10 Silly Blogging Mistakes I Made As A New Blogger

Today I’m going to share with you, 10 silly mistakes I made as a new blogger and how you can avoid making them. Including a little bit about my blogging journey thus far which spans over 4 years.

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I launched my blog in 2016 as a hobby and to escape the corporate world. After about 2-3 years later, I started monetising it, turning it into my side hustle.

During those years I’ve made a lot of mistakes but I’ve also learnt a lot. So in this post I’m spilling the tea about some of the biggest blogging mistakes I made as a new blogger and how you can avoid making them.

Why I Started A Blog

As I mentioned briefly, above, I started blogging as a way to escape the corporate world and to find a new hobby that could occupy some of my free time. At the time I was living alone in a new country and during that adjustment period, I needed a new creative outlet. A place where I can share my passion for travel, beauty and fashion.

Those passions ultimately turned into Travel Beauty Blog and although the demands were almost the same as having another full-time job, it was always something I loved doing.

Never in my wildest dreams I imagined becoming a blogger, neither was monetising on my agenda then. As a matter of fact, I am not ashamed to admit that I had no idea that blogging was a real career for a lot of people. So in essence, blogging widened my horizons and I’m still learning new things even to this day.

Blogging Mistakes – Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging

Blogging was a hobby for me so my initial plan wasn’t to make money. But that is something that I wish I knew prior to launching. Also, back then I wasn’t really writing to solve anyone’s problems except for in a few posts.

A lot of my blog posts was more telling my story and personal experiences. But they were not geared towards helping or teaching anyone anything. I wrote on topics that were trending or whatever came to mind. Big mistake!

In reality, if you want to make money blogging you’ve got to write about what people are actively searching for, solve a problem or teach something.

Another thing that I was unaware of was the amount of money that I needed to invest into blogging tools and resources. Investing in tools is essential if you want to be able to scale your blog or turn it into a full-time job.

Fast forward to today, despite these blogging mistakes, I am grateful for the lessons it taught me along the way. I have no regrets about my decision on that fateful day in November 2016. So now, I want to help you avoid making the same silly mistakes I made.

Related: How To Craft The Perfect Blog Post Template

10 Silly Blogging Mistakes I Made As A New Blogger

Not Starting An Email List Sooner

One of the biggest blogging mistakes I made as a beginner is not building my email list from day one. Obviously it is not too late to start but by starting late I missed out on a lot of opportunities to have an even bigger list.

That is a decision I regretted not making from the inception of my blog. Back then I did not know the importance of having subscribers. So a lot of time went by, roughly two years before I made any real effort in building a list.

Here is why you need an email list. Your email subscribers are the people that want to hear from you and are most likely to buy from you. Therefore it is easier to sell your products or services to your subscribers since you already have a relationship with them and are considered “warm” leads.

Another benefit of an email list is being able to communicate with your audience at any time you wish. As the saying goes, the money is in the list! If you’re new to blogging, my advice to you is start your email list right away.

Send valuable content to your audience at least once a week so that they get to trust you more. When its time to sell, your job is already half way done.

Blogging Mistakes: Not Learning SEO

SEO which is the acronym for search engine optimisation is a topic that I was well aware of from the beginning of my blogging journey. But one I paid no mind to because I thought it was too difficult.

Organic traffic is the key to being successful with affiliate marketing. So learning Search Engine Optimisation is major investment you should make in the early stages of your blog.

Google SEO takes approximately 6-8 months before you start getting results from the work you put in. But Pinterest SEO takes less time, about 4-5 months (at the time of this post). It could take longer depending on how new or old your account is, your niche and if you are practising proper Pinterest Marketing.

For the shorter term, Pinterest SEO is worth looking into and you can take Pinterest courses to learn more about that. Either way, you would still want to invest in an SEO course for longer term and better quality organic traffic.

If you want to learn SEO I strongly recommend this course which only opens up a couple times per year. You can even sign up for a free SEO bootcamp while the course is closed.

Related: How To Manage A Blog While Working Full-time

Imposter Syndrome And Self Doubt

Imposter syndrome is a disease that many of experience. There were times when I doubted myself as to who would read my blog and what could I possible teach others. It happens to the best of us and you may be surprised to know that although there are thousands of bloggers, there is still room for you.

What makes your blog stand out from the rest is your unique personality and experiences. Since no two persons are exactly the same, there will always be people out there waiting to hear from you.

