The hardest part to starting a history blog is committing to the work. The rest is easy.
Step 1 Choose a Niche
I am not going to go into the technical side of setting up a blog because there are already numerous articles on the subject written by professionals. Instead, I want to focus on how you should choose your main focus.
While it may be tempting to focus on all aspects of history, you will be better off narrowing down your field.
Some history blogs focus on a war, such as the Vietnam War or World War 1. Choosing a war niche allows you to write about numerous aspects of that particular war.
Your niche can also focus on a particular time period. For example, the Victorian Era or the Roaring Twenties.
You can focus on strange history, like I do, or mysteries, murders, capital punishment, the English monarchy, or even coal mining.
Choose a niche that you enjoy researching and one that others will also find interesting.
Step 2 Research and Keep Lists
Researching your main niche is going to take up a lot of your time, so you will want to keep a list of all the ideas, possibly ideas, and threads you will want to follow up.
Step 3 Make a List of Possible Titles
When you are researching and writing general notes, you will also want to create a title list.
I keep an updated lists of hundreds of possible article titles in a file. Whenever I hit a bit of researcher’s block, I pull a title from my list and begin working on it. This prevents me from ever wondering about what I am going to write about today.
Step 4 Write, write, write
Set aside time to write your blog posts. If you are working full-time at another job, plan on writing one blog post a week. If you have time to write more, do so, but don’t burn yourself out trying to write a week’s worth of content in a day.
Good, long form content of 1,000 words or more is more important than numerous short articles under 500 words.
Step 5 Find the Best Social Media Platform for You
Sure, there are some people who tackle all the social media sites and flood them with their content, but for myself I have found that I get the best click throughs on Pinterest.
When you get started on your blog and begin posting links to your content, you will need to explore and discover which platform or platforms work best for your content. After you have found one or two social media sites that work best for you, focus on that and dismiss the rest.
You are only one person, and you should be focusing on content, not likes.
Step 6 Don’t Give Up
It takes time and patience for a one person blog to build an audience. Celebrate each milestone, even if it is just 10 views on your latest article.
Know that if your content is well written and informational, it will gain more clicks over time.
Don’t expect to get rich or even earn a living income during your first year of history blogging. It is more than likely not going to happen. Instead, focus on your content and slowly branch it out into either podcasting or YouTubing to create a small, part-time income.
