The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 5. Top 5 mistakes that bloggers make

Episode Date: January 18, 2022

What are the top 5 mistakes that we see bloggers make? While there are more than just 5 mistakes that bloggers can make, these 5 are the ones we feel a lot of bloggers make. Tune in to today’s episode to hear what those mistakes are and head over to Instagram and let us know if you are making these mistakes. We would love to connect with you! @sparkmediaconceptsCheck out the show notes for links and resources mentioned in this episode.Interested in starting a blog? Join our waitlist!SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode5

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. So today we are diving into five mistakes that bloggers make. We are really excited to kind of dive into this with you today. While there are many more than just five mistakes that bloggers can make, these are five that we feel like a lot of bloggers actually do make. So just diving right in here. Number one, spending more time on social media than on your blog. Now we are all guilty of this. I think that social media is a complete and utter time suck. And so we can kind of go down that black hole of social media. And before you know it, you've wasted a lot of time. But the deal is you don't actually own your social media platform and people can actually lose their accounts.

Yes, I know that you might think that this is unlikely, but it actually does happen. So that's something that you want to consider with the amount of time that you're spending on your social media. Social media is important. It absolutely is. You need it to network with others. I think it's also a great way to get ideas and things like that, but it can't be where you're spending all of your time.

So in the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp, we encourage our students to actually have one social media account that they choose to grow alongside their blog, but their main focus really does need to be on creating new content for their blog. Your social media platforms need to be more about promotion of the content that you're creating on your blog, not just spending all of your time there, but then you're not creating new content for your blog. Your blog is always going to be working for you and your social media content. I mean, if you're on there, then you know, you have to constantly be active. You have to be up in stories. You have to be posting new posts and that's how people engage with you there. Well, your blog will always work for you because once it's there on your blog, people can find it

on Google. If you're sharing it on Pinterest, then they're going to run across those pins for years to come. So you want to make sure that you're spending your time wisely there. And I know that that can be super hard, but this is a good place to work on having some boundaries in regards to your social media content. All right, Jennifer's going to share with you mistake number two. Yeah. So another big mistake that we see people making is just not taking themselves seriously from the start, meaning that they're like, well, yeah,

I want to start a blog, but you know, it's not going to be a big deal. It's just going to be a hobby. When really truly in their heart, they do want to start a blog that's going to grow because who doesn't, who doesn't want their blog to do well. So it's important to take yourself seriously and invest in yourself the way that you would invest in somebody else. So when you decide to start a blog, take a look at your mindset and are you doing this to create a business? Are you doing this to create a side income? Are you doing this to help people really take a look at your goals and take a bit of advice from people who have gone before you and have run blogs and they know what to do. So from that perspective, it's like, okay, take a look at what platform. Don't just choose

what looks to be the easiest because you say, well, I don't really know anything about the technology of blogging. Take a look at what platform is actually going to help you grow. So instead of doing the Squarespace account or something, make sure you get on WordPress and make sure that you've looked into the basics of SEO so that you know how to create content that people will actually find. Ensure that you set up a schedule with yourself and create time in your days and your weeks to actually work on your blog, because that's important. You want to be consistent. You want to invest the time that you need to actually grow your blog. And that is such a big part of taking yourself seriously. You don't want to be like, well, you know, there's so many other more important

things in my life, my job, my family, but it's okay to want this blog and it's okay to invest that time in yourself. And sometimes that even means investing some money into your blog so that you can set it up the right way from the start. And I think something important to mention there too is even if somebody else isn't taking you seriously in regards to having your blog, it doesn't mean that you can't take yourself seriously. You will have people who do not understand why you have a blog or what you're doing. Like, why are you doing this? But I promise you, if you could just kind of stay in your own lane and focus on your why behind it all, just let them be. It's fine. You don't need their support. It's okay. You can

grow a blog without everybody being on board with it. So we have a podcast episode coming up here in a few weeks, actually, that's going to dive into more about that. So make sure you stay tuned to listen to that. Okay, moving on to mistake number three, not growing your email list. Now, this is something that I think can hold a lot of people back, but it is so important. It's actually one of the most important aspects of your business. These people have given you something really valuable. They've given you their email list.

