by Sarah Jividen | Aug 27, 2019 | Blogging, Nurse Blogger, Start A Blog
The benefits of personal blogging are huge.
Do you ever feel like you have something you need to share with the world? Maybe you have a few hidden talents or interests that you want to talk about. Or maybe you feel burned out of your career and want a place to proactively vent your frustrations and find helpful solutions. Either way, you have ideas and they need an outlet!
I totally get that. I’ve felt the same way for years.
Luckily we are in age where we can express ourselves in many different ways through the interweb. And the technology just keeps getting better and faster. There has never been a better or easier time to utilize the internet for sharing valuable ideas.
I am a blogger and proud of it.
I follow many other website creators with whom I share the same interests. Mainly, other bloggers, nurses and mothers I have a lot in common with and who I feel I can learn from. Over time I have found so many benefits of personal blogging and I continue to find new ones as time goes by.
But first, let me tell you the story of how I discovered blogging.
After the birth if my first child in 2015 I found that it was increasingly more difficult for me to read books at home, as I was busy caring for a new infant. In an effort to get myself out of the house and get some exercise into my life, I started taking my daughter for 2 or sometimes 3 hour walks around the neighborhood. It felt good to be out of the house again. But I still missed my reading.
It was at that time that I discovered podcasts. I loved them because I could put on my earphones and get lost in interesting conversations that were occurring among adults. I was hooked! Each morning from then on I walked my new baby and listened to 3, 4, 5 or even more podcast episodes. It felt amazing to have more mental stimulation again and I loved every minute of my long daily walks.
One day I started researching some of my favorite podcasters online. I found out that almost all of them also had a blog that corresponded closely with their podcasts. Up until then I didn’t even know that blogging was a “thing.”
Not long after that I caught the blogging bug myself. I started researching anything and everything I could get my hands on about how to create a successful blog. And the rest is blog history.
9 Benefits Of Personal Blogging in 2019
Reason #1: Blogging gives you a voice
When you own a blog you get to say, share and teach anything and everything you want to. You OWN the platform.
Your job as a blogger is to cultivate and find your inner voice. You have a unique opportunity to build a tribe of listeners. If your goal is to relate to your audience and provide value, then you need to speak honestly and from the heart about topics that you consider yourself very good at. In other words, your blog NEEDS a voice.
In the beginning you may find that you aren’t sure what you want to say. So just start writing. Your first 10 posts might actually suck (don’t let that scare you, everyone’s do!). But that is how you learn and excel. Over time, practice really does make perfect!
One of the most beautiful things I have discovered about having a blog is that it has made me a WAY better communicator. I take my blog writing seriously and I genuinely strive to be a valuable resource.
Find you voice, and you will find your audience. If you are blogging correctly, you will effectively create a voice for your blog that will exclude most people. This is a good thing! Because you can’t write for everyone and you shouldn’t try to. As a result you will create a more loyal following of people with whom you share similar interests.
I write about being a nurse mom. That is my niche. My voice is all about the nurse and mom lifestyle. What will you voice be?
Reason #2: Blogging helps you organize your thoughts on paper
I mentioned earlier that as a beginning blogger it is quite possible that your first 10 or more blog posts might not be your best work. But if you keep at it, it won’t stay that way. You get better with practice. Swiftly.
Blogging makes you a better writer and a better thinker. In fact, blogging makes people better conversationalists about the topics they write about.
Writing makes you a more critical thinker. Because when you write, you have to communicate thoughtfully and articulately. It forces you to think of several different aspects of a specific topic. Therefore, you have the opportunity to become an expert and tribe leader within your chosen writing niche. Most people just don’t put that much thought into a subject when they don’t have to organize it for other people to read on paper.
When you think about it that way, you have the potential to become smarter than the non-blogger. So start writing!
Reason #3. Blogging connects you with like-minded people
I have found that there is another world of other nerdy mom and nurse bloggers out there, just like me. They work all day and then pull their computers out after the kids go to bed. And like me, they burn the midnight oil and create interesting content by focusing their consciousness on things they are already good at. In time they become experts within their personal niche.
But, blogging can get lonely when you are sitting alone at your computer for hours. Which is another reason why it is good to connect with other bloggers within your niche. Connecting with other bloggers has helped me in so many ways:
- Sharing helpful content from my blogger peers and vice versa
- Learning how to blog better and faster
- Forming relationships with other bloggers
I love it when readers leave me comments on blog posts. And I love responding even more. It tells me that I created a dialog that is worth having and that people are actually reading my posts! Readers also give me new ideas about things I want to write about in the future!
