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Tips on How to Get More Blog Traffic from the Author of The Viral Pin Guide

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
learn how to get more traffic to your blog

Do you want to learn how to get more blog traffic?

 

I know how frustrating it can be to spend hours writing detailed blog posts that you can’t wait to publish.
… But you finally finish it, and *crickets*.

 

Having nobody read your blog posts can be really disheartening.

 

And I know because I’ve been there.

 

When I first started easyblogemily, I’d spend forever writing really detailed blogging tutorials to help other readers (plus I use screenshots, so I’d spend time preparing step-by-step screenshots too). I knew my posts would be really helpful for beginner bloggers. But nobody was reading them- I was lucky to get around 50 page views a day, at most.

 

To my despair, this went on for months.

 

Until finally, one day I realised I needed to start working on a strategy that would help me get more blog traffic.
And whilst I’m not one of those bloggers who gets hundreds of thousands of page views, I am now averaging at just under 20k page views a month. And I have been able to monetise my blog because of it!

 

So if you’re a blogger who wants more blog readers, this post is for you.

 

Because I’m going to be sharing my best tips for growing your blog for when you’re stuck in a traffic rut you just can’t seem to break out of.

 

THE 1 THING THAT WON’T WORK

 

Before I tell you what will help you get more blog traffic, it’s so important you understand what 100% won’t work. And that’s sharing more blog posts. As a beginner blogger, you’re still in the learning stages. So if you go full speed ahead and write 50 blog posts before you’ve learnt how to write a traffic generating blog post?

 

Well, those 50 blog posts will not be as good for generating traffic as they could have been if you’d waited and learnt a bit more first. Not only that but if you’re sharing —  say 1 blog post a week and nobody is reading it…. Then doubling the amount you post isn’t going to double your blog traffic.

 

Because any number times 0 is still 0!

 

So tip #1: Ditch the “write and they will come” thought process. Because it’s not true, and writing 7 blog posts a week is a guaranteed way to burn out and make you want to quit.

 

BEFORE YOU WRITE: LEARN SEO

 

If you’re a beginner blogger and haven’t heard of SEO (I certainly hadn’t!), it stands for search engine optimisation.
And whilst it sounds really fancy, it basically means making sure Google finds your blog posts and ranks them for search results.

 

Organic search traffic from Google is the best traffic you can get, because:

 

1. It’s passive, meaning you don’t have to actively search for people to read your blog. They are Google searching for something, so they are coming to your blog instead.
2. It’s targeted. Because these people are actively searching for something on Google, they want answers to a specific topic. So if your blog post can deliver, these are going to be the readers who buy the products you have recommended in your posts, sign up to your email list, etc.

 

Organic search traffic FTW!

 

Now, SEO can seem really overwhelming to new bloggers.

 

But there are basically two parts to it;

 

1. Optimising on page
2. Optimising off page

 

The second is something you can learn to do after you’ve been blogging for a while.
But as someone who has almost 70 blog post published, I really wish I had learnt how to optimise on-page before I had written them.

 

Because on-page optimisation simply means making sure your blog posts have the best chance of showing up on Google that they can. And as I only started to care about SEO for my blog posts months into my blogging journey, loads of my posts aren’t optimised (and won’t show on Google results).

 

I have recently started to take SEO more seriously; some of my blog posts rank first now, and I get around 1,200 sessions a month from Google.

 

But for tip #2: learn how to optimise your blog posts for Google before you start writing them.

 

FOCUS ON PINTEREST

 

Whilst organic traffic is awesome, it can take a few months to see results from it. But something that can be pretty much instant is Pinterest traffic. If you’ve heard of Pinterest already, you might just think of it as a place to save pics of your favourite outfits and recipes.

 

But Pinterest is the perfect mix of:

 

1. A social media platform
2. And a search engine for pictures

 

Which makes it pretty awesome for getting blog traffic.

 

I speak from experience; I was stuck at under 100 page views a day, but after one of my pins went viral my traffic soared to almost 600 page views in just 24 hours!
Pinterest is now how I get the majority of my blog traffic.

 

In fact, I love it so much, that I actually created a free called Easy Pinterest with Emily that will show you how to get more blog traffic from Pinterest.

 

So if you want to learn how to master Pinterest for your blog, be sure to check out the free course here! I also have a full guide called The Viral Pin Guide where I break everything down and give you all of the keys to success for Pinterest traffic. Get it here.

 

<<Disclaimer – Jessica here. I am an affiliate for the Viral Pin Guide so if you make a purchase of it through the above link, I do get a small commission for telling you about it — at no cost to you. Thanks for that. :0)>>

 

Tip #3: Focus on Pinterest for immediate blog traffic.

 

“TOP UP” YOUR TRAFFIC

 

One of the biggest mistakes I see new bloggers make is trying to use “top up” traffic as their main source of traffic.
What I mean by this is scouring different platforms, just to get a few page views here and there.
I’m guilty of it; when I first started, I loved posting a link in a Facebook group as it gave me a little surge in traffic. Or when someone tweeted my blog post.

 

But these are not solid methods of getting traffic.

 

Because as soon as that post in the Facebook group dies out, or the tweet stops getting attention, you stop getting traffic.

 

Now, this is not to say you should never use Facebook or Twitter. I love being in Facebook groups for example, as they allow me to find like-minded bloggers. But they are not solid methods to get more blog traffic.

 

Posting in Facebook groups and tweeting help me get more traffic here and there, but they are not something I focus on anymore. As top up methods don’t get the same amount of results as SEO and Pinterest do, for the same amount of effort.

 

So sure, if you want to get a little surge in traffic for the day, spend all your time writing comments in Facebook groups. But I don’t recommend it for getting serious blog traffic.

 

Tip #4: Don’t spend too much time on methods that won’t bring you traffic in the long run. Use these strategies to get “top up” traffic later on instead.

 

SIDE NOTE: Yes, there are some bloggers who get all their traffic from their Facebook pages, or hosting Facebook groups. And lots of bloggers find success on Twitter, and using links on Instagram too.
But just from personal experience? SEO is where traffic is in the long run, and Pinterest efforts will be almost immediate. So I recommend these as your main traffic sources, then use top up traffic later on in your blogging journey!

 

DON’T SPREAD YOURSELF TOO THIN

 

With there being so many methods of gaining traffic available, it can be overwhelming.
And actually, focusing on too many ways to get traffic can be detrimental to gaining traffic. You’ll wear yourself out posting on Facebook and Instagram daily, tweeting multiple times a day, pinning loads, etc.

 

So what I recommend is just focusing on one or two traffic sources at a time:

 

1. Start with SEO and Pinterest, as these are solid ways to get serious blog traffic.
2. Once you’ve mastered these, move onto one other platform e.g Instagram if you’re a food or fashion blogger. Or create a Facebook group for weight loss motivation.
3. Then once you’ve mastered that or tried it for a couple of months, try another platform.

 

As nobody has the same blogging journey, and you’ll never know what method of getting traffic is the best for you and your blog until you try it. But what I can say with confidence is that you are just one person, and can’t do it all in one go!

 

So tip #5: focus on one traffic source at a time (2 at most).

