So many people are starting a blog in hopes of earning money from it. It’s so easy to start a blog and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. In this post, you’re going to learn some blogging tips for beginners that will help you stay motivated while building your online empire.
Because regardless of what anyone tells, you, it’s going to take time to build a profitable blog. The great thing is that as long as you treat your blog like a business, you will start to see some results.
Why are so many people starting a blog? Well if you ask me, I think that people want to start taking control of their own financial destiny. There is no better time than now to start a blog.
If you have access to a computer and the Internet, then you can start a blog today. In fact, here’s a great tutorial that will help you get your WordPress blog started in minutes.
What Most New Bloggers Don’t Realize
Starting a blog is the easy part. Even if you’re not that tech-savvy you can still learn the basics of WordPress. The cool thing is that you can learn everything that you need to know as you continue blogging. So whatever you do, don’t let the basics bog you down.
Blogging is a lot harder than you might think. There’s a lot more to it than finding the right premium theme or hiring a designer to make your theme look pretty.
While those things are necessary, the truth is that many people have been able to make money by blogging on an ugly site. When you’re first starting out, you need to focus on the things that actually matter.
You need to focus on things like:
- Keyword research and optimizing your blog posts.
- Writing amazing content that actually helps your readers.
- Making sure your blog loads fast so you stay on Google’s Good side.
- Setting up HTTPS on your blog especially since Google will start flagging all sites that are NOT using it. (source)
- Network with other bloggers to make friendships.
- Promote your blog posts to start driving traffic.
- Joining the right blogging communities that actually help you grow your blog.
It’s enough to make your head spin. So how is this post any different than all the other blogging tips for beginners online?
Well, these tips are going to show you the ugly side of blogging and what to do to stay motivated. After all, blogging is not as glorious as people think. The truth is that the money doesn’t come overnight.
So you’re going to need to know how to stay motivated when you’re not getting the results you want. Of course, you can check out the
Blogging Tips for Beginners What You Need to Stay Motivated
I absolutely love blogging because you have your own platform where you can share your knowledge with the world. It sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
Whatever you do, you want to make sure that you start on the right WordPress platform. Yes, there’s a difference between the self-hosted version and the free version. Check out this guide before you make the mistake of starting on the wrong version.
Who doesn’t want to start a blog in a specific blog niche and start sharing their expertise to grow their tribe?
After all, once you start growing your tribe online, you’ll have your own customer base of people. These people will buy your products, recommendations, and services.
Of course, they will only buy from you if they trust you enough. That’s why it’s important to work on building that trust by writing amazing helpful content that helps them solve their problems. (that’s another topic for a different day)
This post is just going to share some tips to help you stay motivated when you’re not getting the results you want or they are not coming fast enough.
#1 Get A Blogging Buddy
It’s so easy to want to hide behind your computer and pump out content on a regular basis. But the truth is that blogging can be much more enjoyable when you reach out and start making blogging buddies.
- When you are choosing your blogging buddy you want to make sure that they:
- Take blogging as seriously as you do
- They are at the same level or a little bit more advanced than you are
- Are there when you need them or respond in a timely manner
- Talk through ideas with you
- Give feedback to help you make decisions
Basically, you’re looking for someone just like you. If you work hard and treat your blog like a business because you want to achieve financial freedom, this is what you need to look for in them.
How to Find Your Blogging Buddy
Finding a blogging buddy is not hard. If you are already a member of some Facebook groups you could ask people in that group if they are interested in becoming a blogging buddy or accountability partner.
Chances are you’ll get a few responses because people are always looking for accountability partners. Just make sure that you don’t go overboard and get too many blogging buddies.
Keep your accountability group small and manageable. Remember, they are only there for support and feedback. You are still the one who is responsible for doing all the legwork and growing your blog.
#2 Use Pinterest to Stay Motivated
One of the most challenging things for new bloggers is to come up with blog topics for their blogs. If you are a brand new blogger, I totally get it. It does take some time to get into the groove of writing interesting blog posts that help attract the people that you want.
