Do you ever get the feeling that some bloggers must have been born as skilled writers?
The apparent ease at which their content just flows from their fingers to the screen, the irresistible sales funnels, their slick sign up forms and their laid back tone fills you with envy.
In short you wonder how you’ll ever become that awesome?
Well panic not because there’s a way!
The truth is that most of our 21st century blogging superheroes were mere literary mortals once too, each experiencing familiar frustrations as they tried to join the blogging dots.
It’s a fact that to develop their blogging superpowers, making mistakes and failing miserably were vital. Successfully navigating the precarious path to blogging fame and fortune means biting the dust more than once – as you’ll see.
The following post lifts the lid on the basic – but also the critical – blogging blunders that even the most engaging and entertaining bloggers have made.
It’s a no holds barred, bare all expose of goofs and sometimes dumbass mistakes – so you don’t have to make them – along with take-away tips that you can put into action right now to blast you into the big league.
There’s long and short answers but each has a golden nugget of truth within which could save you time, money and maybe a few blushes!
We’ve pulled out all the stops to involve a real mix of bloggers, not just from the marketing scene but other sectors too such as travel.
So get yourself comfy and let’s get down to it!
Here’s a quick list of the experts in no particular order:
Adam Connell, Ahmad Imran, Alan Cassinelli, Ana Lynn Amelio, Andrea Beltrami
Andrew Firth, Ann Smarty, Ashley Faulkes, Brent Jones, Brittany Bullen, Chris Garrett
Christine Renee, Christopher Benitez, Daniela Uslan, David Hartshorne, Devesh Sharma
Dmitry Dragilev, Donna Merrill, Dustin W. Stout, Ed Leake, Elna Cain, Gael Breton
Heide Padilla, Jason Quey, Jerry Low, Kevin Muldoon, Mary Green, Matthew Capala
Mike Allton, Mike Brown, Mitch Mitchell, Olga Rabo, Ron Sela, Ted Rubin, Todd E. Jones
I’ve compiled the top 5 take-aways at the bottom of the post (click here to scroll), but I don’t recommend it because there’s a lot of sage advice that you’ll miss out on.
Let’s kick off with Adam Connell, the Blogging Wizard himself!
Adam Connell
In the early days, I made plenty of mistakes. Here are a few examples:
- Focusing too much on social media and forgetting list building – I got carried away in the hype of social media. Turns out building an email list is far more effective at growing an audience.
- Not making the time to create a product – Once you launch a blog, you have to keep the wheels turning by creating more content and promoting it. That takes a lot of time. In an ideal world, I’d love to of had a product ready to go when I first launched my blog.
- Creating a monetization plan after launch – When I launched my first serious blog, I didn’t have a good enough grasp of how I was going to make money with it. I didn’t even consider it when choosing a niche – that’s a big mistake. That blog did really well but I could never seem to turn a profit with it, which eventually led to it being closed down.
And sure, it’d be great to avoid making these mistakes.
But don’t worry if you do make any mistakes, or fail entirely.
Why?
Because failing isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of a learning process where you’ll gain the insights needed to make something wonderful.
If I could start from scratch with what I know now, I would:
- Create a clear roadmap for my blog – But not obsess over it too much because plans tend to change as blogs develop.
- Have a lead magnet and product ready to go – This would help a lot with audience growth and revenue.
- Have a clear monetization plan that ties into my content plan – Connecting your content plan with your monetization plan is critical.
- Create goal driven content – Knowing what you want people to do after they read your content can have a significant impact but you have to make it clear. Do you want them to opt-in to download a free guide, do you want them to leave a comment or perform another action?
Adam’s key takeaways
- Building an email list is far more effective at growing an audience.
- Create a product.
- Get a monetization plan.
- Failing isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of a learning process.
For more great marketing advice like this, check out UK Linkology’s blog or Adam’s personal website, Blogging Wizard. Follow Adam on Twitter @adamjayc.
Ashley Faulkes
The biggest blogging mistake I made in the beginning was focusing too much on my own blog.
When you start out it is more than likely you have little to no audience. So, instead of spending all your time creating your own content (make a few posts but not many more) you should start guest posting ASAP. That way you will get in front of bigger audiences, get more social media coverage and more shares to help boost your new blog.
The second biggest mistake many people make, including me, is to start with too broad a niche. I started out with online marketing, WordPress and more. Now I am focused on SEO for WordPress. It does take some time to get this focused, but try if you can to be more focused in your niche choice than you think is necessary.
It is hard to stand out, especially when you are starting, so having something you are known for is crucial – that is where your laser-focused niche choice comes in.
The last one I want to mention is networking. It pays to have a great network (both online and offline) in anything that you do. Especially when you are not working at a “job” anymore. But, you should be focused on who you connect with.
Make sure it is people who will respond to you (bloggers and influencers a little above you) and who can help you. People you can connect with, learn from and ultimately form relationships with. Sure, it may be great to get a tweet from a top influencer, but they will quickly forget you. So aim for relationships first.
If I was starting a new blog today here is what I would do:
- Come up with a very specific niche
- Write 5 posts on that very topic only
- Start guest posting on that topic on some bigger blogs
- Network with people in that niche and related niches (on social media, on their blogs, via email)
This will get you further, faster and make not only your audience happier, but you too!
Ashley’s key takeaways
- Start guest posting ASAP.
- Get more focused in your niche choice than you think is necessary.
- [Connect with] bloggers and influencers a little above you.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Ashley’s website MadLemmings. Follow Ashley on Twitter @madlemmingz.
Jerry Low
The #1 mistake in my blogging career: Not collecting emails – right from day one.
I never bother to start a newsletter program or email marketing campaign during my first 10 years in Internet marketing/blogging (I started back in 2004). I was over-focused on SEO and didn’t believe in emails. Not one email was collected, not one newsletter was sent, for a decade.
On April 2012, Google launched their first Penguin algorithm update and my blog, Web Hosting Secret Revealed (WHSR), was hurt badly. Traffic and revenue dropped more than 70% overnight.
Just days before the Penguin update I was running with more than 80,000 visitors per month. The numbers dropped to ~500/day with no warning.
