Ultimate 5 Point Checklist for Beginner Bloggers:
You see people all over social media telling their story of how they were able to quit their 9-5 and double their income in 3 months.
They say things like digital marketing, affiliate links, and blogging for business.
Now, before we get into the checkpoints and why you’re here, i’d like to preface something that is very important to note about blogging.
This is not a get rich quick over night project. It requires a lot of time, effort and discomfort.
Its a tremulous climb to financial and cubicle freedom.
BUT: If you are willing to stick it out and do what it takes, to show up, grow, and invest yourself 100%..then your financial sky knows no limit.
So now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get into the ultimate blogging checklist for beginners.
Think of this as the vetting period. Like picking the perfect nail color before your manicure.
The Ultimate 5 Point Checklist to Blogging for Beginner’s:
This post contains affiliate links. That means I may earn a commission from items purchased through those links at no additional cost to you.
✓ CHECK 1: Choosing the right niche
A niche is the specific topic you are going to base all of your content around. This is a critical first step that will require some time and thought, but will save you so much stress down the road. So don’t rush through it.
Some things to ask yourself when picking a niche:
Is this something I am interested in?
Look, if you aren’t interested in to the topic, then it will show up tenfold in your content. Not to mention your drive to pump out articles week after week will quickly fade.
The more interested you are in a topic the more that will come out in your writing and keep your readers attention.
Which brings us to the next point:
Is this niche profitable?
Is this something you could see turning into a business with full time income? While blogging about what soil types are best for gardening may be a passion of yours, can your truthfully say that topic is scalable?
Something important to keep in mind here however: Don’t let profit be your sole reason.
I know I sound like i’m contradicting myself here, but as said earlier, blogging takes a lot of energy. While it would be a shame to not make money off your incredible writing and expertise, you still need to be passionate about what your writing about.
If money if your only drive, you may get discouraged.
And lastly,
Are people actually interested in this topic?
This is a balance: What you are interested in and what your readers will want to engage with.
Is the niche you chose in high demand? A way to research this is by using a social media to research your niche.
You can do this by choosing a platform you prefer, and typing your idea niche in the search bar.
If you are choosing fitness, just type in “fitness” and click on accounts. Look at the first few that pop up and see their following and engagement. You can also do this with hashtags, the same way.
You’ll notice a niche like fitness has a large number of successful accounts, with great potential for products and profit.
By doing a few days of research before you decide your niche could be the difference in your blogs success.
✓ CHECK 2: Researching your Audience:
This one takes some time and planning, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Before you lock into your niche, get to know your audience.
One of the ways I began to do this before I invested a single dollar in my blog was through Instagram.
I had an idea of the niche I wanted to enter, then started following accounts.
I went right to the big accounts and did a little reverse engineering from there.
Scroll their feed, see their highlights, take notice on what types of post performed best, and what performed worst.
You don’t need to make an excel spread sheet but make a few notes.
This will pay off in the long run. When you see what people like you can better target your content.
✓ CHECK 3: Monetization Strategy
You’ve put all this work into creating a beautiful blog, you’ve written a few articles, and have months more to come..
And crickets.
No income. You’re confused, because you see people making thousands of dollars a month with a blog that looks pretty darn similar to yours. So what’s happening?
You didn’t take the steps to actually monetize your blog.
Starting, writing, editing, and publishing are only one piece to the pie. So before you even put all those hours into working on the perfect article, think about how you want to turn your blog into income.
Do you have a course you want to sell, or create? Do you want to drive traffic and run ads? Do you want to share products you love through affiliate links?
Getting this thought out in the beginning will save you so much time, as every article will have to include different things for different strategies.
✓ CHECK 4: Content Strategy
No matter what monetization strategy you use, your blog needs traffic. It needs viewers, people coming to it and looking around. Without traffic, your blog will not see much financial success.
So how do you get traffic?? This is where the powerful tool of social media will be your trusty dance partner.
In my opinion, here are the top 4 BEST platforms for driving traffic to your blog:
The mecca for all bloggers. Equivalent to google but more visually appealing, making your chances of success greater.
It works like this: People go to Pinterest with a specific problem in mind. They type it in, and scroll the pretty images (or “pins) that pop up. The way to get your pin ranked higher in the feed is through catchy images and keywords.
More reading on how to best Optimize your Pin Post
I’m linking these two together, because their usability is almost the same. Both are great for building trust with your audience.
Instagram and TikTok reward for catchy, short video content, that’s both appealing, and educational. I recommend content batching and coming up with a strategy so you never have to scramble for a post.
Rule of thumb: The more you show up on your platforms, the stronger your following will become. People want to connect with real people. I know showing your face is scary at first, but trust me, it gets easier!
Video – Tips for social media strategy
A major player in building a brand. If you are choosing a niche that has a lot of educational tips and strategies then YouTube may be the best platform to get started on.
Similar to instagram and TikTok in that you can upload shorts, only YouTube has the option of posting longer content. YouTube has a loyal following base so if you build an audience, you could see tremendous growth in your business.
There is also LinkedIn, which is great for promoting affiliate links and building authority for your business, and Twitter, which depending on your niche, can be a great platform to use.
However, since there is so much to learn and get a handle on in the beginning of your blogging career, choose 1-3 to get started and build from there.
✓ CHECK 5: Legal Requirements
Ever heard of terms like copyrighting, attribution, intellectual property, privacy policies, and disclaimers?
Well these are all things that you will have to familiarize yourself with before you start blogging. A great rule of thumb, it’s better to give credit, make disclaimers than to not and hope for the best.
It’s not that much extra work to write a disclaimer page and include the proper *notes* in your articles that you have affiliate links.
Termly – A place to help you write your disclaimer page
The reason is simply that companies require that you are transparent with your audience about your commissions.
Further reading – How to blog Legally
Legal Tips – Every Blogger Should Know
Starting a blog can be such a rewarding journey!
Not only does it feel amazing when you finally hit “publish” on a post and the world is now open to reading your thoughts, but the potential income on this is truly endless!
If you have a passion for writing, or an expertise you’ve been dying to share with the world, now is your time to start!
Today, in 2023, the world of digital marketing and E-commerce is one of the largest growing industries. Don’t wait!
If you found any of this helpful please be sure to let me know in the comments below or share this article with your friends and family!