 

GETTING TRAFFIC: FINAL THOUGHTS

 

I hope this post has helped you figure out how you can get traffic to your blog! I know it can be very frustrating.
But making sure you’re focusing your efforts in the right place and not wasting your precious time will make sure you start getting traffic fast.

 

And lastly, believe you can! If I can do it, there’s no reason you can’t too 🙂

 

This post is by Emily from EasyBlogEmily.com ! I hope you enjoyed it.

 

Emily is an advertising graduate from the UK and has been blogging online for 2 years and helps others start and see success with their blogs.

 

 

 

Learn how to get more traffic to your blog today

How to Start Full-Time RV Living Before You Retire

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
full-time rv life
We had an amazing time in the Florida Keys. Thanks 1st Class RV Adventures for the great pic!

With over 1 million people in the US full-time RV living — it’s obvious that this lifestyle isn’t exclusive.

 

The good news is that you don’t have to wait until you’re retired to hit the open road. If you’ve been trying to figure out how to start full-time RV living before you retire then you’re in the right spot.

 

Here’s the short answer:

 

When you want to learn how to start full-time RV living before you retire, all you need is an on the road budget, a source of income that allows you to work remotely or workcamp and your shiny new (or used) rig.

 

Don’t have enough time to read this whole post right now? Drop a bookmark and come back later.

 

The Down & Dirty on How to Start Full-Time RV Living Before You Retire

 

Our rig set up near Hershey, PA

 

Did you know that most Americans aren’t saving close to enough money for retirement? So, will they ever fully retire?  Many won’t!

 

I’ve met more than a few people that are saddled with a big house that won’t sell but they wish they could hit the open road in their RV. If you don’t want to be one of those people then continue reading.

 

Why Start Full-Time RV Living Before You Retire

 

Myself, my husband and our four kids have been living in an RV and traveling full-time since Nov 2017. Before then, I thought I wanted the big house in the prestigious neighborhood — but the truth is — it was all about my ego. I wanted to look successful and have people I admired pat me on the back.

 

I was a prisoner to an expensive house and working every day. The house was big and it looks nice from the outside but inside, I was sad sitting there knowing that most of the people I cared about were too busy with their own lives to even come by. And I was too busy to leave too — because I was paying for this house!

 

The thought of RV life and being away from everyone really scared me but then I realized that I hadn’t seen some of these people I lived near for almost a year! Why was I staying in one place, never taking vacations and not seeing the people I cared about anyway?

 

Time to hit the road.

 

The biggest reason I would personally give to hit the road before you retire is that we’re not promised tomorrow. You never know when you or someone you care about isn’t going to be around anymore. If you want to hit the road and travel with your partner or your kids — do it ASAP. Don’t wait until retirement.

 

Another reason is that you’ll be able to save money when you RV smart. If you’re staying at expensive RV parks constantly, you’ll burn a hole in your wallet.

 

Here are what a few other people I know say about hitting the road for full-time RV life before they retire.

 

full-time rv family
Our friends Sandra, Luis (Mom and Dad) with Julez and Mimi

 

We decided to sell pretty much everything we owned and hit the road in 2016 because we were at a crossroads in life.

Our house lease was on a month to month basis and we weren’t sure where we wanted to settle down. We did know that we were tired of not taking vacations because our children were so small and RVing full time made sense to us.

It allowed us to still travel with our kids and have everything we needed on hand. If you’re a parent you know that traveling with toddlers requires a ton of extra items. We also wanted to teach our kids by example the importance of collecting experiences and not junk.

Fast forward to today – It’s been the best decision for our family. We didn’t know it at the time but living our own lives and sharing with others has inspired multiple people to also live out their own definition of freedom. Helping others along the way has been an incredible experience as well.

– Sandra from 1st Class RV Adventures

full-time rv couple
John & Laura from Hebard’s Travels

 

full-time rv setup
Check out their rig!

 

It’s very simple really, I wanted to live before I died.

I may only be 37, but I’ve had my share of close calls. There’s been more than a few times I wondered how the hell I walked away alive. I spent three years in combat, deployed for the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, been run over by a semi at 65MPH, been shot at, been shot at by snipers, narrowly escaped ambushes, had RPG’s fired at me and even had grenades thrown at me. But perhaps the most terrifying, surgery at the VA.

So, when Laura presented the idea of fulltime RVing to me, I jumped at the opportunity. I know exactly how fleeting life can be, and I wanted to live life while I still could. Tomorrow is never promised. I feel that expecting to live until 65, and waiting until then to enjoy life, is pretty reckless. No one knows if they’ll live another 40 years, or only another 40 minutes.

I’ve gambled with my life enough already. I wanted to do something worthwhile, memorable and fun with my it while I still could. I wouldn’t go back to living in a stationary house if you paid me.

— John from Hebard’s Travels

 

full-time rv family
Marissa & Nathan (Mom and Dad) with Hensley & JJ

 

Camping is a great way to see some amazing places and spectacular views. Sometimes those views come at a high cost, but thankfully some of our favorite views are the ones we found for FREE!

There are lots of beautiful free places to park made accessible through Boondocking. That means getting off the beaten path, with no hookups, and just enjoying the view.

Some of our favorite resources to score these great places are Campendium and the Allstays App. We love being out in nature, enjoying our family time, all while being budget-friendly.

– Marissa from Less Junk More Journey

 

traveling family
Caroline & Craig Makepeace and their family from yTravel

 

For a country like the United States, we felt full time RVing was the best way to fully explore it. I love the flexibility of RV travel and having my creature comforts with me as we move from place to place.

We love the extra space it offers us, especially when traveling with kids. It can also be quite cost effective as you can boondock (if self sufficient) and cook your own meals. Mostly I love spending so much time in the outdoors and having nature surround me!

– Caroline & Craig from yTravel

 

full-time RV family
Heather Farris from Wheeling to Dream & her family

 

It was 2017 and my husband had just gotten deployment orders with roughly 4 weeks notice. The same day he got orders I quit my job. We came home to tell each other the news and were both in a bit of shock at how quickly our life had changed.

Little did we know the deployment would be the tipping point that thrust our life in an entirely new direction. During his deployment we talked about him going into the National Guard and being home more.

We talked about him getting out and us moving somewhere new. We talked about our dreams of travel, but never once did the mention of RV life come up. It wasn’t until he got back from his deployment and we were both just worn out with military life that we truly gave RV living full-time a serious consideration.

I had begun building an online business and was 2 years into that when we made the decision. At that point we had 1 year to prepare for this lifestyle. Military life has given us a new perspective on life and how quickly things can change. So here we are just barely 30 living a life of true freedom.

– Heather from Wheeling to Dream

 

Are you ready to hit the road with us yet? lol

 

Now that we’ve got you all riled up, let’s talk about the how-to part of RV life.

 

How to Prepare for Full-Time RV Living

 

A big part of preparing for full-time RV living is mental. You have to learn how to let go of things so you don’t overcrowd your rig and you’ve got to understand you won’t get to see everyone you’re used to seeing regularly.

