The ebook by Stephen Waddington and Caroline O’Doherty follows the process of launching a blog from a blank sheet of paper to building and managing your own space on the Internet.

1. blogging
for beginners
BY STEPHEN WADDINGTON WITH CAROLINE O’DOHERTY
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2. 1 blogging
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contents
#1 Your own corner of the Internet .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�2
#2 Benefits of blogging .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�3
#3 Choosing a topic and a name .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�6
#4 Overcoming fear with help from friends .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�8
#5 Technology choices .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�9
#6 Building a blog: technical stuff .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�. 10
#7 Tackling content: 75 ideas .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�. 12
#8 Lessons from building a blog .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�. 14
#9 Postscript: Tin Box Traveller .�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�.�. 16

3. 2 blogging
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#1 your own corner
of the internet
This book started life as a series of blog posts. It’s a guide to
blogging for anyone wondering how to get started.
It follows the process of launching a blog from a blank sheet
of paper to building and managing your own space on the
Internet. It’s exactly how this project developed.
I published an eBook called The Business of Blogging at the start of 2014 to celebrate the
twentieth anniversary of the blog. It was a crowdsourced exercise and featured stories from
bloggers. 10,000 people viewed the book in the first six months.
Caroline O’Doherty contacted me asking for advice on sources of information to help her
kickstart her efforts. She’s a campaign manager and freelance marketing professional based
in the north east of England.
There are many excellent resources in print and on the Internet but I thought it might make
a good series of blog posts for us to work together and report on progress.
Caroline agreed and over the course of six months we discussed and debated the challenges
and benefits of a blog. We specified, designed, built and launched a blog called Northern Ideas.
My thanks to Margaret Clow who helped edit the blog posts into a book format and Claire Hall
who added a case study about her own personal experience of creating and running a blog.
I hope that you find our content useful and that it inspires you to think about launching your
own blog.

4. 3 blogging
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#2 benefits of blogging
A professional blog acts as an excellent shop window and a platform to build a network.
Mine has landed me introductions, speaking opportunities, book deals, and my role at Ketchum.
But it’s not for the faint hearted. It requires original thinking and commitment. The Internet
is littered with blogs that have been started in a rush of enthusiasm but have quickly faded.
Caroline’s first task was to think about the objectives for her blog, and how she’d determine
whether she was successful. I also wanted to explore her motivation. Here’s her response.
CAROLINE O’DOHERTY
OBJECTIVES: VOICE, CREATIVITY AND LEARNING
I frequently read blogs. I use them to find out information before I
make a purchase or decision. I read blogs to find out more about
the subjects which I find interesting.
I wanted to know more about the blogging process; learning about
their design, how to build traffic, and creating quality content.
I wanted to learn more about blogging for three reasons:
1. I think blogging would give me a platform in which I can be
more creative. I used to work in the broadcast industry and I miss creating content on a
daily basis and seeing the effect that content has on an audience.
2. I work on freelance marketing projects where a better understanding of blogging and how
it can work for the client would be advantageous.
3. I’d like to be able to talk about blogging and be knowledgeable on the subject. The
organisation I work for doesn’t currently have a blog – are they missing a trick or not?
I often ask myself why I haven’t given it a go and just started a blog anyway, learning as I go
along. The answer to that is that I’m not completely sure what I want to blog about, I just
know I want to learn about the process.
If I achieve my objectives I’ll be able to discuss the pros and cons of blogging, offer advice and
support to others thinking about starting a blog, have a greater understanding of design and
templates, know how to attract and retain blog traffic and feel creatively fulfilled.
Learning by doing is one of the most powerful ways of understanding social media. It is
difficult to provide advice if you lack first-hand experience.
The topic for a professional blog should be driven by your interest and passion. If you lack
enthusiasm for a topic it is inevitable that your content will be dull.
Caroline is a freelancer and is tackling issues in her professional life that will inevitably have
a value to others.