Reason #4. Blogging opens a world of opportunities
One of my favorite parts of being a blogger is that people and companies reach out to me with opportunities, instead of me reaching out to them! It has taken me a lot of work and time to get to this point, and I expect the opportunities to continue to grow with time. I have companies asking if I will guest post on their site or if they can put advertising on my site. I get emails almost everyday asking me to promote products. It is a lot of fun!
(I am learning how to be very selective about who I work with though. It is important to only do the things that are worth your time and politely decline the rest. And to be honest, I just don’t have a lot of time to work with many people at this time.)
Here are a few other examples of opportunities blogging has given me in the last year:
- Guest posting opportunities
- Guest podcast opportunities
- Free products
- Job offers
- Higher paying affiliate offers
Here is the best part… You can literally blog from anywhere in the world you want to as long as you have internet access. Any time of the day or night, you can blog. It offers the ultimate flexibility. Talk about incredible opportunity!
Reason #5 Blogging helps others find information
My #1 goal is to provide value to readers. When people turn to Google to find niche specific information, I want to be the first website they see (as long as it is genuinely answering a question or solving an issue that they are looking for). There are several ways that bloggers can provide value when discussing a particular topic:
- Create a “How To” post
- Make a checklist post. Lists automatically provide structure to your blog post and de-stress your reader.
- Write a research based blog post. As an RN I live in a world where everything needs to be evidenced-based. If its not, then it may not be relevant or valuable. I often link back to Pub Med studies to give my posts more credibility.
- Write an interview post. People love reading about people’s lives.
Reason #6. Blogging is a enormous challenge
To say that learning how to blog is a “challenge” would be an understatement. There are so many moving parts to managing a blog that it sometimes makes my head spin. But the harder it gets the more I want to learn and grow as a blogger.
Blogging forces you to think in ways you haven’t thought before. Without challenge, there is no growth.
Reason #7. Blogging can become a business
There are bloggers out there who make money. Lots and lots of money.
As a nurse it seems that we are making less money each year, yet the cost of living continues to grow higher. For that reason, many nurses I know have a side hustle to supplement their income. That is one of the many reasons why I started blogging after my first daughter was born.
Blogging can be a hobby, a side hustle, or a full-time family business. But it takes a ton of effort, research, training and determination to get it started and build momentum. I always say that blogging is a marathon, not a sprint (especially if you already work and have babies to take care of).
Reason #8. Blogging is fun
When I’m not blogging, I’m usually thinking about blogging, because I get such immense joy from it. I actually get frustrated when I have to stop blogging and go to bed so I can get some sleep!
Reason #9. Blogging gives you freedom
Blogging gives me the freedom to write and share information about anything I desire. Since I have a self-hosted website, I own my site. It is mine and I can do with it whatever I please. When I am frustrated and burned out at work, this knowledge gives me a sense of peace. It has become an outlet that has ultimately helped me become a better nurse, writer, and thinker.
I also have freedom to create my website however I desire, with my favorite colors and fonts.
Professional bloggers have the freedom to literally work anywhere they want in the world, so long as they have internet access. I know bloggers who work while on vacation, some even blog about their vacation!
Are you ready to start blogging? You can find more information about how to get starting on my blogging resource page!
Additional Recommended Reading:
by Sarah Jividen | Jan 16, 2019 | Blogging, Nurse Blogger, Start A Blog
This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my disclosure policy here.
Starting a blog can be overwhelming, especially when you already work full time, are a parent to small children and have a to-do list that never seems to end. To make matters worse there is almost too much information on the internet about how to start a blog.
Where do I start? Who should I trust? How do I prevent myself from becoming overwhelmed with information?
And most importantly, how do I even find the time to start a blog when my schedule is already crazy busy?
The thing about blogging is that it is a marathon, NOT a sprint. It is also not a get rich fast (or maybe ever) scheme. It is a TON of work. So, if you are not considering it as a long term project then quite frankly I would strongly consider whether you want to start a blog in the first place.
But you are still reading this so I’m going to assume you really do want to start a blog . And I’m so glad. Because I love blogging and I love talking about blogging even more!
Here are a 5 important things to consider BEFORE starting a blog:
1. Find your niche
For me, this one was easy. I am very passionate about two things: nursing and motherhood. (And, well, my husband & other loved ones too, but for the sake of having a blog, you need to find YOUR specific niche that you can passionately write about).
Someone once told me this: “Before you start a blog you must find your niche. Then, take your niche and niche it down even more.” In essence, you need to get really super specific.