 

Once you get through those two things, the rest of it is easy. lol

 

Finding the Perfect Rig for You

 

You need to find a rig that is going to work for you and your family. You may be able to get away with a small RV but I highly recommend doing a test run if you possibly can. If you’re used to a big house, it might be a major challenge downsizing.

 

If you have a family, you want to look for a bunkhouse so you can fit everyone. Even if it is just two of you, you might consider an RV that sleeps more people because then you can have people come over for sleepovers!

 

Look at the different floorplans that are available and really think about how you’ll use the rig before you jump into a purchase.

 

Create an On the Road Budget

 

Just like you have to budget for sticks and bricks, you have to budget for on the road life when you’re full-time RV living.

 

Besides the normal things you have in your budget, you need to think about how much money you’ll need for campgrounds or if you’re going to boondock and save some money. Even if you’re boondocking, you need to think about propane you might use for your generator when you need electricity.

 

When you’re creating your on-the-road budget, over-budget because things are going to come up that you didn’t think about before you hit the road.

 

Since you’re going to be in new places when you’re full-time RV living, you’re going to want to explore and some of the things you’ll want to see will cost money. Price some of the types of attractions you like and get an idea of how much the average cost is going to be for each outing and then figure out how often each month you’re going to go out and do something that costs money.

 

For us, we do a date day and then we have big family activities 2 or 3 times a month.

 

Making Money on the Road

 

One of the biggest things that hold people back from hitting the road is the fear of not being able to make money on the road.

 

The good news?

 

There are plenty of jobs you can work remotely so you can live wherever you want to live.

 

I wrote a couple of blog posts that covered making money on the road or just being a digital nomad in general. Here is a blog post I did with other 100 digital nomad job ideas: 103 Top Digital Nomad Jobs

 

Getting Started with Your New RV Lifestyle

 

How to start full-time RV living before you retire? One step at a time.

 

Once you take the first step and start planning, it will start to come together. You’ll meet other people just like you and you won’t think it is so far-fetched.

 

Know someone that wants to hit the road full-time? Share this article on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and beyond and help someone make their dreams come true. 🙂 Sharing is caring.

 

how to start full time rv living before you retire

 

 

The Best Time to Post on Instagram for More Engagement

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
The Best Time to Post on Instagram for More Engagement

With over 1 billion users logging into Instagram each month, you should probably be on the platform – right? And maybe learn the best time to post on Instagram for more engagement?

 

Whether you’re selling beauty products, crafts, cars or any other wares, there are people on the platform that have their credit cards at hand and are ready to buy.

 

If you’re posting on Instagram and you’re not getting traction, you might be ready to throw in the towel. If you’re not posting at the right time, this could be a major reason that your Instagram strategy is bombing.

 

While Instagram did do an update that allows you to see posts that you’re likely to be most interested in when you log in, the recency of the post does have a lot to do with what you see in the feed. For instance, if you log in at 3 pm and one of your friends posts at 8 am and the other posts at 2 pm – you’re most likely going to see the one that posted more recently first.

 

You may see guides online that tell you when the best time to post on Instagram is but the thing is – they don’t know your audience. Your audience could be very different than their own.

 

You have to know who you’re posting to and when they are online.

 

The Best Time to Post on Instagram for More Engagement – the 411

 

the best time to post on instagram clock

 

If you’ve already been posting on Instagram, you have a lot of data that can help you make decisions on good times for you to post. You will need to comb through data and do all of the work manually which can be annoying but it will work if you record the information neatly so you can review it later.

 

I’ve personally made quite a few changes in my focus since I’ve been posting on Instagram so I am undergoing a whole reboot. I unfollowed a bunch of people and also booted a bunch of people off my Instagram so my engagement rate is going up.

 

If you have a big follower count but you don’t have a lot of people that are engaging, the percentage of people that engage with you vs. don’t engage with you can hurt you.

 

<< You should know that some of these links are affiliate links. I may get a small commission for letting you know about them but I only tell you about stuff I love. You can read my disclosure here.>>

 

I learned some new tips on the Instagram 101 Webinar from Tailwind recently. If you haven’t watched it yet, you should check it out here.

 

Where Is Your Audience Located?

 

where is your instagram audience

 

Before you post, look at your Google analytics and see where most of your visitors are coming from. In my case, most of you are in America or in Canada.

 

Since most of you are from America or Canada, I know that most of you are in the Eastern time zone since more people live there than any other time zone in the US and CA.

 

This is why a lot of my content is delivered at 6am via email. I would also do this with Instagram but what I found through research is that’s not the best time to get the most engagement.

 

A lot of you like to check out my Insta ( @jessicalaurenvine ) between 10 am to 1pm depending on the day.

 

I have to tell you that I didn’t do this research on my own. I had tools to help me. One of those tools is Tailwind. You’ve likely seen me posting about Tailwind more than once and that’s because it works and makes my life so much easier.

 

I can go into my dashboard and see which posts performed the best in terms of engagement and see what time it was that I posted it and many other great pieces of information.

 

Screenshot from Tailwind about best time to post

 

Apparently, ya’ll like to see quotes and my face. Thanks for that because those are two of my favorite things too… hahahha

 

Now look at the engagement on these and then look at the time. Like I said – around 10 am and 1 pm.

 

If was posting all of my comment at 8 pm, I wouldn’t be getting as good of results, right?

 

The good news? The good news is that you don’t have to try to do all of the data analysis by yourself either.

 

You can get a free trial of Tailwind and see how it works yourself. But if you want to do this all manually, you definitely can. It just takes a lot of time.

 

One of the other things that I love about Tailwind is that it creates an auto-schedule for you so it’s very easy to maintain whether you want to do 1,2,3 or more posts per day. You can even reschedule popular content if you want to give it a go again.

 

Don’t even get me started on the hashtag finder that makes life so much easier.

 

I’m a big fan – obviously!

 

If you want to post the right time on Instagram every day of the year for YOUR specific account and YOUR specific audience then Tailwind is where it’s at.

 

Get your free trial here or you can view the Instagram webinar that is super awesome here.

 

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to drop a comment or question below.

 

when to post on instagram for more engagement

My Quick & Easy Natural Makeup Look that Looks Great on Camera & In-Person

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
natural makeup look graphic

Sometimes you want to be over the top with your makeup but other times you want a natural makeup look to showcase your natural beauty.

 

And if you’re like me then you also want a natural makeup look that is quick and easy to do. I would blame my lack of wanting to spend time on makeup on my husband, 4 kids and the work that I do but that’s simply not the case. I just don’t feel like standing in front of the mirror that long… haha

 

Continue reading this article for the easy way to get this natural makeup look.

 

Natural makeup look headshot
With this look, I had the full kit and caboodle on my face. I am going to link to all of the products that I used below.

 

  • Primer
  • Concealer
  • Foundation
  • Eye Shadow
  • Eye Liner
  • Brow Pencil
  • Magnetic Eyelashes
  • Lipstick
  • Highlighter Stick
  • Contouring Stick
  • Blush

 

I know that sounds like a lot but I can do it in less than 10 minutes and with minimal makeup brushes sponges. I will also show you what I use with those as well.

 

Creating a Natural Makeup Look Without Taking up Your Whole Day

 

As you can see, it doesn’t look like too much work went into this look but it also looks really nice. I don’t like looking like I have too much makeup on my face but I also feel much prettier when I have the full coverage on my skin.