Blogging Mistakes: Niche vs Passion

Some people say that you should blog about what you’re passionate about and others say you should pick a profitable niche. Well, let me tell you right now that blogging about your passions doesn’t necessarily make you money.

It may depending on the niche, but your best bet is choosing a profitable niche that actually makes money. That may result in you ending up choosing a niche that you dislike but is profitable and that is what matters most.

When I started my blog it was based on my passions: beauty, fashion and travel. Which turned out to be great money niches but you should be strategic about the niches you write about.

Related: A Day In The Life Of A Part Time Blogger

Blogging Mistakes – Not Investing In Courses

Not investing in e-courses sooner was one of the biggest blogging mistakes for me. If I had a chance to start over I’ll definitely learn about: Copywriting, Email List Building, SEO, Sales Funnels and Affiliate Marketing.

Once you master those areas, you will separate yourself from the bloggers who are just blogging for fun. Having money to invest in yourself and your blog upfront will save you lots of trial and errors.

These are just some of the things that I teach in my 1-1 consultation sessions for new bloggers and entrepreneurs.

Related: 10 Best Blogging Tools For Bloggers

Blogging Mistakes: Not Applying For More Brand Opportunities

Rejection is one of my biggest fears and reaching out to work with brands is something I still struggle with. When it comes to pitching brands I always doubt myself and start to think that my numbers are too insignificant.

Going forward, it’s important to have a positive mindset if I want to overcome my limiting beliefs. I also want to encourage you to change your mindset if you find yourself in a similar situation.

3 books I recommend checking out on mindset:

Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential

Not Having A Blog Content Plan

I did not have a blog content or marketing plan, as I wrote whatever topic came to mind or whatever was trending on Pinterest at the time. But don’t make that mistake!

Having a content plan is crucial to your blogging success because it helps you to always be ahead with your content and social media planning.

You should never be in a situation where you’re scratching your head wondering what to write next. For this reason, I highly recommend doing proper keyword research well in advance of writing your blog posts.

Not Capitalising On Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is an easy way to earn extra money but without substantial blog traffic it’s almost impossible. There is also a lot of strategies that goes into writing your copy and choosing the best blog topics that convert.

Affiliate marketing is not about randomly linking to products in hopes that your audience makes a purchase. To get started you can sign up to various affiliate networks and influencer marketing agencies.

Had I known the many benefits of affiliate marketing back in 2016, I would have taken it more seriously from inception.

Taking Months Off Without New Content

Towards the latter part of 2017 into 2018, I took almost an entire year off and was completely inactive on my blog and on social media platforms. During that time I was dealing with some personal matters and blogging was the least of my concerns.

It wasn’t until around September 2018 when I gradually came back onto the blogging scene. By that time a lot had changed, I lost some followers, my engagement rate was non-existent and a long list of other things.

Had I known it would have been so tough to integrate back to where I left off, I would have tried to post at least once per month on both my blog and social media. It was definitely a lesson I learnt the hard way but at the same time it was unavoidable, because life happened.

My advice to you is, if you need to take a break, reach out to someone that you trust, to take over your blog until you can manage it for yourself again. Unless of course you really don’t care but that is something I regretted not doing that with my own blog.

Related: How To Start A Successful Side Hustle Blog

Blogging Mistakes: Not Investing In Tailwind Sooner

I regret not signing up to Tailwind and Tailwind tribes sooner, although I had seen many rave review about it. By the time I decided to give it a try, growth on the platform was not the same as before.

I had already missed the peak time when other bloggers were taking full advantage and experiencing exponential growth with both Tailwind and Pinterest.

Going Forward

Since the start of 2020 I’ve invested in countless online courses and digital products which was one of my goals for this year. Despite spending over $2k, I’ve already received greater returns on my investment.

One of my other main goals going forward is outsourcing. I feel like I have reached the level where I just don’t have the time and patience to do certain blogging tasks anymore. They make me more frustrated than anything else so its time to let go.

Related: 14 Pinterest Mistakes That You Need To Stop Making

My plan is to scale this blog to a point where I don’t have to do much work on it everyday. So in order to achieve that, I would need to outsource some tasks.

Conclusion

These are some of the biggest mistakes I made as a new blogger and things I wish I knew when I started. Thankfully my blog is in a much better place now. Especially since I have started treating it like a business (the start of 2019).

The results look promising so far and I can’t wait to see where it takes me financially in the near future.

Are you are a new blogger or entrepreneur and need guidance? Check out my 1-1 blog and business consultation services here.

Last Updated on May 13, 2024 by Shevy