Should You Start a Personal Blog? [Here are 23 Successful Blogs to Inspire]

Is this going to be the year you start a personal blog?

If you're comfortable putting yourself ‘out there', having a personal blog can be a great way to build your personal brand, make money, and help you escape your day job.

If you know you want to start a blog, but you're not sure whether or not you want to be the ‘face' of your business, this article is going to shed some light on the subject.

What is a Personal Blog?

A personal blog is a blog that is written by an individual, typically about their own experiences, thoughts, and opinions.

This type of blog is different from other types of blogs, such as general niche sites, corporate blogs, or news blogs, in that it offers a more personal perspective.

They will want to hear your opinions, and this is what can give you an advantage over bigger ‘anonymous' blogs.

23 Popular Personal Blog Examples

A personal blog doesn't have to be a diary. You can still have a niche, but you're simply talking about the subject from your own perspective and sharing your own opinions.

These bloggers all have successful personal blogs. They all focus on different subjects, but there is always a person as the face of the brand.

Madeleine Shaw

Madeleine Shaw is a nutritionist and yoga coach. She's been sharing recipes and advice on her blog for almost a decade, with hundreds of thousands of followers and multiple bestselling books. She's truly mastered the art of turning her passion into a career!

Gala Darling

Gala Darling is a New-York based blogger, author, and life coach. Darling preaches self-love and manifesting what you want in order to become more successful.

She offers life advice and shares tips on fashion, beauty, and travel. She's written 3 books, with one of them becoming a best-seller after being endorsed by Oprah.

Cup of Jo

Joanna Goddard is the owner of the hugely popular lifestyle website, Cup of Jo. The website is a daily lifestyle website for women covering fashion, home, food, and even parenthood.

The founder, Joanna Goddard, has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and gets millions of page views every month.

Neil Patel

Neil Patel is a well-known digital marketing blogger. His personal blog offers practical advice for other website owners that includes product reviews, SEO tips, and advice on everything you need to run a blog.

He launched his own digital agency as well as an SEO tool called Ubersuggest, and now receives millions of views per month.

Adam Enfroy

Adam Enfroy is one of the fastest-growing personal bloggers around. He offers practical advice on how to start a business and scale it quickly.

His site receives over half a million visitors every month and in just a few years he grew his personal blog into a 7-figure business.

Just Kaushal

Kaushal is a successful beauty and lifestyle influencer. She has nearly 1 million Instagram followers and over 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube. She posts makeup tutorials as well as vlogs about her life, offering advice to her subscribers (check out our blog vs vlog comparison).

Gaz Oakley – Avant-Garde Vegan

Gaz Oakley is the owner of the successful vegan recipe blog Avant-Garde Vegan. He has over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and receives millions of page views on his blog every month.

He has written a series of massively popular recipe books and even launched a pop-up restaurant to celebrate hitting 1 million subscribers!

Amelia Liana

Amelia Liana is one of the most famous and longest-standing beauty and fashion influencers. She focuses on the luxury lifestyle niche and has amassed millions of followers and views on her blog as well as a successful YouTube channel and Instagram account (and if you're curious, make sure to read our guide on how to find your YouTube niche).

She also launched her own jewelry line which has over 20,000 followers.

Mama in Heels

Mama in Heels is a popular lifestyle blogger who focuses on fashion and beauty for busy mothers. She's the winner of the Top 25 Fashion and Beauty Moms award and is in the top 30 work fashion blogs.

By Sophia Lee

Sophia Lee posts about all things pertaining to the modern woman's lifestyle, from going to college, to moving into your first apartment, and other general life advice for women navigating their 20s.

She also writes a lot about launching a successful business, including what she did to launch her career.

Lily Pebbles

Lily Pebbles is one of the original lifestyle influencers. However, while others have left the blogosphere, her personal blog continues to be a hub for all things women's lifestyle, including fashion and beauty.

She has nearly half a million Instagram followers and a successful blog and podcast.

Mr. JWW – James William Walker

Mr. JWW is the name of James William Walker's personal blog. He's a hugely successful blogger and YouTuber with a focus on high-end cars.

Unlike a lot of bloggers on this list, he found success in the textiles industry before starting his website to document his lavish lifestyle. His YouTube channel has had over 160,000 views to date.