 

Sometimes I’ll go without primer and foundation if I need to make it extra quick. Depending on how much I want to glam it up, I may or may not use magnetic eyelashes. I’ll let you know what’s what with each photo.

 

When you’re figuring out how to make your makeup look natural, remember that less is more. You can use a lot of products but don’t layer it too much.

 

Also, I found a great video that talks about how to keep your face from looking textured when you put on your makeup. If your face looks textured when you put on your makeup then your makeup doesn’t really look that natural at all.

 

 

makeup before learning about texturing
I had all of my makeup and magnetic eyelashes on here but this was before I learned about how to keep from having textured skin.

 

Full makeup minus fake eyelashes
I had full makeup on here but without the magnetic eyelashes

 

How I Apply My Makeup Quickly for a Natural Makeup Look

 

Now let me get into the details of how I do my natural makeup quickly.

 

#1 – Primer

 

My skin is a little on the dry side of things so I make sure to get my primer on my face to avoid as much textured skin as possible.

 

I use this to apply my primer and as you saw in the video above, you need to dab vs. pull it across your skin.


#2 – Concealer

 

Now I put the concealer under my eyes because it’s a little blue under there and doesn’t look great. Lol

 

I use my pinky fingers and dab it gently because underneath the eye is very sensitive and I don’t want to damage it.

 


#3 – Foundation

 

Now I use the foundation all over my face by dabbing it with this. Sometimes I need a couple of layers. Make sure that the foundation you have layers or it is just going to look weird.


#4 – Contouring & Highlighting

 

I use this video to help me contour and highlight but I didn’t use these tools. I used sponges.

 

 




#5 – Eye Shadow

 

When I put on eye shadow I just go over the entire lid with a brush. I usually use a tan or light brown for the whole lid. Then I take a slightly darker color and just dab the corner of my eyelid. Finally, I put a light or sparkly color at the top near my eyebrow.

 

I use the light color near the tear ducts as well.

 


#6 – Eyeliner

 

My eyes are super sensitive so I usually don’t put any on the bottom. I just put the eyeliner near the ends of my top lid. Sometimes I even do a little cat-eye.

 


#7 – Blush

 

I take a brush from the blush and put the darker blush alongside the cheekbone. Then I take a brush and put a lighter color right on the cheek.

 


#8 – Lipstick

 

With lipstick, I usually use a pink from bright to light. I outline my lip and fill it in with the same color of lipstick.

 


#9 – Brow Pencil

 

I fill in my eyebrows as needed by going along with the hair.

 


 

#10 – Magnetic Eyelashes

 

The magnetic eyelashes really give it the extra pop. It does feel a little weird the first time that you wear them and you may need to cut them if your eyes aren’t as big as the strips of lashes.

 


 

Summing up the Natural Makeup Look

 

There you have it. My natural makeup look and how I get it. Whether you’re wanting to look great on camera or you want to look good for an in-person event – you can have it all!

 

Don’t forget to bookmark this site to come back for more great reads.

 

quick and easy makeup

7 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid Like the Plague

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
-
14
Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

With 90% of all organizations using content marketing to get in front of their customers—your blog is up against a lot of competition!

 

It’s hard enough to get your blog off the ground but if you don’t know what blogging mistakes to avoid, you could sink your blog as quickly as you get it afloat.

 

(Learn how to start your blog)

 

I don’t mean to scare you, but I see this so much AND I did a lot of these things so in this article I will help you avoid these mistakes with your blog.

 

No-Brainer Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

 

If you avoid only one of these blogging mistakes, you can save yourself a lot of loss. This infographic can be a good reminder and I’ll explain these points below.

 

By the time you are done reading this blog post, you will be empowered with actionable information that you can use today. Keep reading to learn which blogging mistakes to avoid.

 

This infographic explains the 7 blogging mistakes to avoid so you can have success with your blog and get more traffic and engaged users

 

#1 – Not Having a Content Strategy

 

“Fail to plan and you’re planning to fail.”

 

I’m not sure who said the above quote first, but I have heard it—A LOT. The truth is that I have done both the winging it “content strategy” and actually planning my blog posts and site structure. I have to say that the latter of the two allows me to operate so much better and gives a better user experience to my readers.

 

The better your site structure is, the easier it is for your readers to navigate. This means they are going to stay on your website longer, learn more, be more likely to share content, to tell their friends or to bookmark your website. This also means you are more likely to be favored by Google and other search engines since they want their search users to have a good experience.

 

When you plan out your blog (which also means checking to see what keywords people are searching), you are more likely to rank on Google. While I have a love/hate relationship with Google, it is an awesome source of traffic when you get it rolling.

 

The main things you should plan out and add to as you are moving forward with your blog are:

 

  1. Site structure
  2. Keywords
  3. Blog purpose
  4. How you’re going to monetize

 

When it comes to site structure, you need to think about how people discover your content. You can look at your Google analytics to see where people find your content. For instance, this blog post was super popular on Pinterest.

 

This gave me two important pieces of information. One piece of information was that people were entering my site here so they most likely were bloggers or would-be bloggers. Since I knew they were coming from Pinterest, I could also assume they were considerably savvy online.

 

This information allowed me to make sure I set my site up in a way that would allow them to progress through it to get to my desired end result. At this time, my desired end result is that they are going to read through my site resources and potentially buy through an affiliate link where I’ll make a commission.

 

The products I recommend various products to help people, they find their solution and I get a commission. Win-win.

 

Keywords come into play whenever you plan out your site structure as well. You need to know what keywords to target before you start writing your blog posts.

 

Don’t skim over your blog purpose. If you don’t figure out your purpose for your blog, it is going to be difficult for you to make decisions for your blog. Determine your purpose and make decisions based on what is going to help get you there.

 

Monetizing is another important one you shouldn’t gloss over. If you don’t know how you’re going to make money with your blog then it is likely your business is going to go under from lack of capital.

 

#2 – Writing Less Than Awesome Content

 

Seriously, how do you create content people love and want to keep reading?

 

If you have a certain number of blogs you want to write per month or week, you may get stressed and put out content that is less than your best. Here are the top reasons less than awesome content is one of the biggest blogging mistakes to avoid:

 

  • People will leave your site quickly
  • No one will want to share your content
  • The search engines will not only penalize this blog post but it can harm the rest of your site

 

Besides for those things, you won’t be very proud of your work either and remember – how you do anything is how you do everything and… if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

 

Make sure your facts are right, you are talking to your audience in a way they can understand what you are saying and always deliver a piece of content you can be proud of.

 

A note on people leaving your site quickly because of less than stellar content — If people come to your site and quickly bounce away, this is going to increase your bounce rate. Your bounce rate is what percentage of people come to visit one page on your site and then bounce away after reading the information.

 

People bouncing from your site isn’t necessarily bad because they could have found what they are looking for right away but you really want people to stay as long as possible and click through the website.

 

Great content makes people stay on your site which also increases your time on site stats that also play into the ranking of your website.

