The Tell-All List of Blogging Tips
- Get connected on social media
- Invest in a domain name
- Create an editorial calendar
- Set time aside solely for promotion
- Do what makes you uncomfortable
- Post consistently at least once every two days until you've built a solid foundation of articles
- Be open to miracles
- Go with the flow
- Be okay with not pleasing everyone
- Explore Podcasts - learn to do them
- Use Picmonkey to beautify your pictures and/or add text
- Guest post as soon as possible, even if you don't think you're ready
- Allow yourself to write, even when your idea seems dumb or doesn't come out right
- Be persistent and you will succeed
- Write, write, write
- Be yourself (for which you must first accept yourself)
- Become an active observer
- Learn to listen
- Engage with life around you
- Read the news (and react to it)
- Become a person who makes plans, instead of following them
- Go out of your comfort zone and attend events you normally wouldn't
- Set (big) goals
- Promote, promote, promote yourself and your blog
- Try new things: foods you think you don't like, activities you normally disregard, clothes you don't think are "you", books in genres you pretend don't exist
- Learn from other bloggers' mistakes
- Study design (fonts, color combinations, layout) and HTML
- Don't expect to know everything (no one else expects you to)
- Test your blog titles
- Tweet potential blog titles
- Retweet your posts routinely for at least 2 weeks after they're published, varying your tweets each time
- Carry a notebook with you for jotting down post ideas
- And LIFE ideas
- Use Pinterest to create an "idea" board for blog posts: collect images, quotes, how-to's and other pins that inspire you
- Use Pinterest to promote your blog
- Try blogging every day for two weeks to build up the habit of posting regularly
- Love your readers like you love your family and friends
- Find out what they love
- And find out what they hate
- Ask them for help when you need it
- And let them know when you're sad
- Register your blog on Bloglovin'
- Pave your own path and don't compare your blogging (or life) journey with that of others
- Try to set aside a specific day(s) and time(s) for your blogging so it becomes routine
- Be active on Twitter!
- Join Glipho to build your community in less time
- Resist the urge to quit in the first 2 months (the average point at which most new bloggers throw in the towel)
- Recognition takes time
- Study the blogs you love: their writing, their post frequency, design, & social media habits
- Be active: go for a walk, take yoga, run at dawn, play pick-up in the afternoon - get oxygen flowing
- Check in with your blogging goals regularly
- Remind yourself why you do it
- Play around with other platforms like Vine and Scoop.it
- Become involved in a local blogger group - make friends, attend events!
- Be humble
- Thank your readers. Often.
- Ask for feedback. Often!
- Don't be afraid to change direction if you feel like what you're doing just isn't working after a while
- Do your best and make your best better
- Smile! As often as you can
- Work on your writing skills
- Edit, edit, edit your posts before publishing them
- Periodically look back over previous posts to check for broken links or writing mistakes
- Learn how to make (good) videos
- Use images in posts, always
- Be active on Instagram and link pictures to your blog posts
- Create a Facebook page for your blog
- Read, read, read, anything & everything
- Write book, or movie, or food, or any-kind-of, reviews
- Want instant hits? Write about your favorite celebrity
- Follow, follow, follow (interesting) people (thought leaders, celebrities, influencers) and (inspiring) bloggers on Twitter. Unabashedly.
- Don't go crazy with hashtags-three at most-and try using the same ones to build a community
- Create your own hashtags
- Embed links to your previous posts that are relevant to the one you're writing
- Try making your social media profile names handles the same as, or as close as possible to, your blog's name and URL
- Think of your blog as a brand, and study brand-building
- Create a blogroll
- Make sure your "About Me" page is always updated
- Go to Quora.com when you're stuck on what to write about
- Take time OFF from blogging when you need to
- Take time OFF from EVERYTHING when you need to: no phone, no e-mail, no laptop
- Create a neat and inspiring workspace (!)
- Realize that the success of your blog is directly correlated to the amount of time you spend working on it
- If you really want to make money from blogging, you can (see no. 81)
- If you really want to work full-time blogging, you can (see no. 81)
- Be patient
- Comment on other blogs as much as possible and leave a link to yours at the bottom
- Be vulnerable
- Ignore negativity (from both others, and yourself)
- Applaud others, rather than envy them
- Believe in yourself
- Keep track of your work, your posts, your followers, your successes
- Celebrate your successes, don't minimize them.
- Learn to love the numbers, but not be run by them
- Use Google Analytics
- Download the PinIt widget to make pinning your favorite pictures easy on Pinterest
- Don't ignore Google+
- Learn about using affiliate ads to sell products on your blog
- Participate in blog challenges, like this one
- Participate in Twitter chats, or learn about them
- Have fun. HAVE FUN!!
Did I miss anything?! Surely I did. Help me out and let's get 100 more in the comments. :)