Hey y'all! This week my friend Jackie is bringing you a guest post all about setting up your blog legally! This contains some seriously great advice and action steps for bloggers who are getting started and want to make sure all they're keeping it legal! Be sure to read to the bottom and connect with Jackie on social media!

"Ready to get your blog set up legally? Click here!" [tweet that!]

Starting a Blog? Jackie from JadeOak.com teaches you how to set up your blog LEGALLY and be ready to grow! Click through to read more and to get special VIP Discounts to keep your blog legal! | www.TheCrownFox.com | Graphic Design Assistant for Crea…

Thanks so much to Kaitlyn for hosting me today. I know how it can be super overwhelming when you are just starting out with your blog, especially when it comes to the legal side of things. That’s where I come in. I’m an attorney and have been blogging for nearly 5 years, so today I’m going to share how to set up your blog legally.

This isn’t a comprehensive list of everything every blog needs, but these are the legal basics you need to include for your blog. First we will go over a few of the legal statements you need on your blog. (Disclaimer: I’m a US-based attorney so this info is directed towards US bloggers, but it may also apply to international bloggers. Check your country’s laws for more information about laws and regulations in your country.)

Copyrights

First let’s discuss copyrights, since copyrights are what will protect your creative work, including your blog content. In the US, copyrights are the legal system which give creators the right to control copying of their work. This means they have the exclusive right over their work (for actions such copying, reuse, selling, etc.) for a limited period of time. Others can’t use their work without permission.

In the US your work is automatically copyright protected from the moment of creation, without you needing to formally file anything.

Even though you have that automatic protection, it’s still a good idea to remind others of your copyright rights over your content. You can do this by including a short copyright notice on every page of your blog and a longer statement somewhere else on your blog, indicating that you aren’t (or are) okay with others taking and using your work without your permission.

Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions can be thought of like the “rules” of your blog. In this statement, you can tell your readers where kind of behavior is allowed on your blog, being both actions by you as the blogger and the allowable actions of your readers. This would be things like not allowing offensive comments, your longer copyright statement, a privacy statement (discussed next), what would happen if there is a dispute, etc.

Having a clear and detailed terms and conditions statement can help to protect your blog and also make you look more professional and serious.

"Some quick 'legal tweaks' can make you appear more professional online!" [tweet that!]

Privacy Policy Statement

Every blog must have a privacy statement, if you collect any personal information. Pretty much every blog or website collects some sort of personal info, like names and addresses or email addresses, through comments or using tracking cookies. If you collect this info, you need a privacy policy statement that tells your readers what info you collect, how you collect it and what you do with that info.

Disclaimers

Disclaimers are important for letting your readers know that they should take the content of your blog “as is,” meaning that you aren’t providing professional advice and you won’t be liable or responsible if someone takes your blog content as advice and then has issues.

This might seem like common sense, but it’s important to include a statement like this and it can be a part of your terms and conditions. Having this sort of statement isn’t a guarantee that you’ll never have issues arise, but it never hurts to have a clear statement in case a situation does come up at some point.

Email List

If you have an email list or newsletter set up for your blog, just make sure that you are complying with the email marketing laws. In general, your emails need to have a few things in order to comply with the US laws. The main US law is all about avoiding spam, so the rules in place are mainly related to making sure your emails don’t look like spam.

Some countries require that people affirmatively opt in before you can add them to your email list, but the US law doesn’t have this requirement. Instead, the law wants you to make it clear and simple for people to unsubscribe or opt out. This means you need to have an unsubscribe option in every email and you need to actually unsubscribe them when they ask. This is why it’s a bad idea to “buy” or add subscribers without their permission. You could be adding someone who actually already opted out, so then you would be in violation of the law.

Every email needs to include your physical address (or a PO Box) because this helps to show that you aren’t a spammer. Lastly, all of your emails need to be honest, meaning you don’t have misleading subject or “from” lines. Next,

I know that there is A LOT to think about, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Many of the legal issues surrounding setting up your blog can be done once and you won’t need to worry about the legal side again until if/when you change something in how you run your blog/business.

If you are just getting started thinking about the legal side of running your blog, check out my FREE email course – Legalize Your Blog

Jackie has been blogging for over 4 years and has been a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania for nearly 7 years. Jackie started her blog, Jade and Oak, as a creative outlet when she was working as a litigator. She now helps bloggers and small business owners make sure that they are keeping everything legal, all while working her day job. When she isn’t working, Jackie enjoys spending time with her husband and their two pugs, taking ballet classes and traveling.

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Jackie is providing a special coupon code for TheCrownFox readers to get her Starting Your Blog Legally Checklist for 20% off using the promo code CROWNFOX. Learn more about all of her legal guides and templates in her Legal Marketplace.

PICK A PRIORITY

First things first, I highly recommend picking a priority. For me this priority is out of a necessity to pay my bills – so the thing that I can depend on to bring in income and support myself (and my other ventures) is TheCrownFox services. I re-launched not too long ago and building up that steady and reliable income has been exciting and a sigh of relief compared to the ebbs and flows of my business last year. You might pick your priority in another way – but I think it’s important to have the main focus be something that a) you love doing and want to work on and b) can solve the most other issues in your life (i.e. bills).

For some your priority might be your full time job. You might have to focus on that first because there’s a boss breathing down your neck and deadlines. That’s fine! Priorities can and will change – but knowing what gets precedence over everything else is essential when you move into the next steps.