 

#3 – Images that Are Not the Right Size

 

If you are going to put images on your blog posts, put images that are going to serve you. Currently, images that are 736 x 1128 are great for Pinterest and 1280 x 720 are good for sharing on other platforms. This is why I put the 1280 x 720 image in the featured image and at least one 736 x 1128 image in my blog post.

 

It’s important that we make it as easy for people and search engines to share our content in an appealing manner. Having those proper proportions is a must to win with images.

 

#4 – Poor Promotion

 

I know how you feel. You’ve just finished your blog post and now you have to do more work. You’ve got to get your mindset right because out of all the blogging mistakes, I’ve made this one the most.

 

This is one of the common mistakes business owners make.

 

If you’re going to write a blog post, why wouldn’t you promote it? Do you expect people to start flocking to your website without knowing you even have one? We shouldn’t but sometimes we do have a little bit of a lottery mentality with our blog posts.

 

When you publish a blog post, you should have a plan of how you are going to promote your new blog post. This is a major player when it comes to blogging mistakes to avoid so please, for your own sake, don’t ignore this point.

 

Where can you promote?

 

  • Social bookmarking sites
  • Social media
  • Forums
  • Facebook groups

 

Always make sure you follow the rules on any of these sites or you might get banned. As long as you are following the guidelines, you can share to your heart’s content.

 

One way in which you can better promote your blog posts is by creating advertisements for your blog in the same way in which you would advertise a product or service. The right kind of blog advertisement can: 

 

  • Make it easier for the right people to stumble across your content.
  • Increase the number of views your blog receives. 
  • Gain a deeper understanding of your audience (through studying analytics).
  • Increase your earning potential. 
  • Raise your brand’s profile – especially if you run a business alongside your blog. 

 

However, to achieve this goal – you need to ensure that you have the perfect marketing strategy in place.

 

To put it simply, you need to understand your target audience and create the kind of content and advertisements that will steer them towards your blog. One way in which you can do this is by looking into deep learning for marketing technology. This tech allows you to analyze complex data patterns. In short, it allows you to understand what you need to do to create powerful and effective advertisements that increase your visibility and connect you with the right people.

 

When you promote your website with any of these methods, you can boost your promotions by interacting with other people on the platform. Don’t be spammy but show interest in what they’re talking about and get to know them. If your blog comes up in conversation, feel free to share it with them.

 

#5 – Not Using Infographics

 

Have you ever been reading a “good” blog but it was so boring you couldn’t finish?

 

Infographics are fun and they help people understand what you are trying to tell them. Charts are useful when you have statistics you want to share with your readers or you may want to do photos and text. Either way, they are very shareable and eye-catching.

 

You can make a simple infographic on sites like Canva or if you’re super talented, you might even use photoshop. It doesn’t have to be perfect — your goal is to get your message across to people so you can help them.

 

#6 – Having a Slow Website / Blog

 

If your blog takes 3 seconds or more to load, people are going to click away. It drives me bonkers when I am on a quick internet connection but the website is slow.

 

I’m gone.

 

This is how we operate as a society these days. We are not patient with our technology.

 

If you’re using the WordPress CMS, make sure you don’t have any unnecessary plugins that you’re using or you’re going to bog down your site. You should also make sure that you have the best hosting available and that you’re using a content delivery network AKA CDN.

 

Content delivery networks delivery your website from the closest location possible to the person that is querying your website.

 

#7 – Not Answering Comments On Your Blog

 

If you ignore people that comment on your blog, they are not likely to comment again and this is a major blogging mistake. Building a community in your comments is a great way to show people you care.

 

While you may not be able to answer all of the comments or you may not be able to answer many when your blog gets very popular, if you’re starting out, you are not at that stage. You need to take the time to answer the comments.

 

Become an Online Marketing Master

 

Now that you know these blogging mistakes to avoid, don’t let the learning stop there. Continue reading through our site to learn more tips that can help you boost your success.

 

 

When you are blogging, you want to learn these blogging mistakes to avoid so you do not miss out on blog visitors and traffic

Help Me, I’m Poor – Tired of Being Poor? Here’s Why You’re Broke

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
Woman is tired of being broke and looking at piggy bank

Are you tired of being poor?

 

It really stinks and I know because I’ve been to the bottom.

 

Want to skip the story and get right to the help because you’re so tired of being broke? Click here to go to the tips to go from broke to doing pretty darn good.

 

I’ve been the single mom on SNAP trying to support my kid working at Shoney’s and Sonic. It didn’t help that I’m not great at doing math in front of people. Since I was so bad, I would get as close as I could and run off to the safety of the hub – this meant that I didn’t get any tips and sometimes had to pay out of my pocket because I’d gone in the negative.

 

My self-esteem was low and I was broke not only financially but I was emotionally broke as well and not doing so hot in the mental department either.

 

Tired of Being Poor and My Journey Out of Poor Town

 

Ever since I was a kid, I would try to figure out why my family was poor. I remember my Mom saying something about my Dad making $800 a month or something and that was in 1995 or so trying to support a family.

 

My parents were the best people that I’d ever known. Caring and kind. Always helping other people out.

 

I just didn’t get why they were broke.

 

I heard in church that money was the root of all evil but all I could think was that the lack of money seemed like the root of all evil to me – and if it was so evil, why did they always want our money at the end of the church service?

 

No matter how broke we were, my parents always gave money. As a matter of fact, before I was born, my parents even gave away their wedding bands to a church because they didn’t have cash to give them.

 

Once I ruled out being a good person as being the cause of being wealthy, I kept searching for ways to get out of being broke and always dreamed about times when we could go out to eat together without worrying about spending $15 on a meal.

 

Now you know my motivation and why I kept searching for how to get out of Poor town and here’s what I learned that I believe will help you.

 

It Doesn’t Matter How Much Money You Make – It Matters How Much You Keep

 

person counting money

 

When I got older, I noticed a lot of people that made really “good money.” I’m talking six figures or even multiple six figures. And what I saw is that they were broke!

 

They were living paycheck to paycheck. I was pretty freaking discouraged.

 

The reason I wanted to make a lot of money was so I wouldn’t be broke. I didn’t want to always worry about money. How were these people so broke?

 

One of the things that I learned is that it doesn’t matter how much money you earn. What matters is how much money you keep. And as you can see from the rest of the quote, it also says that it matters about how hard your money works for you and how many generations you keep it for.

 

After meeting these high earners that were living paycheck to paycheck, one of my family members that lived in their neighborhood told me that “everyone was broke but at a higher level” and I started to believe that. And believing that did not serve me at all!

 

Not everyone was like that. Thankfully, I met another friend not long after that and I realized they earned a really nice 6 figure plus income and not only did they have the income but they had savings, investments and plenty of disposable income.

 

I had hope again!

 

What did they do that the other people I knew making the same amount of money didn’t do? One of the major takeaways and things that I learned from them is that they knew what they were bringing in and what was going out. And they always made sure they made their money work for them.

 

Keep reading if you’ve ever said: “I make good money, why am I always broke?”

 

You Want Compound Interest on Your Side Vs. Against You

 

Compound interest was another thing that I learned about. If you don’t understand compound interest, one of the main things about it is – let’s say that you start with $1 and you get 10% interest every day on that income, the next day you would have $1.10 but you get 10% interest on the $1.10, not just the $1 so it keeps growing and growing.

