean to go on!

Determine The Brand For Your Blog

One very important thing about branding is that it is very difficult to change later on. Right from the start think about what image you are trying to project. Are you promoting yourself as a person in your blog or are you promoting your blog name as a brand within itself (think Lifehacker, TechCrunch, BoingBoing)? If you are promoting yourself then think about graphics - do you have a standard avatar for yourself that you can use? Make sure you do because when you get social media right that avatar gets *everywhere*!

What If Your Blog Is Changing Direction?

Sometimes people start blogs and only some months later when they have been writing it for a while do they really figure out the direction they want to go with it. If you already have a blog then take some time to think about the above factors in relation to your existing blog and determine whether or not you need to chance direction in any area.

If you need to change anything that is ok, it is better to figure it out and then bear those changes in mind as you move forward rather than just blindly continuing on with something you are not happy with.

Tags: Work From Home