Are you a college student with an opinion to share? Why not start a lifestyle blog? Blogging isn’t as challenging as you think and all you need to be a successful blogger is passion and desire. It doesn’t matter how crazy your hobbies and interests are, and there are thousands of other people out there who want to hear what you have to say.

Whether you want to talk about life on campus and social issues, or connect with other people who collect trading cards, all you need is a platform and medium to get started blogging. Here’s everything you need to know about starting a blog as a college student.

Time Management

As a college student, time is not on your side. The endless cycle of classes, studying, and exams leave you without a moment to spare. So, the first thing you need to do is look at your schedule and figure out how much time you have to dedicate to blogging every week.

Launching a blog doesn’t take much time and has a minimal cost even a student can afford. It takes only a few hours to set everything up. After you’ve decided on a suitable name for your blog, the rest is easy work. Set up a free WordPress account, load a free template and theme, get some tips for choosing a blog hosting company and away you go with your blogging adventure!

It’s possible to create a content strategy that has you writing articles and dropping videos every day, but it might distract you from your studies. It’s better to take a long-term approach to your blog. Drop one article or video a week and make sure that its high-quality content people will find compelling and captivating.

Build your audience steadily over time, and by graduation, you’ll have a prosperous blog with a significant following.

Content Strategy

Your blog doesn’t just involve writing or dropping videos; there are maintenance and marketing to consider as well. You need to plan time to manage your comments section, time to promote your posts, and time to fix any broken pages or links.

Once you’ve decided how much time you can dedicate to your blog every week, you’ll have a clear indication of how many posts you can create in a week. Use your planning phase to develop a content strategy for the next 6 to 12-weeks and outline ideas for all your posts well in advance.

Pre-Launch Checklist

• Are you happy with the name of your blog? Are you absolutely sure about that?
• Have you found the best low-cost hosting?
• Are you satisfied with your WordPress template?
• Have you prepared a content strategy for the next three months?
• Are you ready to promote your first post?

Promoting Content Online

Owning a blog is awesome, but it’s only really awesome if other people view it and enjoy it as much as you do. Therefore, it’s a good idea to promote your blog posts if you want to grow your audience.

Open social media accounts with your blogs name as the user handle. Grow your followers by following people who follow industry influencers and authority accounts. Interact and engage with your followers as much as possible.

Save yourself time and download a social media scheduling software. Tools like HootSuite enable you to schedule and promote your posts across all your social accounts.

Monetizing Your Blog

Promoting your posts drives traffic to your blog. Use a free analytics tool to monitor visitors to your site. When your traffic reaches a critical volume, you can start charging other bloggers and online companies to advertise and guest post on your blog.

Can you imagine the financial possibilities if you could earn a sustainable income as a blogger before you leave college?

Don’t Procrastinate – Execute

Starting a blog while you’re still in college is a fantastic way to build something that you can take with you into your chosen career after your schooling. Blogging, when done right, can bring in a stable income that can help you pay for your student loan.

However, it’s all just an idea until you execute on it. Gary Vaynerchuk, leading social media guru and online marketing expert, says that more than 99% of people that have an excellent idea for a blog or online business never execute on it. Don’t delay on your dreams, start planning your blog today!

Caitlin Evans is a bookworm, photographer and dancer. She is also a medical student in love with science. When she is not trying to find the meaning of life and Universe, Caitlin is researching and writing about various health related topics. She is happily addicted to art in all its forms, grilled tofu and caffeine.