What I Wish I Had Known About Blogging

Thinking of starting a blog?

I am very new to blogging. I published my first post in August 2018, a few weeks ago. So whilst I cannot tell you how to master blogging, or how to create the perfect post. I can tell you what to expect when you start and, what I wish someone had told me.

But first, what is your motivation for blogging? did someone sell you the dream of extra income or did you read a post titled how i made xxx in one month blogging? Most people do, and whilst that is great and there are thousands of people making lots of money doing just that, the truth is, you will not make that kind of money off the bat. You may not even make that kind of money after a few years. 

Blog income comes down to so many different elements. when i started i had no idea, i mean NO idea what it takes to launch and run a successful blog. I still don't! 

But here are a few things that you need to consider when you first start.

#1 I have created a blog, but where are all my viewers?

When you first start you will have audience of 0. Unless you are already savvy and popular amongst the social media world you will need to build your audience. People will not find you overnight unless you write about something so specific, you are the only one who has an article on the subject.

For example; 

Post title: How to eat 1367 Cornflakes in one sitting. 

This is extremely specific, therefor you will most likely rank 1st on google for your post. But what are the chances of someone actually looking for that information? 

Now if i made an article titled - 5 ways to make passive income, the subject is so popular that you will be competing with 1000's of people. and not just people like you and me, I mean people who understand marketing strategies, have a large audience and have established them selves in the blogging world. 

That does not mean that you should not create that post, but do not expect to get crazy traffic straight away. But you have to learn about the in's and out's of marketing.

#2 You need to have a platform to promote your blog

If you have a Pinterest account with lots of followers, you have a great little audience already, so i would recommend blogging about the kind of things you pin. Appeal to the audience you already have if you do not want to have to start at the bottom.

If you do not have a relevant Pinterest account, create one and get researching! Pinterest is not as straight forward as you think. It has complex algorithms and is more of a search engine now, so you will need to learn about SEO, long pins, rich pins, times of day to pin etc. I am yet to find the perfect pin strategy, so everything i do at the moment is trial and error. Get on Youtube and start learning from those who have successful Pinterest accounts. 

Join twitter and start to follow fellow bloggers, make as many friends in the blogging community as possible.

Create Youtube videos and have an Instagram account that promotes your blog. 

#3 Monetising your Blog

This is also something that can take time. I use Blogger.com for my Blog and you have to be up and running for 6 months before you qualify for Google Adsense. 

 You can use Affiliate links straight away. Join an affiliate website like Awin. You can apply to lots of companies to become an affiliate partner and add those links into your posts. 

#4 Put in the Time

When you first start, you need put in the legwork. Make sure your blog has plenty of content. And most importantly, make sure that the content is useful and helps your audience. Its easy to want to give up when you have a full time job and are putting in a few hours a night researching and writing content, for at the end of the week have 3 page views!

No.1 tip is expect to be disappointed at first. Expect to feel a little disheartened in the first few months. But what ever you do, do not give up. Persistence is key. 

If you can only do an hour a night, do that. If you can only do an hour a week, do that! Either way, get serious, assign a time to work on your blog and stick to it and, DO NOT GET DISTRACTED. 

Advice

Fail and fail again - We all have an embedded belief that failure is bad. Well it's not. Everyone fails at something, its almost inevitable. Persist in your failures and you will succeed.

Carry on even when you do not want to - It is extremely hard to motivate your self when you cannot see any improvement. But this is why you have to start being realistic. Tell your self that by this time next year you are going to be an established blogger. Instead of that being your goal for next month. This gives you time, and prevents you feeling like your failing.

Remind your self of why you are doing this - If you want to leave the 9-5 rat race, or work at home so you can spend time with your children or you just want to share your knowledge and help people across the planet, let this be your mantra. Then, when you get that one extra follower or 10 extra page views, you will know that you are one step closer to your desired lifestyle.

Get excited - It's important to feel excited over the small things. So I only gain on average 1 follower per week on Pinterest. I also have never been accepted into a group board, although I must admit I have slacked on this task. However, that does not stop me from being proud of the small gains that I am making. Improvement is improvement no matter how big or small and as each day goes by I become a better writer, I learn more about marketing and how to engage with an audience. 

I will keep you updated as I try new things and document what is working and what is not. 

Your doing well, give your self credit and do not give up. 

Paris

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