10 Things You Need to Know About Blogging
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10 Things You Need to Know About Blogging
Here are the resources I used to start my blogging journey:
- Get set up with web hosting through BlueHost.
- Take the Launch Your Blog Biz course to get your website set up and live, make your first 1k a month, and get started with driving traffic to your website.
- Master your Pinterest strategy with Pinterest Traffic Avalanche.
- Schedule your Pinterest pins to drive free traffic with Tailwind.
- ConvertKit is an easy to use email marketing program.
- Make sure your blog is legal with the Legal Pages Bundle.
The best time to start is now.
If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll never start.
I knew for a while I wanted to start a blog, but because I lacked the knowledge to start one, I wasted several months before I actually did.
Don’t do this.
The information on the web regarding blogging can be very confusing and conflicting. It was the reason I became unmotivated to get started-it was too overwhelming and confusing to me.
I couldn’t make a decision, so I made the terrible mistake of not making a decision at all.
Finally, after time wasted spent researching, I discovered Create & Go and ultimately stumbled upon their Launch Your Blog Biz course.
If you need a step-by-step process for starting your blog and making your first $1000 a month, this course has you covered.
I knew nothing about blogging prior to discovering Create & Go. Because of this team, I purchased the right web hosting, got my site designed, set up with email marketing, and more.
Eventually, I went on to enroll in their Pinterest Traffic Avalanche course as well, and plan on enrolling in their course on product creation, Six Figure Blogger.
Never in a million years did I believe I had what it took to be proficient in blogging. Now, with a new mindset and the right resources, I am.
You must have a strategy.
Between selecting your niche and deciding how you’re going to monetize your website and more, you must have a strategy behind your blog.
You cannot aimlessly write blog posts and throw up some Amazon Affiliate links and hope for success.
To run a successful online business, you must first identify what your end goal is and then work backwards.
If your goal is to sell a specific affiliate product or create your own products, what steps do you need to take to get to that place?
Whenever I set a major goal for my blog, I set smaller goals and work on achieving those goals on a month-by-month basis, leading up to achieving the end goal.
You must be specific and have a plan.
To blog successfully, you must be intentional in creating your strategy.
The most complicated aspect of blogging is dealing with the legalities.
Some people don’t know this (or ignore it altogether), but unless you have legitimate legal pages on your blog, you can be sued and held liable.
If you’re like me, you don’t know jack about creating legal pages with legal jargon. I put this off until after a few months after I went live because it gave me such a headache.
But the truth is, you should have these pages ready prior to going live.
Lucky for me, I came across the Legal Pages Bundle created by Amira, an actual lawyer.
This is the next best option to hiring a lawyer to draw up your legal pages for you.
This bundle has templates for the Disclaimer, Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy pages-pages you must have to ensure your blog is legal.
After wasting hours searching for this information on the internet, I got my hands on these templates and my legal pages were up on my site in less than 10 minutes (not kidding).
Getting subscribers is a lot of trial-and-error.
I use (and love) ConvertKit, and I’ll never forget getting those first few subscribers.
My first three subscribers were my husband and two friends, but when that 4th subscriber showed up-a person I didn’t know-I jumped up and down with excitement (not joking).
For awhile I was getting a few subscribers here, a few subscribers there. But when April rolled around, I wasn’t getting any.
Part of this was because I was sick and wasn’t working on my blog much during that time. I wasn’t producing content or scheduling as many pins on Pinterest, so my subscriber and traffic counts were suffering.
But for the first two weeks of the month when I was diligently working on my blog, I still didn’t get any subscribers.
By the time May rolled around, I knew I needed to test some new opt-ins. Long story short, I found one that worked, and gained 73 subscribers in one month-I tripled my subscribers!
I love ConvertKit because it’s so easy to use and customize. They have templates available for you to choose and no coding knowledge is needed. It’s also a piece of cake to create automations and link them to your site.
In case you’re not sure why email marketing is important for new bloggers, let me fill you in:
If you plan on selling an affiliates’ products and/or creating your own digital products, your customers are your email list. They are the ones interested in what you have to offer.