For example, if I just called myself a “nurse blogger” that doesn’t say very much about who I am or what my niche is about (except, of course, that I am one of 2.2 million other nurses in the US). It also doesn’t tell you anything about how I might be able to add any value to a reader. It’s just too vague.
Instead I am a “nurse mom lifestyle blogger who helps other nurses take better care of themselves with an emphasis on self-care.” I like to think of myself as a nurse advocate. That sounds a little better, doesn’t it?
It seems counter-intuitive that niche-ing down helps bloggers perform better but it really does. It increases your engagement with a very specific group and you have the opportunity to be an expert in a small area. You just can’t be everything to everyone, and you can’t be an expert at everything.
2. What will your name be?
Many bloggers want their name to reflect their niche. I’ll use myself as an example again: my blog name is Mother Nurse Love and my niche is nurse moms and self love. Pretty self explanatory.
But it doesn’t have to be that way if you don’t want it to. Your name can be anything you want it to be (although it might be a little more interesting if you are able to have a little story behind it!).
It is, however, important to put a lot of consideration into your name for the following reasons:
- Your blog name is going to be with you for a long time. You will be known for it.
- It is difficult (but not impossible) to change it later on down the line.
- Bloggers generally use their blog names for their social media handles as well. Again, this just makes it harder for you to re-brand in the future (so start with the right name!)
Just make sure your name is not offensive or is sending a message that does not reflect you well.
(In the book The Nurses Guide To Blogging, co-author Kati Klieber, talks about how when she first started out her blogging name was Nurse Eye Roll. While many RN’s can relate to Nurse Eye Roll as a funny title, when she started getting more popular in the blogging world she became concerned that her blog name was sending the wrong message to brands and followers. She ultimately had to do a complete re-brand and changed her name to FreshRN. She is now more popular than ever the nurse blogging community, but I’m sure it was a huge pain in the butt at the time.)
A word of advice: I strongly suggest that you figure out what your blog name will be BEFORE setting up a WordPress blog with Bluehost.
3. What is your end goal with your blog?
Do you want a hobby blog? Or are you trying to start a side hustle/business? You don’t have to make this decision right away, but it’s something to keep in mind, especially if you are planning on growing an email list and monetizing your blog at some point.
First things first though. You need to starting writing blog posts. A lot of them. And they need to be good.
By now you have probably heard the phrase “content is king.” Well, frankly, it is. And if your end goal is to have a growing, thriving blog, then your writing and your voice need to be honed in nicely.
After you have a functioning website up and running then it might be a good time to start expanding your reach.
If your end goal is lots of website traffic you need to start with Pinterest AND focus on Search Engine Optimization
Pinterest will get you page views faster – but great SEO will rank you higher in Google searches and is great for the long haul. Right now I focus on both to grow my website traffic.
You may not know this, but Pinterest is NOT a social media platform. Its a visual search engine. It has changed tremendously over the last year and continues to have algorithm updates almost weekly (or so it seems!) Mastering Pinterest takes a lot of work and if you want more traffic sooner then you need to invest in a course.
Here is a great resource for you understand and better utilize Pinterest: a blogger colleague of mine, Megan Johnson, created Pinterest Ninja to help people increase their blog pages views by the thousands. I did the course when I was on maternity leave and have been able to increase my page views from 0 to 500-1000/day within a few months. Seriously, read some of her reviews.
Know this- if your goal IS to monetize your blog you will need to invest in a few courses to help move you forward. Otherwise, blogging is a lonely, frustrating island.)
4. How much time will you be able to dedicate?
Most adults have a full time job and/or kids that they need to manage before they can put work time into blogging. So as much as we intend to dive right into writing 7 posts a week, for many of us that is just not realistic.
I am a mother of 2 very small children, a nurse working 12 hour shifts, a wife and a homemaker. So, like most other working women bloggers, I’m super freaking busy 99% of the time. However, through practicing hyper-vigilant time management and forgoing a little shut eye at night I am managing to squeeze 5-10 hours into my blog every week. And I am still able to produce some decent and valuable content on a fairly consistent basis.
Eventually, my children with be in school and at that time I will be able to dedicate more time to content creation and website management. But for now I am still making an impact and earning a little money every day.
Try making a tentative blogging schedule for yourself and stick to it. Like I mentioned before, blogging is a marathon, not a sprint and it takes time to grow. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or trying to sell you something.
5. Are you OK with being vulnerable?
When I first started blogging it took me a week to write my first posts. The reason it took me so long was that I kept going back and censoring my post from its original content. Mostly I was afraid of offending someone. I kept thinking “what if they leave a negative comment on my site?
