1. Start With A Professional Theme
If you have done your research, you’ve probably heard this, along with making sure you’ve got a great hosting platform.
Click here for a free step-by-step guide to setting up a hosting platform!
Why get a professional theme for your blog?
For starters, professional themes…
- run faster and are less glitchy
- are regularly updated with new features
- exude professionalism and make you look less like a newbie blogger
- have customer service and allow you to take control of the look of your blog
I have had tremendous growth once switching to my current theme!
In fact, I wrote a full article detailing my switch to the Extra theme by Divi Themes.
(Psst!: Click here to read all about it and the skyrocket of growth that followed!)
Anyway, this element is key to do early – anyone can have a professional looking blog simply based on having a clean and blog-supported theme!
To maintain success of your blog through the long term, be sure to do your research and choose your theme wisely!
2. Have a Long-Term Plan
Being a blogger is NOT a 3-month gig. It isn’t even a 1-year gig!
For example, it usually takes an average of 8 months for Google to even trust your website to start allowing it to come up on front pages of searches!
That being said, many don’t earn a lot of money their first year of blogging, and that is completely normal.
Problem is, we all get caught up in the rare occasions of people who earn 5 figures a month by blogging, and think it will be easy to achieve.
Unfortunately, due to the amount of people starting to saturate the blogging field, your chances of earning a big buck each month is not that likely at the beginning…
But, with time, it is absolutely possible.
I’ve been blogging for awhile now, and only now am turning a regular profit! And, it is nowhere near what my original goal was…
To set up a long-term plan, I suggest the following:
- Write weekly, monthly, and 3-month goals for your blog. Create a handful of goals that are beyond achievable and some that are obviously achievable. It will keep you motivated and keep you pushing harder for success!
- Get an accountability partner. An accountability partner is someone who is there to keep you motivated and in check. This could be a fellow blogger in your niche or even a spouse or friend!
- Do one thing different each week to benefit your blog. This could be writing a different type of post than usual, sending out of unique email to your subscribers, trying out a new theme like the one I mentioned above, or even reaching out to a blog to [guest post]!
3. Keep Track of Your Expenses
Of anything, I highly suggest you keep this in the back of your mind as you begin your blog!
Keep an Excel page or even a written page of everything you spend on your blog, and all your earnings for each month as you start making money blogging.
Thing is, once tax time rolls around, you’ll be flipping through old emails, tracking down receipts, and trying to add up totals of profits.
Trust me on this:TRACK. YOUR. MONEY!
So, for example, one way I track my profits is through a free app called [Personal Capital].
Through this app, I keep a budget, track my assets and liabilities, and can watch my income grow with my blog. I suggest you get an app like this early on so you can start tracking your money right away!
4. Don’t Have Unmet Expectations
This is HUGE you guys. And this is the reason so many people stop blogging!
If you’re doing your research on starting a blog, you probably are really excited and motivated!
You are ready to start earning massive amounts of passive income and you’ve seen plenty of people succeed!
However, there is no guarantee that you’ll reach incredible success as fast as any of those pinners on Pinterest are promising you.
Therefore, to have a profitable blog that will earn you passive income to become financially free, you need to first be completely fine with the idea of putting months of effort in without seeing those big dollar signs.
Tell your spouse, accountability partner, or family that this will be worth it in the end but for now, it may not seem like it.
Problem is, too many people give up right before the blog exponentially grows, both in traffic and in income!
So, be sure to keep this to heart as you start out! Or, if you’re a seasoned blogger, I hope this can encourage you to keep writing and trust in the process!
