5 Steps to Start Your Blog Today

Anyone else dream of being a blogger, but not sure how to start a blog? Creating a website, figuring out SEO basics, sharing on Pinterest, and making an income from your blog can be super confusing and stop you from ever starting. That's how I felt too! I knew a blog could help my business grow and impact more people, but it was really confusing at first. Luckily, I made all the mistakes and spent all the money on blogging courses so you don't have to! Here are 5 steps to start your blog today.

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*this blog contains affiliate links that may result in me receiving a commission at no cost to you.

1. Ask Yourself These Questions

Whenever one of my business mentorees says "I want to get into blogging", I ask them these 3 questions to make sure they truly want to. It takes consistency to build a good blog and following. If you aren't in love with writing and the hustle, it won't be successful.

1. Do you find joy writing or journaling daily?

2. If your blog doesn't make a single penny, would you still do it?

3. What are 5 things you want to share about?

If you answered YES to the first two questions and already know what you wanna blog about, PERFECT! Let's get it started. If not, reconsider if blogging is really for you. Dig deep and ask yourself why you want to start a blog and if there is another way to accomplish your goal.

I always tell my team you are most successful when you are having fun. If you ain't having fun, you aren't going to be successful so don't waste your time and find something else! Youtube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Podcasting are great ways to grow a business too.

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2. Create a website

Don't worry! It is not hard and you do not need to know how to code. Simply find a web provider such as WIX, which is what I use, or WordPress. You can even use the free version when you are just getting started (I didn't purchase a domain name or spend a single penny on my blog the first year and still had over 3,000 visitors!)

If you are buying a domain name, choose one that will work for you in the long run. Typically, your name or company name is best. My domain name costs me $20 a year and WIX costs me $28 a month so it is a little bit of an investment, but its a tax write off and I make sales through blogging so its worth it to me.

Once you have a website, simply create an about me or home page (here's mine for inspo) and a blog. WIX has a "blog" option that makes it really easy. I taught myself how to get set up using this video and only took me a day to get everything up and running! On average, a blog takes me 30 minutes to write if I already have an idea in my head and another 30 minutes to edit with SEO and graphics - we will get to that in a minute!

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3. Get Writing!

Just start writing whatever you'd like! Step one asked you what are 5 things you are passionate about so start there. Aim to write at least a blog a week to keep the content fresh. If that feels hard, check out your other social platforms and see what content you can repurpose into a blog.

Don't stress too much about perfect grammar or saying the wrong thing. The messy, imperfect, YOU part is what will make your blog stand out from others. That being said, I need to add this - spell check yourself. Using words like "ain't" or "girl" or even "shit" is personality, misspelling "Faebook" is unprofessional. Commas and periods still matter too so don't throw away everything you learned in English 101, but also don't stress all night creating outlines and rough drafts.

The only real writing tip I have for you is your first paragraph matters! Not only does it hook a reader in, but it is also how Google checks out your content. Fill your first paragraph with keywords about your blog as well as the title to rank higher. This is called "Search Engine Optimization" aka SEO and if you pay attention to what's trending, blog about it quickly, and use searchable terms, you will rank higher on Google. The higher the ranking the closer to the top of the results you are and the more people see your content!

For example, with this blog my first paragraph says "blogger", "SEO basics, and "5 Steps to Start Your Blog Today" because those words and phrases are popular on Google. If you found this blog by searching "how to start a blog", I am crushing SEO!

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4. Curate Graphics (for blog and Pinterest)

This stressed me out too! I thought I had to be a graphic designer to make pretty blog headers. Luckily, that's not the case at all. Through coaching friends I learned about Canva and I LOVE it. Every single day in my business I use it for Vitality Fit Studio content, email headers, YouTube thumbnails, and Pins for Pinterest.

Canva has the dimensions already figured out for each type of graphic so simply drag and drop text, pictures, etc to make it match your brand and add it to your website and Pinterest. When adding a photo to your site, make sure to check the setting and change the image text. This is usually similar to my first paragraph because images can also rank on Google.

Another great tip for you blog is to use Pinterest. I know, you probably started one in highschool or only use it for recipes, but Pinterest is HUGE in the blogging world. It is a visual search engine as well as a social platform meaning people advertise for you when they repin your blog. Luckily, it is super easy to start using it for business. Just create an account, resize your blog graphic to pin size, copy and paste your first paragraph for the description, add a title, copy the website URL, and done! 90% of my blog traffic comes from Pinterest so it is worth the five minutes of effort.

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5. Monetize it!

If you are putting in the work, let's make you some money! Some really easy ways to monetize a blog include adding advertisement (Google can teach you how), doing affiliate marketing (selling other peoples stuff), or using Amazon affiliates. All you have to do is get your custom link, highlight the text you'd like to use, and copy the URL. For example, this is my favorite book on manifestation. If you click that link and purchase from Amazon, I get a small commission. Just make sure to put a little disclaimer at the top of your blog to be FTC compliant. All of these options can be found online and set up within minutes.

One of the biggest money makers on my blog is selling my lifestyle coaching services as well as workouts and supplements through network marketing. These companies usually provide the biggest commission percentage and allow you to create residual income as well. My full time job through network marketing allows me to stay home 24/7 with my dog and do fun stuff like write blogs!

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And that's it! Starting a blog isn't really that hard. The hard part is being consistent with writing even when no one is reading. It takes time to grow a loyal following and even longer to make money if that is your goal. Remember to make it fun and if you don't love it, don't do it. Life is too short for that. And please, I beg you, DON'T be that person that tells 10 life stories before sharing a basic ass chocolate chip cookie recipe. Ain't nobody got time for that!

(If you got this far, screenshot and tag me on IG stories @tarasimone_fit! I am curious who found me as funny as I think I am)

Massive love,