It took me a few months to stop being so hard on myself. After all, this is my blog, I own it, and therefore I am allowed to talk about whatever I want. If someone has something negative to say, so what? Besides, aren’t I trying to start a dialog for nurse moms?
(A blogging collage once shared some encouraging words: she said “you’ll know when your really doing well with your blog when you get a nasty comment on your site. That’s when the trolls start to find you.” Wise words.)
Vulnerability can be powerful for a new blogger. Once you decide that you are going to be authentic with your writing you actually gain momentum with your messaging. You allow your writing to be more creative and natural. It’s an inspired feeling and your readers will appreciate getting to know you better.
(A few final thoughts to mention before hitting publish: Are you hurting anyone or belittling a person or community? Words are powerful so use them to create positivity and to help find solutions to problems. Create value. Spread the love.)
Here are a few more posts you may be interested in reading!
Recommended blogging courses and resources for new bloggers:
You need to know by now – if your goal IS to monetize your blog you must invest in a few courses to help move you forward. Otherwise, blogging is a lonely, frustrating island.
- Nurse Blogging 101: Healthcare Media Academy – If you are a nurse or other healthcare blogger, I highly recommend starting with this one. Creators Brittany Wilson and Kati Kleber are both published, award-winning authors who are also considered the Godmothers in nurse blogging. They are especially great because they go into more detail about patient privacy concerns and other considerations that healthcare bloggers need to be aware of.
- Pinterest Ninja: If you want to understand how Pinterest can grow blog traffic you need this Pinterest Ninja Course. A blogger colleague of mine, Megan Johnson, created Pinterest Ninja to help people increase their blog pages views by the thousands. I did the course when I was on maternity leave and I was able to increase my blog traffic exponentially in just over one month. Seriously, read some of her reviews. Her course is invaluable.
by Sarah Jividen | Nov 29, 2018 | Blogging, Start A Blog
This post discusses how to start a WordPress blog on Bluehost and contains affiliate links. You can find my disclosure page here.
So you have something to say, do you? Why not start a blog?
Starting a blog has been one of the most exciting and challenging things I have ever done in my adult life. Its how I share my ideas and try to provide value to other nurse moms.
The idea to start a blog popped into my head when my daughter was about 6 months old. I was at the hospital, working another long, arduous 12 hour shift and I thought — there have got to be other ways that I can provide value as a nurse that don’t make me feel so horrible by the end of the day. (Mind you, I had just had a new baby who hadn’t quite mastered sleeping through the night, so I was probably a bit dramatic).
Problem was, I had no experience with blogging and didn’t consider myself particularity “tecky” at the time. But, I made it through college twice (first, for a BA in Journalism and then again for a BS in Nursing) and I thought that with enough effort, I might be able to figure it out.
I set out on a mission to create a blog where I could use my nursing degree to share self care ideas with other nurses who are also moms. And I’ve been enjoying this ride ever since.
I want to make it super easy for others like me to start a blog. So if you are an aspiring blogger like I once was, continue reading to see how easy it is to set up a blog of your own.
Give yourself about 60 minutes to set up your blog.
Put the kids to bed, kiss your spouse goodnight, and find a spot to get to work.
- Have a credit card ready (you need to pay for hosting)
- Have a website name already chosen
Your are going to need to consider your niche and come up with a name. Think about the message you want to share and how you think you can provide value to readers.
For example, my niche is Nurse Moms and my blog name is Mother Nurse Love. My name is pretty straightforward, although you can choose any name you want (it doesn’t have to have anything to do with your niche if you want).
What is hosting and why is it important?
The first thing you are going to do is set up hosting for your blog. A blog host is the company that provides the space on its servers and equipment to store your blog. There are free options out there but I would not use them for the following reasons:
- Free blogs appear less professional
- You would have to have the “blogger” or “wordpress” in your domain name.
- Your have less control over your blog when you use free hosting. CSS functions and theme selections are limited, and you have little control over expanding your websites capabilities.
- Free platforms often limit advertising options, which makes it harder to make money if the future if you plan to monetize your blog.
If you just want to explore the blogging world for fun and have no interest in making any profit or ever ranking in google, then by all means, get a free blog. But if that is not your cup of tea, I would strongly consider using Bluehost.
I use Bluehost for several reasons:
- Customer service is excellent
- Good pricing- you can start your blog for as low as $3.95 a month (its a great deal!)
- Free domain
- 24/7 support
- 30 day money back guarantee
Step-By-Step Instructions To Set Up Your Blog
I divided the following sections into two parts: Bluehost and WordPress. This guide instructs you on the exact way to set up your blog with screenshots to make it easy. Once you complete part 1 (Bluehost) the site will lead you directly into part 2 (WordPress). Its super easy!