5. Her initial comments have already thrown up a range of topics such as how to blog,
identifying and engaging an audience or public through content, and using new forms of
media for learning and helping decision making.
Caroline’s next task was to come up with five to ten blogs that she likes or admires, and write
a sentence about what appeals to her about each one.
Blogging is first and foremost about content. But it is also about building a community
around that content.
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6. #3 choosing a topic and a name
There was a great response to my first post about Caroline’s blogging project.
It turns out that it’s a topic that lots of people are keen to explore. It has been wonderful
to hear from people via Twitter who also want to start blogging, and from others offering
Caroline help and support.
Here’s the first lesson of blogging. The Internet enables you to find, connect and engage
with people around topics of interest. If you’re willing to make the effort and create and
share content they’ll find you.
INSPIRATION AND BUILDING A NETWORK
Caroline’s next job was to identify five to ten blogs that she reads regularly.
Our web browsing habits have changed in the last few years. Whereas we typically used an
app called an RSS browser to navigate content we’re now more likely to discover content via
our app subscriptions or social networks.
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CAROLINE O’DOHERTY
Here’s Caroline’s selection. Follow the links to check the blogs out for yourself.
I’d recommend an aggregator such as Clipboard or Feedly to keep track of updates.
The Guardian’s Scottish Independence Blog –
purely for the topic. I’m Scottish but living in
North East England, I’m trying to decipher
what Scottish Independence means for me.
It’s very complicated. I’m none the wiser.
JustGiving – a brilliant source for innovative
ideas relevant to the charity sector.
The Golf Blog – I’m a bit golf obsessed. I have
tickets for the Ryder Cup this year and this
blog keeps me up to date with everything
golf around the world.
What Olivia Did – Everything is just so pretty.
It’s a simple magazine style blog where I
can get a quick fashion/lifestyle fix. I always
read blogs before I make a beauty product
purchase; nothing is left to chance anymore.
As an aside, I find the whole beauty/fashion
blogger/vlogger phenomenon fascinating.
There are many bloggers and YouTubers
who are still in their teens and have more
subscribers than national radio stations have
listeners – I still find that mad. I’m not hugely
loyal to this kind of blog; I seem to want
quantity over quality.
Adverblog – a round-up of creative ideas
for the digital/marketing/advertising world.
It’s punchy, doesn’t over analyse and it’s full
of innovative content from lots of different
contributors. Unfortunately I find the layout
and design a bit disappointing.
The Style Files – I love looking at ideas for
the home and this blog is nicely done, its
very image led, as I suppose a design-led
blog should be! Pinterest is great for this sort
of thing, but Style Files is a good source of
inspiration that’s curated well.
MY FAVOURITE BLOGS

7. It’s an eclectic mix that covers local topics from politics to fundraising, and sport to style, not
forgetting marketing and brand communication. It’s also clear from the selection that visual
communication is important to Caroline.
The selection of blogs provides a great and varied source of inspiration. It also provides a
good basis for building a network through backlinks and comments.
CHOOSING A TOPIC
Caroline’s next task was to focus on what she wants to blog about. It’s important that she’s
passionate about the topic otherwise she’ll struggle to maintain her own interest let alone
others’.
My hunch is that rather than picking a single topic or issue Caroline should consider focusing
on her own demographic or local region. This would enable her to give her perspective on
numerous subjects.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
We also needed to decide on a domain name and what to call the blog. Would the blog be
the ‘Caroline O’Doherty blog’ or would it have another name aligned to the content?
The choice depends entirely on your motivation and how you want content to be
discovered.
The former is an excellent means of building a professional reputation and is the route to
take if you want to use a blog as a portfolio to promote your skills and services. Building
content on a website aligned to your name is a great way to be found via search.
The second option aligns the author firmly with a topic through association in which case I’d
suggest using Google Keyword Planner as a guide to the words that people use to discover
content on the web.
There’s a third option if neither of these choices is important and you want to signpost
people to content physically or via social forms of media then follow your personal
inspiration.
Caroline did exactly this but not in the way that I initially expected.
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8. 7 blogging
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#4 overcoming fear
with help from friends
BY CAROLINE O’DOHERTY
Initially, I struggled a little bit with my third homework task for this project.
Stephen asked me to write 200 to 300 words or so on what I planned to write about, and
to think about a name. A simple enough task on paper but after a few days had passed an
email arrived in my inbox from Stephen and I realised I’d procrastinated the week away.
One of my favourite quotes is from him of electric razor fame, Victor Kiam.
Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.”
I was letting ‘the fear’ take hold a bit. I knew what I wanted the blog to be about and in my
mind I had already planned out quite a few steps but fear was getting in the way.
I am guilty of being someone who often worries a bit too much about what other people
think, and so Victor Kiam’s quote is written on a post-it note attached to my laptop as a
reminder not to overthink everything.
I shared my concerns with Stephen who said “I wholly understand but truly this is fantastic.
It’s part of the process. You’re feeling exactly what everyone feels when they start a new
creative project. It’s also why this is much better than me having just pointed you at a book.”
FRIENDS IN THE NORTH
Stephen gave me some excellent advice, and within it set me my next assignment. He also
encouraged me to brainstorm with a friend to unlock new ideas and suggestions.
Timely suggestion, as a university friend was coming up from London at the weekend.
I told my friend Charlotte my plans and my fears and she soon knocked those out of the park.
Charlotte and I met on our first day at university. We were both staring at a timetable on a wall,
realised we were in the same classes and started talking. No fear, we just got on with it.
In fact, I found out this weekend Charlotte wanted to start a blog too and after a few drinks,
we’d cajoled each other into ‘getting on with it’.

