Welcome back to Part 2 of Katelynn’s guest post on what she learned in her very first year of blogging! If you haven’t read Part 1 of her post, you can read it here first.

Back over to you Katelynn..

In Part 1 we covered research, discounts, hosting, theme,coding, starting your blog like a business from the start, branding and search engine optimization. Here’s what we’re covering today:

PART 2:

  • Content
  • Videos
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Email Marketing + Growing a List
  • Opt-Ins
  • Social Media
  • Community

 

Content

Ok, so we all know content is important, right?  But do you know what kind of content you should be writing?  The most popular posts include:

  • Lists
  • How-Tos
  • Round Ups
  • Reviews
  • Infographics
  • Interviews

Notice all the lists I’ve made in this post?

Oh, and they need to be the right length.  The exact number varies, depending on the source. Basically, you want to exhaust the subject.  Write absolutely everything you can on the title topic. If that takes 1200 words, great. But it might be more like 2500.  If it gets much longer than that, consider doing a two-part post. More importantly, make sure your posts aren’t too short or leave out valuable information.

I didn’t know that a lot of the things I wanted to write about weren’t necessarily what my readers would want to read.  I had to take a step back and think. I had to get clear on who my audience is.  I had to really think about their problems. Then I had to develop my editorial calendar around their needs – helping them solve their problems.  This is how the big names make money.

And guess what?  I love writing every. single. post.  It’s great to know that I’m helping others while fueling my creative desires.

If I’m feeling like it’s a chore to write a post or the topic is one I’m dreading, I just axe it.  If I’m not into it, I know the post won’t be a great one. It’s important to stay true to you while also giving your readers what they want.

Oh ya, you’re going to have to go back and update old posts at least once a year.  Looking back to my first posts (go ahead, it’s hilarious), I realize they are so awful.  The pictures are just embarrassing.

Keep all your posts up-to-date with internal links, branded graphics and other updates so you can re-share them throughout the year.  Without feeling embarrassed.

And one other thing about content: Google + SEO hate properly formatted posts.  Yep. My very first post, I started writing it like a high school essay.  My YOAST plug in was a ball of red fury. Short paragraphs. Incomplete or one-word sentences.  Anything your English teacher would scream about. Go for it.

Videos

I’m still working on this one.  I’ve currently only published two videos to YouTube. The editing thing is just so tedious for me.

Anyway, videos are a great way to interact with your followers and get a point across quickly and easily.  It’s so much easier to sit and talk than it is to sit and type! Plus, videos are huge. People would rather watch something when learning, than read about it. Elise does such a great job with her videos.  I look forward to catching up on them.

I wish I would have started sooner.  It’s pretty scary to start, y’know?

Editorial Calendar

AKA, have a damn plan.  

In the beginning, I would have ideas in my head about what I wanted to write about.  I would work on a post and publish it. Trying to keep a consistent day, more for my own sanity than the expectations of my (nonexistent) reader base.

I learned fairly quickly that it’s important to write down my ideas or I’ll forget (Mama brain).  Along with that, I decided to just map out the rest of the year (this was in July) to make it easier on myself.

Best. Thing. Ever.

An editorial plan allows you to free up valuable brain space.  You don’t have to think about what your next post is going to be, because you’ve already spent an hour outlining your whole quarter, year, or month.

It’s not like you have to stick to the plan 100%, but it’s nice to have a plan in place.  It’s only March and I’ve already made 3 changes to mine. Not to mention the re-structuring further down the year.  

Creating an editorial calendar is useful in many ways.

  • Frees up brain space
  • Let’s you see your upcoming posts at a glance
  • Saves time
  • Allows you to get ahead (if you have that luxury)
  • Becomes beneficial when taking photos (do a few posts at a time if you know what’s coming)
  • Leaves room for guest post opportunities
  • Gets you thinking about series, holiday timing, etc.
  • Holds you accountable to something

I’m very Type A, so having a plan is a must for me.  When December rolled around I was itching to get my 2018 plan done.  I don’t even think it took an hour to get all 12 months mapped out.

Email Marketing + Growing a List

What I didn’t know about emailing when I started blogging was how important it was!  I thought you just set up a gmail account and wait for people to email you.

Boy, was I wrong!

eMail marketing is all about gathering readers to form a contact list for you to pitch products to, share your stories, and promote affiliate links.  There’s more to it than just the emails, though. Providers will offer form building services, landing pages, sequences, A/B testing and more.

You’re going to hear a lot about growing your list.  Not to worry about traffic but, instead, focus on your list.  Here’s the thing. You need traffic to grow your list!

I had no idea what a “list” was until I installed SUMO and used their free forms to grow my audience.  Even then, I really wasn’t sure what to do with this accumulation of readers.

I started signing up to other blogger’s newsletters and mailing lists in a variety of different niches (including House of Brazen) to learn what they were doing.  At the same time, I figured I should up my eMail marketing game, so I switched to MailChimp to try to increase my loyal readers count.

Although I read a LOT about MailChimp being a great free option for eMail marketing, I just couldn’t figure it out.  So, I switched again. This time to the luxury service of ConvertKit.  I love it.  It’s pricey but totally worth it.