Now, we all get spam. We all get things that we don't want, but when we take the time to actually put our email address into that form on somebody's blog or a company that you want to make sure that you get their emails from, that is you saying, I want to connect with you and I want to stay in your community and know what's going on. So another big reason that you want to do this and why you want to make sure that people know to sign up for your email list is because like we mentioned a mistake, number one, social media accounts can just go away. This is something that happens. So if you were to wake up tomorrow and you've spent the last three, four years or whatever, building your Instagram account and you woke up tomorrow and it was gone. Yes, I'm sure you'd panic a little bit. I mean, if we're being real,

but you would have your email list. And so those people who really want to connect with you are going to know that they can connect with you on your email list. And they're going to be getting those emails from you. That is going to be continually adding value to their lives because that's what you're doing. You're serving these people who have decided that they want to make sure that they're an active part of your community. So growing your email list isn't as hard as you think. Actually, we have a few providers that we recommend who actually do have free options. And basically you just add signup forms onto your blog and then entice people to sign up by either giving them a freebie.

We recommend having it in your sidebar, but you want to give them plenty of opportunities to sign up for your email list so they can stay connected with you. Have you ever wanted to start a blog but had no idea where to begin? Or maybe you have a blog that you'd like to update and want some help to make it the best it can be. We know that there are many people out there who have big dreams for their own blog that never happen because they simply feel stuck. The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp is an eight-week course designed to help you create a solid blogging foundation by teaching you how to treat your blog as a business, find your audience, blogging foundation by teaching you how to treat your blog as a business, find your audience,

design a website that is optimized for SEO, all while providing support via online coaching calls each week of the course. There's a private Slack channel for students as well. So questions will never go unanswered. The ultimate blog bootcamp will give you the tools and support to create a blog that has the potential to turn into a profitable business. We are committed to helping each and every student feel empowered and confident with the foundational principles of blogging and the behind the scenes work that goes into it. If you don't want to blog alone, we can help. We keep each round small in order to provide each student the attention and support we believe you deserve during this process. Since space is limited, get on the waitlist today so we can help you with your blog. The, get on the waitlist today so we can help you with your blog. The link to join the waitlist is in our show notes or go to

sparkmediaconcepts.com and click on the ultimate blog bootcamp. Mistake number four. And wow, this is a big one and one that I definitely relate to comparing yourself to other bloggers. Wow. This is a, yeah, it's a tough one because you are looking around at other blogs because you want to learn from them. You want to see what they're doing. You want to see what works. And those are all very good and valid reasons to be looking and comparing yourself to other blogs. But ultimately you're on your own journey. And just because something works for one blogger, and they're successful, or they're getting a lot of followers, or they're making a lot of money, it doesn't mean that that's what will work for you.

Or it doesn't mean that's what you're going to want to do, because you may not find joy in doing what they're doing. Maybe they work with a lot of big brands and you would not find much joy in that. That would not be something that served you well. So just to try and do what they're doing to emulate their success isn't going to necessarily bring you success in the long run because you need to be on your own path and your own journey. So just take the time when you're getting started to think about what you really want from this. Do you want to be a part-time blogger? Then don't compare yourself to someone out there who's working 60 to 80 hours a week and think that you have to do all the things that

they're doing or you're going to be a failure because that's not what your goal is. But maybe you do want a full-time income. And again, you're seeing somebody get a lot of ads on their site or work with a lot of brands, but those things don't make you happy. It's okay to think outside the box and find things that work for you and for your audience. So you may create your own products, or you might have a course available to your readers. There's so many other things that you can do. So it's just really about creating your own path, thinking outside the box and figuring out ways to work your blog that bring you joy. I think the thing that you have to think