- Go to Bluehost and hit the “Get Started Now” button
- Click the package you want
- Sign up for a domain name- Your domain name is your address on the internet, otherwise know as your URL. (For example, my domain name is mothernurselove.com)
- Enter your account information
- Enter your package information
- Give your payment information
- Choose a password
- Congratulations! You finished part 1! You will will taken to a screen to set up your WordPress blog. (See those steps below)
Ok, ready to get started?… Let’s go! Click on this link here.
#1. Click get started now
#2. Click the package you want
#3. Sign up for a domain name
#4. Enter your account information
#5. Choose package information
#6. Payment information
#7. Choose a password
#8. Congratulations! You are almost there! Now you need to ‘log in’ so you can set up your WordPress blog.
Part 2: WordPress
Now its time to set up your WordPress Blog. This part is actually much easier than it sounds. Bluehost pretty much does all the work for you. Just continue on the same screen you are on now and follow these steps.
- Bluehost will ask you you pick a theme. You can change it later if you want (I changed mine later and it was not a big deal).
- Click ‘Start Building.’
- Choose ‘Business’ or ‘Personal’
- Launch your site
- Log into WordPress and start blogging away, new blogger!
1. Pick a theme that inspires you
2. Click ‘Start Building’ to begin setting up your WordPress blog
3. Choose business or personal account
4. Launch your site
5. Log into WordPress and start blogging away, new blogger!
Additional Resources:
by Sarah Jividen | Nov 28, 2018 | Blogging, Blogging Resources, Start A Blog
This post contains affiliate links. You can find my disclosure page here.
Blogging can be overwhelming and confusing for a novice blogger. After all, with hundreds of thousands of blogs already swirling among the internet, how is a new blogger supposed to stand out?
When I was just starting out as a new blogger I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I searched the internet for information for months. Then, I became overwhelmed because there is almost too much information. Who is a new blogger supposed to trust?
Now that I have an established blog up and running I am often asked for recommendations on different tools, training, and other resources available for new bloggers. And I am always asked what tools I use to run my blogs.
These conversations encouraged me to put together a list of recommended blogging resources that have been instrumental in my success as a new blogger (I will add to this list as I continue to try new things!)
WordPress
Admittedly, I did not use WordPress when I was first starting my own blog.
Instead, I started with Squarespace (which is both easy to use and pretty, but not as good with SEO and has no plugin options). After I realized how many limitations I had I finally switched over to WordPress. It was a huge pain in the rear, it caused me a lot of unnecessary stress and I lost time I will never get back.
Here are a few reasons why WordPress is the way to go:
- Its beginner friendly: you do NOT need coding knowledge to create perfectly functioning website
- WordPress themes and plugins give you almost unlimited flexibility: Once you are more advanced with WordPress you are able to customize every aspect of your site as you see fit (or you can be like me and pay someone else to do it, the point being that you CAN customize your site more in the future).
- WordPress helps you rank higher in search engines: If your goal is high traffic to your site, then WordPress is the gold standard platform you need to be using. Not only is WordPress already well-optimized for search engines, but there is an amazing plugin called Yoast SEO that helps me make sure my SEO is on point.
- Support is available whenever you need it: There is a WordPress support forum and a ton of online tutorials and courses
(Read more about how to set up a WordPress website on Bluehost here)
A blog host is the company that provides the space on its servers and equipment to store your blog. There are free options out there but I would not use them for the following reasons:
- Free blogs appear less professional
- You would have to have the “blogger” or “wordpress” in your domain name.
- Your have less control over your blog when you use free hosting. CSS functions and theme selections are limited, and you have little control over expanding your websites capabilities.
- Free platforms often limit advertising options, which makes it harder to make money if the future if you plan to monetize your blog.
I recommend Bluehost for several reasons:
- Customer service is excellent.
- Good pricing- you can start your blog for as low as $3.95 a month. Bluehost is the is one of the top web hosting companies available and for $3.95 a month, its a good deal.
- Free domain
- 24/7 support
- 30 day money back guarantee
(Read more about how to set up a WordPress website on Bluehost here)
Yoast SEO WordPress plugin
Search Engine Optimization is a very important tool that helps bloggers rank higher on google and other search engines and helps readers find you on the internet.
Yoast SEO WordPress Plugin helps bloggers optimize for keywords, keyphrases and synonyms, and related keywords. When optimized correctly, it makes your website more visible to people looking for your specific content. You goal, if you want to be a successful blogger, is to rank #1 in search engine results. Yoast SEO Plugin can help you get that spot.
