THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ The Disclosure FOR MORE INFO.
A lot of beginners don’t know about some simple, yet super important things not to do when starting a blog. Knowing them in advance is so crucial though…
There are some mistakes that keep happening even though they can be easily avoided by reading an article written by somebody with experience.
Fortunately, you came across this article, so hopefully, you won’t be one of these people anymore.
I wanted to publish a great article for beginners about these mistakes.
In order to collect those mistakes and fix them, you need to know the stats though.
A lot of my students and followers told me about their mistakes so I had a chance to collect them and combine the “fixes” to help you in avoiding them.
The funny thing is that you might not even realize the effect this list can have on your blogging journey.
But trust me – It will be huge!
It will save you money, time and effort.
Long story short, it will give you an opportunity to get “there” sooner.
I wanted to put together a great list of the most popular things not to do when starting a blog.
of course, I added some additional ones with time to address even more issues.
As of now, this list of things not to do when starting a blog is full of essential information any beginner should know.
11 Things Not To Do When Starting A Blog
Before we start, I need to make sure that you are not making one of the most important mistakes – Not learning the basics?!
There are so many free courses out there that cover all of the general topics about blogging.
I created a free blogging for beginners 5 Day Bootcamp to help people go in-depth with blogging before you get a chance to feel like you are totally ready.
Click here to go to the 5 Day Bootcamp.
Ready?
Let’s get back to the list.
Let’s start this list with one of my “favorites”:
1. Don’t Fail To Realize That You Are About To Live Your Dream-Life
I put this one as the first one in a list of things not to do when starting a blog because I think it is one of the most crucial “mistakes” that beginners make.
Of course, it is not actually “a mistake”. It is more of a misconception.
But it is crucial though!
- Can you live a dream-life by just following a blogging career?
- Yes!
- Can you be as free as possible?
- Yes!
- Can you make as much as you want?
- Yes!
These and many other questions have a simple answer of “yes”. And they are so motivating.
The only thing you have to realize is that everything is up to you!
You can plan your career and mix it with your comfort zone just as you want to.
Work whenever you want, wherever you want, be a boss for yourself and make money like a big-ass businessman.
Isn’t that a dream? What else could you ask from a job?
Trust me, if I’m leaving that life if a lot of my students who started from zero are living that life, why can’t you?
Let me answer that question for you…
There is no reason why you can’t do that as well.
The only thing that can mess up your future is your doubt.
That’s the first and the most important thing you need to get rid of in order to achieve what you want.
Once it is gone, you will have a clear mind to realize that you are about to live your dream-life just as you want it.
It is about to happen! Go for it…
Need some step by step guide for starting a dream-life? Then you definitely need to join my free Blogging for Beginners Bootcamp!
2. Don’t Leave Your Comfort-Zone
One of the best things about blogging for money is that you can be your own boss.
This means that you can stay in your comfort zone for as much as YOU want to.
It’s not your regular 9-5 job where you are forced to do things that are out of your comfort zone.
By blogging for the money you can:
- Plan your working sheet just as you want to.
- Run a blog about things you are interested in
- Work from wherever you want
- Make a plan for earning as much as you want
- Be free
In other words, you can build your working environment.
Don’t get me wrong though. You have to work!
Getting lazy and skipping planned stages is another mistake that a lot of people make (this one didn’t make the cut for this list of things not to do when starting a blog for a couple of insignificant reasons. Long story short, do your job and follow a plan!)
But as long as you do your job (the way that you planned it) you can enjoy your life and…
It might sound like a bad way to spoil yourself, but staying in your comfort zone is actually essential in order to achieve the most you can.
It will help you to stay motivated, focused and most importantly – happy.
And yes, these things are a “must” in order to be a boss to yourself!
Click here to – learn how to get started the right way by reading this article.
3. Don’t Overthink
Think about it – what do you actually need in order to achieve your blogging goals?
