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Looking for more blogging tips? Everything But the Posts, my new book, gives tips about setting up a blog, connecting with your community, and monetizing. It’s available on Kindle, Nook, and iBooks.
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I am so excited to introduce you to Anna from Learn Like A Mom. Anna is a client and friend, and she even contributed a chapter in my book! When Anna started her blog, she had so many questions. She was always thinking ahead to the next step, and had very small learning curve because of that-she’s a natural. Because of this, she is a valuable resource for new bloggers. I’m excited to be posting her list of 10 things to try in your first 6 months of blogging (but I think all bloggers could benefit from this list)!
Ten Things to Try in Your First Six Months of Blogging
One: Get organized! Create or download a planner if that’s your style. Have a blogging bulletin board if that’s how you roll. Just try to contain all of those notes, ideas, and lists in one place.
Two: Follow other successful blogs. Study what they do and how they do it. Participate in some of the socializing aspects to get a feel for it even more. Simply commenting, liking, tweeting, or linking can help you network without any cost but time. Sometimes bloggers even share their secrets–keep your eyes out for these posts!
Three: Link Up! Find Linky Parties. Make sure your content is appropriate, follow their rules, and remember you are creating a name for yourself that will follow you everywhere! There are linky parties for content, social media follows, and even giveaways.
Four: Host a giveaway. This will give you a chance to learn how to use Rafflecopter if you so choose, learn how to make nofollow links, and advertise in this format if it appeals to you. At first, you may have to hunt someone down and offer advertising in exchange for a review and/or giveaway. (I partnered up with people in direct sales.) People love free stuff, so it’s a great way to build the social reach for both of you.
Five: Attend a Twitter Party. As you follow people of interest on Twitter, you’ll find that many of them host, co-host, or participate in Twitter Parties. They are short and you’ll spend so much time keeping up with the conversation that the hour will be over before you know it.
Six: Be Pinteresting. Follow all of Becca’s tips on using Pinterest. Be Pin Friendly on your site by having “Pin it” sharing options on posts, pages, and images, and think about having a Pinterest area in your sidebar. When adding your pictures to your posts, fill out the alt description, include the URL to that specific post, and hashtag the keywords. Here’s a great article about making your pins go viral!
Seven: Instagram! It’s another fun one because of its simplicity. Follow people. Search for topics by hashtag. Like other pictures. Comment on posts. When you’re about to post something, search through the hashtags first to see what’s being used the most for your topic. Then, Hashtag away!
Eight: Remember Suggestion #2? Well, do the same for Blogging Networks. There are a ton of Blog Networks out there, so if you want to see what’s going on, follow them. Keep up with those feeds and pay attention to what they are doing, offering, and encouraging.
Nine: Not all bloggers care to make money, but some would like to. One of the first things you can do is look into affiliate programs. You’ll have some affiliate links and images in posts and your sidebar and you’ll start learning about contracts and how partnering with brands and products can work for you.
Ten: Try to contribute to a blog with a larger audience. I was lucky and knew Sara, from Mom Endeavors before I started my own blog. When she offered me the opportunity, I jumped on it. It gives the host more quality content they didn’t have to create and provides the guest with more exposure!
Eleven: What? Eleven? I thought this was a list of ten. Well, guess what? This bonus suggestion is a keeper for new and seasoned bloggers alike. Read on my friend, read on!
Eleven: Take a break! This is very important. Almost more important that every other suggestion on this list. If you are starting this to have fun, make sure you’re having fun. If you find yourself writing about things you don’t care about. Stop. Regroup. Start again. In the blogosphere, you have to create your own limits. Humans are not machines. Once in awhile you need to shutdown and restart yourself.
Still need some tips? My book, Everything But the Posts, might be just for you! Learn how to create an eye-catching blog that people want to read, build your blogging community and monetize your blog! Check it out on Amazon, iBooks, or Nook.
If you’re looking for more Blogging Tutorials, you can find them right here!
Nice tips :)
I am trying hard to connect with other Bloggers xD
btw, I found this post via pinterest.
Going to pin it
Thanks for pinning!
Just purchased the kindle version of your book. I can wait to read it all the way through. Thank you for visiting my site. I just wish I knew how to get people to comment. I ask questions, but rarely get comments.
Thanks, Brenda! I hope it helps. Don’t forget that the Facebook group (in the bonus content) can be a good source of information!
It’s not easy to get comments–people share a lot more now, and as long as you’re getting your message out, people will come back to read more ;)
Thank you very much for posting this list! I’ve just hopped back into the blogging world, and a lot has changed! ^__^
I am actually going to save this list to my computer so that I can look back on it often, and learn from it…especially #11. I forget to that one a lot.
Again, thank you very much for posting this!
Love this list! I’m a new blogger and these tips are extremely valuable. Thank you!!!
this is perfect! already worte them all to do this! im in my first month of blogging, so i hope to grow in then ext 5 months!
xoxo,
Orly
coffeebeansandhighheels.weebly.com
Such a great post!
I am definately guilty of number 11. I want to be a long term blogger so I know it will be important to slow down and take time for life too.
Thanks for the tips!
http://Www.pagebypaige.ca
That was such an informative post, thank you so much. Only being in my 4th Month of blogging, all of those tips are super useful. Thank you very much!
Hoping I can apply this and become successful, or at least reach my own bar! Thanks so much & happy blogging!
-Jessica
great list !! I might need to take a break now for a few days at least… and come back more creative !
Hi, Thanks for the post, Ive just created a College lifestyle/fashion diy blog and am verry new to the blogging world. What is a linky party? how does that work?
Hi! Thanks for the tips – I am a NEW blogger. (teacher/author). I’m not sure how to do a give-away, though. Do you ask people to share your blog as one of the rules.
Hi Karen,
There are several options for giveaway entries. I usually ask people to follow me on various social media networks and maybe share the giveaway (not just my blog) on their networks.
This was a wonderful list. I need to get my bum in gear and use my planner. I keep forgetting. 11 is a great point it is always important to take a break. Love it!
Great post! Very useful tips! :)
Really great tips that I’m definitely going to be trying out VERY soon! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome tips! I never used Twitter or Instagram much in the past, so I’m trying to get the hang of it now that I have my own blog and want to connect with other people.
Very new to blogging (only have 2 posts up so far) and loved your site as well as this post
1 I feel like I have been blogging my whole life as I have been writing my whole life! and now I think after finding your site I am on the right road. I have read as much as I can about this business called blogging and am excited to be a part of such a great community. I have liked and followed and hope you can stop by and read a post or two some time soon and leave feedback. As I get better at this, I am sure my writing voice will come out and I will be able to post pics and really get into this. Thank you so much for your hard work and the sharing of ideas and knowledge! Have a blessed day! Shelly @ anotherseasonblog.wordpress.com
What a fantastic list!! Seeing as how I’m still in that 6 month window, I’m definitely going to take a closer look at a few of these things! What a great, encouraging community to be a part of! So far, blogging is the best decision I’ve made in quite some time! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for this list, it is so helpful! I am definitely going to be paying attention to all these! So excited to grow as a blogger!
These are great tips! Some of these I”m definitely going to have to remember to do! Headed over to pin this for later!
Zara
Thanks for the awesome tips! I’ve started a blog this past month and im nervous to release it to the public! I’m not sure when is exactly the right time because I always feel like I can be adding it doing more! Please visit my website I’ll appreciate any and all pointers and help! thank you!