Rug | Galvanized Metal Planter | Mattress Cover
This is the second post in my “becoming a blogger” series. I’m writing these articles in order to share some tips I’ve learned so far in hopes that it might help others get started on their own blogging journey.
I have never been able to say “I love my job” until now! I would love for everyone to be able to say those words. Those are words I tell my daughter to think about every time we talk about college and degrees. But, the reality is, not many people can say this and it took me until I was almost forty to get here.
As I mentioned in the previous article, Henry has several years of experience with blogging, but I am relatively new. But in the eight months, I have been doing this, I’ve learned that there are three things that one must do to have a successful blog.
Create Quality Content
The main thing to keep in mind when producing content is your audience. Your goal should be to create something that will help them in some way. This could be in the form of inspiration or some kind of tutorial.
If you’ve been one of our readers for very long, you know that we try to create a good variety of home-related content. But our best-performing articles are our DIY tutorials. There is a couple of reasons for this. Tutorials are helpful, and Henry goes the extra mile when putting them together.
For example, he could have easily gotten by with only using photos in our porch swing DIY tutorial, but he went the extra mile and added 3D diagrams with measurements.
This added to the overall quality of the article and helped lead to it being one of our best performing pieces of content.
The more helpful and higher quality an article is, the more it will be shared by your readers. And more shares lead to more traffic for your blog.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to create 3D models, but try to go the extra mile with your content and do what others aren’t willing to do.
Stay Consistent
Consistency is a big part of being successful in blogging. The more content you have, the quicker you will grow and the more people will see your content.
Early on, we didn’t do a good job at this. One week, we would post two articles, and the next, only one. But now, we’ve decided to do three no matter what.
I know everybody has different schedules and different amounts of time they can dedicate to a blog. So even if you can’t do three posts a week, try to do two. The important thing is to set a number and stick to it.
Consistency is hard and takes lots of time, but is required for steady growth.
So how can you stay consistent with limited time?
Henry owns his own web development company and I do help him quite a bit on the finance end, not to mention running around with two children that are involved in lots of extra activities. So, Plank and Pillow had to start as a side job – a side job that wasn’t making any money. That did not mean we could treat it like a side job though. Yes, we had to work in the hours when we could, but the work still had to be there.
Henry and I sit down on the weekend and make a schedule for our Instagram Posts and weekly articles. We even sometimes get all the pictures taken on Saturday. This allows us to have content upfront and not be so stressed throughout the week. I write a majority of the blog posts which I normally do first thing after the kids leave for school.
As for projects, Henry will work longer days on his business to allow for a couple of project days for Plank & Pillow DIYs and tutorials. We knew it would be hard, but we knew it could work.
Be Patient
Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a journey that is not easy, and it takes time.
I’m sure people thought I was crazy for quitting a teaching career to start blogging. I mean how would I make any money doing that, right? Or, why spend all of this time doing something and not getting paid. How could blogging even be rewarding like teaching? I am quite sure this is what some were thinking, but unlike me, they didn’t see the finish line.
You see, when you run a marathon, it takes lots of training and patience. You aren’t going to go and run 26.1 miles on the first day. It takes long hours of training to get there.
I’m not going to lie, there were many days I even asked myself why I was doing this. I felt like because I was so small, who would think I had any advice to give them. Who would want to even look at my post or read an article I spent lots of time writing? Those things will enter your head, but you have to be strong and know that the race is long and patience is the key.
So, what kept me going? I had seen success with my husband, who is my biggest cheerleader. Seeing and reading success stories was a great way to encourage and help me have patience and remind me this would not come overnight.
I was reading an article the other day about a blogger who blogged for two years without making one cent. Now in his fifth year, he is making six figures a month. Now that is patience that paid off.
Another big thing that kept me going was the people. This journey has brought me some wonderful friends! Being surrounded by a tribe of like-minded bloggers and Social Media Influencers has always been so encouraging.
And the followers…let me just say I am so humbled every day by the comments, dms, and emails we receive. To know your advice or picture inspired someone to take a leap of faith and build a home, remodel a home, or even do a DIY for the first time is the most rewarding part of the job.
So do you feel like you are ready to get started? In the coming weeks, Henry will discuss exactly how to get your blog up and running and some tips and tricks to get it growing.
Then it will be a great place to lead us into where we are now and some of our success stories. We still have several more tips to share.
13 Comments
Great post. I am a new blogger as well and I struggle with being consistent. It definitely takes hard work. I’m hoping that I can make an income from doing what I love.
May 2, 2019 at 2:03 amThanks. Glad you liked it! Staying consistent is very hard. Life happens and it’s easy to get side tracked. Hang in there and keep going. It will pay off. 🙂
May 2, 2019 at 2:33 amAwesome part 2!! Thanks so much for sharing and encouraging! I’m so excited for this adventure and reading your article really motivates me all over again! 💜
May 2, 2019 at 3:36 amHey Leah! I am so happy this motivates you, this is what I had hoped to do in writing this. It was articles like this one the kept me going and really encouraged me.
May 2, 2019 at 3:45 amMay I ask what program you guys use for the 3D modeling? My hubby is a woodworker, and we get asked all the time for his plans. Funny thing is we never have plans! I come up with the design, we discuss as he builds and make adjustments along the way and tada…finished project! I REALLY like how clear your 3D models are and the tutorials are so easy to follow along. Thanks so much again!!
May 7, 2019 at 8:53 pmHi Leah. I use Sketchup. They have a free web based version. It can do pretty much everything you need. However, I did have to purchase the pro version when I started doing the house renders. Hope that helps!
May 7, 2019 at 11:53 pmthanks Henry!! Yes, this helps a lot!!
May 8, 2019 at 9:11 pmDipping into blogging this season with our new construction home. Some say the time is worth the money but no one talks about how much money can be made. Wish we knew this answer before we jumped all in. Love your site, keep doing great things!
May 2, 2019 at 6:37 pmThat’s great! Going in, you just need to keep in mind that it will take a while for your blog to gain traction. And that’s the difficult part: working on something with out making money. But you can figure for every 100,000 page views per month, you can make around $1000 from display advertising. Also if you are getting that much traffic, you should be able to do sponsored posts as well, and you can charge $1000 and up with that much traffic. Plus there are affiliate links you can add to your articles which should bring in a couple of thousand. So with 100k page views, it’s possible to make around $5k per month, or more. Hope that helps!
May 3, 2019 at 1:55 pmI love this series. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, ideas and processes. So helpful when considering whether or not to take that leap. I know it’s a lot of work, so it’s good to read the good bad and ugly of it all. 🙂
May 24, 2019 at 1:36 pmWhat an inspiring and approachable post! Thank you for sharing your insight Brooke.
June 30, 2019 at 11:29 amI’ve started a blog twice and have dreamed of having success for years but the truth is I’ve never invested the time, consistency and effort as you speak of. Always miss placing my priorities and making excuses like being too busy with the kids or work or what do I really have to contribute… You spoke directly to me in this post. Most sincerely thankful to have found it, and your account, at this time!
Thank you for your article. I am a teacher too and am hoping to start a blog to fulfill my creativity. I appreciate your honesty about the realities of this new adventure. I am in my 40’s and look forward to loving this new job!
July 6, 2019 at 2:22 pmI’m hooked! I have thought about a blog for year. Never took the leap seriously. I’m gonna follow your series and learn and go for it!! Btw.. I love your porch!! So dreamy!
July 7, 2020 at 12:05 am