How it works: You can enter the keyword or keyphrase you’d like your post or page to rank for in the search results. Yoast SEO Plugin then runs a check on your content to check whether you’re using the keywords often enough – but not too often – and in the right spots.
(I love this plugin so much that I pay annually for the premium version)
I am almost completely paperless, except for my editorial calendar (which I use as a hard copy for pretty much everything that goes into my blog). You can find editorial calendars online, but I have found that by using my hard copy of EPIC blog and my scheduler on WordPress that I stay super organized. I always manage to stay on top of deadlines.
At some point I would love to create my own editorial calendar for bloggers. Until then, my EPIC blog editorial calendar is super helpful!
Keyword Planner
If you ever want to rank in a google search you must research your keywords. Otherwise, how do you know if anyone is actually searching for the keywords you are trying to rank for?
Keyword Planner is actually a FREE Google Ads tool for advertisers. However, it also makes a great tool for bloggers to find the keywords that people type into Google.
Pinterest
Did you know that Pinterest is a search engine, NOT a social media platform? (Its actually more like Google then it is Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!).
Pinterest has been so helpful for my blog growth. In fact, many bloggers I know are making a lot (if not most) of their income from pinning on Pinterest.
Pinterest group boards are great for generating more traction to your blog (a group board is a community board where other pinners can pin and, if popular, can give your pins more exposure).
Keep in mind that SEO is the ultimate goal for blog growth, but Pinterest can help you gain website traffic in the short-term.
Check out my Pinterest board at www.pinterest.com/mothernurselove and if you are a nurse blogger please join my Nurse Bloggers Group Board!
Pinterest has changed tremendously over the last year and seems have algorithm updates almost weekly. Mastering Pinterest takes a lot of work and if you want more traffic sooner then you want to invest in a course.
If you want to understand how Pinterest can grow blog traffic you need the Pinterest Ninja Course.
A blogger colleague of mine, Megan Johnson, created Pinterest Ninja to help people increase their blog pages views by the thousands. I did the course when I was on maternity leave and I was able to increase my blog traffic from 0-1000/day in just over one month. Seriously, read some of her reviews. Her course is invaluable.
(You need to know by now – if your goal IS to monetize your blog you must invest in a few courses to help move you forward. Otherwise, blogging is a lonely, frustrating island.)
If you are a blogger chances are you are super busy and don’t have time for pinning on Pinterest. With Tailwind, you won’t have to find time daily to post Pins. Sit down once a week (or month) and let Tailwind post for you – at the best times every day.
In addition, Pinterest analytics can tell you which content is resonating with pinners. So you can make more of the kind people are interacting with, and make improvements to the ones that aren’t.
Tailwind does all this:
- Schedules your posts
- Posts at the best times for engagement
- Discovers related content you can share
- Connects you with pinners to share content in Tribes (I love Tailwind Tribes- it is a premium feature that gives you additional reach with Tribes boards)
- Amplifies your reach
- And you can measure your results in analytics!
Tailwind saves me valuable time so I can spend more time on other important tasks, like content creation.
PicMonkey allows me to make amazing graphic designs for my blog and Pinterest account. I also use it for making blog post headers, watermarks, Instagram photos, my logo, and so many other things I need a graphic design for.
With PicMonkey I can make my graphic designs easily:
- I pick a pre-sized canvas or customizable template
- I can add fonts, graphics, logos, and textures.
- My designs are auto-saved to the PicMonkey hub for later.
Check out my Pinterest board at www.pinterest.com/mothernurselove to see how much I have been able to design with PicMonkey.
Click this link to sign-up for a free PicMonkey trial today!
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform that helps me share email and ad campaigns with my email list. It took me a while to start my email list and I regret not starting my email list sooner!
Mailchimp is ideal for beginners who want to grow their lists and create campaigns because it is FREE until you have up to 2,000 total subscribers (at that point you have to pick a paid plan).
Amazon affiliates
Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways people can make money online. It is a strategy that bloggers can use to earn a commission by promoting other people’s products. For example, if I find a product or service I like, I can promote it to my readers and earn a small commission for the referral.
I really think that Amazon affiliates is the easiest platform for new bloggers to start using affiliate marketing. Its the biggest affiliate program out there and you can find almost anything on Amazon. (Read more about why Amazon is a great affiliate for new bloggers).
Trello
Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, you can look at everything you are working on and where you are in the process.
I am almost entirely paper-free (except for my EPIC blog editorial calendar). Trello makes it very easy for me to keep ALL my to do lists organized, right from my phone or computer. Best of all, if you start working with a Virtual Assistant or another blogger on a progect you can easily add contributors to your Trello account.