9. That wasn’t the only thing to happen over the weekend which inspired me to run with my first
idea. On the Sunday morning, Twitter was awash with remarks about an article in The Guardian
by Andy Beckett that posed the question: The north-east of England: Britain’s Detroit?
Understandably lots of north east people who I follow on Twitter weren’t happy with this article.
Paul Smith (@paul_a_smith), a friend and someone with a brilliant creative and analytical
mind wrote the perfect response and as Sunday night drew to a close, I was inspired by two
friends to get on with it and forget ‘the fear’.
A NAME AND A TOPIC
So my blog was born.
I chose a name. It would be a blog celebrating everything that is unique, inspired and
different about north east England.
It would feature posts relating to lifestyle and business, celebrating the cool, unique ideas that
are born and developed here. I believed there was room for a blog that would mixthe two.
It would be a creative hub of inspiration that I hoped in my own little way would provide a
counterpoint to Andy Beckett’s doom and gloom view of our region.
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10. 9 blogging
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#5 technology choices
We’ve explored the benefit of blogging, building a network and seeking out sources of
inspiration, and how to choose a topic and a name for your blog. The next job is technology
choices and a development path for your blog. There are three options.
#1 FREE SERVICES
The easiest way to start blogging is to use a free service. It’s a good way to get started and build
confidence. What are you waiting for?
There are numerous services to choose from including Blogger, Medium, Tumblr and WordPress.com.
Each platform has its own benefits in terms of design, integration with other services and workflow.
The downside is that you’ll quickly outgrow a free service if you’re successful and find the limited
analytics, ads, restrictions on design and URLs frustrating.
As your skills develop, you will inevitably want to add more features to your blog. It’s possible to
move content from one service to another using third-party tools but this isn’t a trivial task and
requires a level of technical knowledge.
#2 WORDPRESS.COM
If you’re committing to blogging for the long term I’d recommend using WordPress. It is a fully
featured content management system that includes a third party template and plug-in architecture
that is used by more than 60 million websites on the web.
WordPress.com offers a premium managed service currently for £70 per year. This includes a bespoke
URL, customisation, no ads and email support. It’s a good route for someone who starts out with a basic
blog but then wants to add more features or wants a level of personal customisation from the outset.
I use a WordPress.com site to document my family’s houseboat renovation project. We’ve got
a bespoke URL and have found a ready-made template that works well for photos. Its a way of
recording and sharing photos and we’re unlikely to ever want to do anything more.
#3 WORDPRESS.ORG
You may decide that you need even greater levels of flexibility, integration with other services and
advanced customisation, or you may simply want to be in complete control of your own destiny.
In this case, I’d recommend a self-hosted WordPress.org site. It’s a wonderful open source
community that uses the same technology platform as WordPress.com.
The annual cost for a self-hosted site WordPress.org site is around the same as a managed
WordPress.com site. That’s almost certainly a deliberate commercial ploy by WordPress.com.
You need to be prepared to get your hands dirty under the bonnet of your website if you opt for a
WordPress.org site. But don’t let this put you off. You’ll get plenty of help if you need it from your
chosen web hosting services and the WordPress.org community and you’ll almost certainly find it a
liberating learning and development process.
Caroline had committed to blogging as a long term initiative, wanted complete control over her
blog, and wass keen to learn, and so opted for a WordPress.org blog.