 

Credit cards are one of the things that go crazy on creating interest that sucks our income. If you’re just paying the minimum payment on credit cards – it’s sucking the life out of your finances!

 

You need to start collecting interest vs. paying interest.

 

Now that you understand where I’m coming from let’s get right into the tips to keep from being broke and start breaking out of this pattern. Not only for you but also for your children and their children.

 

The short version of why you’re broke?

 

Because you’re practicing broke habits vs. wealth habits.

 

Here are some tips for you to start working your way toward wealth vs. toward being broke.

 

1 – Stop Letting Banks Use Your Money for Free

 

If you have your money sitting in a bank account that isn’t accruing interest, you’re letting the bank use your money for free.

 

Look around online and find savings or checking accounts with a decent interest rate so your money is growing while you’re not using it.  There are a lot of savings accounts that barely pay anything so don’t fall into that trap either.

 

Look for a reputable online bank. I use Ally and they’ve been really great. I also have an account with USAA since hubs is military.

 

2 – Stop Watching Television Ads

 

If you want to blow a hole in your wallet – watch television ads or YouTube ads. You’ll always find something to spend your money on.

 

3 – Sell Vs. Buy

 

Instead of buying things, get excited about selling things. What do you own that you haven’t used in a long time? What do you own that is in storage and you don’t even remember that you have it?

 

You can sell these things on the Facebook market or Craigslist and put the money into savings.

 

4 – Use Coupons & Customer Reward Programs

 

If there is a loyalty program or coupons, make sure that you’re subscribed to it. If you’re going to shop there, you might as well get the discounts. It doesn’t cost anything to be a member of these programs.

 

It’s probably not a great idea to sign up for the store credit cards though. That’s a recipe for financial disaster.

 

Another great program you can use to save money is Zenoshi Premium. ZP has offers all over the US and Canada for discounts on travel, entertainment, dining and more.

 

The latest thing we got discounts on was eating out at TGI Friday’s. All we had to do was show the offer page from Zenoshi Premium and we got a free entree because we bought an entree of equal or greater value.

 

ZP costs $1.99 for the first 30-day trial and after that, you can choose to pay month-to-month for $4.99 or you can get a year for $49.99

 

 

saving money with zenoshi premium
Here we are enjoying a free entree… thanks Zenoshi. 🙂

 

 

5 – Write Grocery or Shopping Lists to Avoid Overspending

 

When you go to the store, make sure you have a list. No list = no limit. You’re going to spend more than you should.

 

Don’t impulse buy. It’s the kiss of death!

 

You’re not likely to ever need what you buy on impulse and even if you do, you could have waited until you planned it.

 

6 – Use Apps to Keep Track of Your Earning and Spending

 

If you aren’t tracking what you’re earning and spending, you’re going to fall behind without knowing it. This is how the bank account ends up being in overdraft and bills are behind. It doesn’t matter how many digital nomad jobs you find, you’ll still be broke if you aren’t tracking your earning and spending.

 

You can find apps for iPhone and Android that will allow you to keep track of the money you bring in and the money you put out.

 

Make sure you categorize the money you spend and write down details so you know where you’re putting out the most money. You should also pay attention to where you’re earning the most money so you can put more of your time there and less of your time on low-income activities.

 

Bonus Tip – Educate Yourself by Reading Books & Listening to Audios

 

Always educate yourself around the matter of money. Read books, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos and anything else you can get your hands on.

 

Don’t just believe everything that you hear though. Try the advice. Test it.

 

Make sure it works and isn’t just someone coaching you to give all your money to them for further programs and products.

 

Here are some of the resources I’ve used in this area:

 

Work Less, Make More by James Schramko

 

The Power of Zero by David McKnight & Ed Slott

 

Unshakeable by Tony Robbins

 

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

 

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

 

I hope some of these resources help you out. Since you’ve got this far, why not check out some other posts? Enjoy!

 

This is a great blog post! I’ve said help me, I’m poor more than a couple of times and this article really helped me understand why. If you’re wondering why you’re broke, this is a great article to read and share with a friend. #moneyproblems #moneytips #gettingpaid #makingmoney #savingmoney

 

 

 

Best Affiliate Programs for Beginners: What to Look for When You’re Just Starting Out

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

When you’re looking for the best affiliate programs for beginners, you want to find a program that doesn’t have a high bar for approval. When you’re just starting with affiliate marketing, you probably don’t have a fancy website or a lot of traffic.

 

Since you don’t have a fancy website nor a bunch of traffic, you’ll need a program that either doesn’t have an approval process or that won’t likely care if you don’t have “street cred” already. Here are some of my recommendations from my experience with affiliate marketing.

 

Must-See Affiliate Programs for Beginners

 

The rules and regulations for each of these affiliate programs may change in the future but right now these are some of the best bets that you currently have if you’re a beginner at affiliate marketing.

 

clickbank home page for affiliate marketers

 

ClickBank

 

ClickBank is an affiliate network that sells information products. When you navigate over to their website, you’ll find anything from parenting how-tos to how to get your ex back.

 

Most of the programs on ClickBank don’t require approval from the merchant, which is what makes them great affiliate programs for beginners. Not only that but many of these affiliate offers have great affiliate help sections that not only train you on affiliate marketing but also give you great resources like banners and keyword research.

 

Moreniche is mainly a health network affiliate program

 

MoreNiche

 

MoreNiche is one of the networks that I made some serious cash within my early days. Their affiliate help team is absolutely amazing and they have a lot of great offers in the health and beauty niches. From time to time I’ve seen them venture into other niches and they may have some other offers now.

 

You should be able to get started with their affiliate program pretty easily as long as you’re working to promote the offers of your choice.

 

MarketHealth is mainly a health affiliate network

 

Market Health

 

Market Health is another network that I’ve worked with before. They have many different health offers from Acne clearing to skin lightening and weight loss. They have a couple of different payment options and also aren’t very picky which makes it a good option for newer affiliate marketers.

 

Amazon is a trusted affiliate program for beginners

 

Amazon

 

Amazon is the king of the online world when it comes to sales. Who doesn’t know about Amazon?

 

While the affiliate commissions are super high, you do get the credibility of their name backing you which is a major plus in my mind. Make sure to check how much you get for promoting the products you’re thinking about promoting because there are some (like Gift Cards) that don’t pay anything at all.

 

 

Wealthy Affiliate is an affiliate program for making money online

 

Wealthy Affiliate

 

Wealthy Affiliate is another program I’ve been a part of for many years. You don’t have to go through an approval process to get started with their program and you can earn while you learn through their platform.

 

ShareASale has a lot of great offers for beginner affiliate marketers

 

ShareASale

 

You may have seen my ShareASale review already and seen the requirements to get started with ShareASale. They are a great network to be a part of but some of their programs are more difficult to get approved when you’re a new affiliate.

 

Make sure you look through the requirements before you try to apply for any given program.

