If you’ve got big blogging dreams, write as an addition to your business, are working with sponsors, or are simply running ads to make a little extra cash, it might be time to look at your blog as a business, not just a part-time pass time. Here are six ways to get more serious about blogging, so your readers will get more serious about you!
Create a brand
The very first, number on this I recommend is to ditch the BlogSpot and WordPress.com domains and get one of your own. And once you’ve got that shiny new domain, create a logo and a social media handle to match. Using the same name and icons across the board help make you and your website more recognizable.
Stick to a weekly schedule
This is one of the big things I recommend to all my Badass Babes – make time in your schedule every day or every week just for blogging. You’ll find it’s a lot easier to keep on top of a posting schedule when the time is already set aside and you don’t have to squeeze it in during your lunch break or after the kids have gone to sleep. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could even create a yearly plan to keep track of features, events and product launches.
Track your income and expenses
Spreadsheets! I think I’m the only one that gets really excited to track this stuff (yeah, for real, I love it). According to the IRS, no matter how much you make, you’ll need to report this income when filing your taxes. And trust me, you don’t want to get to next April and have to recall what you made in October and where it came from.
Set goals
Whether it’s gaining 20 new Twitter followers by the end of the month, making $100 from ad sales, or landing your first guest post, setting goals is the best way to grow your blog. All businesses know where they were, where they are and where they want to be and they’re constantly updating this info and projecting for the future. You can do it too! Each month take stock of where your blog has gained, what posts/features did well, and what readers have been asking about and then set some goals. Don’t forget to include numbers and dates AND I challenge you to be ambitious!
Build a media kit
A media kit is a one-page, few-page, or lots of pages document that helps brands and sponsors know if they want to work with you. It should include a description of your blog & content, a description of your readers, blog traffic and social media stats, what types of sponsored material you accept, and rates for ads/sponsored posts/reviews/etc. Post it as a PDF on your about page or let interested parties know they can email you to receive a copy.
Make an investment
Whether it’s a new blog design (psst…I can help with that), new headshots or killer copy, if you’re serious about blogging, putting a little money into it will pay off big time. Plus hiring someone to do the things you’re not great at helps take away the headache of late-night coding marathons or figuring out how to remove a zit in Photoshop.
Thank you for the amazing tips! <3
Thank you so much for sharing this information! I can’t wait to try some of these.
Lately I’ve been looking for ways to keep up the inspiration to blog & start a routine that will last. I’ve been using mainly Pinterest to find advice on this topic, and I’m so glad it led me here! I’ve read several of your posts and I find them very informative, helpful and inspiring! And I definitely just followed you on Bloglovin… (:
Thanks Madison! Feel free to submit a question if there’s anything specific I can help you with :)
These are some really great tips! Thanks for sharing. I agree with you that it is very important to set goal to move forward and to create a name for yourself. Take care. x
Louise
http://louiseplace.com
I needed this kick in the butt! I just started a new blog in January and was doing pretty good at putting my brand out there, and keeping a schedule…until our 11-month old granddaughter recently came to live with us (for the foreseeable future). I attended my first blogging conference in early-April, and heard many of the same things you covered here…but finding the time to actually implement them now is a totally different subject. But if I don’t, my blog is going to fall by the aside, and I DO NOT want that! So thanks for the good reminders. I have babysitters lined up for the next two days, and I intend on taking your advice here and hitting it hard! Thanks for the re-motivation. ;)
These are really great tips!! Going to start implementing these to build up my blog. Great post. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us fellow bloggers. xo
do you have any suggestions for earnings spreadsheet resources? i could theoretically revisit my spread-sheet creation knowledge, but i’m telling you – creating spreadsheets sucks the life from my soul!! i’m sure that someone has made a much prettier and more efficient one than i ever could…
Here’s some info on how I keep my spreadsheets in Google Drive :) https://xosarah.com/2013/11/bookkeeping-for-your-freelance-business/
Well, while we’re psst-ing, I can help with the media kit part. ;) And with the head shots, too, if you’re in England (or Spain, but I’m hoping to make that move to England permanent – flying in on April 28, eep!). Both of which I still need to work on for myself. At least I’ve got the rest of it (mostly) down. I need to update my income/expense tables…
Good psst Lix! That’s a great idea for a service – I think a lot of bloggers get lost in what should be in it. And it’s a lot more complicated than a quick graphic in picmonkey :) Also congrats on the move – that’s exciting!!
2014 is my year and while I’ve made some progress already (updated blog design-Thanks by the way, blogging more frequently, a to-do list), there are still lots of hills to climb; but my boots are on and I’m ready.
Actually a professional headshot looks like it just got moved up to the top of the list as I and my work are going to be featured in a German magazine later this year…Yay; but Yikes!!!
Ooo nice! That’s super exciting Kristy – congrats!!
I do most of this stuff already, but I’m going to be amping things up over the summer. I took a web design class this semester so I’ve got my own domain from that. I’d like to migrate my WordPress, but I’m not sure I can without losing everything. It’s something I’m planning to look into for sure.
You can definitely make the move to WordPress. It’s not as challenging as you think – just beware of losing photos, that seems to happen occasionally. As long as you can copy/paste for your old site you’ll be just fine!