Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is the perfect place to begin.
In this post, I am going to show you the steps that it really takes to become a successful blogger, and why you must follow them in the correct order.
I am going to show you the right way to get to where you want to be.
When you do things the right way, it’s always faster, cheaper, and easier.
Note: If you are not sure about starting a blog, check out 9 reasons why you should start a blog
Successful bloggers make it look so easy, don’t they? Why then, does it seem so confusing? I know how daunting it can be when you don’t know where to start or when you are not sure of what to do. I was there.
I realize (now) how much time I wasted, and all the things I did wrong. I’ve been in business for years, and I should have known better, but I thought the online business was going to be different, and that I could skip the conventional steps. I was wrong.
A business is a business, online or off. I learned this lesson the hard way. And so I have gone back to my roots and took one step at a time. It should be comforting to know that an online blogging business is easier, cheaper (much), and quicker. But again, don’t skip the steps!
I’ll simplify things so you don’t make the same mistakes.
Just one word of caution though, I will lay out the steps and simplify the process, but there is still work to be done. Yes, it takes work. It’s a business… (you want to make money, right?)
If you are ready to put in effort, you can do this. It’s really not that difficult. Move through each step, and you will get there.
The good news is, when you focus on only one step at a time, it’s so much easier to get there. I wish I had someone show this to me.
There are 5 phases to become a successful blogger. When you knock out one phase at a time, the next one becomes easy to tackle. If you do things in the wrong order (and I know that is tempting), you are just going to waste time and get discouraged.
Instead, follow through a step at a time, and if you hit a snag, you can always reach out and ask me. Ok?
The 5 Phases Of Blogging Success
- Start your blog
- Add content
- Drive traffic
- Monetize
- Run your blog
That’s simple, yes? I’m sure you have questions – lots of them probably – but don’t bog yourself down until you get to that phase. Your self-doubt is only going to stop you in your tracks like you just ran into a field of land mines.
Phase 1: Start Your Blog
This is where every blogger begins.
Starting your blog includes choosing what to blog about and getting a domain name.
It includes handling some technical things (you can do it, even if you have no technical background). You’ll need to choose a blog host (it’s kind of like choosing a carrier for your phone) and install blogging software.
There will be some initial settings to make, and you’ll want to launch your blog. Launching your blog simply means to make it available to the world on the Internet.
At this stage, your blog will be functional, but probably won’t look perfect yet. That’s because it is more important to add content, and develop the look of your blog as you go (unless you have a gazillion dollars to pay a blog designer).
I am assuming you are on a budget. (so if you ask me a question, I am not going to tell you to hire someone, but instead I am going to tell you how to do it).
Phase 2: Add Content
Now that you have a blog, you are officially a blogger!
Ok, you are not a money-making blogger just yet. Hang in there, let’s make this fun.
This phase is where you start to learn to write and publish your content. Content is just the stuff you share with people who want to hear about it. These people become your audience.
Just note that at this stage, you won’t have traffic to your blog just yet.
And that’s ok… this is a process
A lot of people try to skip the content step, or do it poorly, and go directly to attempting to monetize their blog. Don’t do that please, we are not there yet.
It is important that you add enough content, so visitors have a reason to be there. You wouldn’t open a retail store without products on the shelves, would you? Don’t do it online either.
In this phase, you’ll work hard (I am not going to kid you).
Success tip: Keep that fact in mind when you choose your topic or niche (phase 1). You’ll hear me say this many times… if you enjoy what you are doing, it is MUCH easier, and much more FUN!
So writing about what you enjoy makes the content creation phase easier. Enough said.
Ok, one more thing, as a blogger, you will be creating content on a regular basis once everything is built out… it doesn’t end in this phase. This phase is more of a concentrated effort so you can have some content to start with.
Back to the retail store analogy: If you are just opening your store, you need product on the shelf so you have stuff to sell, otherwise there would be no reason for customers to come in. Once your store is built out and running, you need only to restock your shelves.
Phase 3: Drive Traffic
Things do start to get more fun here!
Driving traffic is exciting… you are getting people to see what you are all about. While it is possible that you can explode your traffic growth quickly, it is more realistic to expect it to take some time.
Your results will be based on your efforts.
Just like your content phase, this traffic driving phase is a concentrated effort as well. Work hard now to get the ball rolling, and it will pay off handsomely.
Some people ask why they shouldn’t monetize first so they can make money when the traffic starts rolling in. The short answer is, you cannot properly monetize until you understand your audience. You need your audience first, no matter how much you think you know what they will want.
It would be a big mistake, which so many people make (including me), and it’s a huge time-waster.
Traffic cures all and gives you the flexibility to easily and quickly determine the best way to help you audience while you earn money. That’s awesome, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be!
This stage is a learning process. As you begin to drive traffic, you will learn how to better drive traffic. How it is done depends on your niche. I’ll just let you know now that I am a big fan of using Pinterest to drive traffic. I’ve done it every which way, and Pinterest is easy and it’s free (and it’s actually fun).
For now, just know you need traffic before you monetize.
Phase 4: Monetize Your Blog
Show me the money, honey!
Ok, now you can monetize your blog! Monetizing is the process where we turn traffic into dollars.
There are many different ways to monetize your blog, and you will cross that bridge when you are at this step. (Remember, the purpose of this post is to give you the steps and show you what is involved so you have direction and know YOU can do it. This isn’t the place to go into all the details for each phase because there’d never be room for that here).
However, as I keep dropping nuggets, I’ll tell you that affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways to monetize a blog or website.
Affiliate marketing is where you promote a product or service for another company, and you make a commission for the referral.
The thing that’s so wonderful about monetizing in this way, is that you offer products to your audience that they need anyway. You help them learn and understand what they are trying to do, and they are likely to buy those products through your affiliate link. Everyone wins.
There other ways as well to monetize. One step at a time!
Phase 5: Run Your Blog!
You are in business!
This is the phase we look forward to getting to. Every prior phase requires more than the normal amount of effort, because each of those phases are part of creating and building your blog and becoming a blogger.
In this phase, you will be doing what you already started doing: creating content, driving traffic, and monetizing – but in smaller doses than before.
Going back to my retail store analogy: this is the phase after you have built your store, stocked the shelves, and ran all of your radio and newspaper ads. You’ll still need to do some restocking (content creation), finding new products (monetizing), and you’ll need to continue running your ads (driving traffic). You’ll also want to tend to some refreshing and cleaning (making your blog look better).
Your work at this point should be fun. This is your blogging business. You will eventually work on your schedule, and live life on your terms.
It’s whatever you make of it!
To recap, we went over the 5 phases of becoming a successful blogger.
Here’s what we learned:
- Take one step at a time
- It’s simple, but takes effort
- It’s much easier when you follow the plan
- There are 5 phases (Start your blog; Create content; Drive traffic; Monetize; Run your blog)
- Don’t let your questions overrun you. Only focus on the phase you are in.
- Don’t wait, your fear will stop you in your tracks.
Are you ready to leave that boring job behind and start living life on your terms? You can start your blog today in under 20 minutes!
Questions? Let me know in the comments below.
- My Ecommerce Story Part 2 – Launching - April 28, 2020
- I’m Building An Ecommerce Store – Part 1 - April 13, 2020
- What Is A Self-Hosted Blog? - November 15, 2019