It’s best to get started with email marketing as soon as your blog goes live. You need to build up your list and establish trust with your following.
If you want success, you have to invest.
Nobody likes to shell out money for blogging when they’re first starting out and not seeing a return on their investment.
Truth be told, you may not see that return on your investment for months or more, but if you stick with it, the long-term payoff is beyond worth the money spent up front.
You cannot monetize your blog with free web hosting or email marketing. Customization for anything free is limited.
Basically, if you want to make some money, you have to spend some money.
You don’t have to shell out thousands of dollars. Just invest in a few great programs and courses, products that give you bang for your buck.
Pinterest is king for free blog traffic.
One of the main concerns of new bloggers is, “how do I get traffic?”
The great thing is, you don’t have to shell out for Google or Facebook ads to get traffic.
If you can master Pinterest, you can get free traffic. But like all things blogging, you must have a strategy.
I took Pinterest Traffic Avalanche by Create & Go, and it taught me everything I need to know to drive traffic to my blog through Pinterest.
Because of this course, I now have a strategy that works. I had over 5,000 page views last month in my 5th month of blogging and my 4th month using Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog!
I schedule 20-25 pins a day using Tailwind, the only 3rd party pin scheduler endorsed by Pinterest.
Blogging isn’t a “get rich quick” scheme.
If you lack discipline, are lazy, or impatient, blogging is not for you.
The bloggers who have article titles such as “How I made 50k last month!” might make it look so easy.
But the truth is, it’s not easy.
I devote 20 hours a week to my blog and if I had more time in my schedule, I’d devote more (in the future I will be).
You must spend hours at your computer with your thinking caps on, ready to give it your best.
Every. Single. Day.
It can take months or longer to see real results, so you must be consistent. Consistently producing content, driving traffic through Pinterest, etc.
The results you receive are contingent upon how driven you are.
Anyone can be a blogger with the right mindset.
If you’re like me and have what I call an “abundance mindset,” you can definitely become a successful blogger.
The ability to self-motivate and believe you can is half the battle to making it in the blogging world.
There will be times where you’ll get stuck and frustrated, and it takes someone with the mental capacity to overcome any obstacle to be a successful blogger.
Again, you must use your best thinking caps and be intentional with creating a strategy.
If you’re the type of person who gives up easily when the going gets tough, you will not survive blogging.
You must know your “why.”
If you want an audience-and ultimately, sales-you must provide value.
The value you provide depends on what your niche is.
More than that, it depends on your “why.”
For me, I wanted to become a personal development blogger because my life changed drastically after I got plugged in to personal development last year.
I knew who I was prior to discovering personal development-and the mental roadblocks I faced as a result of my poverty mindset thinking-and when I broke free from that, I wanted to help others break free as well.
My goal was to teach people the tools to overcome the obstacles in their life and be inspired to do anything they set their hearts on to do.
Because I believe it’s 100% possible to live a life you love.
No matter your circumstances, you have the authority to change your life.
My “why” is to influence people in that belief.
When people tell me they loved my latest article or that I helped them in some way, this is everything to me.
It’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.
You have to know your “why” in order to provide value and attract people to your website.
Blogging, when done well, is 100% rewarding.
This blogging journey of mine has truly been rewarding.
I’ve had my blogging wins and made some mistakes, which taught me valuable lessons for how to make things better.
There is nothing more satisfying to know I created my online business from scratch and I provide value to people.
I wake up excited and eager to work on my blog every day, and each day I’m one step closer to my dream.
Before You Go
If you’re curious about blogging, I hope this article encouraged you to check your motives.
Blogging isn’t for everyone.
But if you know it’s for you, then I encourage you to dive deeper.
Is blogging for you? How can I help encourage you to get started? If you’re already blogging, what lessons have you learned? Hit “reply” and let me know!
Read Next:
- How I Tripled My Blog Traffic in 1 Month
- How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Blog
- An Honest Review of Launch Your Blog Biz