Pinterest Related Articles:
How to Use Pinterest for Blogging and Dramatically Grow Your Traffic
This is one of the reasons that most new bloggers avoid setting up a consistent blogging schedule because they don’t know what to write about. Instead of publishing a new blog post whenever you think of something to write about.
Head on over to Pinterest and see what other bloggers in your niche have written about. All you have to do is search Pinterest using keywords that people would type in to look for topics in your niche.
This will bring up other blogger’s pins that have been written. You can then use these pin topics to either brainstorm your own ideas or write your own unique variation of that blog post.
Notice how I said unique. You never want to steal another blogger’s content.
That’s not good blogger etiquette and that blogger worked their ass off to write that blog post. Plus chances are you’ll get a DMCA takedown notice from them.
It takes time to grow a blog, but Google loves fresh unique content. So don’t try to be like someone else. Instead, write your own amazing content and you’ll be rewarded over time with Google organic traffic.
#3 Set Blogging Goals
I know that you want to make money with your blog. But the truth is that it takes a while to see the money. This is why so many bloggers will tell you that you can’t be in it for just the money.
Instead, if you’re a brand new blogger, why not set a goal to increase your page views. After all, the more page views you get eventually you’ll start to see the money roll in.
The important thing to remember is that you want to set realistic goals for your blog. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to reach your blogging goals that and that will just lead to frustration.
When you’re striving to reach new goals, it’s easy to stay motivated and keep working on your blog.
#4 Use An Editorial Calendar
One of the easiest ways to stay motivated as a new blogger is to use an editorial calendar. This helps you plan your content in advance so you are not feeling the stress of writing new content the day it is scheduled to go live.
Plus you can plan content around your promotional events and affiliate promotions. If you’are just writing content whenever you feel like it, then chances are you are not writing the type of content that speaks to your audience.
The one thing that I absolutely love about being ahead with my content creation is that it frees up my time so I can write guest posts or just take a day off from my blog if I want to.
If you’re using WordPress for your blog, then you can schedule your blog posts in advance and have them go live while you’re out enjoying the Summer.
I know that it can be confusing to come up with a content calendar that actually works. The truth is that you need to do whatever it takes to make the most of it. Once you learn how to plan your content blogging will become so much easier.
#5 Brainstorm Topics
One of the reasons that I find it so easy to write 3x per week is I have a Google Document filled with tons of blog post ideas that I can write about. This means when I sit down to write, I just write.
I don’t waste time trying to come up with something to write about. This is a great way to stay motivated because you’re not wasting time on other tasks when all you wanted to do was sit down and write a blog post.
If you don’t have your own list of blog topics ready to go right now. Start today by spending time at least once a week to come up with some possible blog topics that you can write about.
You don’t need anything fancy to jot down all your ideas. I personally use Google Drive to help me keep track of my editorial calendar.
One of the reasons that so bloggers struggle with keeping ahead of their content writing, is that they struggle with ways to come up with content ideas. It does take time to come up with a list full of topics you can write about.
However, if you take the time to brainstorm some ideas on a regular basis. Eventually, you’ll have a huge list you can use to help you churn out content for your blog as well as guest posts.
#6 Try Writing In Public
One of the things that work really good for me when I don’t feel like writing is to pack up my MacBook Pro and head to Barnes and Noble. You might not think that it can help motivate you to work on your blog.
But the truth is that it can do wonders for your motivation. If you don’t have a Barnes and Noble in your city, then head on over to your local library. Most of them have free WiFi that you can use to help you get things done in your blogging business.
#7 Take A Blogging Break
When you are trying to earn money from your blog, it’s so easy to put so much pressure on yourself. Especially, at the beginning when you are not seeing the results as quickly as you had hoped.
Sometimes you need to take a step back and take a break from your blog. Now I am not saying to throw in the towel and walk away from good.
Instead, I am saying that maybe you need to take a weekend off. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel when you spend time doing other activities instead of sitting in front of your blog frustrated because you’re not getting the results you want.
