Black Bloggers United #PowerHour is finally in Birmingham!

The highlight of my Saturday this past weekend was attending the first Black Bloggers United Power Hour event to be held in Birmingham.

Black Bloggers United, an organization dedicated to enhancing and highlighting black content creators, hosts monthly blogger meet-ups in cities across the country with the help of regional directors. (You can read my interview with BBU Birmingham regional director Keoshia Kyneard of BusyDoingMe.com here.)

Chatting with local bloggers over my favorite Starbucks tea reminded me why I love blogging so much in the first place — community. Writing can be a very lonely art, but through blogging communities, both local and national, we writers can find our tribe.

Some of the ladies who attended Saturday’s meet-up had yet to start their blogs. I couldn’t help but put on my coaching hat and try to figure out what was holding them back. They all had the same answer: “I want to write about too many things!”

We all know that having a well-defined niche is the best way to establish yourself as an expert in a particular field, but most of us writers who blog are multi-passionate and the idea of writing about just one thing seems impossible. So how can you create a blog that showcases all of your passions and still presents a cohesive theme? The key is to be sure your personality and your worldview shine through every single post.

What’s your worldview? 

What’s your worldview? Author and blogger Jeff Goins says you can define your worldview by simply filling in the blanks to the this statement: I believe every ___ should _____.

My worldview is I believe every woman should use the power of the written and spoken word to make money and make a difference. I believe every woman has a story worth sharing and when she shares it she can change her life and the lives of others.  This is at the heart of all I do and all I blog about. So even if I’m writing a blog post on how to shop like a fashion blogger, which seems to have little to do with writing, that post comes from a place of wanting to give women the confidence to share their stories.

Having a lifestyle blog that covers everything from fashion to finance can work if there is a clear theme. Keoshia, for example, writes a lifestyle blog that covers a variety of topics. But the theme of her blog is that after years of putting her family first, she’s finally making time for herself. And that idea permeates all of her posts.

Who do you want to be in the world (wide web)? 

Once you figure out your worldview, you need to be sure you’re conveying it in an authentic voice. Be mindful of the role you want to play in your readers’ lives and the adjectives you want them to use when describing you. I want to be both a teacher and a friend for my readers. I have been writing and blogging for A LONG TIME, so I have lessons to share and that’s what I try to do through my content. But I don’t know everything! I still have a lot to learn. So I’m also that friend coming alongside you so we can figure this out together.

The word I want people to use most when describing me is “inspiring.” So I’m not going to write posts complaining about all my life’s problems. That doesn’t mean I’m going to pretend my life is perfect. It’s not. AT ALL. And no one would be able to relate to me if my life was perfect. I have and will continue to share personal struggles, but I do so only after I’ve learned a lesson from that struggle that I can pass on.

So if you’ve been stalling on starting your blog because you can’t nail down your niche, the teacher in me is going to give you some homework. Define your worldview and make a list of ten blog post ideas that would convey that worldview and that you would enjoy writing. My hope is that this list will get you excited to finally launch that site!

If you need more guidance, come hang out with me and my tribe in the free See Jane Write Facebook community.