If I was collecting emails back then, I would have retained at least half of my traffic. I would have made enough income to keep the ball rolling and not laid off more than 10 bloggers in a few months’ time.
Today, email traffic makes up about 3% of WHSR overall traffic. It’s not much – but at least we are building our list on 10-20 emails/day. And eventually it will pay us off (with better diversified traffic source).
What would I do if I had to start again?
Collect visitors email addresses from day one.
Jerry’s key takeaways
- Collect visitors email addresses from day one.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Jerry’s website Web Hosting Secrets. Follow Jerry on Twitter @WebHostingJerry.
Brittany Bullen
My earliest mistake in blogging was one that I see a great majority of new bloggers making– I was writing pretty selfishly early on.
When I thought about what I wanted to write, it was about what I found interesting rather than what I thought (or knew) my audience would want to read.
A dead giveaway of selfish writing is a cleverly worded title that makes no sense. If the title doesn’t clearly help me to understand what I’m getting in the post, that’s a pretty good sign that it wasn’t written for me. I call it “journal blogging”.
The thing is, this type of writing is really only a mistake if the purpose of your blog is to educate, entertain, inform or inspire others. If your blog is meant to act like a personal journal, that’s great, it certainly can be- just don’t be surprised when people don’t want to read it. 😉
I don’t have any regrets about the way things began because I’ve learned so much from my adventures in blogging, but if I had to choose something I would probably say this: It would have been nice if I had chosen a specific direction, focus and audience for my blog from the beginning.
Because my blog has been so many different things, I think my readers and subscribers have been a bit confused. Probably not great.
That’s not to say that I think a blog has to be all one subject all the time, as long as the subjects you cover all apply to the same audience.
Brittany’s key takeaways
- Chose a specific direction, focus and audience…from the beginning.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Brittany’s website. Follow Brittany on Twitter @brittanybullen.
Ted Rubin
1. Inconsistent frequency of posts
You want reading your blog posts to become part of our readers’ routines, and consistency in the frequency of posting is what gives readers an easy way to incorporate you into their routines.
There’s no magic number for the how many posts per week you should publish, but keep it consistent so you can become a habit to your readers. This goes for the writing you do on your own blog as well as any other blogs to which you consistently contribute. Sometimes this can be difficult depending up who you are and what you do so… create a newsletter that includes your posts and send that out consistently.
2. Expecting that writing blog posts would be easy
I tend to think in 140 characters or less, so it’s been a learning experience for me to expand my writing to the length of blog posts!
I get the majority of my inspiration while writing Tweets so it’s worth the time and effort because longer (longer than 140 characters!) posts force me to back up my original thought with supporting information. And that’s where the engaging conversations begin.
3. Not clearly stating what topics I would be writing about
My second post was “This blog will serve as a place for me to post quotes I love, thoughts I have day to day, and to share my feelings about various subjects when inspired to do so. Stay tuned…” I see now (two years later!) that this post doesn’t give readers any reason to come back, and it’s very “me-centric” instead of letting my readers know how my posts will provide value to them.
Ted’s key takeaways
- Maintain consistency in the frequency of posting.
- Don’t Expect that writing blog posts will be easy.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Ted’s website. Follow Ted on Twitter @TedRubin.
Chris Garrett
My biggest mistake was constantly changing things. I changed domains, platform, programming language, design … everything. If I hadn’t changed so much, then I would have links going back to the early 1990s but instead I made a ton of breaking changes that confused visitors and search engines.
The second mistake I made was thinking I had to do everything alone. Everything is easier when you have good friends.
A mistake I still make is paying too much attention to negativity, trolls and drama. There are people out there who want to pull you down and you have to separate their noise from the constructive ones. For every 9 positive messages I would over focus on the 1 negative, and it still holds me back now.
Chris’s key takeaways
- Don’t constantly changing things. I changed domains, platform, programming language, design … everything…don’t do it!
- Don’t pay too much attention to negativity, trolls and drama.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Chris’s website MakerHacks. Follow Chris on Twitter @chrisgarrett.
Jason Quey
New bloggers need to avoid the copycat syndrome. If you only copy whatever everyone else is doing, what value are you really providing to others?
Make waves, be bold, and have the audacity to innovate.
I think the major thing I’d do differently is to spend less time reading and more time doing. Experience is a better tutor than any blog post I’ve ever read.
Jason’s key takeaways
- Avoid the copycat syndrome…and have the audacity to innovate.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Jason’s website Decibite.com. Follow Jason on Twitter @jdquey.
Andrea Beltrami
My biggest newbie blogging mistakes were all branding related, which is probably why branding is now what I’m all about!
Branding is about clarity and that’s something you NEED as a blogger. If you don’t have that, that’s where them spun wheels and years wasted come in.
The three biggest branding bone head mistakes I made were:
- Not defining my branding guidelines, which meant I had no recognizable visual style what so ever. {no wonder I never gain ANY brand recognition}
- Not using my own unique and real voice. I thought my true self was too much for the world so I diluted it by parroting other’s voices and it got me NOWHERE. Be yourself or don’t be a blogger…for reals.
- Not knowing who I really wanted to speak to and work with. I, like so many, came at my target audience with the ‘I can help everyone’ mentality and in doing so I never reached anyone. Do yourself a favor and don’t write for the masses! Define your all-time perfect idea client and write specifically to them.
If you avoid these mistakes and work on getting total clarity in these three areas you’re going to be ahead of most of the bloggers out there.
Here’s to branding your biz like a boss!
If I could go back to the beginning, I’d focus on developing my brand out of the gate and not just writing for the sake of lobbing content out there. Without a brand, you’re simply a hobbyist!
Andrea’s key takeaways
- Not defining my branding guidelines.
- Not using my own unique and real voice.
- Not knowing who I really wanted to speak to.
- If you avoid these mistakes and work on getting total clarity in these three areas you’re going to be ahead of most of the bloggers out there.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Andrea’s website. Follow Andrea on Twitter @drebeltrami.
Todd E Jones
I blogged for years before I put together an email newsletter.
Also, finding a niche for topics. I have worked hard over the years to narrow down my topics for blogs.
