6 Things to Know Before Starting Your Tarot Blog

I started my first Tarot blog (in Chinese) in 2009. Since then, I have learned a lot about blogging and started another three blogs.

If you want to start your own Tarot blog too, here are something you might want to know.

Blogging Takes a Ton of Effort

We naturally underestimate the time and effort needed to get a project finished. Or started. You might think you can start a blog in a couple of minutes by registering on Blogger. But it is far more time-consuming than that.

You will do your research, you will hesitate on what platform to use or not to use a platform at all, you will talk with your friends about your plan, and you will struggle to come up with a decent name.

All that happens before you start your blog.

After your blog is live, you will want to tweak your theme, edit all these pages, write a killer profile, etc.

The most time-consuming task is writing the posts.

It usually takes me two hours to write the first draft of a 1,200 words post. Then I will spend 30 to 45 minutes to get it less ugly so I could publish it.

If I need to write 100 such posts, it would take me more than 300 hours.

Of course you could post only once a month, and treat blogging as a hobby. But that monthly post is still likely to take more time than you think.

Build it and They Won’t Come

My first blog is kind of the most well-known blog to Chinese Tarot readers. But I can’t make money from it and the traffic doesn’t really improve in 6 years.

That blog has more than 150 posts and you can also download a full-length eBook there for free.

Why? Because I suck at marketing.

If you want your blog to be read by a lot of people, you have to reach out for a lot of people.

People won’t come to your blog if they don’t know it exists.

You Might Give Up

Internet is full of abandoned blogs just like your life is full of abandoned hobbies.

It’s totally common and possible for you to give up blogging, especially if you haven’t done it before.

This doesn’t mean you should give up now. It does mean that you should forget your distant dream of building the most popular Tarot blog in the world, and instead take action as soon as you can.

You won’t know if your grand vision would come true without trying to pursue it. So get started already. Don’t waste time dreaming about the greatest posts you will write. It means nothing if it doesn’t get started.

It Could Get Technical

At first you might think Blogger or WordPress.com is enough. Then someday you might decide you want more Chinese readers. Then you find out the horrible truth that Blogger and WordPress.com hosted blogs can’t be visited in China.

Well, that is a very unlikely scenario. But my point is that all these free platforms have their limitations. You might run into them when your blog grows or when you need more control.

You will then need to know all these strange terms like domain name, shared hosting, VPS, DNS.

Having a headache already? You got the idea.

It’s Surprisingly Rewarding

I love writing. So much so that I totally enjoy writing in a second language: English.

But I won’t ever know it without blogging. Blogging makes me write regularly and I slowly came to understand how much I enjoy writing.

It also helps me organize my thoughts, meet a lot of friends, and get my first book deal.

I also discovered that I am far better at writing than talking.

Blogging changes lives. Both the lives of the writers and the readers.

What will you gain by regularly blogging? You will have to find out.

You Could Ask Me for Help

Yes, the last thing you need to know before starting your blog is that you could ask me for help.

Not just me. Many bloggers are willing to help you start. The word blogosphere is invented not without a reason. Most blogs grow by connecting to other blogs. It’s a wonderful community.

I invite you to be part of this community.

In fact, I am joining this community right now myself because my English Tarot blog, Lone Tarot Reader, is online just this September.

Bonus Tip: Learn from Those Brilliant Bloggers

The nice thing about blogging is that someone has done it before and you could learn from her experience. So I have looked around for posts on starting or running a Tarot blog, or the story of building a Tarot blog.

Sadly, there aren’t many. So I just added links to some Tarot bloggers and hope you could learn directly from what they do.

If you have written a post on starting or running a Tarot blog, please leave a comment and let me know.

Design tips for tarot bloggers from Little Red Tarot

Why I Quit My Corporate Job to Become a Full-Time Tarot Professional from Biddy Tarot

The Tarot Lady – One of the most respected Tarot blogs and you could surely learn something from her.

Benebell Wen – She built her blog and published a huge book loved by all. And she’s a Chinese too, no reason I’m not linking to her.

Ashes and Wine Tarot –  His blog is polished. If not anything you should learn that this is good design. And his pictures are beautifully taken. Really.

Ethony – She uses a lot of beautiful images and videos in her posts. That’s something every blogger should learn from (me included). Plus, her readings page is beautiful. Instead of a long list of the types of reading she offers, you see pictures lined up. Simple, clear and vivid.