Choosing a Blog Name / Why Love Our Real Life?

Choosing a blog name is no joke!

I’ve been asked several times how I came up with my blog’s name: ‘Love Our Real Life’. I assure you it was not an easy process to select a name that I felt would fit my message, tone, and not embarrass me years down the road.

So, why ‘Love Our Real Life’?

Read on!

Plus, if you are considering starting your own blog, I have a few suggestions to help you come up with a blog name you’ll be proud to share with the world!

Get more lifestyle posts here!

Starting a blog was something that had been on my mind a really long time. But, being the introvert that I am, the thought of putting myself ‘out there’ was incredibly terrifying.

Know that I officially created my blog in August of 2016, but didn’t publish my first post until January of 2017.

This was because I was scared!

In retrospect I am so sad I didn’t start sooner as that would have given my blog 5 more months to gain traction.

In my mind, I imagined thousands and thousands of people finding my blog within seconds after I hit the publish button. Little did I realize at the time that I would only have a handful of readers for many, many months after beginning.

This post outlines MY process in selecting a blog name. It’s not easy, but taking the extra time is well worth it!

The steps I took in choosing a blog name:

1. Determine the focus of the blog.

Prior to starting my blog, I really took the time to decide what I had a huge passion for.

Knowing that I would hopefully be writing about the same topic for years to come meant I had to really love the subject matter.

TIPS to help you focus when choosing a blog name:

• Make a list of the topics you are interested in writing about.
• Visit blogs you enjoy.  What makes you like them?
• Once you determine the type of blogs that speak to you most, do you think you could write about similar content while still adding value to your future community?

2. Make a list of the words that describe your intended blog focus.

When I was considering names, I felt as though a lifestyle blog was where I wanted to lean.

Now, I tend to focus a bit more on DIY home decor, but I feel my name continues to encompass my purpose. Plus I have a little flexibility should a change gears down the road.

Personally, I have always struggled to love my circumstances, imagining 1,000 ways that my life could be improved.

Clearly that is a problem on my end, but I wanted to show myself AND OTHERS that it truly is possible to love our real life.

Hence, Love Our Real Life!

TIPS to narrow down options for your domain name:

• As stated, start jotting down words and/or phrases that embody the message you are hoping to share.
• Write down phrases that come to you when you are thinking about your topic.

This will take A LOT of tweaking, but getting it on paper helped so much in narrowing down the search.

3. Do a search with the words that resonate with you the most to see what domain names are available.

An easy way to see if a domain name is even available is to type in your potential blog name at Bust A Name.  You can search various combinations to see what is and what isn’t even available.

I remember being surprised that so many options I was considering were not already taken.

Depending on your search, you might have to get creative in changing the words slightly until you find something that is not yet taken.

4.  Ask trusted family and friends to vote on your top options.

My siblings, husband, and a close friend all shared their thoughts on my top few options. They gave me good feedback and surprisingly they all liked ‘Love Our Real Life’ and thought it fit with the tone I wanted for my blog.

The intention from the very beginning was to share ways to love our homes and lives. This was a topic that came up all of the time when talking with my girlfriends and I imagined many others could relate.

“I hate my house!” was something I know I was guilty of saying way too often.

It hurt me that those words rolled off my tongue so easily and I wanted to take a real life approach to find ways to transform our houses into homes we could actually love.

Obviously being content with my life was pretty high on the priority list of things I needed to work on. But as I was going through the process of making small changes to my home, I found my mind racing with ideas I thought I could share with the world.

That sounds incredibly cheesy, but that is part of this blogging process. To start believing you have a message others might truly benefit from hearing!

As I mentioned earlier, I am a 100% introvert. So, being at home is my favorite place to be. There is no room for discontentment!

Notice the sign in the above picture: It’s So Good To Be Home.

It really bothered me that I was over critiquing every little detail of my house instead of enjoying the blessings I’d been given.

So for my message, Love Our Real Life just fit!

I won’t get into the specifics of How to Start a Blog in this post.

But, if you are ready to dive into starting a blog, check out:

• Understanding Wordpress.  This is a FREE course by Grayson Bell.  He is an amazing resource I wish I would have had when I first started my blogging journey.  With his guidance, I’m slowly fixing some of the mistakes I made in the beginning!

If blogging is something you want to try, I want to encourage you to go for it. It has really been a fun journey that I’m blessed by every day.

For whatever reason, blogging has become somewhat of a passion for me. I never dreamed I’d stick with it this long when I first began, but now I can’t imagine NOT blogging!

You might be interested in reading 7 Blogging Lessons I’ve Learned // My 100th Post. In that I share even more details about blogging should this be a career path you are considering.

That’s right! I said career path as I truly believe it can be a way to bring in a regular income. I’m not there yet, but I am appreciating the journey!

I’d love to hear your ideas for blog names! Send me an email and tell me all about it!