 

What to Look for When You’re Choosing the Best Affiliate Programs for Beginners

 

As you’re choosing the best affiliate programs for beginners, here are the most important things you should pay attention to:

 

  1. Support

 

Since you’re just getting going, you’re going to need some help. If nothing else, you’re going to need some cheerleading along the way, am I right? Check to see if the affiliate program of your choice as a dedicated affiliate manager that is here to help everyone working as an affiliate.

 

Not all programs are going to have a dedicated affiliate manager so don’t totally shrug off the program if they don’t have on but it’s definitely a big pro if they do.

 

You may even get to have direct access to the product creator in some cases since many people like to be hands-on with their company. Make good use of any communication with the people helping you with the affiliate program and always implement their advice.

 

  1. Conversion Rate

 

If you’re sending traffic to an offer and not making any money, their product or service likely doesn’t have a good conversion rate. Make sure they are getting sales with their sales page and processes so you’re not wasting time sending people to their offer.

 

  1. Earnings Per Click

 

The earnings per click or EPC show the average earnings per click of a campaign. If you send 100 people there and some of them convert, it is how much you can expect to earn per click if you do the math.

 

  1. Marketing Materials

 

Do you need banners for your website? Maybe you’d like to have some pre-written emails to send to your email list. Check with the program you’re considering before you get started and see if they are available for you.

 

Some affiliate programs provide these for their affiliates which means one less thing for you to do so you can focus on sending traffic to the offer.

 

Get Started with Affiliate Marketing

 

Are you still on the fence about your ability to win with affiliate marketing? These affiliate programs for beginners are a great start. If you haven’t already, make sure you head over to my blog post about Wealthy Affiliate and see what it is all about – you can get a free account after all.

 

best affiliate programs for beginners pin

New Google Search Menu With Icons – Check It Out

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
google search menu icon update

Well, here it is folks.

 

The brand new Google search menu with icons.

 

Unless you’re a nerdy SEO like me, you might not have realized this change but it is going to change things for consumers and marketers alike.

 

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, here is a screenshot from my search below:

 

google search menu with icons update

 

Pretty fancy, right?

 

While it looks cool, content marketers are like — *rolls eyes* Another update? #doh

 

Calm yourself. This little update isn’t going to cause too much of a change. People are going to notice and it may grab more attention which will cause people to click on the icons and view different search results.

 

What course of action should you take to get the most SEO traffic from this update?

 

I highly recommend that you look through each of these tabs and see what type of content is ranking. How can you tweak your content to make it more friendly to each of these tabs?

 

If people are going to be clicking away from the “All” search results to see other searches, you want to make sure you show up there as well. If you show up on multiple pages, people are more likely to click on your website which means — ding ding ding! You get traffic.

 

Carry on. Nothing else to see here.

 

Unless of course, you want to hop over to read my blog post about how to market your business with a blog. That would be a good idea. 😉

How to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing Without a Website

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
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0
woman at her desk drinking coffee learning how to make money with affiliate marketing without a website

If you don’t want to build a website but you do want to make money then learning how to make money with affiliate marketing without a website is a great strategy.

 

Whether you don’t have the cash to build a website or you simply don’t want to put in the time and effort, the good news is that you don’t have to have a website to make affiliate income. All you need is approval from a company’s affiliate program and people that want to buy the product.

 

Sounds simple enough, right?

 

Maybe. Let’s see.

 

How to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing Without a Website

 

 

 

 

Before we get into this, I have to say that I do recommend building and maintaining a website at some point but it’s not necessary to make money through affiliate programs. Here’s what you need to know about affiliate marketing before we get started.

 

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

 

Affiliate marketing is one of the most simple ways to make money online or offline. Someone else provides the product and all you have to do is find the people that want what it is that you’re selling.

 

Through online affiliate marketing, you’ll most often get a special link with a tracking code so the company knows you were the one to bring in the affiliate sale. In the offline world, you might be provided with a special promo code or “tell them Joe sent you for 10% off” kind of a deal.

 

That’s the basics of affiliate marketing and what it is.

 

Getting Approved for an Affiliate Offer Without a Website

 

You might hit a little snag when you’re trying to market an affiliate offer without a website. Many affiliates offer demand that you have a website before they will give you access to their affiliate program. Some are pretty strict about your website’s quality and your traffic as well.

 

Obviously, you’ll need to bypass these but the good news is that there are some companies that don’t care if you have a website or not as long as you’re generating sales for them. They’ll pretty much give an affiliate link to anyone.

 

Once you gain access to an affiliate program, this is where the fun begins.

 

Before we get into promoting your affiliate offer without a website, let’s talk about why you might want to consider getting a website or you can hop down below this section.

 

Why You Want a Website to Promote Your Affiliate Offers

 

I can’t in good faith let you pass by without at least letting you know the benefits of having your own website to promote your affiliate offers.

 

SEO

 

For those of you that don’t know, SEO stands for search engine optimization and is what you do to try to get your website to show up at the top of the search engines.

 

If you don’t have a website, you have no content to rank on the search engines. How sad.

 

Create a Passive Income Asset

 

A website is one of the only true ways I’ve ever found to bring in passive income. Remember – create more assets and decrease your liabilities folks.

 

My favorite thing is when I am able to go do something fun and then come back to check my affiliate accounts to see that I’ve made sales. Yay! It’s seriously the best feeling so that’s a major reason I think you might want to rethink the website having thing.

 

Opens Up Further Opportunities

 

When you have your own website, it can open up further opportunities. I’ve had people email me off my website because they’ve found it here or there. If I didn’t have the website, they wouldn’t have been able to find me.

 

How to Get Started With Affiliate Marketing If You Still Don’t Want a Website

 

Ok. Fine. You still don’t want a website.

 

 

Here is the most simple way you can get started with your affiliate marketing ventures and make money at it without having your own website.

Choose a Niche

 

First off, choose your niche and figure out what you’re going to be promoting. You can even choose a bunch of niches. I mean, heck — you don’t even have to build a website, so why not? lol

 

Start with one first and then you can build your web of affiliate offers if you so choose.

 

Do Topical & Keyword Research

 

Use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs to research your niche. Find topics and keywords that you can use when you’re creating content.

 

Wait – what? I don’t have a website. What am I doing this for?

 

No worries. You can still use SEO on free publishing platforms. While it won’t be as good as doing it to your own website, it’s still good.

 

Look for topics that you can share helpful information on and put your affiliate links within the content where it is helpful.

 

Choose a Free Publishing Platform

 

Now that you have some keywords and content ideas, you need to choose a free publishing platform. You might choose to use LinkedIn Publishing, Blogger, Hubpages or another free site to publish your content.

 

The bonus of building your content on these sites is that you’ll have access to their audience and will be able to get people to come back to your website from their site as well. Just make sure you do it tastefully or you might get banned.

 

Promote Like Mad

 

Now you have to promote your content. It’s great that you have it out there but if no one sees it — no good. Here are some of the best ways to promote your affiliate offers — that really work.

 

And by the way – you don’t even need to create content and post it on the free publishing platforms. You might choose to promote affiliate products directly. You’ll almost always get better conversions if you go to some platform with good content first and then to your offer though.

 

Whatever way you choose, these methods of promotion are still very effective.