I’d probably build up content and decide on a launch which I would publicize with some guest post blogging.
I would research my topics and keywords and then build out a few cornerstone content pages.
I would build an alliance with other bloggers in a related niche.
Todd’s key takeaways
- Build an email list.
- Build out a few cornerstone content pages.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Todd’s blog. Follow Todd on Twitter @tejones.
Wade Harman
My worst mistake came almost right at the beginning of my blogging career. I had no idea about SEO, but I knew enough to know that when you had a link pointing back at you, that was good. (This was back in 2012 before everyone got sandboxed).
I accidentally found a popular article linking program and began blogging 200-300 word articles. I must’ve banged out 100 of these things in a month. It didn’t come in vain either, one day I started to rank for the keyword Twitter tips and began to sell my affiliates.
I know this doesn’t seem like a mistake, because I was riding the wave high and pulling in the dollar bills, but eventually Google took everything away and the 5 months I spent writing crap articles for links so I could rank were gone.
All of a sudden I looked up and realized that I was using systems to get a leg up on the blogging industry. It was a stupid mistake and one I learned the hard way.
All of those hours I spent writing the link articles should have been spent writing/getting good at writing on my own blog. That was time spent, tongue out, which was wasted on something fleeting.
If I could go back and do it again I would include more social, more relationship building, more guest posting and getting my brand’s identity established. I still shake my head at that newbie mistake.
Wade’s key takeaways
- Avoid SEO linking systems.
- Include more social, more relationship building, more guest posting and getting my brand’s identity established.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Wade’s website. Follow Wade on Twitter @wadeharman.
Alan Cassinelli
My biggest blogging mistake was thinking I was a failure if I didn’t publish a blog post every week.
I thought my audience would abandon me if I wasn’t consistently publishing content and that my boss would think that I was slacking. I would publish subpar content just for the sake of maintaining a schedule instead of spending the necessary time to make a piece really great.
Spend twice as much time researching topics before writing so that when I wrote a blog post it was really good and not rushed.
Also setting expectations with management and really looking into our goals for our content strategy. 1 great post is usually better than 4 average posts.
Alan’s key takeaways
- Don’t publish subpar content just for the sake of maintaining a schedule.
- Spend twice as much time researching topics before writing.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Alan’s website Zembula.com. Follow Alan on Twitter @alancassinelli.
Donna Merrill
When I first started blogging, I thought it was all about getting people to come to my blog and read my posts. I was wrong.
My blog was not the center of the Universe. In fact, there was no center, just multiple galaxies filled with a seemingly infinite number of stellar blogs, social pages and communities.
I learned to reach out to others, to visit all these people and places. I wrenched myself away from my WordPress Dashboard and struck out to meet all the other folks in my niche who were delivering such great value. I brought the wealth of the wisdom I gained, back to my own blog.
That created a whole new paradigm whereby I was able to help my readers solve their problems more by making them part of this new, expanded world. Sure, I claimed my little place within it, but I eagerly exposed folks to all the wonderful experiences and relationships they could build by exploring the larger galaxy that I thrived in.
The very first thing I’d do differently if I were just starting out is to create a monetization blueprint for my blog to evolve from.
It’s like working backwards. Think FIRST, of what actions you want people to take on your blog. Then build content that supports that path.
I think most bloggers, and I was one of them… do it the other way around.
They develop content, then try to figure out how to turn it into a profitable business. It’s upside down.
Forget the sidebar ads, the quick affiliate posts, the link ads and all the other fast-fix “make money blogging” strategies.
Know what you want to “sell” first, and do it.
It could be your services, your coaching, your affiliate products or anything else.
Before writing a single blog post, I would set up my opt-in offers to collect a list of targeted prospects, I’d create actionable links designed to direct folks to my squeeze pages, sales pages, “join now” pages and anything else that could move my business model forward.
After that’s all setup, I’d finally get down to the business of delivering killer content that would entice people to become part of my business.
Donna’s key takeaways
- Create a monetization blueprint for my blog to evolve from.
- Think FIRST, of what actions you want people to take on your blog. Then build content that supports that path.
- I would set up my opt-in offers to collect a list of targeted prospects.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Donna’s website. Follow Donna on Twitter @donna_tribe.
Mary Green
Writing too often just to hit a quota- I would publish a lot just to hit the quota, when not all of it was awesome. My advice – write a ton, publish what is great only.
Only blogging about topics related to my expertise. My advice – write more than educational posts about your industry. Help readers in other aspects besides what your business can do for them.
Over assuming how important my topics really are for the target market. I wrote about social media for years and always assumed it was hugely important. Social plays a role in digital marketing but it isn’t the be all and end all, most things aren’t. Everything works together. My advice – use perspective, think of where your readers are and how important your information should really be to them.
Mary’s key takeaways
- Write a ton, publish what is great only.
- Write more than educational posts about your industry.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Mary’s website. Follow Mary on Twitter @marygreencny.
Matthew Capala
First, not using managed WordPress at the outset. I started blogging years ago on Blogger and moving my blog, SearchDecoder.com, from Blogger to WP was a lot of pain.
Second, not being focused on collecting emails and building my email list at the outset.
Lastly, I used GoDaddy for hosting, which does not work well at all.
I would make sure to build my blog on managed WordPress and host it on Siteground.
I would focus my early efforts on one key metric: email list growth.
Lastly, I would use the best WP optimization plugins at the outset I’ve learned about over years of testing, I included a full plugin list here.
Matthew’s key takeaways
- Focus on collecting emails and building an email list.
- I would use the best WP optimization plugins at the outset.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Matthew’s SEO playbook. Follow Matthew on Twitter @SearchDecoder.
Mitch Mitchell
Early on, one of my biggest mistakes was thinking that writing something, anything, counted as a blog post. Literally it does, but writing one paragraph doesn’t encourage visitors, commenters or search engines to visit you anymore.
After that, trying to write short, concise articles didn’t really work either because there’s too much information you can leave out, which just irks people who want to learn from your writings.
The final big mistake is not realizing that you need to promote and market your blog posts. For one of my blogs I got lots of visitors because I comment on a lot of blogs, but I mainly use one account to do that which means my other blogs get little attention. I had to learn how to promote those blogs on social media so that they’d start getting some attention.
