In this blog post, I am talking all about the things that you do not need to succeed in blogging.

Starting a blogging business is easy.  You sign up for hosting, create your blog, and boom you are in business.  There is no office space to rent, inventory to buy, or a huge monetary risk, right? 

Starting is the easy part, but actually building a profitable blogging business is where a lot of people get lost.

There are a lot of hats you need to wear at the beginning. It can be really tough to know where to focus first and how to block out all the distractions online!  

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As an entrepreneur juggling many different responsibilities, you need to be extremely careful not to get distracted by the latest and greatest trends – aka shiny object syndrome.  You start focusing on one thing and then jump to something else.  Constantly chasing different things and not following through on anything. 

I have gotten caught up in this so many times and if this sounds like you too, don’t worry it’s normal.  The first step is recognizing and becoming aware of it in your daily life as you move forward.

Are the things you are doing each day moving the needle forward in your business? Or are you just focusing on things that keep you busy and stuck?

What you don’t need to succeed with blogging:

1.  Expert Status/Credentials

You do not need to have “Expert” status to succeed in blogging. Nor do you need certifications or special degrees to be qualified to teach others how to do something (With the exception of things like giving actual medical advice!)

A lot of clients I work with struggle with imposter syndrome. It is the voice saying, Who am I to be teaching this? 

If you feel this way too, let me tell you that this type of thinking is also normal.  I absolutely felt this way when I started my parenting blog business, but the truth is that you just need to be a few steps ahead of the ideal person you are trying to help.

You do not need to know everything about everything, you just need to be a few steps ahead of your ideal person. This is so important to understand if you do not feel qualified to teach what you know.

This is also why niching down is so important! 

For example, if you have a blog about photography for beginner photographers, you don’t need to know all the advanced techniques and strategies that pro photographers use.  You don’t need to have gone to photography school or be a professional photographer. 

Sure, you need to have photography experience of some type, even if it’s just knowledge you have gained from having a photography hobby over the past few years, but all you need is enough to be a few steps ahead of your ideal person.

If someone tells me that they want to start a photography blog, my response would be that that is way too broad of a niche. They absolutely need to niche down.  You need to get specific on who you want to serve and what area of the photography niche you want to focus on. 

The way to beat imposter syndrome is to teach someone a few steps behind you. Start by helping a few people for free. Focus on getting them results which will then build your credibility and confidence. 

If you are waiting to take action until you feel qualified enough, you will never get started!

2. A polished website

You need a self-hosted website but it does not need to be a deluxe website with all the bells and whistles by any means.

A lot of people get started building a blogging website and compare theirs to people who have had a blog for a long time and have built up their blogging business enough to hire a web designer to redesign their site. 

They end up spending hours and weeks trying to make their site look perfect before sharing it with the world instead of creating content to build their audience. 

This is a mistake I definitely made in the past and I don’t want you to fall into this trap!

Done is so much better than perfect. People are much more interested in the value you provide than what your website looks like. 

The only things you really need on your website to start are:

• A home page with a clear statement that conveys who you help and how you help them.
• A blog section. 
• A freebie to start building your email list asap

3. Tons of social media followers

A lot of people think that social media is where you want to build your business and that the bigger your audience on these platforms, the more success you’ll have. In all honesty- followers and likes on social media are vanity metrics.  Followers do not equal sales and likes do not pay the bills!  

There is a place for social media in your business if you do it right, in that you should be using it to add value and get people on your email list. This is where followers turn into leads – people who are essentially interested in what you are teaching. 

Once they are on your email list you can build a know, like, and trust factor with your audience and provide solutions to their problems with your products.

Followers do not equal sales, leads do. Check out this quick video to learn more about this. You only need a handful of engaged leads to begin profiting from your blogging business.  

4. A ton of traffic

Traffic takes time to build if you are doing it organically which I recommend when you are first establishing yourself. 

There are several free traffic strategies that you can use to drive people to your site for free including things like Pinterest, YouTube, and Search engine optimization strategies (SEO).

Paid ads are great once you are more established, but the point is that you don’t need a ton of traffic or page views to be successful. 

Don’t wait until you have loads of traffic coming to your site to start to monetize your blog.  If you do, you’ll miss opportunities to help the people you do have coming to your site in the beginning.  

With my first blog, The Highly Sensitive Child, I began to monetize it within the first 6 months.  With this blog, The Creative Impact, that I started right before Covid hit, I made over 1k in my second month with less than 20 visitors a day to my blog and only 15 subscribers! 

5. A lot of money

You can’t expect to start a business for free without any start-up costs and make an income from it. Every business has start-up costs, but the good news is that a blogging business requires very little investment upfront. 

The only two things you absolutely need to purchase at the beginning are a domain and hosting.  

There are free hosting platforms you can start with, but as someone who has been blogging for over six years and has tried them all, trust me when I tell you that you want a self-hosted site if you are starting a blogging business.

I highly recommend using WordPress.org with Bluehost hosting, which gives you a free domain for your first year.  Check out my step-by-step blog setup tutorial here.

6. Everything figured out & perfect before starting 

 

Perfection is paralyzing and it will keep you stuck from moving forward.  If you have big dreams for your life but are struggling to move forward with them and take the necessary steps to make them a reality, you might be struggling in this area.

Perfect doesn’t exist!

You will never have it all figured out.  7 years into blogging and I am still learning, failing, and tweaking as I go.  There is always something that you can do better.

If you are waiting until you have everything figured out or your big idea is perfect before you take action, you’ll never, EVER get started.   The focus needs to be on progress over perfection. 

Now that you are clear on the 6 things that you don’t need to succeed with blogging, it’s time to ask yourself …

Are you actually focusing on the right things?

If you want help laying the right foundation for a profitable blogging business, go through my FREE Blogging Business Bootcamp. Sign up below.