One Year Of Blogging And Seven Valuable Lessons

May 6, 2019, the whole world heard and read the news: a new prince, named Archie, was born. No one knew this date would also coincide with the birth of the Elle Muse Journal, my new blogging business. When I heard the news, I thought here goes my launch news, what a mistake that was, I should’ve planned it better – nobody is going to give a HOOT.

In the world of PR and marketing, companies plan a launch date that doesn’t coexist with major events. It felt like an oversight on my behalf but I stayed positive and looked at it from a different angle. It’s a date I won’t forget about even if I tried to. Each year, I will celebrate Elle Muse’s bday as the royal family and media celebrate Prince Archie’s bday.

Today, Elle Muse has a social community with over 3,000 women, many of whom are loyal supporters and followers who find inspiration in the stories and articles. Their words of encouragement, admiration, and support keep me motivated. Now, I realize how my personal passion helps women find truth, fulfillment, and confidence.

Truths about blogging

Blogging is a fantastic mode for writers to connect with the world, share experience and knowledge. If you intend to monetize it, realize that blogging requires a significant amount of calculated effort to break into the digital realm. I knew – based on 20 years of marketing experience – that venturing into the digital web meant committing to long hours and financial resources to build awareness and trust, later on, a community.

Rome wasn’t built in a day

Before proceeding with the 7 blogging lessons, remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes time, systems and procedures to build something great. Therefore, learn to lay one brick at a time for that’s how you can build an empire!

As well, the digital world is saturated with blogs and according to stats, there are over 500 million blogs that publish over 2 million posts daily. This means a new blog has to maneuver through a competitive market slowly and surely before it makes a breakthrough.

So what are the 7 key lessons for new bloggers?

Identify a purpose for your blog

The first thing you want to do is establish the main objective the blog can achieve for your business like:

Sell services

Are you a service-based business? Do you offer coaching, real estate, consulting or even trade services? If so, your blog’s objective is to generate trust, credibility and attract prospects. In the beginning, your blog content is informational and geared towards knowledge sharing. It should contain articles that showcase your expertise, projects you worked on and advice, lots of advice.

Sell products

A blog can be monetized by selling products that you own, via affiliate marketing, sponsorship, or even ad placements. That means your blog should be built with a sales strategy and e-commerce solution. And for that, it’s important to maximize site visits via proper SEO and SEM strategy.

Set up a quarterly content/editorial calendar

This is the best advice new bloggers should carry out before launching. As someone who has previously worked in the publication domain, working with a quarterly editorial calendar helps me sort content ideas. Some bloggers use a weekly content calendar but a quarterly calendar helps you better organize writing material, create monthly themes and ideas.

Write for SEO

Blog content must be structured to improve SEO and that will have a not-so-good impact on your creative writing. It is discouraging because SEO rules can limit creative writing and possibly your writing style. Content has to be in short sentence format and short paragraphs. It has to be simple and easy to read with multiple subheaders and a certain percentage of keywords and key phrases. You will want to prioritize traffic over creative writing at first. Once the blog has presence and engagement, that’s when you can start showcasing your writing talent.

There’s no such thing as original content

With over 2 million posts published each day, it’s impossible to come up with an original idea and content. In fact, every single topic has been addressed, thanks to search engines. If you think you have an original question or topic, google it to find out how much content revolves around it.

You’ll be surprised by the number of relevant topic articles. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t write about it or discuss it with your community. In fact, the existing content provides insight and proof of your own perspective or understanding of a topic. Therefore use them as a source and inspiration but never copy the content!

Add value

No one has the time or attention span to read long online articles. In fact, people prefer reading short articles with tips and ideas that add value to their business, career, and lives. Therefore, write from the perspective of the reader and provide insight, advice, tip that help solve a problem or answer a difficult question. Think of the why, when, how, what and where when writing a blog.

Be authentic

Truthfulness builds credibility and trust. To gain the loyalty and confidence of the reader, a blogger should be a subject expert matter. If you like to write about different topics, seek advice and backup from experts or do in-depth research about the subject. And remember, the readers rely on your reviews, experience, and advice when trying to make any type of decision, whether it be a business or personal decision. Being authentic and honest becomes an ethical obligation that must topple monetary gains.

Share your story

After almost one year of blogging, I learned that I should share my personal experience to connect with my audience. At first, I found it difficult to share intimate stories and personal perspectives on things and ideas because I am a private person. Yet, over time I discovered that my readers can to relate to the stories and I felt connected to them. I found a tribe that shares common interests, beliefs and lifestyles. Your personal journey, thoughts, and perspectives should resonate and connect with your community, your tribe.

Must-Read Books For New Bloggers

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