Pets are a part of our family, for many of us, our only children. Ever look at your little Fido and think that the little moments of joy and companionship that he brings to your life would be interesting to someone else?
Ever thought of starting a blog to share with your kindred pet-loving spirits, but just don’t know where to start and how to keep followers interested? Here are five key steps to follow that will get you going.
Be a pet lover
Now, this might sound obvious, but the word “pet” in this case will refer to more than just your own love for dogs or cats. You have to have a love, and understanding of that love, for ALL kinds of pets in order to reach and relate to the widest audience possible.
This would include those pets that you yourself wouldn’t normally consider to be man’s best friend – snakes, hamsters, tarantulas, birds, etc. included. An understanding of how any kind of pet can bring joy to its owner’s life is incredibly important.
Get hooked up with a guest post service
Writing an article that is posted on someone else’s blog is a valuable tool for both reputation marketing and furthering your reach to grow and build your audience.
Building relationships with guest post services will help kick-start and maintain this kind of symbiotic marketing strategy for your blog. Check out OurFItePets.com for some great options on guest post services.
Know your audience
This obviously goes hand in hand with being a pet-lover, but it’s also crucial to know what exactly your audience is looking for in a blog that is all about pets. Is it just having a laugh at the funny things our pets are doing, or is more about advice on keeping our pets healthy and happy?
A little bit of market research here would go a very long way and there are many tools searches on the net that one could use to do this, all it takes is a bit of time and some internet research; and it wouldn’t hurt to chat face to face with some pet lovers as well.
Give your blog a voice
Whether this is your own voice that you are writing with or that of your inspiration (Fido), giving your writing a voice allows your followers to build a relationship with you.
Sharing anecdotes and your personal experiences around the topics that you cover in your posts will help bring your own voice to the foreground and make your blog about more than just the facts. Try to tell a story with each post.
Plan your content and posts
Having a solid breakdown and content plan for each post will help you get started and keep your momentum flowing. Start with your first ten posts and plan a “story arc” of content that you would like to write about in each post. This will help give your blog structure and help you keep focused and motivated.
Doing some research here is also very necessary to find out what topics your audience would like to read about; for example: “Why is my cat such a fussy eater?”. Look for topics that many pet owners can both relate to and need advice on.
Keeping up the communication with fellow pet-lovers and your followers will also help you plan and keep your content relevant and in line with what your readers are looking for.
There you have it! 5 key steps to starting your very own pet-inspired blog!