Is Starting a Blog Right for You?
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” - Mark Twain
Blogging is an amazing way for us mums to share our passions, creativity, knowledge and ideas with the world!
But before you go diving head first into it, this post will give you some clarity and the reality of all that blogging entails, so you can really decide whether it’s something you want to pursue!
I really hope by the end of this post, it is, as it’s a totally amazing experience and journey!
So let’s find out: Is starting a blog right for you?
The last thing I want you to do is just start a blog, having not really thought about all that’s involved!
We’ll be looking into whether blogging is still relevant, what you should know before starting your blog, the mistakes to avoid & many, many more aspects…
This post will help you decide whether starting a blog is right for you or not… because it’s super important to know this before getting too far down the line.
“This post may contain affiliate links and if you make a purchase using one of my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you”.
Before I became a stay at home mum!
I spent 13 years working in the financial services industry, before we decided to start a family.
Whilst I was pregnant with my first baby boy, I knew that I didn’t want to go back to that 9-5 job once he was born.
Don’t get me wrong, throughout my career I loved working in all the jobs I had and loved the people even more, however, I always knew that when the time came for me to be a mummy, I wanted to stay at home and raise my babies.
Luckily enough, I had an amazing, supportive husband who made it possible for me to do exactly that – stay home with my baby boy!
I’ve never regretted it and we now have two boys who I couldn’t imagine my world without.
BUT…
While I’ve been at home, it’s been extremely difficult for me to adjust to not earning or having any money of my own…
And… it’s been even harder knowing that I’m not contributing like I used to, leaving all the financial burden on my husband’s shoulders.
That said, on and off throughout the years I’ve been at home raising my children, I haven’t been sat on my backside doing nothing…
I’ve been dabbling in many things online to try and make some extra money, because I’ve always been adamant that going back to a “typical” job wasn’t for me anymore.
My life was now sooooo different, along with my priorities…
That being said, I’ve always wanted to continue working in some way and starting a blog has always been in the forefront of my mind.
I just wanted to contribute and help out financially!
I wanted to earn money whilst still being at home to take care of my children.
Some of the things I worked on succeeded – but most of the things I tried failed miserably…
I’ve also experienced many things online that aren’t exactly a great way to make a steady, regular income and they didn’t make me feel good either.
The internet world can seem like a scary place and it can be very easy to get caught up in things that aren’t what they seem to be!
Having said that, blogging is not one of those things…
Blogging is a legitimate, awesome way to build something incredible and I’ve followed many awesome bloggers over the years.
My entrepreneurial nature has meant I’ve always loved the idea of having my own blog. A space of my own to share things with other like-minded people.
Because of this, I’ve had multiple blogs in many different niches – (parenting and tropical fish to name a few) and I’ve made money with them all, but I’ve never been passionate enough about any of them, meaning none have them have grown into anything major.
I never really gave any of them my all.
I didn’t give any of those blogs the time, dedication, effort and affection they needed to become a huge success.
However, as I delved deeper and deeper into the blogging world, I realized that it was the only way I would be able to grow a business where I could help other mums, which is what I wanted to do so badly.
I wanted to be super excited, passionate and actually enjoy building and growing something myself, alongside being able to make money too.
And above all, I wanted to help other mums make some form of income, whether they were stay at home mums like me or working mums.
I knew that if I had been searching for information about how to do this, then other mums would have been too!
Blogging for Mums is my absolute passion and I’m so, so dedicated and excited about using all the knowledge and information I’ve learnt over many years, to help other mums like you start their own blogs…
Furthermore, I want to grow this blog and take you on the journey with me, every step of the way!
We can all take this ride and grow together!
I know that we can do this and make a better life for ourselves…
More time and financial freedom is what we all desire, right?
More time to spend with our gorgeous children and family…
More money to spend on them and the things we want in life…
But before we get started, you really need to ask yourself one question first:
And – it’s a big one…
Is Starting A Blog Right For You?
Is Starting A Blog Right for you?
Read on to see whether starting a blog is right for you, because believe me when I say, it isn’t for everyone…
… and I don’t want you to waste any of your time.
