A minimal blog is better than none at all

Starting a blog is a great way to start to attract traffic, though it can be intimidating.

To help with that, here's the minimum you need to get started

A Shopify theme that supports blogs

All Shopify themes from the Shopify Theme store support the blogging component. If you purchased a theme outside of the Shopify Theme store, or are unsure if your theme has it, double check that your blog component is functional.

Some themes don't put much time into the blogging components so there's a small chance they are broken out-of-the-box for your store. It's sad but a reality.

In Shopify Admin you can create a Blog (Shopify's term for blog category) and then a Blog Post. You might even have one that got created when you first setup your store. Just fill in the Blog Post with a test title, content, and publish it. There should be a link to see it live in your store.

If the blog post looks decent, your theme is compatible. If it looks off, you'll want to reach out to your theme developer for an update or fix.

One mid-sized idea about your industry or thing your products solve

Next you need just a single idea you have some passion on. This can be about your industry or the problem your products solve.

By mid-sized I mean something you can talk to someone about for 30-60 minutes or longer. Many businesses are started because the founder hated something wrong in the world or felt like existing solutions were too crappy. These feelings are great for this starter idea.

Some examples based on products.

Product: CD organizers

You hate how difficult CDs are to find and how the typical ways of displaying them suck.

Mid-sized Idea: Organizing your music collection supports how your identity ties in with the music

Product: Orthopedic dog beds

Your own dog developed problems as they aged and could never get a good nights sleep.

Mid-sized Idea: Aging dogs have different needs and by taking care of them, they'll be members of your family for longer.

Product: Water bottle

Mid-sized Idea: Inadequate hydration causes many problems and leads to disease later in life.

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Again, the idea doesn't have to be complex just enough to talk about for under an hour.

Six points or angles from the main idea

Each mid-sized idea is built from several sub-ideas. Break down that idea into at least six points, these will be the kernel of your articles.

If you can't come up with six, look at the idea from other perspectives.

Is the idea counter to popular wisdom? Add a myth-busting article.

Is the idea full of misconceptions? Add a FAQ article.

Has the idea been around a long time? Add a history-of article.

Are there different ways to solve the problem? Add a comparison article.

Write the articles

Now you should write those six articles. Aim for a screen or two of text, about the length of a long email.

Don't stress about spelling, you'll run it though a checker later.

Don't worry about finding primary sources or other background material, just use your existing knowledge.

Just get the articles written out.

Publish the blog and the first article

Now publish the article you liked the most to your blog. Then add a link to the main blog (category) to your header or footer menu.

If you have an email list, send the article to them. You can either do as I do and send the full article in the email, or write a two sentence introduction and link to the blog post.

Feel free to steal this:

Hey there,

I just published an article on TOPIC OF THE ARTICLE.

LINK TO ARTICLE

I was SURPRISED/UPSET/SHOCKED/SOME-ADJECTIVE while writing it because SOME REASON YOU FELT SOMETHING.

Nothing fancy.

Schedule the next articles

Now schedule the next five articles.

Minimally you could schedule them to publish once every other month, that'll give you a whole year of articles right here.

I'd recommend publishing at least once a month though. That's still six months of articles and you'll have time to do more later.

Blogs are nothing more than organized articles

There's your minimal blog. It's nothing more than articles organized by when they are published.

At the same time, these articles can bring you authority, fans, traffic, and more. You just need to get started and, more importantly, stick with it.

You'll likely find a bunch of tips and tricks around blogging, some will actually work. But you don't have to follow them.

You just need a blog category, a mid-sized idea, and six or so articles about the topic. Everything else is just frosting.