- Basic theory to start blogging for money
- Launch a blog (the right way)
- Integrate monetization
- Drive traffic
Once you follow this step, you will have a great, fully functional blog a.k.a. online business.
There is no hidden rocket science. Actually, there is nothing “hidden” at all.
All you need is to form a plan and follow it.
Thinking too much will only ruin your results.
Of course, you want and need to think about improvements but the most common thoughts I hear all the time are:
- Will this work?
- Am I doing it in the best way I possibly can?
- Maybe I’m wasting my time on this one…
- Maybe I need to switch on that instead.
- Should I do it now or wait a bit?
- …And many other questions full of doubting yourself and your knowledge.
What are these thoughts good for? Especially at the beginners’ stage…
Nothing! They are just things not to do when starting a blog.
They lead to doubts and are a waste of time. And these factors often force people to get demotivated and quit before starting to “feel it”.
Don’t do that.
Stick to the initial plan.
The plan is:
- Learn all of the basic pieces to the puzzle a.k.a. basic theory.
- Formulate a working plan based on your knowledge
- Run a blog
Trust me, with a deep knowledge of basic theory, you will be able to easily get what you want from blogging.
Let’s continue with our list of things not to do when starting a blog, shall we?
4. Don’t Try To Be The Best One Out There
A lot of beginners think that in order to get traffic, earn money and just simply run a successful blog, they need to top their competition.
Does it sound familiar?
I got some great news for you – You don’t have to top anyone.
The modern Internet is a huge market that is growing each and every day.
There are enough pieces of cake for almost anyone.
As long as your blog is based on commonly successful principles, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
You can’t top them all because there is no “perfect one”.
Some people create content that is super likable for some audiences while some people from the same target audience may hate it.
At the same time – some blogs earn more for no obvious reason, while others make less.
Trust me, I’ve seen some terrible (and that’s just my opinion) blogs which make 6 digits per month.
The best takeaway from this is the fact that you don’t need to please everyone and be the best one.
Just know the basics, mix them with your comfort zone and run a blog as you want to.
5. Don’t Try To Start A Thing
I see a lot of bloggers trying to be original and “create an interest” instead of addressing the existing ones.
Shocker alert – that’s one of the things not to do when starting a blog!
People want what they want. Simple as that.
Huge companies spend a lot of money to either find out what they truly want or to convenience them to WANT something else.
You don’t have to start a thing every time you start a blog.
Your job as a blogger (and as a marketer) is to meet their needs profitably.
All you need to do is to:
- Find what people want/need
- Meet their needs
It’s just that simple.
Follow the basics of marketing and – Don’t overcomplicate it!
6. Don’t Underestimate The Importance Of A Good Hosting Plan
Back when I was just starting my career as a full-time blogger and online entrepreneur, there weren’t many good service providers, especially hosting-wise.
Servers used to stop working and my websites went blank for a couple of hours.
I had a case of a blackout that lasted for a week. I lost a lot of money and faithful readers.
Long story short, I switched to another hosting provider.
Time has passed and a lot of new companies have entered the market.
You would think that that’s not the case anymore since the competition is huge.
Well, let me tell you this – I had the same problem about 2 years ago. My site kept shutting down randomly…
That’s when I discovered Bluehost for myself.
They have been on a market for a long time, but it took me a while to give them a shot.
Fortunately, I finally did that and never had a hosting problem ever since.
The moral of the story is – Never, ever, ever underestimate the importance of a good hosting plan.
What are your options?
- Free hosting – NO! If you want to earn money, don’t try to do it using a free hosting plan. Just trust me! Especially with all that yourname.freehosting.com things. Nobody is going to trust you. And don’t ever expect good quality from a free hosting plan, even for the beginners.
- Cheap hosting – It’s cheap for a reason. You will save cents on the hosting plan and will pay 100x once they will fail to keep you online and make you lose visitors=money. + they have some hidden fees and might not be as cheap as you thought to start with.
- Wrong hosting – Some hosting providers are not for bloggers. Honestly, I don’t even know a better option than Bluehost for blogging, and I know a lot of the hosting providers. They are mostly fine for regular sites, but not for blogging.