This post (although a lengthy one) will help you decide whether you’re ready to begin your blogging journey…
We’re going to talk about a lot of things to help you decide if starting a blog is right for you and I’m going to answer a lot of questions which get asked all the time.
So let’s get started and dive in straight away…
Is Blogging still relevant?
Oh my goodness – absolutely yes…
Blogging is 100% still relevant and people are starting blogs all the time…
There’s no special time to start, you can literally begin whenever you want!
To date, there are over 1.6 billion websites in the world, and more than 500 million of those are blogs.
Of those 500 million blogs, over 2 million blog posts are written daily.
Blogging is about giving information and people are always searching on the internet for information.
People check out blog articles all the time to find an answer to a question they have.
If you’re out there writing great blog posts for them to read, answering their problems and questions, then those people will start to know, like and trust you!
Trust is a big thing on the internet as so many people are out scamming the world.
By writing fantastic content on your blog, which is helpful, answers a problem, is exciting, interesting and readable, you’re going to stand out from the crowd…
As a result, people will want to come back to your blog again and again if you do this consistently.
So… what other reasons are there that make blogging relevant…
Let’s have a look shall we:
Blogging gives you brand credibility!
Being credible is extremely important in the blogging world and you have to be able to show people you know what you’re talking about.
You can’t just waffle on about rubbish and expect people to listen, trust and respect you…
Give helpful, honest advice and be transparent and people WILL like you…
And if they don’t, don’t fret about it – you can’t be liked by everyone and they know where the “x” button is on the tab bar, to make you disappear.
It takes time to build credibility and you need to get to a point where people can see you as an authority within your niche.
Practice what you preach and show your audience that you say and do what you teach.
Always be available for people to reach out to you and help wherever you can.
Be that person who is super helpful and goes above and beyond for your readers and eventually customers.
Be yourself ALWAYS. Don’t try and be someone you’re not and also don’t try and be like other bloggers you’ve seen. Having your own voice and giving your own unique stance on things is what will make you different from everyone else and ultimately will make your blog a success.
It gives you a platform to get what you want to say out there
Having a blog is a fantastic way to get what you want to say out into the world.
By having a niche blog, you can talk about all the things to do with that niche and you’re able to reach a whole array of people around the globe – amazing huh!
When you have your own blog, you can pretty much do what you want, when you want! (although there are some methods you will want to follow), because setting up and maintaining a blog needs to have some kind of structure to it.
When you have a blog with WordPress.org you own that website and are able to let your creative juices flow to the max!
You can design and set up a blog to look exactly how you envision it to.
When your blog looks amazing, you’ll feel amazing when you’re writing on it.
And feeling amazing when you’re writing blog posts means you’ll never get bored producing content.
Blogging should always be something you love to do.
It shouldn’t feel like a chore and should never create boredom.
If you love your blog, you can nurture it for years to come.
All great stuff when you’re setting up a platform where you can share your greatness with the world.
What better way to get your views, opinions and knowledge out there, than on a blog.
You can start conversations and ask people to comment on your posts.
It’s a great way to involve people and make them feel a part of your life and journey.
Blog posts are one of the TOP types of content for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on the web
If you haven’t heard of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, it basically means doing things to your blog to make it more attractive to the search engines, so it ranks higher.
It does this by picking up on relevant keywords and phrases throughout your posts.
Creating regular, high quality blog posts will improve the overall performance of your blog.
Blog posts that stay on topic, relevant and “on trend” within your niche, will also help with your overall blog performance.
Blog posts help you to know what your audience really wants!
Once you’ve written several blog posts and analysed which posts get the most attention (google analytics), you can really see what types of content and posts your readers like and want more of.
Trust me – people who read blogs like to get involved, and they’ll tell you what they like, don’t like and want more of (if you let them by having a comments section).
It’s important for you to check this data out so you’re always providing your readers with the content THEY want!
There’s no point writing about what YOU want all the time as you won’t be serving your readers and putting them first.
It’s about giving THEM the answers to their problems, wants and needs!
Blogging will eventually go full circle if you do it right!
You help them by giving them their wants and needs and they’ll repay you in the future by buying the products and services that you recommend.
Blogging is all about “giving”.
