The Blog Basics You Need to Know To Succeed

Last updated on August 13th, 2018 at 05:19 pm

What are the basics of blogging? Do I need to know everything before I start my blog? Get all the blog answers you need to start, grow and monetize your blog.

If you’ve been wanting to start a blog but are confused on how to get started and what to do, then I am going to share the very basics with you.

The Basics of Blogging From My Perspective

I understand why you want to start a blog. Chances are you’ve read the hundreds of income reports online. Maybe you want to start your blog because you want to earn enough money so you can quit your job?

Maybe you started a Wix blog in the past and didn’t have the success you thought you would? So now you’re thinking about starting on a popular blogging platform and want to know how to get started.

I am not really sure why you want to start a blog. As you know, I started my blog so I can move away from my freelancing gig and more towards affiliate marketing and digital products.

When you start your blog, you’re going to realize that it’s a lot of work. However, if you choose to blog about something you’re passionate about, you’re more likely to have success.

I can only share what I’ve learned from my short time of blogging. To date, I haven’t been blogging for a year yet.

I’ve actually been living the blog lifestyle for almost 2 years. This has been the longest I’ve stuck with one blog.

I’ve had several blogs in the past, but never stuck with it long enough to have success. Usually, I start a blog and then leave it when I don’t see the results fast enough.

However, this time around, I managed to keep a bullet journal of my blogging duties and it has helped me stay on track to grow this blog.

Now, I thought I would share some tips to help you get started.

Everyone has their own take on what the basics of blogging are. This is my take on what I’ve learned from my experience of blogging.

Even if you don’t feel comfortable at the start, you’ll learn everything you need to know about blogging as you continue working on growing it every day.

What Do Bloggers Do?

Before we get into the basics, I need to tell you some of the tasks that you’ll be required to do on a daily basis. If you want to create a blog that makes money, you’re going to have to work extremely hard.

This means that you’ll be doing the following:

• Keyword research so you can write content your audience is searching for.
• Promote your content on a daily basis.
• Learn how to use Social Media
• Network with other bloggers
• Continue learning and growing

A blogger is a person that wears many hats. In the beginning, you’ll be required to do everything on your own because you won’t have the funds to outsource your blogging tasks.

You’re going to feel like your trying to climb Mount Everest and you’re not getting anywhere. Those are the days that you just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

It takes time to grow a blog and you’re not the first one to think that you’re not getting anywhere. We’ve all had those thoughts, especially me.

The Blog Basics

These are not in any particular order, these are just the things that I’ve learned from my blogging experience. If there’s one thing I’ve learned is that your blog won’t grow overnight.

Create a Schedule

One of the things that I struggled with when I first started my blog was knowing what to work on. I found myself trying to do and be everywhere.

At the end of the day, I realized that I didn’t do anything productive. Now I work with a schedule. I know what I’ll be working on each and every day.

No more spending a ton of unproductive time trying to decide what I need to work on.

Make Time for Yourself

We hear it every day, when you first start your blog, you have to spend 24/7 on it. When I first started my blog, I was spending so much time on it.

I almost ended up getting burnt out. I’m only human, there’s only so much that I can do before I reach burn out.

Yes, I want to make money with my blog. You’re absolutely right, I do want to leave my freelancing business.

What I’ve realized is that I can’t do it one day. Heck, I may not even be able to do it in a year?

I don’t know how long it’ll take me to earn enough money from my blog so I can walk away from my freelancing business and work full-time on my blog.

You won’t find me spending 24/7 on my blog anymore. Nope, I’ve actually made it a point to take breaks and walk away from my blog.

You’ll be amazed at how much more productive you are if you give yourself a break.

Remember, your blog won’t become a success overnight. So, give yourself a break.

Do Something Every Day

One of the biggest things that I’ve learned about the basics of blogging, is to do something to help you grow your blog each and every day.

We all want to reach success and hope that one day our blog will support us and our family.

Make sure that you’re taking the time to do something productive that will help you grow your business each and every day.

Write a post and schedule it in advance or give it away for a guest posting opportunity. Create a new YouTube video for your channel. Comment on blogs in your niche each and every day.

It doesn’t matter what you choose to do, just make sure that everything you do is helping you grow your business.

Learn Something New Every Day

I don’t know about you, but it seems like I am able to grow my blog faster when I continue to educate myself.

There’s always something that can be learned. Don’t get stagnant and think that you already know everything.

Make it a point to learn something new. Read a new book, watch videos from successful bloggers who share tips.

Invest in a new course that will show you how to do something. I am not talking about buying a bunch of shiny tools or apps that promise overnight riches.

We all know that those types of shiny tools and apps don’t last long.

Nope, what I am talking about is investing in programs like Making Sense With Affiliate Marketing.

This program will teach you the ins and outs of affiliate marketing. Plus it was created by Michelle Schroeder, who is making 6 figures with her blog.