I was also approached by Interact to become a partner in their online quiz building business.  This is another great way to grow your list.  They offer polls and give-away services, as well!

Here’s the thing about having a list.  That list is your own. For as long as you have subscribers, you have a contact list.  Unlike YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Twitter, you can directly contact these loyal readers any time you want!  Right to their inbox! You don’t leave it up to fate for them to find you.

Which is why it’s important to nurture your list.  Contact your readers regularly (but not too often) and make them love being subscribers.  Freebies, opt-ins, give-aways, exclusive offers, whatever you feel is valuable to your audience.  And don’t forget to make each and every email feel personal and worth their time!

Opt-Ins

The biggest way to grow your list, in my opinion, is with opt-ins (freebies).  Here’s how an opt-in works:

  1. Write an informative and helpful post
  2. Create a valuable and relevant product to go with that post
  3. Use your email marketing provider to create a form for users to sign up and receive an automatic download of your product (and be added to your list)
  4. Embed the form into your post, turn on a pop up, add to announcement bar
  5. Share the hell out of it

Sounds great, right?  I’m sure almost every blog, and most business sites, you visit offers free opt-ins.  Some are really helpful and valuable, others are not. You need to make sure that what you’re offering is enough to get an email out of it.

Here’s the deal, nobody likes receiving junk mail.  It takes a lot for most people to give out their email and let you into their inbox.  Which is why we create opt-ins.

It’s an incentive and a thank you at the same time.  Just be sure your opt-in is:

  • Valuable
  • Helpful
  • Relevant
  • Easy to access + navigate
  • Appropriate
  • Unique

Every post you create should come with an opt-in.

It’s not as hard as it sounds.  You can re-use products. In fact, I encourage it.  Just make sure that what you’re offering goes along with the post.  If someone has come to your site to learn about baking brownies, don’t offer them a check list for building a chicken coop.

Ideas for opt-ins (think outside the box, see what other bloggers are doing in other niches):

  • Check lists
  • Cheat sheets
  • Resource library
  • Printable guides
  • eBook
  • Greeting card elements
  • Motivational quotes
  • Free course
  • Free challenge
  • Quiz
  • Private community (facebook, pinterest, Tailwind Tribe)
  • Give Aways
  • Templates
  • Coupons
  • Stock photos
  • Webinar
  • Live training

Social Media

When I started hampersandhiccups.com, I was a Pinterest freak.  I would be on as much as I could be; pinning to my heart’s content.  Twitter was another little guilty pleasure of mine.

Once I started my blog, I knew it would be important to share my content online anywhere I could.  I joined StumbleUpon and Reddit and updated my Pinterest and Twitter accounts to reflect my business.  

*Tip: Pinterest for business is something you need to have.  It allows you to monitor your website traffic from Pinterest to see what is doing well and what isn’t.

After months of struggling with trying to do it all, I read that it’s more important to focus on 1 or 2 socials and do them really well.  Which ones should you focus on? The ones that your readers are most likely to be browsing.

In an attempt to simplify, I now use automations to do my social media sharing. Tailwind is for Pinterest, Zoho Social I use for Twitter, and Linked In and Blog Lovin’ auto update when I publish a new post.  It’s great.

Anything you can automate, you should.

Sad fact:  I no longer have time to browse Pinterest any time I want.  2 kids and a blog and housewife duties don’t leave much time for that.  Another reason I’m so grateful for Tailwind!

Community

Wow, so this is a biggie.  Maybe even the most important one, after creating the actual blog and business.  You are nothing without a community. Sorry – harsh but true.

Think of any local start-up business.  How hard do they have to hustle, promote, brush elbows, advertise, network and pass out business cards until they make a name for themselves?  Does it ever end?

It’s the same with blogging.  If you want to be a top player, you need to become influential.  You need to sell yourself. Your work, your products, your writing, your intelligence.  

There’s a few great ways to do this, thanks to social media and technology.

The opportunities are everywhere.  Get some business cards printed and keep them on you (I love Vista Print).  Tell everyone about your blog. Add share buttons to your website. Search social media for your key words.

The important thing is to connect with those who you want to be in community with.  And those who can benefit you while also benefitting them. You ideally want to form a group within your niche(s) so other readers can find you through other blogs (back links, comments, guest posts, etc.).

By growing a community and making a name for yourself, you’ll have a wider platform to grow your business, promote your products, and, most importantly, learn from and channel emotional support.

What this means for you

I sincerely hope you don’t make the same mistakes I did after reading all that – you’ll make your fair share of your own, trust me.

The important thing to know is to just do it.  Don’t be afraid of failing. Go ahead and email the whole list of “Top 10 Travel Bloggers in the US” asking for a guest post or other form of collaboration.  Add anyone and everyone on Twitter + Linked In. What’s the worst that can happen? Just remember to value yourself, but be humble, show thanks and gratitude.

Learn as you go.  If coding scares the crap out of you just do the bare minimum and ask for help.  Purchase a theme and Google the rest. Hire out what you can’t do on your own and learn what you’re interested in.  Don’t punish yourself for what you can’t do. We all have weakness. Acknowledge yours and play to your strengths.

Elise McDowell