So simple you can start today!

2019 is literally just around the corner and like most people, we start planning for what will this year will mean for us and what we want to accomplish from the previous year goals.

Since you are here, we sense that your goal for 2019 is to start a blog.

And you are at the right place to learn!

In this article, we will cover how can you start a blog in 2019, and to make the best out of it while giving you some organizing and productivity tips to make your little business skyrocket into success!

There’s a lot to get done, and a lot to learn so buckle up, but don’t worry! This article is simple and easy, even for a non-techie like you and me!

Step 1: Where you are currently?

Before you start your blog, you need to have a clear picture of where your are currently. By that, I mean both you, and your expectations.

Before committing to any kind of business, make sure you have good working habits if you have success in mind. This means being organized, always being productive and learn how to avoid procrastination (consistency is one of the biggest factors in blogging success). BTW it’s easier said than done because we fall victim to this due to our busy family.

And always, and I mean ALWAYS, find new ways to spark your creativity and your creative writing, because even the best organizing and high-end marketing can save dull, boring same old content.

So make sure you feed your brain with enough information so you can provide useful knowledge in a unique way, that your readers will love and come back to. We are always reading new articles and other content to find that new spark of interest.

Step 2: Start or Keep Learning

When you start your blog there are a lot of things to learn, maybe you started learning even before you began creating it to be prepared to know at least some of basics before launching your blog.

But the truth is, you never stop learning, even after launching your blog.

Besides gathering information for your blog posts, you should make sure that you have knowledge about:

• How to pick a perfect niche
• Who is your target audience
• How to write an elevator pitch
• How to exactly monetize your blog, how to create ads, how affiliate marketing and sponsored posts work
• How to setup an email list and continue to nurture and grow it
• SEO and keywords basics
• What marketing strategies to use and how
• How to conduct effective research for your blog posts

All of these topics are covered in our ebook “The Ultimate Guide to Blogging”, so you can learn about these step-by-step, and it’s completely free!

Step 3: Write down your blog goals

What do you hope to achieve in 2019? What do you plan to accomplish with your blog? A side hustle or you plan to make it a full-time job? Whatever it is for you, write them down and keep them in front of you daily!

Here are some example goals that you can use, but make sure that you are realistic. Don’t expect overnight fame and success because if you do you may want to rethink this whole blogging thing.

• Blog or Site traffic goals

This one is especially important if you have a new blog. Your traffic is very important because that is what you will need for monetizing your blog. Your traffic goals should look something like this:

• In 30 days I want to grow my blog to 5,000 pageviews
• In 3 months I want to grow my blog to 30,000 pageviews
• By the end of the year, I want to have 100,000 page views

Pageviews are the metric you use for your blog traffic. You can follow if they are growing, staying the same or decreasing by using Google Analytics.

When setting your traffic goals, you also need to plan how exactly you will reach those numbers.

One of the best ways to grow your traffic is Pinterest, but we will talk more about that in Marketing goals section.

• Making money goals

The main purposes of your blog may be helping people, making money, or maybe another purpose altogether but when the time comes to monetize your blog, you need to have a plan.

How do you want to monetize your blog and what technique you will use? Ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts? For a new blogger, let’s say that you want to make money with affiliate marketing. Then your goals might look something like this:

• Look for affiliate programs and products that will suit your audience and niche
• Create posts every week to promote multiple affiliates
• Create a review post once a month on an affiliate

• Brand building goals

            The best way to grow your brand is on social media. This is where you can connect with other bloggers, share with others and just build relationships.

Here are some possible brand building goals to start doing for your blog:

• Create your business Pinterest account (a must do!)
• Follow 10 new bloggers each month and engage with them
• Join 10 new Facebook groups a week
• Start an Instagram page
• Start a Facebook group
• Ask and answer questions, engage and network through different social media platforms

• Establish Email list goals

We probably mentioned for a thousand times already, that email list is one of the most important assets your blog can have.

It’s meant to keep those people who want to read even more than from your blog posts and see behind the scenes or bonuses that you can give them.

It is also a great tool to use when you have something to share or sell, because your email subscribers are the people who know you already, like your contributions, and trust you because you’ve built a relationship with them over time.

Your email list goals may be:

• Get your first 100 subscribers in 2 months
• Grow your email list to 1,000 in 6 months
• Create a new freebie every other month
• Write a blog post about your new freebie
• Create a pin about your new freebie

• Marketing goals

Pinterest is one of the most powerful marketing tools for growing your traffic. So you have to set goals for that as well. Some of the goals could be:

• Create or switch to business account
• Create boards and start making and organizing pins
• Create multiple pins for each blog post
• Invest in Tailwind (a scheduling tool to save your time)

• What is the purpose or intent of your blog?

As a blogger, it’s your job to serve your audience. This means that whatever you put out on your blog or on social media should help people in some way or solve some sort of a problem for others.

Here some quick ways to keep this in the forefront with your readers:

• Sharing your story and showing that there is a real person behind that blog
• Coming up with unique and creative ideas
• Answering your audience’s mails and comments on social media
• Creating a poll or fan Q&A to see what does your audience wants to see more of

Step 4: Create a schedule and stick to it!

Now that you’ve established some goals for your blog in 2019, it’s time to make a schedule to make sure you stick to them. The first thing you need to determine is your posting frequency.

Now, we are not saying that you need to post five articles a week, it’s actually better to post less but way better and high-quality ones, for example, 2 or 3 instead. We post even less than that.

You need to make sure that you are providing valuable and relevant content, on a schedule that sticks. This way, it keeps you on track and allows your readers to anticipate new content!

Step 5: Create your content plan and and get busy creating content

The only thing that is left is your content plan. You can use any content scheduling tool or good old calendar, just come up with article ideas, write them down and start researching and writing.

Make sure that you stick to the schedule and always finish before deadlines, and also always have at least 10 backup posts in case writer’s block emerges.