"Priorities can and will change, what you are focused on now doesn't have to be permanent." [tweet that!]

I’d say that common priorities would be your main business (most profitable), or your full time job, or being a parent (if you’re a working-from-home-with-babies parent this is totally your priority – I get it!). Now that definitely means you have other obligations, passions, or projects – and that’s awesome – but whatever your priority is here is the thing that we will schedule and work around. I’d also take a moment to list out your other passion projects or side hustles you want to work on, so that in the next step we can create a timeline for all of those.

For me, this looks like: TheCrownFox services as a priority. A product line, a podcast, and a template shop are all passion projects that I want to pursue over the course of the year, but they are a) not bringing income yet and b) require me to have enough income from my priority to fund. Completely separate from TheCrownFox I also have a food blog I want to start with my partner, so that is something I’ll keep in mind in the next steps.

CREATE A TIMELINE

Knowing your priority and your other projects is a great first step, but next take time to create a broad timeline. We’ll get into specifics later, but first step back and look at the big picture and see what you realistically can make time for in the space of this year (or the remainder of 2017).

For me the list of passion projects started at around 8 ideas (TheCrownFox services, product line, podcast, membership/mastermind, a separate community around the idea of #30daycreate, a freelance designer membership group, a food/cocktail blog with my partner, a template shop, and a local SEO business). I quickly narrowed it down and pulled out things that might come up in the future, but definitely weren’t an option for right now – and that’s how I settled on the priority and passion projects for this year.

Once I had that narrowed down I thought about timelines – TheCrownFox services don’t really apply here, because it’s got the top spot in my to-do list and daily schedule. But, I roughly mapped out the remainder – a podcast before the summer, a food/cocktail blog that is in production during the summer/launch in the fall, a product line launch in the fall, a template shop production all year and launch in the winter. It’s just a rough sketch so I can say, okay, if I want to launch a template shop with 10 templates, I should maybe knock one out a month to be ready, etc. This is pretty loose and in my head there will be no hard feelings if one of these ideas gets pushed into 2018 – they are passion projects after all and not meant to be too overwhelming or intimidating.

FOLLOW A SCHEDULE

After having a more broad view of how to manage my schedule, I then moved into more specific daily/weekly/monthly tasks. I know the daily/weekly tasks required for my priority – things like writing blog posts and newsletters, client work, posting on Instagram, etc. I can allot X number of hours per day to that. But within my schedule I also pull aside a few hours each week to focus on the passion projects in my life too. So Friday’s are a big day for reflection and growth in my business – I like to schedule coffee chats then and take time to really focus on my vision and plan for this business. But part of the day, lately, has also been segmented off to focus on planning out what I need for a podcast and research (since that’s first on my big timeline). I have a rough schedule and due date and just make sure that I spend 2-4 hours on Friday turning away from TheCrownFox work and focusing my attention towards that.

I get how that can be hard! What if you’re so busy and so overwhelmed that 2-4 hours isn’t an option? If you find that to be the case, I’ve got a few thoughts: first, maybe your priority task needs some outsourcing (a VA or something to free up some time). My other thought is – I am not a fan of multitasking, but – I do like to double up on my time like when I am trying to run or go for a walk and get some exercise, I spend that time also brainstorming and thinking through problems. So, maybe there’s a more mundane task in your life that you can use as brainstorm/thinking time for that passion project. Eventually you’ll need to devote actual hours to doing the work/making it happen, but at least in the beginning you can get into the habit of pulling aside even 30 minutes for it.

GET HELP

As I mentioned above, you might find you are low on hours and high on ideas. After you have dwindled down the list to what is practical, I do think the idea of outsourcing so that you can do your best work and be your best self is an amazing goal people should have. Sometimes the money isn’t quite there yet, but even freeing up an hour a week (like finding a social media scheduler VA), means an hour that you can devote to something else – like your passion project.

Other sorts of help might come in the form of a partner. The podcast isn’t something I am doing alone. The food/cocktail blog isn’t something I am doing alone. There is a support system built into having a partner, which is awesome and motivating to do more and find more time.

BE FLEXIBLE

Lastly, I’d like to mention how important it is to be flexible and forgiving of yourself. I think we all tend to be a little to hard on ourselves when things don’t go exactly as planned (myself included). While I get that timelines and deadlines need to exist, remember that your priority needs to take priority and that these passion projects – while yes they are important – are not the end all be all right now. If you really want to work on that side project and launch before the summer, but it ends up launching mid-summer, that’s okay. At least you got around to it and it exists now in the world and can grow.

"Being flexible & forgiving with yourself when it comes to managing multiple projects is essential." [tweet that!]

In all, I hope this encourages you that yes, you can do more than just your main business or focus – but no, it doesn’t need to feel completely overwhelming and stressful. If you want to hear more about my ideas on time, money, and happiness we are diving into it on more personal level in today’s weekly wine down (sign up below)!

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Hi! I’m Kaitlyn!

I believe that you can create a life and business you love by listening to your own inner guidance system. I think there's plenty of strategies + hacks to learn and a ton of “how to” content you can consume but ultimately you are your best guide, the best guru, the best compass, and the best source of inspiration! I’m here to help you learn to trust that voice inside, step into your incredible power, and create YOUR dream business + life.

Setting Up Your Blog Legally