Unsplash
Need free stock photos? Unsplash is a website dedicated to sharing royalty-free stock photography from over 100,000 contributing photographers. I use Unsplash photos frequently for my Pinterest graphics and blog header photos.
As a brand new blogger you don’t need to be spending any money on stock photography. However, as your blog grows you are going to want to look into paying a few dollars for your images (eventually you start to recognize the free photos from the stock photos because everyone else is using them too).
Upwork & Firver
Upwork and Frver are global freelancing platforms where you can hire people online who can help you grow your blog. You can find a freelancer to do pretty much anything you want them to for your blog for a fee.
I just hired my first freelancer through Upwork recently and I was very happy with the affordable assistance I received with a few technical issues I was having on my blog. It saved me hours!
Courses
As with any new business, you will need to invest a little money so you can learn the ropes from people who actually know what they are talking about.
Here are two blogging experts that I can, in good faith, recommend. (If you don’t believe me, look at their recommendations. They are amazing!).
- Building A Framework: By Abby Lawson- This was the first blogging course I ever took and it pretty much covers everything you need to know about setting up a blog from scratch. It is easy to follow and highly actionable.
- Nurse Blogging 101: Healthcare Media Academy – If you are a nurse or other healthcare blogger, I highly recommend starting with this one. Creators Brittany Wilson and Kati Kleber are both published, award-winning authors who are also considered the Godmothers in nurse blogging. They are especially great because they go into more detail about patient privacy concerns and other considerations that healthcare bloggers need to be aware of.
I will keep adding to this list as I find additional recommended resources for new bloggers. Good luck blogging and let me know if you have any questions!
Recommended Reading
by Sarah Jividen | Nov 22, 2018 | Blogging, Nurse Blogger, Start A Blog
This post contains affiliate links. You can find my disclosure page here.
9 Helpful Blogging Tips For New Bloggers
Tip #1. Use WordPress
Admittedly, I did not use WordPress when I was first starting my own blog.
Instead, I started with Squarespace (which is both easy to use and pretty, but not as good with SEO and has no plugin options). Once I realized how limited I was with Squarespace I moved over to WordPress. And I have been so much happier since. It was a huge pain in the rear, it caused me a lot of unnecessary stress and I lost time I will never get back.
Here are a few reasons why WordPress is the way to go:
- WordPress is beginner friendly: you do NOT need coding knowledge to create a perfectly functioning website
- WordPress themes and plugins give you almost unlimited flexibility: Once you are more advanced with WordPress you are able to customize every aspect of your site as you see fit (or you can be like me and pay someone else to do it, the point being that you CAN customize your site more in the future).
- WordPress helps you rank higher in search engines: If your goal is high traffic to your site, then WordPress is the gold standard platform you need to be using. Not only is WordPress already well-optimized for search engines, but there is an amazing plugin called Yoast SEO that helps me make sure my SEO is on point.
- Support is available whenever you need it: There is a WordPress support forum and a ton of online tutorials and courses
If you have not started your blog and want a step-by-step guide to setting up a WordPress blog on Bluehost check this out! (I go into more detail about why you need a WordPress blog and why web-hosting with Bluehost is the best thing you can do as a new blogger.
Tip #2. Find your niche.
In my very early beginner blogging days I had no focus and wrote about everything: my favorite roasted pumpkin seed recipe, how limiting social media helps brain function, all aspects of motherhood, how to travel with toddlers, my nursing career, yoga, toddler foods…. you get the point. I was pretty much all over the place.
Then a blogger friend said to me: “You must find your niche. Then, take your niche and niche it down even more.” In essence, she was telling me to get really super specific about who my audience was going to be.
For example, if I just called myself a “nurse blogger” that doesn’t say very much about who I am or what my niche is about (except, of course, that I am one of 2.2 million other nurses in the US). Its just too vague.
So, I refer to myself as a “nurse mom lifestyle blogger who helps other nurses take better care of themselves with an emphasis on self-care.” I like to think of myself as a nurse mom advocate. That sounds a little better, doesn’t it?
Having a specific niche increases your engagement with a very specific group and gives you the opportunity to be an expert in a small area. You just cant be everything to everyone, and you cant be an expert at everything.
Tip #3. Just keep writing
What do you do when you have been blogging for months and you’ve just run into your 20th roadblock?
What ever you do, don’t quit!
Here are a few reasons why you need to just keep writing (even when you feel like giving up):
- Building something unique takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and NO blog is an overnight success.