Blogging can be more than just a hobby!
If you’re reading this post, I’m guessing that if you start a blog, you want to make it more than just a hobby!
Now, there’s nothing wrong with having a hobby blog, because you definitely can and many people start out hobby blogging, and then it just ends up taking a natural course into a business.
A lot of money can be made from blogging and your own blog has the potential to make substantial £££ once you get going and establish yourself.
However, what you need to remember is that it’s a marathon and not a sprint.
It’s not just about how much money you can make and making a quick buck…
I love this quote from Michelle Obama:
“Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives”
I really love Michelle and think she’s an incredible lady and leader, with a great business head on her shoulders.
If you want a good read, I highly recommend her book – Becoming which delves into her life before she became first lady.
Anyway, let’s get back on track…
Remember…
You may not start making money straight away and that’s ok.
Blogging is for the long haulers, the people who are willing to put a lot of time, effort, blood, sweat and tears into it.
If that’s not you, then you should quit reading this post right now!
You need to make sure your mindset is in “helping people” mode and not “making money” mode, as if you’re only in it for the money, you won’t get very far.
Your readers will see right through you if all you do is write posts saying “buy this” or “buy that”.
There’s ways to do it, where you can include links to the things you recommend organically within your blog posts.
Of course we all want to make money with our blogs, but there’s right ways to do it and wrong ways, and just asking for money off the bat all the time is totally the wrong way.
So what’s up next:
Why do people read blogs & how to make sure people will read yours!
Let’s look at why people read blogs, because there’s many different reasons people search the internet!
Why do people read blogs?
To learn something new.
To get expert advice and information on a particular topic.
To hear “breaking” news.
For entertainment.
To see reviews on products and services they’re interested in.
To read people’s stories.
To become part of a community and connect with like minded people.
For inspiration.
Because they love you, your brand and what you stand for. Your personality and your perspective.
They love the products and services you sell!
They love the content you create and share.
When you look at all those reasons above, you can see why there’s so many blogs in pretty much any niche and market.
There’s always room for a new blog in town… so how do you make sure people read yours and come back time and time again…
How do you make sure people read your blog?
1) Start by making sure your blog has a clear purpose and people know what your blog is about from the moment they enter your site.
2) Always produce consistent, quality content (don’t worry if you aren’t confident with this to start with, just keep at it and you’ll get better the more blog posts you write).
3) Keep your posts simple, to the point and interesting.
4) Network with other bloggers and see if you can guest post on their blogs or have them guest post on yours (this is great for credibility as well as building fab relationships with other bloggers).
5) Make sure your posts have easy ways for people to subscribe. Have sign up boxes in several places which are catchy, simple and stand out.
6) Use subheads, colours, numbers, graphics, images and bullets (like I have in this post) to break your content up and make it more readable for your audience.
7) Comment on other blogs and interact with other bloggers. This will go a long way to putting yourself and your own blog out there.
8) Find a need and fill it – start a blog in something which people are searching for information on all the time.
9) Mix your posts up. Have long posts which go in-depth for your readers and answer questions, pain points and problems. Have a few pillar posts which explain the main topics within your niche (these are ones which you can branch off of with other posts and link to them), and also have shorter posts as well. It’s all about testing and seeing what type of posts your readers like and creating more of the ones they love. You can also test out many other types of posts too (list posts, guest posts etc)…
10) Use Social Media to share your posts and content.
11) Keep your posts SEO friendly.
12) Try and answer as many comments as you can. Let people know you’re a real person there to help them. This is a lot easier when you’re first starting out, but when you start getting more traction and your blog becomes more popular, this may become harder to keep up with. That said, you should always try and connect with your readers as often as you can, as this will build up your community and keep your trust.
13) Be relevant!
14) Make your whole blog visually enticing and inviting to potential readers. Make it somewhere you would want to come back to time and time again. You can do this with the array of different themes that are out there for WordPress – free and paid. I use Divi which is a paid theme, but you can do so much with it as it’s so versatile and easy to use.
15) Test out publishing your posts at different times. Try posting during the week when more people tend to be online searching for information or passing the time away (when they should be working). Again this is something you’ll need to test out for your own readers.