#8 Remember Why You Started
When you start to feel your motivation to blog slipping away. Remember your why.
We all started blogging for one reason or another. Chances are you started your blog because you wanted it to earn money so you can walk away from your job?
Maybe you started your blog because you wanted to create a side hustle from home that created a second income?
I started this blog because I want to walk away from my full-time WordPress freelancing gig.
There’s a reason why you started your blog. That’s the same reason that gets you up each and every day to work on your blog even though you might want to do other things.
Make sure that you write down your reason and keep it in front of your computer at all times. This will make it easy for you to stay motivated when you’re not getting the results you want.
#9 Put Your Blinders On
One of the quickest ways to lose your motivation and start thinking that you’re not cut out for blogging is to hear how other people are succeeding a lot faster than you are.
This doesn’t mean that you’re jealous of their success. But it usually means that you start internalizing your own progress. Then you start asking yourself what you’re doing wrong.
It’s so easy to do, after all, we’re only human.
Most of the time, these types of thoughts lead us down the rabbit hole where we end up chasing the shiny object syndrome. You know looking for that one magical blogging course or blogging tools that will help us reach our goals faster.
The truth is that blogging is a long-term strategy. I wish I could tell you that you will see success in 6 months or a year. But the truth is that everyone’s journey is different.
If you’re not seeing success as quickly as others, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. Maybe it just means that you need to start looking at Google Analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t.
Don’t forget to listen to podcasts like this one to help you stay motivated and learn how to improve your blog.
#10 Analyze What Is Working
Sometimes it’s so easy to get into the same old routine. You write new content and promote it the same way you’ve been doing. Then at the end of the month, you check your blog growth updates and you notice that you’re not growing.
Instead of taking the time to regroup and analyze what’s working, you keep your head down and just keep pumping out content. (We’ve all done that, I know I have)
If you’re not seeing positive growth on a regular basis, then it’s time to stop what you’re doing and start taking the time to check Google Analytics.
Unfortunately, when you become a blogger you become a marketer as well. Most new bloggers don’t have the finances to outsource their marketing.
This means that if what you’re doing to promote your blog isn’t working, maybe it’s time to step back and analyze what’s working.
You can’t expect to keep doing the same promotional methods if you’re not seeing success.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you should try something for 3 months and then jump ship if it doesn’t work. You need to give a promotional method an actual chance to start working to see results.
How much time you give it, is up to you. There is no right or wrong answer and unfortunately, some people are willing to jump ship a lot quicker than others.
#11 Celebrate Every Little Win
Most of us want our blogs to earn a full-time living. It’s so easy to ignore or forget the little wins that we achieve every day.
If you are constantly checking your page views and still not getting 10,000 page views per month, chances are you’re working hard to achieve that.
That’s okay, as bloggers we are constantly working on improving our blogs. The important thing is to remember to celebrate those little tasks that we learned how to do.
For instance, let’s say that when you started working with WordPress, you had no clue how to set up the Social Warfare Plugin. Heck, you had no clue how to set up your social sharing platforms or how to write your first blog post.
Now that you’ve been blogging for a few months all these things come naturally to you.
Well, you need to celebrate those little things. Because you’ve come so far as a blogger and the best part is that chances are you’ve learned this all by yourself.
So don’t overlook celebrating all those little things that you accomplish in your blogging business. They may seem small to you now. But I have no doubt that at one point in your blogging journey they felt insurmountable.
Final Take Away
Anyone who has been blogging for a while has dealt with their own ways to deal with staying motivated. As I mentioned, starting a blog is the easy part.
But if you’re trying to turn your blog from a hobby into an actual business that pays the bills can be challenging. You’re going to have to work hard to learn what it takes to grow a blog.
What works for one person may not necessarily work for you. Whatever you do, don’t throw in the towel. As long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other, I have no doubt that you’ll start to get the results you want.
Do you ever find yourself losing the motivation to blog?
If so what have you done to help you keep pushing forward, especially when you weren’t getting the results you wanted? I’d love to hear how you stay motivated to blog.