There are two things I’d do differently.
One is that I’d make sure that all my articles were at least 500 words, which is pretty easy to do if you have a point you want to make and follow the major writing rule of having an opening and ending and fleshing things out in the middle.
Two, I’d have worked on finding my writing style much earlier so that all my articles at least had that as a bit of cohesion that readers could get used to. It took years to figure it out, but at least now I’ve got it down.
Mitch’s key takeaways
- You need to promote and market your blog posts.
- I’d have worked on finding my writing style much earlier.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Mitch’s website. Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitch_m.
David Hartshorne
Here are my three biggest blogging mistakes.
1. Not having a clue what blogging was all about
It’s true! When I started online, I had grand ideas of selling an info product that I’d written. I planned on having a sales page, and then I’d have a blog as an aside, like you do because everyone has a blog, right?
But I had no idea what I was going to write on the blog. And I had no blogging connections. Guess what happened. Yep, it went nowhere. And the product didn’t sell either. Great start!
But, I learned from my mistakes. And after taking the time to evaluate and plan I had a list of topics to keep me blogging for the next six months.
2. Not promoting my blog posts
Having sorted myself on what I was going to blog about I started to publish regular content. I was expecting floods of traffic, but sadly only a few passers-by stumbled upon my work.
Next lesson: learning that promoting your blog content should take about 80% of your efforts and writing it should only take about 20%.
So I developed a promotion checklist that I could follow after publishing each post and invested time in promoting my content.
3. Not building a blogging network
You’ll notice I’ve mentioned using blogging friends/contacts/influencers above; this is important. Blogging is not something that you can do alone – you need to build a network. As an introvert, reaching out to people does not come naturally to me.
I’ve had to force myself to make contact with people. But gradually I’ve built up a good network of online friends. The sooner you can build meaningful relationships with people in your niche then the faster you can expand your blog sharing capabilities.
Caution: don’t be a taker – be a giver. You’ll go a lot further if you give to these new relationships rather than just taking.
David’s key takeaways
- Promoting your blog content should take about 80% of your efforts.
- Build meaningful relationships with people in your niche.
- Don’t be a taker – be a giver.
For more great marketing advice like this, check David’s website Azhar Media. Follow David on Twitter @davidhartshorne.
Dustin W. Stout
1. Not writing consistently enough
My biggest blogging mistake, to date, has been not writing more consistently. To this very day I struggle with the discipline of writing regularly, and I believe every writer does.
One thing I’ve found to help with this is to actually schedule time on your calendar to write. Every. Single. Day.
Making it habitual is key and giving a designated time is crucial for consistency. Eventually you will train your brain for that writing time and you will get better and more effective.
2. Wasting time on design
That probably sounds weird coming from a web designer. But the truth of the matter is that for a blogger, you can have a successful blog without great design. You cannot have a successful blog without writing.
This ties into the first mistake because I probably spent 3x as much time designing my blog than I did writing in the beginning. All I really needed was something that didn’t look ugly and showcased my content. That’s it.
3. Not optimizing for Pinterest sooner
It took me a long time to realize that Pinterest was one of the most powerful traffic-driving social networks. I put off investing time on it because I wasn’t getting traffic from it, despite the advice of friends like Peg Fitzpatrick and Jeff Sieh.
When I finally decided to start creating Pinterest-optimized images for every blog post (tall, 735×1102 images) my Pinterest traffic started going through the roof. I was already creating feature images for my posts, just not tall ones that looked good on Pinterest. Everything changed once I did.
If I could go back and start fresh, I would first get everything set up on a trustworthy web host (too many bad experiences with CHEAP hosting).
I would then put together a content calendar, write 10 blog posts and schedule them to publish over 5 weeks. While those posts continued to publish I would continue writing daily and attempt to have at least 2 blog posts ready to publish at any given time (so I’m always ahead of my publishing schedule).
Dustin’s key takeaways
- Schedule time on your calendar to write. Every. Single. Day.
- You can have a successful blog without great design. You cannot have a successful blog without writing.
- Optimize images for Pinterest sooner.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Dustin’s website. Follow Dustin on Twitter @DustinWStout.
Mike Allton
While I’ve built a career around making mistakes and sharing my findings, there are some that stand out as some the “biggest” mistakes.
First, a mistake I’ve made and will likely continue to make is to try to create a piece of content that is centered around a pop culture theme like, say, The Matrix. “Content Marketing Lessons from The Matrix” is always a horrible idea for a blog post. And yet I keep writing them, mostly for myself. If you’re thinking about writing such a piece, try to remember that it’s unlikely your audience is as interested in the theme as you are! 😉
The other major mistake I made early on was putting ads on my site. While it was designed from the beginning to be a passive revenue generating business, with selling services just secondary, putting AdSense ads on the site hindered site performance for a relatively paltry monthly check.
Knowing how little I’d earn from AdSense, and how big a hit my search engine rankings would take as a result of placing the ads, I definitely would have held off on using AdSense – probably never implementing it, in fact.
New sites shouldn’t use the service because Google doesn’t want to drive traffic to sites that are obviously monetizing with AdSense. And once a site is established, there are *better* monetization options!
Mike’s key takeaways
- Don’t create a piece of content that is centered around a pop culture theme.
- I definitely would have held off on using AdSense – probably never implementing it, in fact.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Mike’s website Social Media Hat. Follow Mike on Twitter @Mike_Allton.
Ron Sela
One should not consider blogging as a hobby or a part time job where one blogs anytime they feel like it.
Mistakes we bloggers make have a negative influence on the business. However, no one should give up hope as long as they have a goal to achieve.
Blogging, being a form of inbound marketing should be linked to the website.
Update your content regularly.
By listening to your audience views, you’ll get to know what they like about your products and services. It will help you improve the content on your blog as well.
Patience is key in each business venture; you can never expect success overnight. Update content regularly and conduct content promotions to increase traffic and the number of subscribers on your blog. It’s a skill that is hard to acquire more so for those like me who find it difficult.
Being patient, yet listening to followers will have a positive impact.