Ruth Crilly – A Model Recommends

Ruth Crilly, the creator of A Model Recommends, is a beauty blogger as well as a motherhood influencer. She documents her life and gives tips and practical advice from her own experiences.

After amassing over 200,000 followers, she launched her own app for new moms.

Zanna van Dijk

Zanna van Dijk is a lifestyle blogger with a focus on travel and fitness. She shares aspirational content on her popular blog with her almost half a million-strong audience.

She was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 and launched her own sustainable swimwear company, Stay Wild Swim.

Skint Dad

Skint Dad is a personal finance blog, run by Ricky and Naomi Willis. Their blog teaches you how to make money and save money with their tips and tricks, as well as shares deals that people can take advantage of.

Tech Savvy Mama

Tech Savvy Mama is an award-winning family blogger that focuses on helping parents to use technology to better educate and bring up their children.

She teaches middle school computer science and she's a columnist for a number of big magazines, as well as the recipient of some of the most prestigious blog awards.

Amber Fillerup Clark

Amber Fillerup Clark (formerly known as Barefoot Blonde) is a veteran lifestyle blogger. She posts hair tutorials alongside travel and lifestyle content.

She has over 1 million followers on Instagram and has launched two successful businesses – hair care products and clip-in hair extensions.

My Wife Quit Her Job

My Wife Quit Her Job is a business-focused blog and podcast series that teaches people how to build a successful eCommerce business. The website features several courses that help you start your own store, sell on Amazon, or create a successful blog.

Mr. Money Mustache

Mr. Money Mustache is a personal finance website with a sense of humor. The website focuses on ways to save money and make money.

The website documents Mr. Money Mustache's journey to financial freedom with lots of different techniques that he has personally tested.

At Home With Natalie

Natalie is a popular parenting blogger. She shares her life looking after 6 children, including what she cooks, how she styles her home, and the family's general lifestyle.

She's amassed 50,000 followers on Instagram and has a successful online housewares shop.

Louise Pentland

Louise Pentland is one of the original bloggers and YouTubers. She became known for posting beauty and fashion content and collaborating with other well-known bloggers and YouTubers like Zoella.

She's still active today, but her content has grown up with her. She now posts motherhood advice and lifestyle content across her successful blog and YouTube channel, and is also a published author.

The Blondielocks

The Blondielocks is a lifestyle platform run by blogger Kaylee Giffin-Logan. She posts fashion and lifestyle content as well as documents her journey as a mom.

She has over 20,000 followers on Instagram, an active blog, and even a collaboration with a well-known clothing company.

The Girl Outdoors

The Girl Outdoors is an award-winning adventure travel blog edited by Sian Anna Lewis. Featuring activity guides, gear reviews, and recommended destinations, this blog is a must-read for any adventurer visiting the UK.

The Pros and Cons of Starting a Personal Blog

There are lots of reasons why you might want to start a blog, from wanting a creative outlet to wanting to launch your own business. No matter what your reason for starting a blog is, there are a lot of things that you will need to consider.

Pros:

• It's a great creative outlet
• It can give you an advantage over bigger ‘faceless' blogs
• You can learn new skills
• You can talk about a wide variety of different subjects
• You'll be part of a great online community and meet like-minded people
• It has the potential to develop into a business
• You will have an amazing project to look back on
• You can share your passions and knowledge with others
• It doesn't cost much to get started

Cons:

How to Start a Personal Blog

There's a lot to think about when starting a personal blog. You will need to consider:

• What you will call your blog
• What you want to write about
• Your style of writing
• How you want to monetize your blog

Here's a quick guide to get you started.

Decide on a name and register your domain

First of all, the fun part: you need to choose a name. If you want your blog to be a hobby then choose something that you identify with.

If you want your blog to turn into a business then you should think about choosing a name that relates to your niche.

Common blog name themes include a play on words that fit in with your name, like “Abroad in Japan”, the Japan travel guide run by filmmaker Chris Broad.

You could also think about using your topic as a play on words, like “Globelle Travels” which is a travel website aimed at women.

Alternatively, you could fit your topic name into your blog name, like Skint Dad which is a money blog for parents (a great example of a dad blogger).

