Every Blogging Task You Need to Do (In Order!) to Build A Profitable Blog
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Should I Start A Blog in 2020?
Why You Should Stop Waiting to Get Started
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I hear a lot of reasons why women are waiting to start their blogs.
It always baffles me, because they WANT to be business owners. They love writing. They want to work from home. And yet, they tell me they are waiting.
"I'm still trying to think of the right name for my blog…"
"I'm trying to get over my fear of not being good enough. I've written down a few ideas that I'd really like to blog about, but honestly I'm just so scared to start."
"I keep holding back because I feel like it’s still not “finished.” I guess I don’t want people to judge an “unfinished” blog or lose potential readers because my blog isn’t polished enough. "
"I have been planning and planning my blog for a while but just can’t bring myself to create & launch it. I think I’m scared it’s going to fail and not be successful."
Believe me that I understand limiting beliefs and how they hold us back. I have had, and still have, my fair share of them! That being said, I have to recognize these for what they are.
Limiting beliefs are falsehoods we concoct in our own brains that stop us from doing things we really want to do.
Our lizard brains are really good at stopping us from going out on limbs. After all, it's sole purpose is to keep us alive, and that means to stop us from doing things that are "scary".
This is why it is so important for us to push past what our instincts are telling us.
Yes, you should feel uncomfortable. Yes, you should feel scared.
If you're not, you aren't making (enough) progress and you aren't getting closer to your dreams.
I will tell you that feeling scared and uncomfortable is a part of the process that never really goes away. The bigger your blog gets and the more popular you become, the more there is at stake.
You will need to continue to learn, push yourself, and feel a little out of your element.
I'm saying this in the hope that I can provide you with a little bit of relief.
It doesn't get easier. You just decide to keep going despite your feelings.
I hope that isn't too disheartening. Rather, I hope that you feel like you fit in with the rest of us and that we all share in the same journey.
In this post, I want to share six big reasons why you shouldn't wait a day longer to start your blog.
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1. Time is Going to Pass Anyway
One of the things I used to worry about was how long it would take my blog to become successful.
What if it takes years?? I fretted.
Then I read a post by Steve Pavlina that changed my entire mindset on this. He was referring to why you should get to work on a goal you really want, and he said, "Time is going to pass anyway."
I thought that was an incredible insight, even if it is simple. It doesn't matter if it takes your blog one year or five years to become successful. That time is going to pass anyway, so you might as well start making progress.
2. You Will Never Have the Perfect Plan in Place
This one is for all of us perfectionists out there.
Please, please stop waiting until you have the perfect plan in place to launch your blog! It's never going to happen.
As you start your blogging journey, you're going to continue to learn new things every day for the rest of your blogging days.
It is absolutely impossible for you to create the perfect plan now to start yourself out on the right foot. It just doesn't work that way.
If you're thinking that you need to learn more, research more, or create some amazing blogging plan to get started, stop!
This is another one of those insidious limiting beliefs that keeps us from ever taking the very first step. You can certainly create a plan for your business, and you should, but just realize that that plan is going to change over and over again as you learn new information.
You simply can't create the perfect one today to get started.
One thing I've learned about successful bloggers is that it really only boils down to persistence.
Ramit Sethi said it perfectly in his “Big Idea” speech at FinCon 2019. He said, “If you're going to succeed, you'll figure it out.” It has nothing to do with the technical know-how. It has to do with persistence and having a point of view that sets you apart. You can watch the video here.
3. You're Going to Be Really Bad At It in the Beginning
One of the most common limiting beliefs I hear is where women think they aren't good enough.
They think their writing isn't good enough, they think their topic isn't interesting enough, and they aren't sure that they are cut out to be a successful blogger. Hence, they're worried that they will fail.
Now I know it's super en vogue these days to tell people that they are perfect exactly the way they are and they should never change. But you know what? I'm not going to do that. It's a sweet sounding lie.
All of us, all of us, suck at blogging in the beginning.
We're just not very good at it! Blogging is a skill just like anything else and it's something you'll get better at with practice.
So don't let the fear of failure hold you back from getting started.
Yes, you probably aren't going to create awesome stuff from the very get-go. None of us do. The point is that you keep going and keep improving and then one day you look back and realize you're doing a really darn good job.
4. You Will Still Have to Continue Learning as a Six Figure Blogger
Another perfectionist tendency is to try to learn everything there is to learn before you get started.
You think... If I just learn everything I need to know from the beginning, I won't have to waste time backtracking and fixing my mistakes.
It sounds pretty reasonable when you say it that way, except this is not how reality works at all! No one can learn it all right now and magically know how to run a successful business.
And you know what? Even if you could, it wouldn't matter.
Technology is changing so fast that even if you had the perfect plan today, in a couple of months you would need to change it.
So please, PLEASE stop trying to learn "everything you need to know" about blogging before you start your blog. Every blogger out there whether they are beginners or super advanced are continuing to learn.
Six figure bloggers are still learning everyday.
This part of the job doesn't end. If you don't like learning, this isn't the business for you. Every blogger is continuing to learn day after day for the entire life of their blogs.
5. No, It Isn’t Too Late to Start A Successful Blog
Ah, this one is my favorite.
"Haven't you heard? Blogging is on its way out. Nobody reads blogs anymore."
"Blogs don't make money anymore, most people have moved on to other platforms."
"All of the super successful blogs were created before 2017."
This last one really grinds my gears. Well, no shit.
At the time of this writing, 2017 was only 2 years ago.
It is extremely rare for a blog to become wildly successful in less than 2 years.
Frankly, it's pretty rare for a blog to become wildly successful in less than FIVE YEARS. So it's a real no-brainer that 99% of the super successful blogs out there are older than 2017.
That doesn't mean that successful blogs aren't in the making in 2019 and beyond.
It just means that it takes a few years for a blog to go from $0 per month to $20,000 per month!
6. Creating Content as a Business is Only Going to Grow
No, blogging isn't dead. No, people haven't stopped reading blogs. Where are people getting this stuff?!
Creating content as an online business is only going to grow. If you look at the big picture, blogging as an industry has not been around for that long. There is so, so much room out there for new blogs and new content creators.
Saying blogging is about to die off is like saying that people have been writing books for the last 15 years so it's all been done and authors are about to be out in the cold.
It makes no sense.
Now, I will say this.
As more and more blogs pop up online, you will need to produce better content.
You will need to get better at your marketing over time as well.
You will likely also need to expand into a secondary platform like podcasting or creating YouTube videos.
All of that is true. But to say that blogging is dead and nobody reads them anymore and you can't create a following that way is absolutely crazy town.
Don't listen to those people!
In case you are wondering... Now is an INCREDIBLE time to start an online business. Really.
We have so many amazing softwares, tempates, themes, plugins and more than bloggers from 5 years ago did, and more people than ever before are purchasing education online.
These are the "golden days", so it's time to get started!
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Conclusion
There are so many good reasons to start a blog in 2020. You can build a business you love, increase your income, work from anywhere in the world, and spend more time with your family.
To do that, you have to let go of your limiting beliefs and just dive in. You should know that :
- Time is going to pass anyway, so get started!
- You will never have the perfect plan before you start.
- You're going to suck in the beginning, and that's okay.
- You will have to continue learning even as a successful blogger.
- It isn't too late to start a successful blog.
- Content creation will only continue to grow in the near future.
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