When I first started blogging, I wish I had a guide from a blogging expert that ran through ALL of her best blogging tips for beginners.

From mindset tips, how to niche down, how to manage your time, starting an email list, and more…

These are all the blogging tips that we will be discussing today in this blog post.

Blogging as a beginner can be a little confusing, frustrating, and downright overwhelming.

It would definitely be a lot easier if we knew from the beginning what the best blogging tips for beginners were right?

So let’s dive in!

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Listen to the Podcast Episode:

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13 Blogging Tips for Beginners

Here are 13 tips that I believe all beginner bloggers should know:

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1. Blogging is a Business

I Made A Lot Of Mistakes When I Started Blogging…

I spent hours trying to make affiliate sales and ad income and stressed myself out trying to post 3 times per week, just like the “experts” tell you.

Know what happened? I became really overwhelmed following this outdated advice, and it wasn’t even helping me grow my blog! But then I realized that all of these “blog tips” completely overlooked the importance of business models and sales strategies. 

So created a business model, business plan, and overall business strategy for what I called “My Blogging Business.” Then I started separating the blogging strategies that REALLY work from the ones that are a big fat waste of precious time. 

Combining business AND blogging strategies helped me go from making $200 in one month to over $5,000 in one month!

Now I share all of my blogging business strategies so my students can do the same thing in their own business…

During that time of learning how to blog and what strategies worked for me, I quickly learned that there was a HUGE difference between a “blogger” and a “blogging business owner” which is why I wanted to write this post to teach you the difference as well.

A blogger is someone who is blogging as a hobby.

They might write blog posts, drive traffic from Pinterest, have a small email list, and maybe even an Instagram.

A blogger may want to make money from blogging but they just don’t know how.

They follow what the “experts” say and just write blog posts, insert affiliate links, pop a million ads on their site and then sit back and try to make money.

They dream of making so many affiliate sales and ad income…

But what they don’t realize is that they need A LOT of blog traffic every month to even make a little bit of money.

What bloggers don’t realize that the blog traffic they need might not be realistic for them as a new blogger.

A blogging business owner is someone who is blogging because they are passionate about it but mainly because they want to do this as a full time job.

A blogging business owner does the following:

• Write Blog Posts that are intentionally targeted to their ideal reader and specifically created to nurture them and build the like, know and trust factor so that they will want to purchase products or sign up to their services.
• Creates products that solve their ideal readers problem
• Uses funnels to make passive income
• Maybe provides a service to help their ideal reader even more
• Focuses on strategy to make money blogging
• Holds webinars, challenges, or other launch events
• Live launches products and offers to an audience
• Writes sales emails
• Uses blog posts as a way to get people to sign up to their email lists
• Writes weekly emails
• Uses Instagram to build an email list, build the like, know and trust factor, connect with ideal customers and clients, and be seen as an authority in their specific niche
• Markets their blog posts using Pinterest

And SO much more!

A blogging business owner is someone who is super serious about making money from their blogging business.

A blogging business owner also has the drive to LEARN and GROW.

They don’t just sit around and wait for things to magically take off for them because they know that this just won’t happen. A blogging business owner takes ACTION first.

Blogging BIZ owners don’t put all of their eggs in one basket by just inserting affiliate links and ads and hoping that one day they will make money from this.

And they strategically create products and services that helps their ideal reader with the urgent problems they struggle with.

Also (a good thing) is that they also fail over and over and over again but understands that it is part of the learning process that they need to grow.

SO WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT TO BE?

Do you want to blog as a side hustle? Because if you treat it as a side hustle then it will pay you like one.

OR

Do you want to become a badass blogging business owner and CEO who uses business strategies to make money?

Let me know in the comments below!

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2. It’s not about you at all

One of the best blogging tips for beginners that I can give you is that blogging is not all about you.

You might start a blog and write about how you walked your dog this morning, what you’re struggling with and write all about you, you, you.

Then you wonder why the heck no one is reading your blog.

In order to get people to read your blog posts, you need to write about things that HELP them.