Blogging can be much easier by improving the approach we give it and the effort we put as well.
If I could go back and start fresh, I’d concentrate on creating more quality content, more often, and promoting it extensively via social media and outreach campaigns.
Ron’s key takeaways
- Don’t consider blogging as a hobby or a part time job.
- Listening to your audience views, you’ll get to know what they like.
- Concentrate on creating more quality content, more often, and promoting it extensively.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Ron’s website. Follow Ron on Twitter @ronsela.
Uttoran Sen
I started blogging early, that was around 2005 and I was just out of school and planning for college. The issues of early starts, especially young starts is that you work real hard but not smart enough. So, based on that – here’s some quick mistakes that you can avoid.
Build for the future – I got caught up with a micro-niche that was trending, it worked well and I earned plenty from AdSense, CJ, infolinks etc. It was great while it lasted. The issue with choosing a trend is that it does not last long. Rather, build something on a bigger and wider niche and keep growing it forever.
Content is the asset – Your blog posts are your assets, pay writers, allow guest posts, add infographics – get more authors on your team. That is the best way to re-invest in your blog. Not doing that is a big mistake which slows down your growth.
Look for more income channels – Look to integrate Amazon, high paying affiliate products etc. Keep looking for more ways to earn and don’t rely on a single income stream.
I won’t make any changes to what I have done – but along with that, I would create some stronger blogs on horizontal niches. Something that would stand the test of time and keep growing bigger in the future. And would start GuestCrew sooner. We discussed this even in 2007, but it went live towards the end of 2012 which is already a bit late.
Uttoran’s key takeaways
- Your blog posts are your assets.
- Keep looking for more ways to earn and don’t rely on a single income stream.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Uttoran’s website. Follow Uttoran on Twitter @uttoransen.
Brent Jones
The three biggest blogging mistakes I have made (and sometimes still make) are publishing too often, failing to define my target audience, and not doing enough guest posting.
Publishing too often.
It isn’t that there’s anything wrong with posting often. But it’s more important to publish consistently — even if that’s two or three times a month — and to publish high-quality content. I’ve found it’s a better use of my time to publish less frequently, and to spend more time engaging with influencers in my niche.
Defining my target audience.
When I first started blogging in 2014, I didn’t give much thought to who I was writing for. As a result, my content was a hodgepodge of posts on various digital marketing topics that really spoke to no one. I slowly built up an audience, but certainly not a targeted audience. It wasn’t until 2016 that this became clear to me.
Guest posting.
Whether you’re working on building your list, increasing your Twitter followers, or boosting your blog readership, the fastest way to do it is to leverage existing audiences. Get in front of your target market wherever their attention is. I spent a lot of time in 2015 convincing other bloggers to guest post for me, but what I should have been doing is contributing content to other sites instead.
If I were to go back to 2014 and launch Brent Jones Online all over again, I would be more strategic about my content calendar and how I used my time in between publishing posts. As I referenced in my previous answer, I used to frequently published new content that really didn’t solve a problem for any particular person, and I didn’t spend enough time engaging with influencers or getting in front of existing audiences. To be blunt, I really had no end goal to my blogging efforts back then.
Brent’s key takeaways
- Publish less frequently, and to spend more time engaging with influencers in my niche.
- Defining My Target Audience.
- Get in front of your target market wherever their attention is.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Brent’s website. Follow Brent on Twitter @brentjonline.
Ed Leake
For me the single biggest mistake is one many of us fall fowl of – being consistent.
If you’re going to write, try and keep to a schedule. Once a day, a week, or month – whatever it may be – stick to your program!
If your content is good, people will keep coming back.
If they come back expecting to see fresh stuff from you and it isn’t there, you risk losing their attention and wasting all your previous efforts.
Second on my list of blogging mistakes would be over-writing.
What do I mean by that? When you’re trying to be too clever, or worse, desperate to sound clever. This is a blog, not an academic thesis.
If you’re writing about a complicated subject matter, use real-world examples and metaphors to help your reader visualise the concept.
Don’t throw a thesaurus at it because you won’t sound clever, in fact you run the risk of alienating a sizable portion of your audience.
Finally, you’ll stumble if you ain’t got no rhythm.
Don’t roll your eyes; writing with rhythm isn’t just for bards and composers!
The cadence of your writing will either make your reader stutter and stumble, or dance across the page.
How do we inject a little flow? One quick trick is to break up your sentences and make them bitesize. Preface a large piece of text with a snappy opening line.
Use rhyming words and phrases to link sentences together. Also vary the length of your sentences too.
Keep your final stanza short and sweet.
If all else fails – read it aloud and correct the writing that simply fails to flow.
I would laser-focus on one very specific subject, one with legs and an audience begging for more!
Ed’s key takeaways
- If you’re going to write, try and keep to a schedule.
- Trying to be too clever, or worse, desperate to sound clever.
- Break up your sentences and make them bitesize.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Ed’s website. Follow Ed on Twitter @edleake.
Ann Smarty
Looking back, I think I can name two:
(1) My blog has never been my top priority.
I handled clients first, then my guest post commitments and then my own blog, if I had time. I should have put my own assets #1. I know it’s easier said than done because we subconsciously prioritize outside commitments.
(2) I never really monetized my blog.
I didn’t even have «Services» page for a few years, so people had no idea I provided any services. Figuring out monetization should be done on very early stage. You’ll change your tactics and experiment down the road but it’s best to start as early as possible. If nothing else, seeing at least some income is the best motivation to keep improving your blog.
I still plan to start a new blog and try this out one day but I wish I had started this earlier: coming up with passive income sources. I never tried affiliate marketing, AdSense or any other potential source of income that keeps coming more or less steadily without you being involved every single day.
I was making money from services and had no time to try more ways to build some income. Discovering money-earning opportunities takes plenty of time which is why I wish I had started figuring this out earlier!
Ann’s key takeaways
- I should have put my own assets (my blog) #1.
- Figuring out monetization should be done at a very early stage.
For more great marketing advice like this, check out Ann’s website, SEO Smarty. Follow Ann on Twitter @seosmarty.