11. 10 blogging
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#6 building a blog:
technical stuff
We spent a good deal of time planning and thinking about the purpose of Caroline’s blog.
That’s right and proper. Let’s have a quick review.
Caroline had committed to blogging as a long term initiative. She wanted complete control
over her blog, and was keen to learn, and so opted for a self-hosted WordPress.org blog.
She had also decided that her blog would celebrate everything that is unique, inspired and
different about the north east England.
Caroline’s blog would feature posts relating to lifestyle and business, celebrating some of the
cool, unique ideas that are born and developed in the north-east.
Next Caroline needed to buy a web domain, some web space and set up a blog.
She decided to call it Northern Ideas. The dot com domain was taken but dot co dot uk was
available.
DOMAIN AND WEB SERVER
Web hosts recognise that increasing numbers of people want to follow Caroline’s route and
so offer bespoke web packages that include a domain, simplifying the installation process.
There are any number of vendors. Recommendation from other bloggers is a good place to
start. I’ve used UK2 in the past for similar projects. I always found their help and support to
be excellenct
WebHostingBuzz is another web host that comes highly recommended by numerous
professional bloggers in my network.
Buying a domain and web server is straightforward. Web hosts have an interest in making it
so. To start you’ll need a small amount of web space. You can always upgrade.
The cost of a domain and web space is around £60 per year. Make sure that you opt for auto-renewal
for continuity of service.

12. WORDPRESS INSTALLATION
Point your domain address at your web space using your web host’s control panel. You
then need to be patient as it’ll take up to 48 hours for the domain record to permeate
around the Internet.
The next job is to load the WordPress application onto your web space.
Many web hosts, such as UK2, make this easy by automating the process otherwise you’ll
need to download the application from WordPress, and upload it to your website.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that organises blog content into a
database and renders it to visitors to your website depending on the theme that you install.
Content can be categorised and tagged to present it in different views.
WORDPRESS THEMES
The application is preloaded with a basic theme. Changing the theme enables you to
personalise your blog. There are millions of themes to choose from created by the huge
open source community of developers.
I’d suggest spending time surfing the web to find a theme you like: use Google, explore the
WordPress community, or simply browse blogs.
Caroline spent an evening or so reviewing themes on Pinterest before settling on Au Revoir.
Many themes are free. In this case the designer was selling the theme via Etsy for around £20.
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13. We purchased the theme and installed it on the site, seeking help from the developer along
the way in tweaking the header, buttons and the sidebar.
I’ve always found that developers provide good documentation and are eager to help out with
a blog installation where they can. The motivation is seeing their template used on a site.
PLUG-INS
The final piece of technical work is to install plugins. These are apps, developed by the open
source community, that add specific features to your blog. We added the following.
• Akismet – Akismet checks comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look
like spam, or not, and lets you review the spam it catches under your blog’s comments
admin screen.
• AuthorSure – AuthorSure adds Google+ verification to your blog and ensures that your
Google+ gravatar appears alongside search results.
• Google Analytics – This plugin adds the required code for Google analytics. We also created
a Google Analytics account so that we can evaluate how visitors engage with the blog.
• Shareaholic – Adds a social book marketing menu for sharing to networks including
Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
• UpdraftPlus – manual or scheduled backups to Dropbox, FTP or Google Drive.
NORTHERN IDEAS WAS LAUNCHED
And so we reached a key milestone in the project. Caroline had drafted a page about her blog,
and a first blog was posted. Whoop, cheer, clap, and take a look for yourself at Northern Ideas.
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14. #7 tackling content: 75 ideas
There are two issues commonly cited as barriers to blogging.
First, I haven’t got the time, and second, I don’t know what to blog about.
I write every day. It’s a habit formed as a journalist. It helps me think.
You need to make time. But you also shouldn’t think of writing as something formal.
Jot down notes, use an app on your iPhone or sit down in front of a computer. It matters not
how you do it.
The first draft of anything will be rubbish. It’s part of the process. The best writers are the ones
that edit, sharpen and refine their copy. They strip it back until there is nothing left to remove.
Often my blogs are unfinished. That’s also part of the process.
The magic begins when I hit publish and people in my network leap in and share their ideas.
My work is always improved.
The second issue of inspiration is much easier to address. Seek out inspiration from around you.
If you’re curious about something, you can be sure that others will find benefit or
entertainment in your blogging.
If you’re still stuck here are 75 ideas from my own blog to kick you off. Follow the links to
read the original posts.
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1. Share content from a speech
2. Write an open letter to a person or
community
3. Learn openly and publically
4. Set yourself goals and report on them
regularly
5. Take a contrary opinion on a topic or an issue
6. Seek out the opinions of someone that you
respect in your network
7. Interview someone disruptive in your
network
8. Talk to someone with a big job
9. Ask someone for their reflections on an
industry event
10. Start a new project and share the highs and
lows. Here’s another example
11. Share your views on an industry issue
12. Share best practice in your area of expertise.
More here
13. Report on a breaking industry issue
14. Share highlights from an industry report.
Here’s another. And another
15. Curate conversation around an issue or topic
16. Add context to a mainstream breaking
news story
17. Ask a journalist for their point of view
18. Experiment with a new piece of technology
19. Back a Kickstarter project and review
the results
20. Interview someone that’s written a book
21. Share your experience of using a new tool.
Worked examples work really well