Think of a few different ideas, then search them to check that no one else is using them.

Choose a hosting provider

If you want to have full control over your website, building your blog on WordPress is your best bet.

The WordPress software is free and open source, which gives you endless customization options for your website. You only need to pay for hosting.

When you're choosing a hosting provider, make sure you look at reviews, the kind of support that they offer (vital for new bloggers!), and the services that are included.

A lot of big hosting companies will offer services like 24/7 customer support, theme installation, website backups, and safety measures.

If you're not sure where to start, Bluehost is a great option. It starts at just $2.95/month and offers great support, making it the perfect choice for new bloggers.

Install WordPress

Installing WordPress sounds daunting but it's actually really easy. It just requires a few simple steps.

Most hosting providers (including Bluehost) offer a 1-click WordPress install. This makes it super easy, and you can have your WordPress website ready to go in minutes.

Choose a Theme for your blog

Choosing a theme for your blog is really fun, but there are also some things to consider.

Think about the type of blog that you want to run and what you expect those websites to look like. If you want to create a fashion or travel blog, it's more likely to be image-heavy on the home page.

There are lots of places to find WordPress themes for your website. WordPress offers some basic themes for free.

Some of the best themes we recommend are:

• GeneratePress – A lightweight theme with lots of great layout options
• Elementor – Makes it easy to create a custom design using the drag-and-drop builder
• Astra – A lightning-fast WordPress theme with a great free version available

For some other great themes, check out our guide to the best WordPress themes for beginners.

Write High-Quality Content

No matter how great your personal blog looks, it won't do well if your content isn't high-quality. You need to write great blog posts that people actually want to read. It could be entertaining, informative, or educational.

You could think about the time of year and use this to your advantage. For summer, you could create an outfit look book, write some summer recipes, or write a blog post about the best destinations to travel to at that time of year.

Think about your chosen topic and the kinds of questions that you would ask.

For example, if you have a food blog, write an article about how to use leftovers.

If you're a travel blogger, write about how to save money while traveling.

Fashion bloggers could write about how to style a tricky pattern or color, and so on.

This kind of evergreen, high-quality content is always relevant to your audience and is likely to be very popular.

Get the word out!

You can create a stunning website, think of a great name, and write amazing content, but if you don't do anything to promote your website then you're unlikely to get many page views.

Some good social media platforms for bloggers include:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to get your website out there. It takes time and there's a learning curve, but when it's done right it can bring you a steady flow of organic traffic for years to come.

A simple plugin like Yoast SEO can help you optimize your blog posts.

KeySearch is another great SEO tool for anyone wanting to get started on a budget. Read our full KeySearch review to find out more.

Start an Email List for your Personal Blog

Once you have people visiting your website, it's important to encourage them to regularly come back. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to create an email list.

You can write a weekly or monthly newsletter, letting your audience know about your recent articles, talking about any relevant current events, and mentioning anything that you've been doing.

If you have any products or affiliate links to promote, you can offer your newsletter subscribers a discount to thank them for reading.

ConvertKit is perfect for bloggers looking to start an email list for their personal blog. It's free for your first 1,000 subscribers, and no credit card details are required to sign up.

How Can a Personal Blog Make Money?

Blogs are a great creative outlet and a wonderful hobby, but they can also make great money (don't miss our list of great creative hobbies).

The best part is that there are so many different methods that you can try, so you can choose a way to make money that fits in with your content that your audience will be interested in.

Popular ways to monetize a personal blog include:

• Affiliate marketing
• Display Ads (Ezoic is our top pick for beginners)
• Services
• Digital Products
• Brand Partnerships

It's worth noting that it can take 6 months to a year before you start seeing some decent income from a blog. That may sound tough, but if you are willing to invest the time and dedication upfront, it can pay off handsomely in the future.

Final Thoughts: Should You Start a Personal Blog?

So, should you start your own personal blog?

The answer is yes, if you're prepared to put yourself out there, then go for it!

Starting a personal blog is an amazing creative outlet, and it can also be a great way to make money.

Although building a blog can take some time before you see success, get the blogging process right, and you could change your life. And for even more inspiration check out our list of successful lifestyle blogs!

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