My advice is to launch a blog using Bluehost. Period!
It is perfectly suited for bloggers with all of the free tools, great support team and high speed. Plus, to make it even better, it’s cheap.
Watch this video to learn how to launch a blog on Bluehost.
7. Don’t Do Everything At Once
This is so typical – Once people discover the world of blogging and understand the endless possibilities it is offering to beginners, they start doing everything at the same time.
Like… Everything!
They want to make as much money as they can. And that’s one of the most common things not to do when starting a blog!
While there is nothing wrong with it, you should understand that there is a huge difference between running a few blogs and making more than enough from them.
Yes, there are a lot of ways to monetize a blog, but not all of them are good for one blog.
And, yes you can promote your blog in many ways, but what about the time they take, is it worth it?
Once you launch a good blog, it is a good idea to stick to the initial plan.
If you find out that you have a lot of extra free time, launch a second one.
No need to do everything at once, especially if you are not sure of your actions.
Check out our article about the great 17 Blogging Tips And Tricks For Beginners To Get Started.
8. Don’t Go Cheap
There is not much to talk about this one, especially since we already talked about the hosting plan.
The only thing that you should remember is the phrase itself – Don’t Go Cheap!
There are a lot of things that can cost you nothing, but there are others like hosting and domain(which ironically you can get for free if you get the hosting plan using a link I published for a limited time. Don’t miss your chance, cause the hosting is discounted as well, you are welcome!). You can follow a step-by-step guide to make sure you do everything correctly.
If you feel like you need the product, pay for it.
Don’t try to save money because it will cost you so much more in the long-term with all of those postponed hidden fees and technical issues which will cost you some financial loss as well.
9. Don’t Hesitate
Do you remember one of the greatest slogans of all time – Just do it!
I bet you do.
That slogan by Nike is perfect for so many things and blogging is no exception.
What I learned throughout my blogging career is that you should always try things.
There are a lot of things that need to be done asap.
For instance, launching a blog is one of those things.
There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t do it right now since you already have a clue of what is “there”.
Just like in the case of launching a blog, you shouldn’t hesitate in your ideas.
- If you learned something – try it.
- If you want to test something – test it.
- And if you want to change something – change it!
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Act immediately!
If something is bugging you or you just don’t/can’t do it, outsource it using fiverr, upwork or other freelancer sites.
Want to get started with blogging for money? – Read this step-by-step guide! Or join the 5 Day Blogging for Beginners Bootcamp for free!
10. Don’t Avoid Making Easy Money Just Because It Looks Too Easy
We said it before – making money blogging is simple.
So simple that sometimes it even gets EASY.
Some beginners think that it’s too good to be true.
I wish you understood how simple it can actually be though!
It’s the first step for beginners and extra boost for bloggers at an early stage of their career to get some extra motivation with extra money.
Hopefully, you will get the point once you try it and earn that money!
Cause the point is – Blogging is easy. All you need is a great working plan and the courage to trust it.
It’s all about the first steps. Once you take those steps, there won’t be much to explain anymore – you will get that confidence to trust yourself from thereon.
11. Don’t Give Up
You are so close to your dream!
Remember that!
Blogging works! It works for me, it works for thousands of my students it works for millions of others. It will work for you as well!
No matter what stage you are at right now, or anytime in the future, remember to not give up.
You can live the life of your dreams. It all up to you!
Stay focused, learn as much as you can and follow the initial plan of becoming a blogger.
That’s it for our list of 11 things not to do when starting a blog.
I hope that you enjoyed them and will take them into consideration.
Plus, hopefully, you will pay attention to some free tips as well and take full advantage of the I-with-I-could-learn-from-it-when-I-was-beginning Bootcamp I created to help future bloggers!
What did you think about this list of things not to do when starting a blog? Have you ever done them or was about to make one of them?
Let us know in the comment section below!
No Comments Yet