{"id":17364,"date":"2023-01-30T04:04:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T12:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/?p=17364"},"modified":"2025-08-16T16:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T23:38:15","slug":"personal-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ryrob.com\/personal-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Start a Personal Blog (5 Personal Blog Examples) & Share Your Life Online in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you thinking about starting a personal blog<\/strong>? Well, you’re in luck\u2014we’ll be going through my step-by-step process of how to start a blog<\/a> & examining several personal blog examples to inspire you on your way to becoming a blogger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When blogging began, all blogs were personal. The wo<\/span>rd \u201cblog\u201d comes from \u201cweb log.\u201d Essentially, a blog is a diary of someone\u2019s life kept on the Internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are still plenty of bloggers who run personal blogs or blogs that are primarily about their own lives. This is a perfectly valid approach to blogging, but because it\u2019s not as focused on making money<\/a> as many other types of blogging, it doesn\u2019t always get a lot of attention. Choosing to start a vlog (video blog)<\/a> alongside your more traditional personal blog is<\/em> a very smart idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re wondering about starting a personal blog, whether for fun or to build an online audience, this is the guide for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Start a Personal Blog (5 Personal Blog Examples) in 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Personal Blog Examples to Learn From (Real Personal Bloggers)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Good Reasons to Start a Personal Blog for Yourself<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. How to Start a Personal Blog in 5 Easy Steps Today<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Should You Monetize a Personal Blog?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. How to Make Money Personal Blogging<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Driving Traffic to Your Personal Blog<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Disclosure:<\/strong> Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I\u2019ll earn a commission. Know that I only recommend products and services I\u2019ve personally used and stand behind. When you use one of my affiliate links, the company compensates me, which helps me run this blog and keep my in-depth content free of charge for readers (like you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Start a Personal Blog (5 Personal Blog Examples) & Share Your Life Online in 2025<\/a><\/div>Click To Post on <\/i><\/a>
    <\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ready to Start Your Blog Today?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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    \"Ryan-Robinson-Blogger-Typing-on-MacBook-Blogger-Stock-Photo\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Check out my ultimate guide How to Start a Blog (on the Side)<\/a> that’s been featured on Forbes<\/em>, Inc<\/em> and Entrepreneur<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

    Read Now<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    What is a Personal Blog?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A personal blog is all about you and your personal experiences. That doesn\u2019t mean you need to share the most intimate details of your life\u2014or that you need to catalog what you had for breakfast each day exhaustively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But the central focus of a personal blog is on you<\/em> and your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That might sound like a lifestyle blog, but here\u2019s the big difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Personal blogs are focused on the blogger. Lifestyle blogs are focused on the reader.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On a personal blog, you might write about how you reorganized your kitchen cupboards over the weekend, but your focus is on telling that story and sharing the little details of your life with your readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On a lifestyle blog, you might also write about how you reorganized your kitchen cupboards\u2014but the focus will be more on the reader, perhaps offering tips on how they could follow the same process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As a personal blogger, you primarily write about things that interest you<\/em>\u2026 without worrying too much about things like search engine optimization and building traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tip:<\/strong> Plenty of blogs will combine aspects of personal blogging, lifestyle blogging, and perhaps other types of blogging. Check out my favorite popular blog examples<\/a> for more. There\u2019s no rule saying your blog needs to stick to just one type of content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5 Best Examples of Personal Blogs to Learn From<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Want to check out some of the best personal blogs out there? Here are a few examples to inspire you, including my own blog right here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. RyRob: The Blog of Ryan Robinson<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \"RyRob<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    My <\/a>blog<\/a>\u00a0began as more of a personal blog and gradually grew into a business over time as my readers began asking so many questions about how to build an audience and monetize your digital presence. If you take a look back at\u00a0my earliest posts, you can see how they\u2019re focused on\u00a0my own story<\/em>. They even incorporate some of my (old) interests,<\/span> like sports and skydiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today, I monetize RyRob mainly through affiliate marketing, along with my own product sales (blogging courses<\/a> & blogging books<\/a>) and my work as a content marketing consultant<\/a>. When I published those first few posts on my brand new blog, I just had a handful of readers and lots of ideas I wanted to share about entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Laura Vanderkam<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \"Laura<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Laura Vanderkam\u2019s blog, \u201cWriting About Time Management, Life, Careers & Family,\u201d deals with all those topics but has a distinctly personal blogging angle. For instance, Laura posts a weekly \u201cWednesday Musings\u201d that is focused on details of family life and links to various projects Laura\u2019s working on or places she\u2019s been interviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Her \u201cTBT Scorecard\u201d posts are roundups of her performance on various metrics she\u2019s tracking. They\u2019re very much focused on her life rather than offering lots of tips or advice to the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. Not a Blog, by George R.R. Martin<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \"Not<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Okay, George R.R. Martin literally calls this \u201cnot a blog<\/a>\u201d\u2026 but let\u2019s be honest, it is<\/em> a blog. In fact, it’s a proper personal blog, and it says so right in the sidebar. This is a fantastic example of a personal blog from the very well-known author of the Game of Thrones<\/em> books, where he regularly explores sharing his personal interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    George could write a typical author blog about things like his writing process and tips for would-be authors\u2026 but instead, his blog is very much focused on the things that interest him. That includes stuff like the NFL, his experience of COVID-19 in recent years, his travels, Marvel movies, and much more, and details about his books and the TV shows based on them, all written in a low-key, chatty, personal style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4. Holly Lisle<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \"Holly<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Holly Lisle, another author (you’re picking up on a trend here), uses her personal blog to discuss how her writing is going and sometimes shares anecdotes from her past. She also posts photos of her cat, Sheldon. Her blog is a great way for her to connect with her audiences: fans of her books and people looking for writing advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Her blog helps market her many novels and her books and courses aimed at writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. Designer Daddy<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \"Designer<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    Designer Daddy is a really fun and heartwarming personal blog from gay dad Brent Almond that\u2019s packed with life lessons, stories about family life, and LGBTQ activism. Brent doesn\u2019t post especially frequently\u2014around once a month\u2014which is fine for a personal blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Designer Dad isn\u2019t monetized, though Brent includes a link on his About page to his illustration and design work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3 Reasons to Start a Personal Blog (& Become a Personal Blogger)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    So why does anyone start a personal blog? If you want to make money online, there are plenty of better options. Going into a niche like travel blogging<\/a> or food blogging<\/a> will likely make your blog much more accessible to monetize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But if you\u2019re drawn to blogging as a form of self-expression or as a new hobby, then making money may not be of interest to you \u2013 or at least, it probably isn\u2019t your priority. Here are a few of the best reasons to start a personal blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Try Out Blogging in a Low-Key Way (on a Budget)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Are you thinking about blogging as a potential side hustle or career path\u2014but you\u2019re not sure how much you\u2019d enjoy it, or are you feeling daunted by the technical side? Or maybe the costs of blogging<\/a> seem out of reach at the moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Running a personal blog is a great way to learn about blogging without committing a lot of time, effort, and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You could easily start a personal blog on a free blogging site<\/a>: your blog could be up and running in just 10 minutes or so without you having to spend a single cent. You could write new posts whenever you want and see if you enjoy the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Stay in Touch with Family and Friends<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Is your favorite social networking site having a meltdown? Or perhaps you have family members who don\u2019t \u201cdo\u201d social media. Writing on a personal blog can be a great way to keep family and friends up to date with your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You might start your blog during a particular life transition \u2013 perhaps you\u2019ve just had a baby, for instance, and you want somewhere to post your baby photos. Or maybe you\u2019re traveling or studying abroad, and you want to share your experiences each week without having to email or WhatsApp a whole bunch of family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. Build a Personal Brand (and Find Your Writing Voice)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Another great reason to start a personal blog is if you want to build a personal brand. This works particularly well if you have a strong and distinctive writing voice: people may keep coming back to your blog not just because they\u2019re interested in the ins and outs of your life but because they find it an entertaining read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If building a personal brand is your main reason for starting a personal blog, you may want to think a little strategically. How can you capitalize on your blog\u2019s readership? Perhaps you hope to write and promote a book, become a keynote speaker, or create a popular podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Your goals may make a difference in the decisions you make early on in the life of your blog. For instance, you might want to use a professional blogging platform<\/a> like WordPress rather than a purely personal one like Tumblr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Start a Personal Blog in 5 Easy Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n
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    \"Ryan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    I will guide you through the process of starting your personal blog. We\u2019ll focus on using WordPress, which will give you the most extensive range of options for your blog as it grows, but I\u2019ll also offer some suggestions on other blogging software along the way in case you want to opt for something completely free to get started with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before we discuss blogging software and getting your personal blog online, though, let\u2019s consider what your blog will cover and what you\u2019ll call it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Step 1. What Should Your Personal Blog Cover?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Most bloggers need a clear niche to pursue<\/a>: a topic that their blog fits comfortably within so that readers know what to expect from the blog content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With personal blogging, you\u2019ve got a lot<\/em> of freedom here. You don\u2019t need to pick a particular topic like \u201ctravel,\u201d \u201cfood,\u201d or \u201cparenting\u201d \u2026 because your topic is you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even so, it\u2019s worth considering what things you\u2019ll cover on your blog. This can help give you a focus when deciding what to write about on any given day. For instance, you might want to cover things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n