about is when you're comparing yourself, it can be easy to give up because you're like, well, I'm comparing the beginning of my journey to the middle of someone else's journey and they're successful and I'm struggling. So I must be doing something wrong. And that is absolutely not true because blogging, as we say all the time is a marathon, not a sprint. So don't give up too soon. Don't give up because you're comparing yourself to someone else. And don't give up just because somebody else may start at the same time as you and their path may look different. Maybe they've had quicker success in certain areas, but these things are not a reflection upon you and your worth. Your journey will happen in the way that it is supposed to, and you will figure out how you're serving your audience. And that is the

most important thing in the long run. Mistake number five is not choosing a topic that is relevant to others. So I know that there are some people who want to start a blog, but it's actually more of a personal blog. So maybe you have a specific journey that you want to share or something like that. But when you are wanting to niche down, you want to make sure that even if you're sharing something personal, it has to have a focus on how your specific experience or your journey can help someone else. Blogging is about helping others and adding value to their lives. So while some people might come there just to hear about your journey,

a lot of people really do want to know if they've struggled with that same thing, for instance, or if they've been through a similar experience, what did you do to get through that? Or how can I be helped in that way? So it's not to say that you can't share a personal blog, but I think that you're going to want to think really long and hard about what your goal is there with that blog. And you're going to have to give some action tips in regards to that to help someone else along the way.

So you don't have to have your entire content plan figured out from day one. And in fact, even if you did, it's going to change if I'm being really honest, because you're going to shift and change and grow as your blog grows. But you do want to have an idea of what kind of content you want to share and make sure that it's sustainable. But it's giving the perspective that can continually add value to others. You wanna be able to stay engaged and be enthusiastic about what you're sharing as well. So when you're thinking about what topic you want to share,

you just wanna make sure that you really dive in and think about what is something that I could share about that would help others? So is it food? Is it lifestyle? Like maybe it's a specific lifestyle. Maybe you are a homeschool mom. Maybe like Jennifer started a slow cooker blog because that was kind of a pain point in her life. I do share more of a personal blog on mine at times, at least it started that way. But then as I've shifted and

changed and grown, I've been able to take my personal experience, but turn it into more teaching others about how they can focus on their health in a holistic way. And so I think that what you'll find as you continually blog, this is why it's important to not give up, is that you are going to really find your stride. You're going to find what works the best for you and adds value to others along the way. And you're going to realize what people are connecting most to. And if I had to guess, they're going to connect with content that gives them actionable tips to improve something that they are wanting to improve in their life. Yeah. So these are some of the biggest mistakes that we see people make.

And if you've already started diving into this blogging journey, and you've found yourself making some of these mistakes, don't be hard on yourself, because we've all been there. And actually, Amy and I had a little bit of a hard time coming up with this list, because we've made so many mistakes along the way. I said, well, we're talking about the things that we've struggled with. Yeah. So these are completely normal things to struggle with as you are starting your blog. I think we've all done different pieces of them at different times. So the goal of this was just to give you guys something to give you hope in a way that

just because you've made a mistake along the way does not mean you will not be successful. And if you haven't started your journey, then I guess you're just a little bit ahead here because we've just given you some good secrets. Exactly. And know that perfection is never the goal. I think with blogging, something that I've learned is that there's always opportunity for growth, not just in regards to my traffic on my blog, but personal growth as well. So how can I become better and how can I better serve? So a lot of the things that we talked about is how you can better serve. Because really, one of my favorite parts of being a blogger is I feel like it's all about helping people.

It's about taking an experience or something that you have needed a solution to in your life and offering that to others. And that's the bread and butter of being a blogger. So hope this was helpful for you. If you have any questions, please just DM us or message us. We would love to connect with you. And if you're wondering about if you're making some of these blogging tips, let us know that too. We would love to dive into some of that with you. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at Spark Media Concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration.

You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.