15. 14 blogging
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22. Respond to an article in the mainstream media
23. Curate a conversation with your network
24. Reflect on an industry report or review an
industry event
25. Celebrate anniversaries with your network
26. Seek out the views of a smart person
27. Ask someone that you respect to write
about their passion
28. Reflect on a survey
29. Write an eBook. Better still crowdsource one
30. Talk to someone in an usual role
31. Share something disruptive
32. Review a new book
33. Help someone out by sharing their story
34. Invite an author to write a guest post about
their new book
35. Review a new piece of legislation
36. If in doubt write a top 10 list
37. Lists of people to follow on Twitter are
also good
38. Invite your community to reflect on your
business
39. Summarise your favourite bits of a book that
you’ve just read
40. Share an observation
41. Address a tricky issue
42. Tackle a big industry issue
43. Share a rant
44. Review a film
45. Share tips on how to get on and get ahead
in your business
46. Summarise and reflect on an academic paper
47. Go for a walk with a writer
48. Share a reading list
49. Crowdsource, curate and share comment
50. Practical hints and tips are always appreciated
51. Add context and opinion to a breaking
news story
52. Help businesses learn by providing
considered feedback
53. Challenge your community to do something
54. Not everyone will appreciate your blog posts.
Deal with it!
55. Share examples of learning and development
56. Campaign on a topic or issue
57. Reflect on a moment from history
58. Share experiences and have some fun
59. We can always learn from history
60. Hack your workflow and share the results
61. Ask your community for help
62. Embrace criticism
63. Reflect on learning and development, and
passing a qualification
64. Experiment with a new form of social media
or network
65. Write an essay about the future
66. Share advice on getting ahead
67. Commit to a project, and invite comment
along the way. Brand Vandalism became
#BrandVandals as a result
68. Write for your toughest sceptic
69. Share an example of your thinking and
working
70. Call out bad stuff
71. And praise good stuff
72. Remember someone special
73. Announce a new job
74. Share a nugget of information or insight
75. Be brave. Incredible things will happen!

16. #8 lessons from building a blog
And so our blogging journey reaches its conclusion although I’m sure it’s just the beginning
for Caroline.
We explored the reasons for blog, choosing a topic and a name, tackling fear, technology
choices, technical stuff and content.
We’ve built a blog and along the way we’ve created a small community as other people have
been inspired to start blogging. We’re planning to turn the series into an eBook after the
summer.
Here are Caroline’s reflections on what she’s learnt and where she plans to go from here.
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CAROLINE O’DOHERTY
WHAT’S NEXT?
Looking back at my original objectives, I’m pleased to say that I’ve taken steps towards
achieving them but I’m also that there’s so much more to learn.
When I casually asked Stephen if he could recommend some reading material I had no idea
what we were about to start.
He handed me a fantastic opportunity and I’m delighted to hear from others, both friends and
strangers; that the process has inspired them to take up blogging too.
I lead a pretty hectic life at times.
I work full-time and in my spare time working on freelance projects and in the last couple of
months I’ve had some fairly big things happen in my personal life too.
This can all equate to me putting a kind of unnecessary pressure on myself.
Some of the best advice Stephen has given me throughout this whole process is “as long as
we’re moving forward we’re going in the right direction.”
Everything is progress, whether it’s a page full of scribbles written in my blogging notebook
or simply reading other blogs, it all translates to learning and answering my objectives;
be more creative, gain a better understanding of blogging, talk about blogging in a
knowledgeable way.
I’ve learnt about blogging platforms, writing content, analytics and social media but amongst
all of that, I’ve learnt a lot about myself too.
My blogging notebook is full of ideas although my new blog Northern Ideas has only two posts.
This needs to change.
Moving forward I’m scheduling more blogging time into my life.
Professionally, I have strong self-discipline and I’m organised but I need to apply this
approach so Northern Ideas is the end product instead of a notebook full of pages of
wonderfully neat handwriting and beautiful doodles.

