![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/12161919\/Highest-Earning-Blog-Niches-1024x731.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCredit: RankIQ<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n But there are tons of lifestyle blogs out there already, which means you need to narrow your direction down even further. This will solidify your brand and help you connect with a specific audience. Think of this step as finding your sub-niche\u2014your niche within the lifestyle blog niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your sub-niche will also inform your content and blog design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how to find it: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few examples of lifestyle blogs that offer a unique spin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NYC blogger Bianca Reyes blogs about food, fashion, travel, fitness, and all sorts of other lifestyle-related topics\u2014all from the lens of someone who\u2019s chronically late. Reyes uses this part of herself as inspiration for all her posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Posts include \u201c15 Minute Workouts to Break Up Your Work Day\u201d<\/a> and \u201c3 Reservation Apps Every Foodie Should Have Installed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n When Joanna Goddard started Cup of Jo in 2007, the internet world looked a lot different. MSN Messenger ran the (virtual) streets. Poking was a popular activity on Facebook. Tumblr and Twitter were newborn babies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over a decade\u2014and hundreds of changes\u2014later, Cup of Jo is still going strong. Joanna Goddard doesn\u2019t write all the posts anymore. She\u2019s got a team of writers, photographers, and other specialists to support Cup of Jo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The site is popular for its deeply personal essays, like Goddard\u2019s \u201cFive Things That Surprised Me About My Divorce\u201d<\/a>\u2014a piece that garnered over 700 comments. In fact, Cup of Jo\u2019s slogan is \u201cCome for the blog, stay for the comments.\u201d The blog sometimes features pieces built around reader comments<\/a>. The personal aspect of the blog, along with Cup of Jo\u2019s focus on building conversations, sets the blog apart. It\u2019s why the blog continues to stay relevant into the 2020s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Corporette has been going strong since 2007, when founder Kat Griffin wanted to write about fashion for women in the workplace. The blog now has several authors, including Griffin\u2014who now has kids and runs a sister site called CorporetteMoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Corporette shares posts about corporate fashion, job hunting, office decor, and parenting as a working mother. Recent posts include \u201cWhere to Find Interview Suits if You\u2019re Pregnant\u201d<\/a> and \u201c3 Great Online Personal Finance Classes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot of unique stuff here. For one thing, Corporette focuses on professional attire for women of all sizes and stages of life, pregnancy and postpartum included. For another, Corporette doesn\u2019t limit itself to fashion. You\u2019ll find posts on basically any topic relating to maintaining a smashingly successful work life as a woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Any woman entering the professional world can find something of value on the Corporette blog. And the blog will continue to be relevant to her if she chooses to have kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So many people beg you to stay away from free blogging platforms<\/a> because of things like ads. Or being unable to monetize the blog. Or lacking complete ownership. Or having an unprofessional domain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We get it. To some extent, we agree\u2014having your own website for your blog is a better long-term plan. But if choosing a free blogging site is the difference between starting now versus starting in six months, choose the free site. You can always upgrade later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A free blogging platform can help you build a following, which will make it easier for you to justify paying for your own site later on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plenty of blogging platforms still offer free blog setup services. These include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Weebly<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong> Weebly offers a solid free plan stocked with basic features, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wix:<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>Like Weebly, Wix comes with a free version of its website builder, but it\u2019s less clear what you get with the free plan<\/a>. This is what we gathered from making a free account and poking around on the site: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Medium<\/strong><\/a>: <\/strong>If you want to keep things hyper-focused on blogging, create a free Medium account and start building your voice there. You can eventually pay for a $5\/month Medium plan and sign up for the Medium Partner Program<\/a> to monetize your posts. Or, you can eventually build a website and embed your Medium blog to it. Here\u2019s what Medium offers as a standalone blogging platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have $50 to $100 to spend on your lifestyle blog, go with WordPress.org<\/a>. You can sign up for the platform for free, but you\u2019ll have to pay for your domain name and hosting service, hence the $50 to $100. Choose one of these cheap web hosting options<\/a> to get started with WordPress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As for domain names, our 11 easy tips for finding the perfect one<\/a> can help you with that important process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you get your blogging platform, hosting, and domain name situated, it\u2019s time to choose a theme for your blog and design it<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Web builders like Wix, Weebly, and WordPress all come with different theme libraries. Choose a theme that fits the design, appearance, and functionality you\u2019re going for for your blog. After that, customize the design where you can\u2014things like colors, sections, and font. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This step can be fun for some and stressful for others, but it\u2019s an essential part of building your brand as a blogger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve got two tips for choosing the right design and layout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, don\u2019t worry <\/strong>too <\/em><\/strong>much about it.<\/strong> You don\u2019t have to stick with the theme and design you initially pick. People redesign their websites and blogs all the time, and you can too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, make a Pinterest board for your blog<\/strong>. Does this sound like a strange suggestion? Hear me out. On Pinterest, you can create a vision board for what you want your blog to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Signing up is quick, free, and easy. You can log in with Google or Facebook or create an account with an email-password combo. Click the Explore<\/strong> tab as soon as you get on there. Pinterest will ask you to pick 5 topics you\u2019re interested in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Take a look at the 3-5 topics you picked to write about for your lifestyle blog. Look for them here! If you don\u2019t find them, select Pinterest topics that you think would help you find your aesthetic\u2014plus ideas for what to write about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say we decided to start a lifestyle blog called Life in Lavender, aimed at women. We plan to write about: <\/p>\n\n\n\n When Pinterest asks us to pick 5 topics, we choose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, that\u2019s more than 5. We got a little carried away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, Pinterest takes us to our home feed, curated based on the topics we picked. Our feed looks like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2014aka the team at the imaginary Life in Lavender blog\u2014are definitely starting to see some pins that catch our eye. We click one of our favorite pins to save it to our profile. Then we head over to our profile and click the plus sign to create a new board: Life in Lavender Blog Design Ideas<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From there, it\u2019s easy to add our first saved pin to our first and only board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pinterest must understand our board name because the next thing it does is offer up pins that feature\u2014you guessed it!\u2014lavender. We choose several of these pins and then use the search bar to find more pins that relate to our topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After about 15 minutes of searching, browsing, and pinning, our board looks like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n After studying our board, we decided to use muted, earthy tones for our blog design, with plenty of blank space to create a restful space for our readers. You can do the same thing! It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s inspiring, and it just takes a few minutes, although you\u2019ll probably find yourself browsing Pinterest for longer. It\u2019s easy to get lost in the process, and that\u2019s OK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve got your board spread out before you, pick a blog template on your platform of choice that matches the colors and fonts you\u2019re seeing. You\u2019ll probably have all sorts of ideas for your first post by now, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Honestly, doing this made us want to start Life in Lavender for real. Maybe someday!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to possibly the most exciting step of all: writing your first post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t have to have your blog content strategy all mapped out before you start posting. If you try to require this to start, you probably won\u2019t start at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Start with something simple, like a post introducing your blog, what it\u2019s about, who it\u2019s for, and where people can find you. Having a second post uploaded and scheduled to publish is also a good idea because it gives you time to start outlining your content strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where it\u2019s important to protect yourself from blogging burnout. When you\u2019re really excited to get started, it\u2019s tempting to write and publish posts every single day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t do this. You will <\/strong>burn out. You might even burn out so hard that you find yourself posting less and less until your momentum completely runs out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, pace yourself. Use your Pinterest board and a keyword research<\/a> tool like Ahrefs<\/a> or AnswerThePublic<\/a> to find out what people want to read about. Then map out a strategy that includes posting 1-2 times a week. If you find you have the energy to do more than that, great! Go ahead and add a couple more weekly posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If not, don\u2019t sweat it. Do your 1-2 posts per week and you\u2019ll be on the way to slow and steady gains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And don\u2019t forget to give yourself a big pat on the back once you publish your first post. It means you\u2019ve officially started your lifestyle blog\u2014a big accomplishment if you ask us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, starting your blog is just the beginning. You need to maintain it for it to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Blog #1: Oh So Fashionably Late<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/12162016\/Oh-So-Fashionably-Late-Lifestyle-Blog-Example-1024x665.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBlog #2: Cup of Jo<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/12162054\/Cup-of-Jo-Lifestyle-Blog-Example-1024x682.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBlogger #3: Corporette<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/12162141\/Corporette-Lifestyle-Blog-Example-1024x637.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStep 2: Choose a free blogging platform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Step 3: Choose a theme and design your blog<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/12162235\/Pinterest-Interests-1024x759.png\")
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ceblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/12162316\/Pinterest-Home-Feed-1024x664.png\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStep 4: Write your first post<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 5: Maintain your lifestyle blog<\/h3>\n\n\n\n