Devesh Sharma
1. I’d say not acting fast and waiting too long to launch a product. The lesson I learned here is ideas are no one’s monopoly and if you don’t act fast, someone else will.
2. Another one would be not building an effective relationship with other bloggers from early on. Having blogging friends can help you with a lot of things including marketing, product launches, new ideas, etc. The key here is help each other out when needed and maybe go the extra mile.
3. Not effectively using the plugins available. WordPress directory is filled with thousands of plugins and a good number of them are pretty useful. WordPress has a plugin for almost everything.
For example, if you want to get more email subscribers, there are plugins like Optin Forms, Bloom, OptinMonster, and much more. So use them, I know some of them cost money, but in long-run they are going to pay for themselves.
If I could start fresh, I’d definitely focus on launching the product as quickly as possible and maybe launch in 7-10 days instead of spending months to fine-tune it.
Devesh’s key takeaways
- Waiting too long to launch a product…launch in 7-10 days instead of spending months to fine-tune it.
- Building an effective relationship with other bloggers from early on.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Devesh’s website – Fancy Themes. Follow Devesh on Twitter @devesh.
Daniela Uslan
I’ve had 5 discarded blogs before this one, so I’ve had plenty of time to make mistakes and learn from them!
My biggest mistake was starting blogs without having any focus or audience. Without a focus, I quickly lost interest in my first few blogs. And without an audience, I struggled to come up with content that actually mattered to other people.
My current blog has grown a loyal readership because every post I write is deliberate and written for a specific audience. I know what my audience cares about because I talk to them on a regular (and sometimes daily) basis.
Even though I love writing for its own sake, I have learned that getting feedback from my readers is a huge motivator that helps me continue on my blogging journey.
Another mistake I encountered in my first few blogs was not getting support or building relationships with other bloggers. Blogging can be incredibly isolating if you aren’t intentional about connecting with other bloggers who “get it.” (Unlike your family and friends who think you’re crazy for starting a blog.)
Now I have a Mastermind group with 4 other bloggers. We talk once a month about our blogging businesses and keep each other on track.
I also run a free Facebook group for bloggers, as well as a membership community for women bloggers, because I know how essential it is to build those relationships and get support.
Honestly, if I could go back and start fresh, I wouldn’t. Even though I made loads of mistakes along the way, (and still make them on a regular basis, because hey, why stop now?) I am actually grateful for my mistakes.
They’ve helped me learn what doesn’t work, and inch closer and closer to creating a blog and an audience that fulfil my purpose and help me live a life of freedom and joy.
Daniela’s key takeaways
- Starting blogs without having any focus or audience.
- Not getting support or building relationships with other bloggers.
Join 5k+ other bloggers in Daniela’s free Facebook group. Follow Daniela on Twitter @DanielaUslan.
Andrew Firth
My biggest blogging mistakes are;
1) Being promotional – Good content is informative and thought-led, we’re hit with advertising all the time, no one wants to read it in a blog!
2) Huge wedges of content – Always break the copy up with images, video and sections – blogs that just look over-powering with words are a big no no!
3) Poor use of grammar, text speak and typos – There are no excuses for bad English and your audience will be put off and may well miss your message if the basics aren’t in place!
Andy’s key takeaways
- Being promotional…no one wants to read it in a blog.
- There are no excuses for bad English!
For more great marketing advice like this, check Andy’s ecommerce SEO service. Follow Andy on Twitter @andrewjfirth.
Christopher Jan Benitez
- Trying to do more than blogging
My true strength lies in writing blog content, but I tried to veer away from that by doing other digital marketing tasks for the purpose of generating more profit (even though my skills outside of writing are not as proficient). As a result, not only was I unable to get clients, but my writing also suffered.
- Not focusing on email marketing
I am in the process of improving my lead generation campaign through email marketing, but I wish I could have prioritized on this sooner.
- Not sensitive to deadlines
I find it very difficult to keep up with my blogging schedule because of managing clients on top of writing on my own blog. Because I bit off more than I can chew with my writing clients, I missed deadlines on my professional blog, which led to months of not publishing anything new there.
I would have developed niche blogs that I specialize in and run campaigns on them using the best digital marketing practices. This way, I could have developed authoritative blogs, which would help me become less reliant on clients.
Christopher’s key takeaways
- My true strength lies in writing blog content – stick to your strength.
- Not focusing on email marketing…I wish I could have prioritized on this sooner.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Christopher’s website. Follow Christopher on Twitter @christopherjanb.
Dmitry Dragilev
Not paying attention to the keywords I am writing about. In the days before I knew about the skyscraper technique I used to come up with topics and write about them at random, now it’s a much more deliberate approach to rank for topics I write about: I’ve written a detailed explanation here.
Dmitry’s key takeaways
- Try to rank in search for topics that I write about.
For more great marketing advice like this follow Dmitry on Twitter @dragilev.
Gael Breton
Mistake #1: Blogging and not building a business behind the blog.
It’s easy to get carried away with content marketing, make plans, write another post. Truth is, once you get 500 visits or more daily in a narrow enough niche, your time is probably better spent figuring out how to make 5 figures from that traffic than trying to generate more traffic and content.
Mistake #2: I would build several products before I even start my blog.
Gael’s key takeaways
- Figuring out how to make 5 figures from that traffic than trying to generate more traffic.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Gael’s website, Authority Hacker. Follow Gael on Twitter @authorityhackr.
Ana Lynn Amelio
My biggest blogging mistake #1 was not spending enough time engaging with other bloggers.
I was too afraid to comment on other people blogs because I felt like I was jumping in out of nowhere.
Once I realized this was mostly in my head, it got a lot easier to comment and jump in the middle of the conversation. On the other hand, I spent too much time trying to be on every social media platform at once thinking it would help getting more eyes on my content.
That led to a very quick burnout and frustration of not getting results. When I focused on just one or two social media networks I started seeing better results and got a much better return.
Mistake #2 was ignoring my email list for the longest time.
As I started out as a lifestyle blogger I thought email lists were reserved for people who were blogging for business purposes. Clearly, this couldn’t be further from the truth!
Mistake #3 was flying blind and not having a set blogging schedule.
