15 Major Blogging Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake #1: Trying To Be Perfect
I am a perfectionist. I want my blog posts to be perfect. What I have learned though is that I will never move forward in life and in my business if I try to make everything perfect. You need to be aware of this too. Done is better than perfect. I usually make my posts go live and look at them again as they go live on my site.
Mistake #2: Not Planning Ahead
When I started blogging, I was very busy working a full-time job, getting my MBA and traveling for work. But, I still kept very consistent and this is important because people will come to your site and always want to see something new. If you can plan ahead at least 2-3 weeks in advance with ideas and topics, you’ll be amazed at the content that you can get out and blogging will actually be fun!
Your content doesn’t need to be completely done weeks ahead though. The topics are there. You should know the draft titles for a month ahead and schedule them in advance when they are ready to go. We use WordPress Editorial Calendar plugin so we can schedule posts in advance. When I was blogging my first year, I would go to work and my posts would go live while I was sitting in my cubicle. I had automated social media going out too and was getting a ton of engagement just during my client meetings.
You don’t want to blog last minute or you won’t produce very good content. You also don’t want to be stressed with trying to produce content. I would wake up in the morning and know exactly what I was going to blog about when I had a month of ideas ready to go.
Mistake #3: No Email List or Way For People To Sign-up
You must collect emails on your blog. There was a whole year that I never collected emails back in 2010. There were so many people that I could have connected with at that time that I missed out on. What a bummer! They were enjoying what I was writing and I never built that relationship with them.
I have learned a lot since putting together a little networking guide and starting my first email list. Now I give away a free 90-day planner and you can see on every blog post here on the sidebar I give away something for free. Create a simple PDF, ebook or cheat sheet or even a copy of the blog post you have already written. Just turn it into a PDF.
For instance, if you’d like my free Start a Blog Checklist, you can get an example of what we give away.
Mistake #4: Treating Your Blog As a Hobby Instead of a Business
Treat yourself as a CEO of your own career and your own life. Hint: You must know that there are SO MANY opportunities with blogging. I get so many emails every day with potential opportunities. That is why I hired my first VA to help me with all the email opportunities!
Even if you don’t want to make a business out if it, think of your blog as a business instead of a hobby. Just by having a blog and posting consistently over a long period of time, there are people who would like to pay you to post about their product or service on your site or your social media. They will pay you to post a giveaway or to go on a trip and stay in a nice, fancy hotel. I wish I would have known earlier to treat my blog as a business and myself as a CEO!
Mistake #5: Too Much Comparing
When you are so consumed so much with other people that you can’t create yourself, you are in trouble. Blogging is all about creating, being yourself and putting yourself out there. It’s about being unique and telling stories about yourself. You have to think back to big stories of your life and weave those stories into what you sell.
In case you haven’t noticed, there is so much noise out there. It’s very noisy online right now. You might be saying, “I wish I had her site design.” This is when it’s important to put those blinders on because you have a mission and you have a purpose. If you are alway looking at what others are doing and you can’t get the real you out to create the thing that is really great for you, you have to stop comparing.
Now when I blog it’s really all me. I am constantly unsubscribing and hiding people from social media. I even hide Facebook ads. I have people I really trust like mentors and mastermind mama bosses I LOVE but my guidance needs to stay limited and extremely positive! I have people I can’t follow because I wouldn’t be able to write this post and create what I am capable of if I was wondering what other people are writing too.
Make your own runway. Don’t compare. Be unique.
Mistake #6: Bad Blog Titles
I picked some really bad titles when I started. Titles are so important because they are the first thing people see. Pinterest is one of my main traffic sources. That’s where I go to get ideas for great titles. I usually come up with 4-5 titles, narrow them down and get other people’s feedback to come up with my best title. It really has to capture attention.
Mistake #7: No Images
Pictures are everything. Since Pinterest is our #1 source of traffic, all of my attention is on beautiful images now. There are so many free image sites like picjumbo.com and pexels.com where you can download great pictures for free. This was not an option when I started blogging. You can also try flickr.com for their creative commons licensed photos.
Even better, we take our own pictures now. You most likely also have a phone with a great camera now. So no excuses!
Images are what people are drawn to especially if you are blogging to women. Don’t forget about the power of Pinterest. It’s amazing. We use picmonkey.com.
Mistake #8: Paying Too Much For Your Website
Many people ask me who our website designer is and who my branding person is. It’s us. What you are looking at did not come from thousands of dollars from a website designer. We have had our site for 6 years updating and designing it ourselves.
Some people may need a designer to get started but you don’t need to spend that much money. You might need some technical support. You can get our blog checklist which has all the tools we use blogging. I just don’t want you paying that much. I know that it isn’t that difficult to build a site (but I don’t want to get all my designers mad at me:)
If you are just starting out you don’t need to spend that much money when you are starting out. Start slowly. Don’t go too fancy on your website.
Mistake #9: Too Much Thinking, Not Enough Doing
Maybe you have wanted to blog for years but you aren’t taking action and doing it. Just start. Do it this weekend. Hit publish. Build your website. Don’t think too much and start doing more than you are thinking about it. Stop saying you are going to do it and just actually do it.
Mistake #10: Not Monitoring Your Traffic
Please download google analytics. It’s an easy plugin you can use so you can track where your traffic is coming. That is the #1 way you can see where people are coming and who is referring people to your blog. Most importantly, you’ll be able to find out what social media platform is the best for you. Previously, I spent too much time on Instagram and then realized that Pinterest was driving way more traffic to our site. What I teach now is figuring out what works for your content and utilizing that as much as possible.
Mistake #11: Not Having a Reader Avatar
You have to know who you are writing your blog for. Every time you write, think about who you are writing to. If I can imagine a real live person than I am way more myself in my posts and videos. Pretend like you are writing to a client or potential client or create your ideal client Avatar. What’s her name and her age? Learn more about her or him, how much money she makes and the TV shows she watches.
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