Why do most blogs fail?
A lot of blogs fail because there’s no action plan in place to earn any money…
There’s so many ways to make your blog a success, it’s just knowing what they are and putting them into action.
Let’s look at a whole host of things which can potentially make your blog fail miserably…
You give up too easily and aren’t willing to put in the time and effort required. Blogging takes a lot of hard work.
You’re not allowing your blog the time it needs to grow (did you know it can take a year or more to build a successful blog)
You’re not publishing posts consistently, meaning your readers don’t know when new content is coming out…Don’t let them down by not posting (having a posting schedule/editorial calendar is something to look into.
I’ve said it before in this post – blogging is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It takes time to build, grow and profit.
You’re not answering people’s questions or interacting with your audience enough/at all.
You aren’t driving any traffic to your blog – it’s no good having great content if no one can see it. Get it on social media platforms, email market etc…
There’s no plans or goals in place for the longevity of your blog.
You’re not in the right mindset – a business mindset is a MUST.
You aren’t treating it like a business. It’s “work” and you need to get your head around the fact it’s work and schedule it in to your day. Things won’t get done if you don’t plan and schedule your days properly.
You’re being too complicated – break things down into simple language for your readers.
You aren’t targeting the right keywords and your SEO is off.
You aren’t unique and you aren’t standing out from the crowd.
You aren’t investing any money into your blog. It’s a business so you need to put money in when it’s needed (blogging is a far cheaper model when starting a business, so invest those small costs)
Quality always wins over quantity! You must produce engaging, great quality blog posts and content. As long as you’re always sharing awesome tips and advice and you’re always thinking about your audience and how you can help them – you should be able to make a pretty successful, profiting blog.
You have to be really, truly passionate, as that’s the only thing that’ll get you through the hard days, late nights and lack of social life while you’re getting your blog off the ground and making this thing work!
You’re not aware of the fact that the internet is constantly changing and evolving and you have to keep up. The fundamentals of blogging will always remain the same, but in order to be successful, you need to keep up with the ongoing changes
Following on from the points listed above, now’s a good idea to talk about the mistakes to avoid when blogging!
Mistakes to avoid when blogging!
I’ve put together a list of all the mistakes (19 to be exact) to avoid when starting (and maintaining) your blog!
I’ve made a ton of mistakes over the years and don’t want you to waste time doing the same.
I delve more depth in this post I wrote on the mistakes you can avoid when blogging.
Why having a blog is important!
So we’re nearing the end of this post and I wanted to finish off by talking about why it’s important to have a blog!
I wanted to list down the reasons why I think you should have a little place on the internet you can call your own…
Being a mum means everything is all about our children (as it should be), but it’s great to have something in our lives which is just for us. Something which we can watch become successful and has the potential to make us some money too!
A blog is a great outlet for letting people know our opinions, our stories and our journeys. We can put ourselves out there, share our creativity, knowledge and ideas and help others to do the same. It’s important for us to get our thoughts out there…
It gives us a focus (because mummy brain is a very real thing). It’s something which we can grow and nurture and it can become whatever we want it to be.
It gets us outside of our comfort zones and pushes us to to get ourselves “out there”.
Blogs remain the top way to provide content to people all over the world, so why wouldn’t we want to share in the joy of helping others through our own.
People trust the blogs they read and often go back to them time and time again.
Blogging and social media can tie in nicely together. Your blog is a great way to showcase and share your social media platforms and vice versa! We live in a world where pretty much everything is online. Unfortunately or not, social platforms are almost essential in this day and age, so now’s your time to get a piece of the action and get online too…
So, after all that – is starting a blog right for you?
Blogging has a lot of benefits:
you can help a lot of people
It’s a way of sharing your passions, ideas and knowledge with the world
It can be profitable beyond your wildest dreams, if you work hard, stick at it and start a blog in a niche which has problems to be answered, pain points to soothe and awesome things to share!
There are so many things you can start a blog on – the sky’s the limit…
Finally – just remember to ALWAYS be you. Be your authentic, true self and people will love you and what you do…
So have you decided whether starting a blog is right for you… if so, you can take the next step & check out my post on how to start your own successful mummy blog…