I used to write posts on the day I wanted to publish them which led to a pretty hectic schedule. I kept hearing about the need to create an editorial calendar, but I thought it would me limit me in my creative freedom.
Boy was I wrong! If I could give just one piece of advice to a new blogger it would be to spend time before they even launch a blog to come up with post ideas, set a schedule for publishing, and then make a plan to write and edit their blog posts.
I would start an email list from day one. It doesn’t matter if you’re not selling anything from your blog or if you don’t offer any type of service. Email list isn’t strictly about selling. It’s a way for you to get personal with your tribe and engage them on a more personal level – and that is how you create loyal fans.
Ana’s key takeaways
- Not spending enough time engaging with other bloggers.
- Don’t spend too much time trying to be on every social media platform.
- Spend time before you even launch a blog to come up with post ideas.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Ana Lynn’s website. Follow Ana Lynn on Twitter @analynncreative.
Ahmad Imran
Every mistake has a seed of success in it. You only need to learn and move on.
Here are my top three mistakes.
1) I was so busy in producing, learning and refining my “content” that I ignored “marketing” in my early blogging career. Nearly 20 months in, I can see the importance of promotion and marketing as a strategic activity that every new blogger should put high on their agenda from the “day one”.
Write your marketing plan down.
Formalise it, implement it and keep refining it.
You should be knowledgeable about your ways and means to promote your blog posts. Don’t just sit on Google sending you the organic search traffic – this is what I did.
Create multiple streams of traffic.
2) I didn’t realise the importance of email marketing, outreach and guest posting in my early blogging career. For me, social media was at the top of my informal and casual marketing efforts.
Spreading too thin on several social media platforms. Doing social media half-baked instead of mastering one platform at a time and be genuinely social.
Wrong approach.
I now realise that social media perhaps sits at number 4. Behind email marketing, influencer outreach and guest posting.
Don’t major in minor things. Get your priorities right. List them out and then work on them. You start on the wrong footing, sooner or later you will need to get back to the board to rectify.Be a student, not a follower. Only you know your circumstances best. Make a decision today which is your top-most marketing strategy.
Be a student, not a follower. Only you know your circumstances best. Make a decision today which is your top-most marketing strategy.
3) I was lacking “branding awareness” when I started blogging. Try to fix your logo, colours, theme, fonts, styles and images presentation as early as you can.
After many iterations and changes, I feel that it took me nearly 18 months to get the format and design of my blog standardised. I wish I had that idea from the first day.
But you live and learn. I suggest you visualise your blog/site in the long-term and get the design details sorted as much as you can in early days.
It will save you time later in the journey and will help you with better audience engagement and trust.Don’t forget, when you are a new blogger, people do judge you on appearance.
Don’t forget, when you are a new blogger, people do judge you on appearance.
Ahmad’s key takeaways
- See the importance of promotion and marketing as a strategic activity.
- Try to fix your logo, colours, theme, fonts, styles and images presentation as early as you can.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Ahmad’s website. Follow Ahmad on Twitter @reasontouse.
Elna Cain
The biggest blogging mistake I’ve made is probably not promoting my content efficiently. Normally I would tweet it out, update my Facebook profile and share it on LinkedIn.
It wasn’t until I started a new blog and started investing in ways to grow my blog’s traffic that I started really looking at automating my social media marketing. And it’s working. I was able to triple my blog’s growth in all areas in three short months of starting a new blog by automating.
I would definitely look at finding a profitable and popular niche before I started my blog. At the time, I only wrote what I knew and didn’t take into consideration if there was a market for such content.
Elna’s key takeaways
- Automating my social media marketing…I was able to triple my blog’s growth in all areas in three short months.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Elna’s website. Follow Elna on Twitter @ecainwrites.
Olga Rabo
The biggest blogging faux pas I ever made? Well, that’s simple. After all, I’ve had so many of them over the years…
The first one was not being specific enough with my blog — having no niche and trying to appeal to a very wide audience with general interests wasn’t really taking me far. It took me a while to realise that I was spreading myself too thin and start developing a solid content strategy.
Blogging mistake number two – having no idea who my readers were.
At the beginning, I didn’t even know what “buyer (or reader) persona” even was, so I didn’t really invest my time in learning what they want to read, what type of content they like most, what their daily struggles really are, where they come from.
When I finally cared to find out, the feedback was not only enlightening but truly game-changing. I now knew exactly what my readers were looking for — and it helped me adjust my content strategy and make sure that it directly addresses the need and offers a clear solution to people’s problems, whatever they are.
The interesting point here was that, now that I realised that I need to PERSONALLY care about my readers in order to succeed at blogging, I also realised that it is PEOPLE who are the driving force of my blog, not me. So I turned to blogging communities and started networking with everybody.
Started making friends. Making meaningful connections. Developing personal relationships.
Neglecting community-building is definitely THE biggest mistake most of us bloggers make at the beginning, and I was no exception. The result, however, was more than satisfying — not only I got thousands and thousands of new readers, who learned about my blog through the word of mouth, but most importantly, I also made new friends on the blogosphere. And that’s what I cherish most 🙂
When I stepped into the path of blogging, I thought that the only way to grow it was through social media. So like a true maniac, I was pushing my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest — everything, in fact — on my widget area in the blog, inside the blog posts, through pop-ups, etc.The result, however, was quite the opposite of what I was trying to achieve. First, my social media following didn’t grow, surprisingly enough. Second, my readers quickly got annoyed at me for pushing social too much (I could see why…). And finally, all those social media thingies were actually leading people OUT of my blog, hurting my bounce rate, session duration, reader retention… When I turned all those things off and started focusing solely on my content and my community, my social media started growing on its own. Just like magic.
The result, however, was quite the opposite of what I was trying to achieve.First, my social media following didn’t grow, surprisingly enough. Second, my readers quickly got annoyed at me for pushing social too much (I could see why…). And finally, all those social media thingies were actually leading people OUT of my blog, hurting my bounce rate, session duration, reader retention… When I turned all those things off and started focusing solely on my content and my community, my social media started growing on its own. Just like magic.
