Our Stupid Simple 3-Step Guide T0 Launch Your Blog

If you’re anything like us, you can spend weeks, months, even years planning for something – only to realize you never actually ACCOMPLISHED anything. For many people, extensive & thorough pre-planning is an extremely useful tool. NOT US, MY FRIENDS. We are problem-solvers to the core and while that can be a very valuable trait in the early stages of planning, it can also spur the merry go round of “what-ifs,” or the “lets-make-it-perfect-now-before-I-even-know-what-perfect-looks-like” sort of mentality. So, in getting to know ourselves better throughout the years, we’ve realized our problem-solving skills work much better when a problem is actually encountered, and our critical thinking skills work much better after something is done as opposed to before we even take a step forward.

A quick side note for our tribe: We are all about mutually beneficial relationships here at the Newlymoms. So naturally, this article may contain affiliate links. This means that if you were to use the links provided and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). We only promote products we use, love, and/or fully support — it’s a win, win, win! If you have any questions about what we use, love and/or support, please reach out to us via our contact page.

Something else we’ve come to learn is that a lot of the “Launch Your Blog” type of courses out there right now are geared towards the pre-planning type – you know, the “get all your ducks in a row” before you lead them anywhere type. And after almost 2 years of trying to plan out the perfect blog before launching it – we finally chose to do it the other way – the just do it and renew it way.

And here is where the story of the newlymoms begins…

On a random Friday, Christine & I abandoned all the pre-planning we were trying to do & took a complete 180. In the 2 days following we created, set up and launched a completely new blog which we’re still figuring out the best way to run, schedule, structure, etc. We realized we couldn’t figure out the best schedule for posting, until we posted once. We couldn’t figure out the best website structure until we created it and subsequently encountered problems. And we didn’t want to plan out what to write too far in advance until we saw what our readers were interested in. You see, there are a lot of best practices out there and they all work to some degree. However – here at the newlymoms, we believe the best thing you can do is figure out what works best for YOU! And that won’t happen until you do it (kinda like giving birth to a child and raising it), so – here’s how we did it.

The stupid simple, 3-step guide to set up and launch your blog.

You could honestly do this in 1 day, but we factored in the whole child-rearing responsibility thing and did it in 2. ENJOY!

1. Choose A Domain Name & Setup Hosting with Bluehost.

Rule #1: Kill as many birds as you can with one stone.

We all know WordPress is the golden egg of blogging so don’t question it!  And Bluehost is by far the BEST hosting platform that seamlessly integrates WordPress, so use that too! Bluehost makes it crazy easy to choose your domain name, sign up for your hosting plan & set up your WordPress account all through one platform. Get started with Bluehost now for as low as $3.95/month.

Rule #2: Don’t overthink it – any of it.

The Newlymoms was birthed out of “The New Moms” already being taken. And frankly, our 2nd choice ended up being so much better – are we right? So, don’t fret if your first choice is taken. It won’t make or break you and having to use your creative side usually nets a better result in the end anyway.

2. Setup Your Website with the Genesis Framework & Sugar+Code Child Theme.

Rule #3: Use the rock-solid, industry standard Genesis Framework.

The Genesis Framework is like the structure of a building – use a solid one and it makes any finishes/decorations/upgrades possible (and way easier). The Genesis Framework can be purchased through StudioPress and comes with lifetime, automatic upgrades.

Rule #4: Use a Sugar + Code Child Theme.

This was the real game changer that allowed us to launch our blog so quickly & easily. Jess from Sugar+Code makes setting up both the Genesis Framework and your child theme super easy in her resource guide that comes with your purchase. Her step-by-step tutorials make setting up your theme foolproof. Our website uses the Ally Active theme, but all the Sugar+Code themes are GORGEOUS,  and just as simple to implement.

 

3. Power your email list with Convertkit.

Rule #5: Keep the traffic coming.

The easiest way to keep traffic coming back consistently and organically (without even needing to promote your blog) is by building an email list. Having this option in place from the very beginning is both wise and efficient.

Rule #6: The best app for doing this is Convertkit.  

Check out one of the reasons why we love ConvertKit here! FYI – some of the more in-depth information is left out of this resource to keep it short and to-the-point, our newlymom MO. If you have questions, please let us know! Our follow-up resources will be based on the feedback we get from this one!

 

HAPPY BLOGGING!

Right there with ya,

The Newlymoms