Starting a blog changed my life.

Starting an online business changed my life. 

It wasn’t long ago I was scouring through Pinterest for amazing blogger success stories and considered that maybe I could do it too. 

In fact, it’s been less than two years – one and a half to be exact.

In this article, I want to share with you the 10 most powerful lessons I learned from my first year of blogging. 

It’s been a ride, to say the least, and I’ve learned much, not only about myself but also about my audience and so much more. 

 

 

Related Reads:

• Why You Should Start A Blog This Year
• How To Start A Blog For Beginners: Complete Tutorial
• How I Got Over 200,000 Monthly Pageviews My First Year Blogging

 

 

Why Start A Blog?

I started my blog because I wanted to create something for myself – a space where I could be creative, free, make the decisions and improve my own personal growth while helping others in the process.

This led to a curiosity spark and I wondered if I had what it took to make my blog into a blooming profitable business too – like those other bloggers on Pinterest.

I mean, they are just normal people with a laptop and a good internet connection. 

If they can do it,  so can I – right?

And so I did, I started my blogging journey and haven’t looked back.

Learn how you can start your own dream blog using my step by step tutorial for beginners here.

 

 

10 Lessons Learned From My First Year of Blogging:

 

 

1. It’s Not About You

Although you might start a blog for your own personal reasons, it will ultimately all be about your audience.

Your blog exists to solve their problems, and so you have to make it about them. 

Your blog isn’t a place for you to share your outfit of the day or what you had for dinner last night.

The content you put out there has one purpose and that is to be valuable and benefit your readers.

 

 

2.  Build That List, Sooner Rather Than Later

Build. That. List.

If you’ve started your blog already, I’m sure you’ve come across phrases like…

• Start building your list from day  1.  
• The money is in the list.
• You have to have an email list.

The fact of the matter is, it’s all true. ????

This was one of the key things that I learned from my blogging mentors, which was to start building my list from day 1 – and I did. 

I’ve since starting my blog grown my email list from 0 to over 4000 subscribers, in a little over a year. 

I highly recommend you sign up for an email service provider (I love and use ConvertKit) today and start building your list from the get-go. 

You’ll be so glad you did. 

 

 

3. Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows

When you start a blog it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the things you can and should do. 

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from my first year of blogging has been…

Where focus goes, energy flows. Keep your focus on one thing at a time until you see results.

Don’t multitask or try and be on all the social media platforms at once.

Spreading your focus too thin will not lead to results. 

Go all-in on one thing at a time and become an absolute expert at it before you switch lanes.

• Is your focus traffic? Focus on Google SEO or Pinterest.
• Is your focus building your list? Focus on creating an irresistible freebie.
• Is your focus followers and engagement? Focus on one social media platform at a time, Instagram or Facebook, for example.

 

 

4. Investing In Yourself Speeds Up The Process

If you have the means to invest in your new blogging business, all I have to say is – do it. 

Learn from people who have the results you want for your own blog.

Enroll in their courses, sign up for their email list and learn everything you can from them.

They’ve been where you are and have the secret roadmap to getting real results.

Investing in an online blogging course will speed up the time it’ll take for you to see results from your new blog.

The internet is filled with blogging tutorials and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of it.

• Where do I start?
• What should my focus be on first?
• What email service provider is really the best one?
• Which hosting platform should I choose?

If you enroll in a course and learn from people who know what they’re talking about, you’ll learn everything in the right order, leaving more space for you to focus on the right things in your blogging biz. 

 

 

5. You’re Playing A Long Term Game Now

When you start a blog, you enter a long term game. 

It’s not a get-rich-quick-scheme and you’re likely not going to have an overnight success story to tell. 

Blogging is for people with persistence and resilience. 

It requires a lot of hard work, trial and error, and most importantly – patience. 

My blog is my business and I have to prioritize it over certain things if I want to have the results I dream of. 

I still say no to a lot of social activities on the weekends, because I’m so determined and committed to my plans. 

Treat your blog as your business, because if you want it to be profitable and eventually replace your 9 to 5 job, it is.

 

 

6. The Learning Curve Is Endless

You can’t learn everything in one day and you can’t learn everything, period. 

The knowledge and information about marketing, business and blogging is endless.

If you attempt to read every book there is on online business and blogging, you’re going to hit the wall and it’s not going to be enjoyable if you set the stakes too high when you’re just starting out. 

Take everything in your own time, don’t stress results and have fun along the way.

Enjoy the process, you’re in it now! ✨

Stay curious about the possibilities, because with blogging – the sky’s the limit.

 

 

7. Inspiration Over Competition

Look to other bloggers and online business girl bosses as inspiration for what’s possible and not as competitors. 

Find motivation in what they are doing and let that spark something for your own blog (but do not be a copy-cat, obvs).

Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. 

This mindset is a must when you go into the world of blogging.

Abundance is key. 

There’s bound to be hundreds of bloggers who blog about the exact same thing you do, but there’s only one you.

You have a unique voice and a story to tell, and your audience is out there waiting for you to tell it – in your own way.

The online world keeps growing and there’s room enough for all of us. 

If she can do it, we all can. 

That’s the spirit!

 

 

Pin this article for later.

 

 

8.  Set Blogging Goals & Plan Ahead

Starting a blog while working full time is the true definition of hustling. 

When I started, I needed to get good at prioritizing my time and scheduling the results I wanted to produce on my calendar – down to the hour. 

I also needed to get up really early.

Planning and setting blogging goals have made a huge impact on the results I’ve had with my blog so far, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.

This is how I plan my days and stick to it. 

 

 

9. Perfection Is Not The Way To Go

You’re not going to have it all figured out the minute you hit the publishing button on your new blog.

Your brand will likely change, so will your design and blogging niche.

It’s part of the blogging game – it’s an everchanging one.

The worst thing you can do is to stay stuck in the waiting for everything to be perfect zone – because it’s not going to be.

When I first started my blog, my design wasn’t nearly as cute as it is today.

I didn’t have it all figured out, but I took action anyway and I put myself out there. 

 

 

10. Keep Showing Up

Things are bound to get hard and challenging.

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. 

Cheesiness incoming: 

If it was easy, everybody would have a profitable dream blog.

Be the girl who keeps showing up for her new blog.

Take some sort of action every single day. 

Stay consistent with your weekly content and keep going. 

I’ve got your back!

 

 

Before You Go

These 10 takeaways have been the most important and made the biggest difference for me on my blogging journey.

When you start your own dream blog, the lessons to be learned will be endless – but it’s all part of the fun. 

It’s such an exciting journey to be on and anything is possible.

Have a blog? I’d love to check it out! Let me know in the comments below. ✨