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When I first turned LoveFamilyHealth into a blog that focuses on what I know, (marketing) in the back of my head I expected it to take off from day 1. I knew what I wanted to get out of my blog and I was so excited to take it to the next level that I really didn’t take the time to focus on each aspect of it. I knew marketing like the back of my hand. It’s what I went to school for, what I have been doing with my career for the past 10+ years. So obviously I thought my blog would be super successful from day 1, because come on… I knew what I was talking about.

What I didn’t know, was how to blog. I knew how the online world worked, or so I thought. From day 1 I immersed myself in a pile of courses and information. I knew I wanted to sell a course, that I wanted to offer a coaching program. I knew I wanted to tap into affiliate marketing and I knew I wanted to help others with all of the above. So instead of working on each aspect of my blog step-by-step, I just went for it… all at once.

Bad idea.

This is where so many fail and want to give up. It’s been just over 18 months since I hit the ground running, but it wasn’t until 6 months in that I really stopped and decided I had to focus on ONE thing at a time. That can be a challenge when you are super excited about something! When you have a vision of how you want things to go in your head and then they don’t turn out the way you pictured. Here is what I should have done.

Wrote down a list of priorities.

I knew I wanted to make money with my blog and there were 3 ways I planned to do it; a course, affiliate marketing and coaching. What I did was work on all 3 of those outlets at once.

I should have taken those 3 items and prioritized them from 1-3.

1. Create a course. Do ALL of the research necessary, and then some. Focus on design, layout, marketing, email campaigns etc. How do I stand out from ALL the other courses out there?
2. Research affiliate marketing. What affiliates can work for me? For my niche? Can I add those in my course? What about my blog posts? Emails? What are the rules? How do I join programs?
3. Coaching. How the heck was I going to promote that? What services would I offer? How much would I charge?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What do you want to get out of your blog?
2. Do you want to make money with it?
3. How?
4. Do you plan to have an email list?
5. Are you going to sell a product?
6. Have you taken any courses? Do you plan to?

You can even add more to your list! Then, number all those answers from what you want to accomplish first to what can wait till last. Now, take the VERY first item on your list and ONLY focus on that. That is YOUR baby. Do any and all research you can on that first priority, make it your own and don’t start on #2 until #1 is exactly how you want it to be.

See what is working for others in your niche.

No, I am not saying copy anyone. But seeing what other bloggers in your niche are doing to be successful can help you learn how to be successful with your blog. What affiliates do they use? Who is their target audience? Do they sell a course? A product? Where do they promote their blog? What Social Media platform seems to work best for them? Take notes, see how you can change up your strategy. How can you improve your site?

Know that one marketing strategy might work for a month, but then it won’t. Be flexible and willing to try new things, learn from your mistakes and what didn’t work. Know that it’s OK to fail! 

Take your time.

This is the most important part. So many people give up on blogging within the first few months because they get so overwhelmed and are so overloaded with information it gets to be too much. Do you want to take a course? Then do it! But work your way though it SLOWLY! I repeat, SLOWLY! Takes notes, make sure you are implementing EVERY SINGLE STEP! That you are getting every single pennies worth of information and knowledge out of that course.

If you don’t already know my course is on Pinterest. And it has been out for about 6+ months now. I have made 6 updates to it already! Why? Well I am always learning new things! So that means I want to hep others learn new things as well. I know my course works, why? Because every step in my course has gotten me to this point in my career. How? Because I took the time to do research, to implement every single strategy.

Know, that there is no “quick fix” to anything.

When someone emails me and says, “I don’t see any changes after taking the course.” I always ask them for their Pinterest and other Social Media account information so I can take a look at things for them. Want to know what I see every time? NOTHING! They did not put into play ANY of the steps in the course, they didn’t take the time to work on their branding, on board covers, SEO research for their niche, group boards, Facebook groups, key words, pin creation, re-doing old pins that aren’t bringing in any traffic and so much more.

Of course it didn’t work. You didn’t do any work. A course is not a quick fix, it’s not going to magically fix something for you. You have to follow the steps, you have to put in the work. These $50,000 a month bloggers didn’t get to where they are easily. It took blood, sweat and tears. It took work. But that is why courses are awesome, they will walk you though ALL of it. It’s simply up to you if you choose to take the information to heart.

Want to know who has had TONS of success from taking my course? Or ANY course for that matter.  Those who actually took the time to implement all of the strategies.

I have recently decided to offer a FULL money back guarantee on my course. But there is a catch. You have to show me that you have implemented ALL strategies in the course. I want to be able to look at your Social Media accounts and see you have put every step into play. Every single one. If you have done that, and still have zero success I will happily refund you in full! Fo’ real! No if’s ands or butts!

So when it comes to your blogging goals this year, take your time. Know that it’s okay to fail, and learn from your failures. Don’t give up. You can do anything you set your mind too! It may not be a easy, but it’s worth it!

xo Megan