SEO.
LINKS.
BLOG URL.
KEYWORDS.
WORD COUNT.
H1, H2, H3.
Oh, the list could go on and on of things that I had no idea about when I started. If I had thought too hard about any of those, my blog would not have started.
Is that what is holding you back?
The amount of information that you need to know to start a blog can feel neverending. So much so that you just give up before you even begin.
Does that sound like you?
STARTING A BLOG WITH THE BASICS
I want you to take a step back. Take a step WAY back to the beginning. Forget all about the SEO, the links, your blogging URL, your keywords, your word counts and all of your necessary headings.
Forget all about the details of blogging. Being stuck in the details is going to drive you mad so it is time to put all of those away and focus on something else.
The ONLY basic that I want you to focus on is your why.
Why do you want to start a blog?
What are you wanting to teach your readers?
What is it about starting a blog that is making you light up inside?
WHY YOU NEED TO START YOUR BLOG WITH YOUR WHY
Blogging is hard. Blogging is time-consuming and filled with frustrations. You will look at your numbers and get disappointed because you aren’t growing as fast as you think you should. (And by the way, I don’t believe that at all. You are growing and doing exactly as you should be.) It is in those moments that, if you don’t have your why and your reason, you will walk away.
You will decide that blogging isn’t worth the pain and the sacrifice and you will painfully decide that enough is enough. You will take away your gift from the world and hide it back inside because you were too focused on the stuff that didn’t matter.
I love watching women come out of their shells when they begin to put the numbers aside and focus on the parts of blogging that matter. The healing journey that begins to take over. The stories that they share with their readers. The power that they begin to take back when they step into their past and own it.
WHAT NOT TO FOCUS ON WHEN STARTING YOUR BLOG
There seems to be so much emphasis on making money right from the start. You see bloggers who have made 1,000s of dollars in their first month of blogging and have decided that that is what you want to do. Your focus becomes on money-making rather than on blogging.
Now I am not saying that you can’t make money from the beginning but making it big in your first month or even the first 6 months doesn’t happen often. It isn’t impossible but it isn't normal either.
When you put your focus on the money-making aspect of blog making, the why of your blog disappears. The why should NEVER be about making money. You need to dig deep and think about the real why when you are beginning a blog.
Connection comes before money. Your readers need to trust you. You need to create a relationship with those who are coming to your website before you begin selling to them. Connection will bring you a long term client versus a short term client.
WHAT YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON WHEN STARTING YOUR BLOG
At the beginning of your blogging journey, I want you to focus on writing. Write and write and write. It doesn’t need to be perfectly laid out. You can work on the design of your blog posts as you go. The point is just to begin writing and sharing your blog posts.
You are probably shaking your head at me, thinking that this is the worst advice that a blogging coach can give someone but here is the thing.
When you get into your own head, you no longer can write. You stop yourself dead. There is no moving forward. There is no moving backwards. You will literally be stuck in 1 place and unable to move.
By just writing and focusing on EVERYTHING else as you learn and keep going, you will encourage yourself to write more. You will be stepping outside of your comfort zone to always be moving forward even when you don’t know what you are doing.
Your writing will improve. Your on-page SEO will improve. Your linking will improve. Your blog numbers will improve. Your keywords will improve. You will begin to find a way to figure it all out as you are writing. You will take it 1 step at a time knowing that you are getting better as every day passes.
Your blog will no longer be about the number of readers you are getting per month. It will no longer be about the social media followers that you have.
It will be all about you, putting your story onto your blog and sharing it for those who need to hear it. It will be about healing yourself as you share your past. It will be about creating a connection to people that you don’t even know and may never know.
It will be about you putting your soul out into the world and opening up to the healing powers of owning your story.
3 STEPS TO TAKE NOW TO START A BLOG
Today I want you to take a step towards starting a blog. I want you to take these 3 action steps and finish them. These are the first steps that you need to take in order to move forward. The doubt will be there and it will always be there in some form and that is okay. Today you are just deciding not to listen to it anymore.
1| Write down 3 moments in your past that changed you. These moments are going to be made into teaching points through your blog. Start with 3. If you think of more, write them down too.
2| Now take each of those moments and make a list of what you learned through those moments. Some of the things you learned may overlap each other and that is okay. This is all about brainstorming what it is that you can teach your audience.
3| Write down the themes for each of those moments. By thinking about the themes of these life moments, you can begin to narrow down what type of blog you want to have.
BONUS STEP:
Take one of those moments and start writing about it. It doesn’t have to make sense but begin to put your thoughts out on paper. Just write and write until you can’t anymore. This doesn’t have to be your blog post but you can take bits and pieces from this writing and turn it into a blog post and maybe even multiple blog posts. It gets you writing. It takes the focus off of all the other blogging things that need to happen.
If you are ready to take the next step and start building your own blogging website, the 2 day LIVE Digital Blogging Intensive is coming up this month and I would love to help you get that writing up on your own blogging site. 30% off is only available until 11:59 pm on October 8th and then it goes up to the full price.
You will have lifetime access to this training. You can ask me ANY and EVERY question that comes up during our time together. I am not putting a time limit on the meeting but you will get between 6-8 hours of time with me over the 2 days (October 24 & 25).
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