012: How to Start (and Keep Up!) a Blog While Learning to Code

What you'll learn

  • What blogs really are
  • How we commonly use blogs
  • What makes a technical blog different from a regular blog
  • Common misconceptions about technical blogging
  • How to decide where your blog should live
  • The positive effects of blogging on your education and programming career
  • Why your posts are really an asset that will keep working for you for years to come
  • A super important (really exciting!) update on 30 Days to Web Development, Nicole’s online prep course for web development career changers
  • The two biggest challenges Nicole has encountered while blogging

Tweetables

Writing about your experience learning to code can be a valuable, though challenging, endeavor. In this information-packed hour-long episode, Nicole talks about why it’s a worthwhile exercise, and some critical things you’ll want to consider before starting your own coding blog.

Starting a coding blog is one of the best things I’ve ever done. The idea came to me in a whirlwind, and I had the motivation to execute it quickly.

If you haven’t started a blog yet, this episode will help you understand why blogging can be so powerful. I also put a good amount of special attention on the challenges that newbie coder bloggers face when trying to figure out what to write.

Resource Links

Setup: Choosing a Platform

Medium vs. WordPress—Choosing the Right Platform!

All you need to know about the differences and similarities between writing on WordPress (.org and .com) and Medium.

Setup: Tech Tutorials

How to Use Medium: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing, Publishing and Promoting on the Platform by HubSpot Blog’s Erik Devaney

A complete walk-through of the Medium platform, from creating an account to publishing your first post, and much more.

Monetizing

Smart Passive Income Podcast by Pat Flynn

Did you know that you can monetize your blog? It’s true!

Because I’m not really an expert on these areas (yet), I highly recommend learning from Pat Flynn. Pat is the internet’s patron saint of monetizing blogs, podcasts, and pretty much anything. Apart from being very well informed, and having some even more well-informed friends as guests on his show, Pat is an all-around awesome and generous guy. Check out his podcasts, Smart Passive Income, and Ask Pat! (Remember my whole “serve your audience first” approach in the episode? That’s where it came from!)

Creating Content

Write an Excellent Programming Blog by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis

I first encountered this post a while back while clicking aimlessly through the internet, likely trying to break out of a writing rut. Super useful for determining how to write those more “technically-focused” blog posts, but also kind of for all types of blog posts. Adapt as you see fit!

 

What you'll learn

  • What blogs really are
  • How we commonly use blogs
  • What makes a technical blog different from a regular blog
  • Common misconceptions about technical blogging
  • How to decide where your blog should live
  • The positive effects of blogging on your education and programming career
  • Why your posts are really an asset that will keep working for you for years to come
  • A super important (really exciting!) update on 30 Days to Web Development, Nicole’s online prep course for web development career changers
  • The two biggest challenges Nicole has encountered while blogging

Tweetables

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