If there is nothing in it for THEM, they will never read your blog post.

Let me give you an example…

If I wrote THIS blog post…..

“Life Update: Were Building a House”

Do you think a stranger that comes to my blog for the very first time will read it? No.

In fact my blog post that I wrote in the past “What Comes Next for Boss Lady Bloggers” has the LOWEST read rate EVER.

Because it doesn’t give anyone value.

But my blog post “How to Make Money Blogging” is the most popular blog post on this blog.

Do you know why?

Because it is so valuable to my ideal blog readers. That’s what my audience wants to read and that’s the sort of content that a HUGE amount of people want to read.

So when you decide on a blogging niche, think to yourself how you can serve your ideal blog reader. What can you educate them on?

Start your blog posts with not about YOU, but how you can HELP them.

Every successful business solves a PROBLEM their ideal audience has.

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3. Choose a niche

Defining your blogging niche is extremely important to find. Before you even build your website you should already have identified and honed in on one blogging niche. Here is why…

It lowers the competition.

Finding your blogging niche will allow you to stand out in a sea of other bloggers writing about the same thing as you.

To be successful in blogging, you want to be as unique as possible in all aspects of your blog especially in your blog content and honing on one specific, detailed niche can help you do that.

For an example: A lot of bloggers are writing about Traveling these days. But if you get more specific and instead just write about traveling, you can write about what it’s like to travel with a loved one, a friend, or by yourself. You would stand out a lot more than if you were to blog only about traveling like everyone else is.

Your blogging niche is also a way to speak to one person, one customer, one ideal client and this is very important to know who that person you will talk to will be before you start writing content.

So ask yourself these questions…

-Who do I want to read my blog?

-Who will my valuable blog content serve?

-Who do I want to buy my products?

-Who do I want as a client?

Defining your blogging niche will also help you rank higher in search engines and it will also help you write about content you think your ideal reader is searching for which is key to ranking higher in Google. Google loves niched blogs.

Think of it like this-it is also better to have 100 people who love your blog, love you, and love the content you are writing than 5,000 people who don’t.

It doesn’t matter if you have tons of people coming to your blog or not, if the right people are not reading your content because it’s all over the place with so many different blogging niches than you will never build the engaged, passionate community you need for a successful blog.

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4. Mindset plays a huge part

This is the best blogging tip that I can give you.

The only thing that can stand in your way of becoming a successful blogger is your own mindset. 

Nothing else.

This is why mindset work is crucial for blogging.

How you go into your day and the thoughts you have about your ability to make it with your new blog is everything. 

If you can learn to master your mindset as a new blogger, you’ve won half (dare I say whole?) battle.

Mindest is truly everything.

Things are bound to get hard and challenging as a new blogger.

Heck, they are from the very beginning.

Life is  50/50 and it’s supposed to be that way.

We wouldn’t know what success felt like if we didn’t experience failures along the way.

By failing, we grow and evolve and that’s the whole purpose of living. 

Most people don’t keep going, they give up when things get hard, and therefore don’t turn their blogs into booming businesses.

You have to be willing to get uncomfortable and do the hard things. 

This is all about how you manage your mindset.

You need to develop a growth mindset if you want to have a successful blog.

If you start getting negative when the challenging times come, you are bound to quit on your blog.

Only the people who work daily on their mindset and never give up, are the ones who truly reach success.

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5. Build an email list from the start

Another tip from my list of best blogging tips for beginners is building an email list from the start.

The main reasons why growing an email list is so crucially important is because its YOURS. You own it and you don’t have any competition trying to tear you down like beating algorithms.

An email list will also have a WAY higher engagement rate than social media will. More people will open your emails and click on your links than they would if you were to post something on Instagram.

Pssstt, Instagram doesn’t even show your posts to half your readers.

You also need to think about your email list like this-

Your email list is FULL of people who raised their hand and chose to receive emails from you. They are interested in you and your content.

Remember when Instagram and Facebook were down for like 7 hours in 2021?

A ton of bloggers were so stressed thinking they had lost a way to market their blog.

