Join us for today’s podcast with Coley Lane, the Founder & Editor of Life Goals Collective!

We discuss everything from blogging for your business to using Pinterest to gain more traffic, all with a few LOLs in the middle!

 

 

LISTEN HERE: 

 

Coley is the Founder & Editor of Life Goals Collective. She was born and raised in Southern California and is currently living in Portland, Oregon. 

When she’s not running Life Goals, she’s helping creatives get more visibility and clients through blogging and Pinterest. 

Or, she’s probs re-watching her comfort show, Ted Lasso while sippin’ red wine.

 

 

How do I know Coley?

Coley was actually one of the first people I talked to online (which sounds a bit weird, I know).  

When I started my secret blog, I didn’t tell anyone about it. Then Coley reached out to me to write a guest post for her website.

She then asked for a call, and I delved into the wonderful world of being able to make connections and form friendships with people online.

Being an introvert, this was out of my comfort zone, but something I am so glad I did. We have remained friends ever since, and she’s now my Pinterest manager!

 

 

Coley and her business

Coley started her blog way back in 2015, blogging about everything and anything.

The origin of Life Goals came from a guest post for a website called Gen 20 (which is actually still around today). 

Without a set ‘niche’, she wanted to provide her audience with valuable content on productivity and self-care.

With the dreaded imposter syndrome stopping her from writing solely by herself, Coley reached out to others for interviews and collabs.

Now Life Goals Mag is a whole community, with courses, training, and a whole bunch of evergreen content. 

We’ve both been on the turbulent entrepreneurial rollercoaster (yep, we’re all on it guys!) and journey of working out what’s right for our business. 

 

 

Tackling roadblocks

As you know, I started my secret blog without showing my face.

So did Coley! (Well, apart from a tiny image in her bio).

We all hit roadblocks with our online businesses, and Coley’s was photos. When you’re starting out, it’s not a well-known thing that you can use stock photos to help build your blog. 

Needing to improve on something (like photography) is normal, and can become a major roadblock for a lot of us.

That’s why we search for alternatives, such as stock photo websites, to not let anything hold us back from those dreamy ideas we have!

 

 

Is blogging dead?!

Coley and I spoke about blogging in 2022 and why it’s still an amazing way to build your online business.

So is blogging dead in 2022?

The short answer? No!

Although, it’s important to note that blogging is different now and has a different purpose.

Think about it. People who search on Google or Pinterest aren’t just scrolling. They search with intent. So you need to tailor your blog to that user intent.

Be the valuable content your ideal audience needs.

Make it easy to skim.

Include value.

Check people are actually searching for it!

Adjust your content to make sense. You don’t have to come up with a bunch of content for your blog, just adjust it for someone who is searching for it!

Or as I like to say, reeeeeemix!

Remix your content. 

Turn your blog post > microblogs for Instagram > talk about it on stories!

There are a whole ton of ways you can ‘remix’ your content for different platforms. 

Then that long-form blog post? Make it skimmable, with popping headlines for those with short attention spans!

 

Busy bee? Pin this for later.

Your home and heart on the Internet

Your website is where your brand lives.

You OWN that content!

If Instagram goes or Facebook disappears, that’s your content gone if you don’t have a blog. This could potentially happen!

Whereas if you’ve bought your website, you OWN that part of the Internet. You own your content. And no one can take that away from you!

If someone has searched for the content you’re writing about, you’re gaining an already interested audience. Which is a pretty good way to grow!

 

 

SEO isn’t as bad as it sounds

Coley delved into the world of SEO and how it can seem intimidating to blogging newbies. 

She didn’t have any formal training in SEO, and still has high-ranking posts on Google. 

Our advice?

Write posts that align with the people you are talking to. 

Pick topics with intent, and show up for your audience. 

In Coley’s upcoming blogging course, she delves into the world of SEO and how it can actually be FUN. 

How good does that sound?!

 

 

What’s your advice for someone who wants to start a blog in 2022?

Everyone says ‘find your niche’. This can be annoying when you’re just starting out!

Instead of thinking about your niche, pick the topics you want to talk about. Ditch the term ‘niche’.

What topics are juicy right now? 

What are people searching for?

For example, enneagrams or personality tests. Does this resonate with you? Have fun finding your subjects!

Then put your own unique twist on it. 

Be your OWN NICHE.

Find angles that are going to do well. Hone in on your personality through your content. You are the brand!

If you’re comfortable with showing your personality, do that! Batch content ideas (we’re both mega ClickUp fans for this), go through your ideas and look at the search results. 

If there are millions; can you be more specific?

For example: College students vs just out of college.

Can we speak to our audience more specifically? 

It’s not so much about the niche, but about the people you want to serve.

You are a niche and your life is content. 

Your voice is going to resonate with certain people if you put yourself out there. 

 

 

The Pinterest Queen

Coley is a Pinterest QUEEN. She had some handy advice for anyone looking to use Pinterest with their biz.

Although Pinterest is changing and it can seem hard to keep up, it’s still worth using by bloggers in 2022.

It’s a great way to gain visibility, although it is in the midst of turning into a social media platform.

If you’re starting out with content creation, and don’t have a blog, you can create idea pins (like reels), and do a mixture of video and photo to repurpose your reels and Tiktoks. These always do so well on Pinterest!

Their algorithm changes (which is frustrating but keeps us entertained!) and recently has moved from quantity to quality. 

Pinterest and SEO go hand in hand. Optimize your posts. Give your readers a reason to get OFF the platform and view your content, rather than scrolling aimlessly on Instagram or Tiktok.

 

 

Coley’s new podcast – ‘Playground to Purpose’

After a year of defining and creating a podcast that doesn’t already exist, Playground to Purpose is LIVE!

The podcast is all about the connection between our childhood likes and dislikes and our career. 

It’s strange – just talking about this makes me realize as a child I used to write code and create websites?! And look at me now!

Like myself, Coley discussed how she didn’t feel the 9-5 would be for her.

It never aligned with who she is as a person. And that’s where all our passion for business comes from today.

We’re redefining success.

 

 

A HUGE thank you to Coley Lane for being on the podcast this week for our ‘is blogging dead?!‘ topic!

It has been amazing catching up and listening to valuable advice for all of my audience (and myself!)

You can join her blogging course from the end of April, and listen to her podcast over on the Life Goals Mag.