I’ve picked up that course and can definitely see how it will help me improve my affiliate income, once my traffic picks up.

Be Patient

I don’t know about you, but I am not a very patient person. I’m the type of person who wants to see the results today.

That’s actually what got me in trouble in the past. My impatience caused me to jump from one money-making method to another.

Now here I am again starting over from scratch. Don’t make the same mistake that I made.

Know in your heart that if you’re providing value and really helping people. If you’re persistent and don’t give up, you’ll have success.

You might not make 6 figures, but can you imagine making enough to work on your blog full-time?

It can happen, but it won’t happen if you let your impatience get the best of you.

Regardless if you’re not seeing the income results you want right now, it doesn’t mean that you won’t eventually make money with your blog.

Related: How Much Do Professional Bloggers Make and How They Do It

Promote Your Content

One of the biggest mistakes that I made when I started this blog, I waited months before I started promoting my content.

I would sit down and write and write and write.

Trust me, it’s not any fun writing for a blog that isn’t getting any traffic. However, the only way that you’re going to start getting traffic is if you tell people about it.

Make sure that you’re using a social sharing plugin that makes it easy for others to share your content. I personally use the Social Warfare plugin.

The Social Warfare plugin makes it easy for others to share my content. In fact, I don’t think that my blog would be where it’s at without all the shares it’s gotten from people.

Related posts on the Social Warfare Plugin:

• Steal My Pinterest Image Creation System for Social Warfare
• Why I Use Social Warfare and How I Customized It
• How I Customized the Click to Tweet on Social Warfare
• How to Setup The Free Social Warfare Plugin

Slow Down

I know that you’re anxious to learn how to make money with your blog. As a blogger, there’s so much to learn.

If you’re doing everything yourself, which most new bloggers do.

We have to learn how to use social media, create videos, learn WordPress, how to market our blogs and build a community around our blogs.

If you’re like me, these are all new things that I’ve never really done before.

This is my first time ever using social media to grow a blog.

One of the best things that I did was look at my Google Analytics to see which social media network is helping my blog grow.

If your blog is new, you may have to give it a couple months before you can start collecting this type of data.

Related: How to Setup Google Analytics

Find A Successful Blogger

One of the things that I’ve personally found helpful is found some online mentors.

I read their blogs every day and learn from them. I am sure that they don’t mind, after all, they’ve written the content on their blogs.

These bloggers don’t even know that I am stalking them.

One of the bloggers that I am following is Harsh from Shout Me Loud. I even bought 2 of his WordPress plugins.

You can’t be afraid to support your favorite bloggers who help you out. Harsh doesn’t know me and he doesn’t know that his content has helped me.

Yet, his blog has helped me out in more ways than I can count.

The best way that I can show my support is to buy his products. (especially, since they will help me grow my blog and YouTube channel)

Another blogger that I follow is Ryan from Blogging from Paradise. I even picked up his Build An Online Empire Through Blog Commenting.

You want to make sure that the bloggers that you do follow are honest and will tell you exactly how it is.

Sit down and create a list of blog sites that you want to follow. Use the weekend to read blogs that can help you learn and grow and become a better blogger.

Learn How to Write A Blog Post In 20 Minutes

One of the things that you’re going to have to learn how to write quickly. You’re going to need to write content for your blog, guest posts, your email list and your own products.

That’s a whole lot of content that you’re going to need to write.

You’ll never be able to write enough content if it takes you 2-3 hours to write one post. When I first started my blog, it took me so long to write a post because my typing sucked.

I used this test to help me get faster and now it doesn’t take me as long as it used to. I’ve also gotten better at creating blog outlines which help me create my posts faster.

I’ve personally found that if I know the topic I am planning on writing about, it doesn’t take me very long to write the actual blog post.

Brainstorm some topics and put them on Google Drive. Whenever you need to write a new article, you can grab one of those ideas.

I’ve also found that if I focus on writing the blog entry at the beginning, the rest of my post falls in place without a lot of effort.

Creating A Profitable Blog

Whether you’re trying to start a lifestyle blog, wedding blog, travel blog or any other niche blog, the one thing you need to do is avoid the free blog platforms.

Do yourself a favor and start with a self-hosted WordPress site. You’ll be a lot better off and you have a lot more control.

Many people make the mistake of trying to design a blog from scratch without investing any money. Unfortunately, it takes money to build a profitable blog.

Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost as much as investing in a brick and mortar business.

Final Take Away

Blogging is hard work, the great thing is that everyone starts from zero. Ask any successful blogger and they will tell you the same thing.

They had no clue how they were going to have success.

They just took the proper steps and did something each and every day to grow their blogs.

In my opinion, these are the basics of blogging.

You don’t need to know everything to get started. Heck, you don’t even need to be a techie person.

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What are the basics of blogging that you want to share? Did you learn something totally different from my blogging experience? If so, then share your experience below.