First, my social media following didn’t grow, surprisingly enough. Second, my readers quickly got annoyed at me for pushing social too much (I could see why…). And finally, all those social media thingies were actually leading people OUT of my blog, hurting my bounce rate, session duration, reader retention…When I turned all those things off and started focusing solely on my content and my community, my social media started growing on its own. Just like magic.
When I turned all those things off and started focusing solely on my content and my community, my social media started growing on its own. Just like magic.
Olga’s key takeaways
- Not being specific enough with my blog – define your niche.
- Neglecting community-building is definitely THE biggest mistake most of us bloggers make.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Olga’s travel blog. Follow Olga on Twitter @olgarabo.
Christine C. Renee
- I rushed into getting a blog started without doing my research and listening to the experts. I ended up wasting money trying to do everything myself. Reach out for help if you need it.
- At first, I didn’t invest in learning how to write for an online/blog audience. Once I found a course that resonated with me, my content greatly improved.
- I didn’t take the time to create a style guide before starting my blog. I kinda just winged it, and it showed. Pick out the colors, fonts, and images that represent you so your blog looks “together” right from the start. You can always change them later.
I would exercise more patience, follow a handful of experts for a few months and join their Facebook groups to hang out and ask questions.
I would also make a blog budget and stick to it.
Christine’s key takeaways
- I ended up wasting money trying to do everything myself. Reach out for help if you need it.
- Pick out the colors, fonts, and images that represent you so your blog looks “together”.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Christine’s website. Follow Christine on Twitter @ChristineCrenee.
Heide Padilla
1) Blog hopping and spamming comments sections with a link to my blog.
2) Being afraid to reach out to other bloggers to create a network and build relationships.
3) Hesitating to cold pitch a potential client.
If I could I would take back all the spam I’ve left on all those comments sections and leave better, more valuable comments to grow my network and build relationships with other bloggers.
Heide’s key takeaways
- Blog ‘hopping’ and spamming comments sections – don’t do it.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Heide’s website. Follow Heide on Twitter @KOLBlogging.
Kevin Muldoon
I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, though I believe these were necessary in order to gain experience as a blogger.
Arguably the biggest mistake I had was rushing blog posts out too early. I did this a lot in the beginning of my blogging career as I was concerned about maintaining the post frequency on my blog.
Unless your post has to be published by a certain date due to something like an announcement, it is better to work on the post longer. This will help your blog posts go from good to great.
Kevin’s key takeaways
- Unless your post has to be published by a certain date due to something like an announcement, it is better to work on the post longer.
For more great marketing advice like this, check Kevin’s website. Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinMuldoon.
Mike Brown (TheBloggingBuddha)
Undoubtedly, when you first start blogging, you are going to make mistakes, the important thing is to learn from those mistakes because then they become your strengths. Here are examples of mistakes that I’ve made.
- Having a blog is so much fun and there are so many awesome and helpful tools to enhance your blogging ability and the functionality of your site but don’t get carried away in the beginning and spend too much money on tools you may not need. Most bloggers are using WordPress and if you are starting a blog this is the defacto blogging software but WordPress comes with thousands of plugins free and premium alike. Don’t get carried away with purchasing software that is not essential. In the beginning, I purchased too many unessential tools which I ended up not needing.
- Nothing is ever going to be “perfect” so don’t put things off until you think you have everything exactly like you want it before you start blogging. A website evolves and so will you. I’m not saying to jump in head first without testing the waters, I’m just saying there is never going to be a “perfect” time, you have to start from where you are and understand that your blog or website will grow with you. When I first started blogging I wanted everything to be “perfect” before I started which cost me valuable time I could have been spending making connections, putting together content, and building relationships.
- Know your niche before you start blogging and do your keyword research. I can’t stress enough how important it is to find your niche, do keyword research, and competitive analysis. Blogging is fun but you also want it to be lucrative and if you are going to make money you need to DO YOUR RESEARCH! Find the experts in your field and subscribe to their email lists, technology is moving extremely fast and you need to try and stay ahead of the curve ( if this is even possible, probably not, but you need to try). Know what you are getting yourself into before diving in and you will be successful.
- Don’t try to “go it alone”. When I first started I thought I was going to be able to do everything on my own without much help. The truth is most of your popular bloggers have lots of help. Find people to help you with your graphics, content, and anything else you can’t do alone or think someone else can do better in less time. Focus on concentrating your time toward the things you most competent in otherwise you will spend too much time spinning your wheels with little payoff.
Mike’s key takeaways
- Don’t spend money on unnecessary software and tools.
- The best time is now! Don’t wait until tomorrow for what you can do today.
- DO YOUR RESEARCH!
- Don’t be a “one man wolfpack” seek help when and where you need it, think of yourself as the CEO of your website/blog and allocate projects out to others as needed.
For more great marketing advice like this, join Mike’s WordPress academy, here on TheBloggingBuddha. Follow Mike on Twitter @BloggingBuddha.
Top 5 takeaways
There’s a lot of sage advice in this 9000+ word post and these are the common themes.
#1 Build an email list from the outset – your own private audience = guaranteed traffic.
#2 Connect – reach out to other bloggers in your niche and give don’t take.
#3 Monetize – have a plan for making it pay, it’s a profession not a hobby.
#4 Publish great content – one top quality post a month will return you more than 10 bad ones.
#5 Define your niche – don’t spread yourself too thin, focus and be the best at what you do.
Wrapping up
Clearly there’s a huge amount of experiences being shared here but taking it on board and applying it can be difficult. So for the wrap-up.
We read useful stuff, listen to advice then forget it every day.
My belief is that tips like this are best stored as a sort of early warning system – you soak up the stories that make you cringe and vow not to be that sucker!
The problem is some mistakes take a while to reveal themselves but if you can spot a bad habit forming you can put the brakes on earlier and perhaps save yourself years of pain.
It’s true though, on the flip-side making these mistakes has for most of our contributors actually been a huge blessing and many wouldn’t turn back the clock…
…but rebuilding a blog or reconnecting with an audience you’ve alienated is time-consuming and for some it’s the end of the road – don’t let that be you!
So it’s up you to take on board what you feel are the costliest mistakes, make some mental notes and move forward that little bit wiser 🙂
Thanks for getting this far and stay out of trouble.
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