17. 16 blogging
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CAROLINE O’DOHERTY
WHAT’S NEXT?
Thanks to Stephen, I have gained a better understanding of blogging but the whole ethos
of our project was to gain experience by doing, so that blog structure plan that’s not quite
finished and those half written blogs that aren’t even in WordPress yet are next on my list.
I’m reading more blogs and following more bloggers on social media than I ever did before.
It’s a supportive and welcoming community.
My advice to others would be to get involved, wade in, explore and see what it’s all about.
Make time, plan, scribble, read, but most importantly, post. And when your offline world gets
a bit demanding, don’t worry, the online world can pause.
Soak everything up and remember that as long as you’re moving forward, you’re heading in
the right direction.

18. #9 postscript: tin box traveller
One of the wonderful things about the blogging project was the community that developed
around the series of posts. People made contributions via comments and Twitter, offering
help and support.
Claire Hall recognised many of the challenges that Caroline faced and offered to share her
own blogging experience.
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CLAIRE HALL
TIN BOX TRAVELLER
I love writing and with a job in public relations I’ve always had
plenty of opportunity to indulge this passion.
However, in 2012 maternity leave was looming and I was concerned
I’d lose my flare for words to baby brain. That’s when Tin Box
Traveller was born.
My husband and I had just bought our first place together - a third-hand
touring caravan. Our plan was to hit the road for traditional
family holidays. My blog was going to be a record of our experiences; both travelling and life
as new parents.
I knew there would be plenty to talk about, but I had no idea my blogging hobby would turn
into an adventure in itself.
I chose Blogger to host Tin Box Traveller; mainly because it was free and I had read other blogs
using it. I kept things simple at first. I posted when nappy changing allowed, and didn’t really
consider promoting Tin Box Traveller to anyone other than friends and family.
To be honest, there was a little bit of fear involved. This was the first time I’d published
something about me and I had no idea whether anyone would care what I had to say.
It was when I went back to work that I realised the full potential of being part of the blogging
community. As a professional communicator I wanted to understand how it all worked.
I set up a Twitter account and started to build my audience by joining networks like Britmums,
Mumsnet and Tots100. I began planning my posts and used my iPhone to jot down ideas.
Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ pages followed, along with Google Analytics, social sharing
buttons, and a bespoke URL. My blog suddenly felt like it had more purpose.
Being part of the blogging community has created new opportunities for me. As well as
writing Tin Box Traveller I also blog for Children Are Welcome, a website about child-friendly
places to go.
There is still a lot to do. Personalising my blog design is top of the list.
The best piece of advice I can give anyone who wants to start a blog is to read what’s already
out there.
I use Bloglovin’ to compile a daily digest of my favourite blogs, including people who have
inspired me, those who write about similar topics, and others that are just fun.

19. ABOUT STEPHEN WADDINGTON
This eBook is distributed freely under a Creative Commons 3.0 licence but if you find it useful
I’d be grateful for a donation to Macmillan Cancer via JustGiving. It’s personal. My wife is
recovering from breast cancer. We’re hugely appreciative, as a family, for the support we’ve
had from Macmillan throughout the process of diagnosis, treatment and now recuperation.
18 blogging
for beginners
Stephen Waddington is Digital and Social Media Director,
Ketchum Europe, and President of the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations (CIPR). He is a joint author with Steve Earl of Brand Anarchy
and #BrandVandals, and editor and contributor to Share This and
Share This Too. He blogs at wadds.co.uk and tweets @wadds.