But I was not you know why?

Because I have thousands of subscribers on my email list to market to.

So how do you start an email list so you can grow this wonderful community of readers I’m talking about?

The first thing you need to do is decide on an email management platform.

There are free ones out there like Mailchimp but girl let me tell you…Mailchimp sucks. It’s extremely hard to understand and get the hang of for a beginner blogger. But if you honestly don’t have the budget for a paid one then stick with Mailchimp for now.

My absolute favorite email management platform to grow my own personal email list is Flodesk. Flodesk is absolutely amazing because it has the most beautifully created email templates already done for you, stunning colors, and it’s extremely easy for a beginner to understand.

The regular price for Flodesk is $38/month I believe but if you use my link you can get it for just $19/month! What a steal, right? Get it for $19/month here.

This $19/ month flodesk deal is going away though sadly in November.

“But Gen, how the heck do I even get email list subscribers?”

The main way to grow an email list is to give your ideal reader value by creating freebies (opt-in incentives).

It would be wonderful if we could get email list subscribers without providing anything in return, right? But it doesn’t actually work like that unfortunately.

In order to get subscribers and grow our list we need to provide something that our ideal readers, clients and customers want and need for free.

Some opt-in incentives could be….

-Workbooks

-Ebooks

-Printables and Downloadables

-Toolpack

-Email courses

-Tutorials

-Quizzes

-Lightroom presets

-Discounts

-And TONS more!

You ultimately want to think about what your ideal blog visitor wants and needs MOST.

Is it a free eBook that can educate them on a topic they are struggling with?

Is it a workbook that they can fill out and have a better understanding of a topic?

What does your ideal reader need most? That’s the kind of freebies you need to create.

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6. Focus on professional branding

First of all, let’s chat about what the heck branding is: Branding is basically the feeling and vibe your blog/business gives off.

There are a ton of key elements that go into branding such as your name, slogan, logo, colors, and more. But there is also a different side to branding that conveys who you are, your voice, vision and values.

Branding is all about how you make your website visitors feel.

There are a lot of key elements to branding and you can read all about that right here.

But today we gonna chat about why you need to focus on your blogs brand if you want to look like a professional blogger….

Helps you stand out. No matter your industry or audience, you’ll always have competition. Branding helps establish how you’re different and unique.

Being yourself is a great way to stand out, and a great place to start building your brand. Though your competition might have a similar product or service, the way you connect and resonate with people will make you stand out and reach those your competition might not be reaching.

Creates a consistent experience. Consistency is essential for your audience to understand who you are and what you’re about. No matter how they interact with you, your audience should be receiving the same message.

Imagine a brand that’s fun and personable on Instagram, but on their website, they’re serious and hard to connect with. That kind of inconsistency gives your audience whiplash and will make them look elsewhere.

Builds brand recognition. Establishing a consistent message and look will give you a distinct style that people will automatically recognize as yours. Whether they’re scrolling Instagram or Pinterest, they’ll know instantly that the graphic or information is yours, making them more likely to interact and trust the piece. To create this recognition, you need to constantly and consistently be showing up for your audience through your feed, newsletters, Pinterest, the list goes on.

Sparks a connection. Sparking an emotional connection with your audience can be difficult but very powerful to your business. Emotional connection is what changes a prospective client into a brand enthusiast and repeat customer. An emotionally connected and invested audience is more likely to trust and buy from you, rather than from a random person they know nothing about.

Something I’ve been doing to build more connection is showing up in Instagram stories more. Overall, my audience has been more engaged and people are inquiring about my services all because they watched me on stories and felt a connection.

So now you know – If you want to keep your blog readers engaged on your website, you need to have an amazing website design!

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7. Manage your time

Managing your time as a blogging is another good blogging tip in this list of best blogging tips for beginners.

It’s time to get really good at planning and turn into that planning queen that I was referring to earlier. 

It’s simple. 

You plan for the results you want to produce. 

Always stay focused on results and your end goal – not the activity. 

For example: 

• Do not write in your calendar or planner that you’re going to be working on your blog from 6 AM to 8 AM.
• Write down the exact results you expect to produce in that timeframe. Be as specific as you can. This will trick your brain into focus and production mode. 

Never deviate from your plan and honor your commitment.

Always keep your word to yourself. 

If you focus on the results you expect to get done in the timeframe given you will be so much more efficient and your productivity will skyrocket. 

When you do this, you shift your mindset to abundant thinking.

Instead of thinking about all the things you have to get done, you focus on the results and the effect those results will have on your life.

You will have something concrete to work towards if you write down the results you want instead of  just “general to-dos.”

The more time you work on your blog (and work on the right things in your blogging business) the faster you will see your results.

You need to pursue imbalance – at least for a season.

I am still sacrificing some of my hobbies, and I’ve been blogging for nearly two years now.

Blogging is worth all the work and time spent – only if you keep going.

It’s worth nothing if you quit.

Remember that.

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8. Consistency is key

Consistency is key. It really is true.

You will only become a successful blogger if you can stay consistent which is why I love using theme days to plan out my blogging week.

• Sunday- Pinterest Pins
• Monday- Email List
• Tuesday- IG Posts and Stories
• Wednesday- Blog Post Writing
• Friday- Creation day (courses, eBooks, etc.)
• Saturday- Promote like crazy

Each day is designed to give only one task to focus on instead of cramming it all into a day.

This is my success secret!

In everything we do, we have to stay consistent if we want to reach our goals.

Whether that’s going to the gym or getting good grades in school, we need to stay consistent to reach success in blogging too.

So what does consistency mean?

Does it mean that we have to write a ton of blog posts every week? NO.

It means whatever consistency means to YOU.

So if you can only publish a blog post once per month then great! Post a minimum of once per month on the same day every month.

But you also have to be consistent when it comes to marketing, social media, Pinterest pinning, sending weekly emails to your list, etc.

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9. Be in it for the long term game

Listen, blogging is a long term game.

If you aren’t ready to HUSTLE your booty off for awhile to grow your blog, then don’t get into blogging.

You have to be patient.

Fall in love with the slow growth.

I don’t care what these gurus say…

About how they “grew their blog in just one month” because that ain’t possible!

It takes time, dedication, investing, consistency, learning, implementing, failing over and over, getting back up again, focusing on building a growth mindset for success….and so much more.

Be prepared to dedicate at least a year to growing your blog.

And please don’t get frustraited. It takes time.

If you want to make your blog a success, I highly recommend investing in blog courses, blogging coach, and maybe even a business and mindset coach.

Fall in love with the process of growing your blog every single day and have so much fun with it!

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10. Invest

Did you know that 95% of blogs will never ever make their first $1?

Discouraging? Nope! Here is why….

Most people who blog try and go at it alone. They have no idea that in order to be successful, they need a little helping hand.

Honestly, I don’t know ONE successful money making blogger who did it on their own.

They hired a blogging coach, they invested in blogging courses, they had a support group, etc.

They also worked on their blog for years! 

You’re probably thinking, “wow, Gen, you’re saying I have to invest money I don’t have AND work on it for years before I see an income from my blog?”

No way! But what you do need is the right tools, strategies, and frameworks so you can scale fast.

For example: I just started blog coaching with a client of mine and within her first TWO calls with me, she already booked her first client! And another blog coaching student of mine sold 23 eBooks to her audience already!

You may not have the knowledge right now but if you grab someone’s hand who has years in this industry and invested $20,000 in their blogging business, then you will definitely make money faster than you would if you do it alone.

If you’re ready to wear my shoes, then take my hand and book a free blog consultation call here.

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11. Use one strategy

A big mistake I see new bloggers making…

THEY USE STRATEGIES THAT THEY FOUND FROM 27 DIFFERENT BLOG POSTS AND FREEBIES AND WONDER WHY IT DOESN’T WORK OUT.

Listen, yo girl is ALL about free stuff.

However, those blog posts that you read for information are

1.outdated and

2. only give you not even 1/4 of the knowledge you ACTUALLY need to learn to build a successful blog.

Plus, this is HGHLY overwhelming. How do you even remember the what you learn by reading all of those articles? This just isn’t a good strategy.

The blog posts may look like they are from 2021, but that’s just because bloggers update their post dates a lot for SEO and longevity of the post.

I literally have read SO many blog posts this week about blogging and almost every article I read, they all had bad advice. They don’t give you what you truly need.

What you need? Updated strategies, frameworks, and a step-by-step updated learning plan. Like hello! It’s 2021 not 2015 anymore.

Girl, I’ve been in your shoes. Scrolling through Pinterest, downloading freebies, trying out all of the bad outdated strategies in free Pinterest articles, inserting affiliate links, posting and praying I would make money.

I’ve been in your shoes, question is….are you ready to wear mine?

Come along and try them on by booking a free blog coaching consultation call with me here! I promise you will walk in them like a 1980’s diva.

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12. Learn how to make money from the beginning

Thousands, upon thousands of articles are written every year about how to make money blogging, but this blog post is going to be way different and here’s why:

I’ve taken several ladies from making $0, hustling their *SS off, trying to make money blogging….

to them building a legit, sustainable business that makes them a high income.

I’ve also made a lot of money in my own blogging business and in this post, I’m going to tell you exactly how I do it.

I promise, starting a blog that makes a lot of money is definitely not what you think.

In fact, you’re lied to by most bloggers who write articles about “how to make money with blogging.” It’s sad, but its the truth.

The lie that all these blog articles are telling you is…

“Make money blogging from affiliate marketing.”

“Make money blogging with ads.”

And it’s just simply not true.

Why?

Because in order to make money from affiliate marketing and ads as a beginner blogger, you need to have TONS of blog traffic come to your blog everyday which just isn’t realistic.

It takes a long time to grow blog traffic.

It takes HARD work to get just 2,000 pageviews on your blog.

Even though I do think affiliate marketing and ads are a good way to make money on the SIDE, I know that it’s not how ANY extremely successful bloggers make money.

So how do they make money blogging?

The answer is….they start a business. All of them sell products and services on their blog.

They live launch the products by showing their faces on Instagram stories, writing regular Instagram posts, they do LIVE Facebook trainings in their Facebook groups, they hold webinars, and they INVEST to learn all of the business marketing and sales strategies.

They make money from affiliate marketing by putting links in their posts. But do they make a living from only doing that? NO WAY.

SO please learn the correct strategies to make money blogging from the beginning.

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13. Learn from the right expert

Learn from someone who has the results you want in your life. 

That is the number one piece of advice I can give you. 

You can attempt to learn everything there is to know about blogging for free online, or you can pick one teacher or coach, who already has the results you want with your blog and duplicate their strategies to get those same results.

This is what I did. 

I invested in a blogging coach who has the same results I wanted.

No one else. 

This is why I am so passionate about teaching other boss lady bloggers how to start blogs through my own 1:1 blog coaching program.

I speak directly to females who want to start profitable blogs.

I know the strategies because I’ve used them myself for my own blog and have had success with them. 

You can learn more about my 1:1 blog coaching program right here. 

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BEFORE YOU GO

As you can see, I have several blogging tips for beginners under my elt. I may even write a post that has even more tips than this one does.

Remember, you can absolutely do this.

I am in no way special.

If I can start a successful online blogging business from scratch, so can you.

Before you go, I invite you to join my Free Masterclass: Make Money Blogging

It will teach everything you need to know to buld a successful blogging biz.

And yes, I created it specifically with you in mind. ✨

I believe in you.

Until next time.

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• Best Tips for Selling Anything on Your Blog
• PODCAST – Why Most Bloggers Haven’t Even Made a $1
• Why Showit is the Best for New Bloggers
• PODCAST – Why You’re Not Making Money Blogging (5 Reasons)
• PODCAST – I Would Have Made Money Blogging a Lot Faster if I Just Did THIS

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