- You are learning new (and valuable) skills. There is a huge learning curve to blogging. As time goes by, you will learn lots more. Your writing will improve and you will start to build relationships with other bloggers.
- You are closer to making money than you think (it sure is fun for me to see that I am making a little money every single day from something I created all on my own!)
Every single dollar you make through your blog was won entirely by your own efforts. You didn’t have to wait around for someone to employ you: instead, you created something valuable all on your own.
Even if you’re only making a couple of dollars a month, it’s something. And if you’re making nothing at all, it’s just a matter of time.
Tip #4. Write about what you already know.
Don’t try and write about topics that you know nothing about. This is one of the best tips for new bloggers who are trying to find their “voice.”
For example, if you are not already an expert in the kitchen, then you probably don’t want to compete with other food bloggers (that is a highly saturated niche already!).
You also don’t want to write a post called “My Top 10 Favorite Dinner Recipes That All Children Will Love!” It would take you ten times longer to write recipe posts then it would for someone who is awesome at cooking and passionate about sharing recipes. You will burnout as a blogger. Fast.
Instead, think of what you are already an expert at and go from there. What are you passionate about?
Tip #5. Provide value
Quality content is king. It is the ONE thing that keeps visitors coming back to your blog.
Strive to over-deliver on the value you provide with your blog. Otherwise, why would anyone want (or need) to continue reading about what you say.
Quality writing is good, but are you giving your readers something that can be used to help them somehow in their daily lives? Are you helping to answer a question about something they need to know about. Its all about value.
Think about what phrases your readers would type into Google and then go from there. Not only will it help you with SEO but it also helps you fill a void for a topic that a reader on the internet need answers to.
Here are a few good delivery methods to easily provide value to readers about a topic you already know a lot about:
- Make a checklist for your readers
- Create a resource guide
- Use bullet points in you posts to easily separate points
- Write an ebook
Tip #6. Practice makes perfect
I have a secret that no one told me in my beginning months of blogging…
Your first 5 -10 posts might actually suck. Really, bad actually.
In fact, I cringe when I look at my first blog posts. Not only were they full of improperly constructed sentences, they had sneaky grammatical errors that my brain wasn’t used to sniffing out. And they kept popping out even after 2 or 3 post revisions!
But, alas! There is great news! The more you blog, the better you get. I promise! Over time not only will your writing improve, but you also won’t spend a week writing and editing a single post. You’ll get better, faster, more creative, more clever and more confident each time you push “publish” on a new post.
Sometimes I go back and think what the heck was I thinking when I wrote that? On a positive note it is great to see how far I have come in the blogging world. Everybody has to start somewhere.
Tip #7. Invest in courses
As with any new business, you will need to invest a little money so you can learn the ropes from people who actually know what they are talking about. When deciding where to invest money, I highly recommend focusing on three things:
- Invest in courses that will help you understand how to set up a functioning blog
- Invest in learning that will (eventually) help you make money from your blog
- Invest in courses that will help you simplify your life and blogging business
I am a blogger who has made friends with many other bloggers who happen to create GREAT courses. Here are two blogging experts that I can, in good faith, recommend. (If you don’t believe me, look at their recommendations. They are amazing!).
- Building A Framework: Abby Lawson– This was the first blogging course I ever took and it pretty much covers everything you need to know about setting up a blog from scratch. It is easy to follow and highly actionable.
- Nurse Blogging 101: Healthcare Media Academy – If you are a nurse or other healthcare blogger, I highly recommend starting with this one. Creators Brittany Wilson and Kati Kleber are both published, award-winning authors who are also considered the Godmothers in nurse blogging. They are especially great because they go into more detail about patient privacy concerns and other considerations that healthcare bloggers need to be aware of.
Tip #8. Quit doing other time wasting activities
Life is busy, but there are also a lot of distractions out there. The number 1 biggest time waster of them all = social media! I know people who spend hours on Instagram every single day, yet they swear they are so busy that they never have time to get anything done! I bet if you quit using social media for 1 week you would find that you are suddenly so much more productive. And probably happier and living more in the present to boot!
If you are going to be a blogger you have to get really good at using your time wisely. Be overprotective about your time. My time is the most important asset I have and it is important to me. As a result, I rarely use Instagram anymore. Hopefully one day I will be able to source out a lot of my work (except content creation, of course), but until then I have a lot of work to do. There is no time to waste.
This is an excellent tip for new bloggers, as well as anyone trying to find more time for more productive activities.
Tip #9. Have fun.
Blogging is not always all work and no play. Reach out and make other blogging friends. Don’t take your writing too seriously. Remember, blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to be in it for the long game in order to be successful.
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!
Recommended reading:
