By Victoria Hudgins. Photography by Dearest Someday.

The road to building a successful blog is a long and enjoyable one – if you begin correctly. I found this great article, written by Ez, on the foundational basis of building a blog that is able to capture and maintain good traffic.

There are definitely things you can do to maximize your blog’s growth potential:

GET A CUSTOM DOMAIN NAME / URL

If you don’t already own/use a custom domain name/URL, drop everything. Do not pass Go…do not collect $200 dollars… until you have secured one.

By guest contributor Tori Bowman.

Creating the perfect logo for your blog is a huge task. Here are a few tips to help you get the look, the content, and the feel of your blog – all in one neatly packaged graphic logo.

1) Keep it simple
Use basic shapes to create your logo. Ask yourself if you’ve gotten the graphic down to its most simple and still recognizable form. Don’t stop until you have!

2) Draw it by hand
Steer clear of the computer during the brainstorming process. A pencil and sketchpad will be more helpful than a mouse or tablet. And if it fits with the look of your blog, you might even want to keep that hand drawn look. It will give your logo a little personality.

3) Letter it by hand
Adding some handwriting to your blog, in one form or another, is a great way to make your readers feel closer to you. Using your own handwriting for the title of your blog can easily turn a bland looking title into a work of art.

By guest contributor Maddy Hauge. Photography by Jon Calleja.

The most important steps in starting any new collaborative venture is identifying what your role should be and which people need to be brought in to round out the team.

There are a few questions you should ask yourself:

What are my applicable strengths?
What unique talents do you bring to the table? This will help you understand what your role in the project should be. You may also need to pitch yourself to potential collaborators, if they’re not already familiar with your work. Knowing your unique talents in advance will help you sell yourself and your idea.