 

1. Forums

 

If you aren’t already a member of forums in the niche you’re promoting, you need to go find the most active forums in the niche. The more people on the forum, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to make sales.

 

With forums, almost all of them allow you to have a signature that goes after all of your posts. Be helpful in the forum and make people want to see what you’ve got to offer.

 

2. Social Media

 

With billions of people on social media, there is bound to be something that’s looking for what you have to offer. Makes sense, right?

 

When you use social media to promote, you shouldn’t be spamming your status or spamming on other people’s posts. If you see someone that asks for a solution, you can share your link with them. If they make a purchase — you get paid.

 

Another tactic – if you’re on Facebook, go to your status and update your post with your affiliate link. When you do this, it will be at the top of your page so anyone that comes to visit it is going to see it.

 

Now go interact with your friends by commenting on their posts or at least like their content. Make sure to be genuine.

 

When you do this, they are going to come over to your profile and see what you’ve been up to and they are going to see your affiliate link. If it is something they are looking for – guess what! They are going to click and see what it is all about.

 

Again, if they make a purchase you’re going to get paid.

 

3. eBooks

 

You can create ebooks and put them on Amazon for very cheap or for free. Within the eBook, you can promote your affiliate link by linking to it as a resource in the book.

 

4. YouTube Videos

 

YouTube videos get a lot of attention through the YouTube platform and through Google search. Even if you don’t like being on video, you can make videos and put them on YouTube to promote affiliate offers.

 

You can make whiteboard drawings, animations or even PowerPoint presentations.

 

Make sure your videos are helpful so people trust your content and are comfortable visiting the website you recommend.

 

5. Classified Websites

 

Classified websites are a great place to post about products or services you’re promoting. Be careful that you don’t overuse this strategy or the websites will shut you down.

 

Make sure the content you’re adding is helpful and not spammy.

 

6. Pay Per Click Ads

 

You can even use pay per click ads to send traffic directly to the affiliate offer. Don’t expect to make your millions using this strategy right off the bat. You have a lot of learning to do and it could cost you thousands of dollars trying to figure out this strategy.

 

Rinse & Repeat

 

 

Now you’re ready to go.

 

Go go go!

 

Go through the steps above and create as many campaigns as you can manage. Keep the campaigns that work and ax the ones that are underperforming.

 

Want to Learn More About Starting a Blog?

 

Now that you know how to make money with affiliate marketing without a website, maybe you want to check out the blog making process and learn how to market your business with a blog. Hop over to my super in-depth post about how to start a blog for profit today and maybe get inspired to get going.

 

how to make money with affiliate marketing pin for pinterest

How to Write Your First Blog Post (Easy to Understand Guide)

By
Jessica Lauren Vine
-
0
woman typing her first blog

 

You need to learn how to write your first blog post ASAP.

 

I firmly believe that having a blog can change your life. With over 400 million blogs on Tumblr alone, it seems there are a few other people that agree with me.

 

Not only can having a blog gives you a way to get your ideas out to the world but having a blog can allow you to influence others and to make a side income. Or even full-time income.

 

If you’re still stuck, continue reading this article and I’ll walk you through writing your first blog post.

 

How to Write Your First Blog Post – 101

 

Writing your first blog post can be a little daunting. You might not be sure what to say or even what you want to write about. The following tips will help you get started on the right path.

 

Remember you can always erase and start over again, so don’t stress.

 

Ask yourself these questions before you get started:

 

Why am I blogging?

 

Who do I want to serve with this blog?

 

When you answer these questions honestly, writing your first blog post is going to be a lot easier.

 

If you’re writing this blog to sell a product or service, you’ll write much differently than if you are a lifestyle blogger.

 

You’ll also write differently if you want to serve Moms of multiple kids that want to learn how to relax than if you are serving single men that need to find a new wife.

 

Once you answer these two questions and you’ve learned how to start a blog, you’re ready to get into the below steps for writing your first blog post.

 

1.  Get Your “Idea” Ready

 

Some people will tell you that you should write about yourself in your first blog post. If the blog is about you and your lifestyle then this could be a good move.

 

On the other hand, if your blog is about a topic other than you or your lifestyle then your blog post should be on that topic.

 

You might not want to write a monster of a long post when you do your first post since your main goal may just be to get started. If you can write a longer and more in-depth post to get things rolling that would be ideal.

 

Your idea should be something you want to be known for. For instance, I believe that everyone should have a blog. Since that is true, one of my biggest blog posts is about starting your own blog. I’m also a digital nomad and want people to have the opportunity to experience this life so I also have a very long post about digital nomad jobs.

 

Figure out what your big idea is and then move on to step number 2.

 

2. Write Your Blog Post Outline

 

If you hate writing outlines as much as I do, just post your main ideas down as neatly as possible. I usually put my top three headers down in my blog. If I have a specific number of points then I go ahead and put those points down.

 

When you get the bones of your post together it is easier to believe that it will actually come together.

 

3. Keep SEO in Mind

 

As you’re writing, you need to keep SEO in mind. SEO stands for search engine optimization. Even if you aren’t thinking about where you rank in the search engines right now, you should keep it in mind as you’re writing.

 

For instance, in this post, I would like to show up for terms like how to write your first blog post or writing your first blog post.

 

You can see more about search engine optimization and how to rank in the search engines in my other articles.

 

4. Put the Meat on the Bones

 

Once you have the bones of your blog post done, it is time to put some meat on those bones. You can do this by expanding upon your ideas. You can use stories and case studies to drive your points home.

 

Make sure to cite sources for any stats that you use or any information that isn’t widely known.

 

5. Proof Read

 

It is very tempting to hit the publish button after you’ve finished your blog post. You know that you did a good job on your post, so why proofread?

 

While it may seem like your article is error free when you write it, it’s still best to check. Typos can be embarrassing and I make a mistake almost every time that I write a blog post. I do type at 90+ WPM though. haha

 

<<Some links may be affiliate links which means I could make a small commission to support the blog if you purchase. I only promote things that I use and believe in. Read full disclosure here.>>

 

One of the tools that I use that really helps me is Grammarly. There is a free option but if you need the extras, you can upgrade to premium. Basically, if I make any grammar errors or other oopsies in my content, it will let me know.

 

I use this before I do my proofreading so that it catches as much as possible.

 

6. Don’t Forget Formatting

 

You can either format your posts before or after you get done writing. I like to format my posts while I am writing. It just makes me feel more accomplished.

 

Make sure you use Header 2 and Header 3s in your content. Header 1 is already the title so you don’t want to use any more header ones. Header 3s should only be used within Header 2s.

 

Add photos, graphs, charts and anything else in the content before you hit publish.

 

7. Promote Like a Mad Woman

 

If no one sees your blog post, it’s not going to do you or them any good. Promote your post on social media using tools like Tailwind, guest post on other sites that have similar target audiences.

 

Just get out there!

 

Ready to Rock Your Blogging Career

 

Congrats. You now know how to write your first blog post. Once you learn how to blog and start to bring money in, you can go off and be a digital nomad if you like.

 

Blogging can be both fulfilling and lucrative if you learn how to do it properly. How lucrative can it be? Check out the post that I did about lifestyle blogger income.

 

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