As a blogger, do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you feel like there are just too many things to do, whether that’s creating the next recipe, scheduling social media, writing the next blog post, working with brands to create sponsored content, and emailing your list?
I completely understand the feeling of analysis paralysis that this sense of overwhelm can bring about. That’s why I want to talk about how to take your blog to the next level.
IE 63: 5 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level Now
I know you all need to know how to do this. We want our page views to grow. We want our social media followers to grow. These are all valid concerns for bloggers. As you seek to work with brands or increase your ad revenue, these numbers matter.
Are you tired of feeling despair in the pit of your stomach when you think about your blog? Are you done with not knowing which way to move next? Do you wish somebody would just tell you what to do next so you can move forward and stop sitting still? That’s exactly what I am going to do for you today.
Set Performance-Based Goals to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
If you’ve been following along for the past few months, you know that I did an entire 6-week series on how to set goals. In that series, I talked about the difference between an outcome goal and a performance goal. (If you missed this series, I strongly recommend that you go listen to it in its entirety. You’ll find Part 1 here.)
If you recall, an outcome goal is basically a number that you want to reach by a certain time. A performance goal is the tasks and actions that will get you to that outcome goal. Let’s talk examples-
“I want to make $2K per month from my blog on a consistent basis.”
That’s a nice, specific outcome goal. Now, let’s talk about the actions and tasks that will help you to achieve it.
The first thing to do is figure out how to achieve the goal.
Perhaps you have decided to do it through your email list. The next question is, how will you grow your email list? Do you have a high-quality lead magnet in place? If so, do you have a welcome series of emails so that you can begin to nurture your list?
These are ways to get your list to engage with your site, which drives your page views, which drives your ad money and the amount you can ask from brands for sponsored content.
Or maybe you want to increase your income by working with more brands. That’s how I grew my own blogging income and why I teach my methods in Pitch Perfect Pro. (The course opens back up in May, so if you missed it last time, get ready!)
You can download my FREE Pitch Perfect checklist and get started now while you wait for the course to re-open.
You Need an Accountability Partner to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
Why are performance goals so crucial to your blog’s growth?
It’s simple; performance goals give you a path to follow. If you have a big project to work on but you don’t know which tasks will get you there, where do you begin? Can you see how this causes analysis paralysis? You are stuck simply because you don’t know what to do next.
Here’s another question for you- who is holding you accountable for these tasks?
When I was working all on my lonesome, guess what? I wasn’t accomplishing the things I needed to accomplish. Why? Because as a busy mom, there were always so many other things that needed to be done and I had nobody to hold my feet to the fire and ask me why I wasn’t doing them.
Once you know your tasks and you have an open 15 minutes, you can knock out a task that will get you closer to your goal. I dedicated an entire episode of the podcast to helping you find an accountability partner in case you aren’t sure where to begin.
Include Suggestions from Colleagues in Different Niches to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
If you are a food blogger and the only people you get advice from are other food bloggers, you need to broaden your circle. You need to be reaching out to people outside your niche.
What’s working for the travel bloggers? Where are the parenting bloggers finding success? What social media channels are they loving right now? How are they engaging their audience?
When you rely only on those within your niche, you are just following the crowd. You aren’t trying anything new; you’re just going with the flow. How will you stand out from the crowd if you do what everybody else is doing?
Multiple perspectives from people in different niches can give you ideas you would never have thought of. If you do a ton of Tasty style videos as a food blogger, maybe it’s time to go live for your audience. Maybe it’s time to let them see your face instead of just the food you create.
I want to challenge you to get into groups of bloggers that include bloggers from many different niches. My own Facebook community offers this very type of setting. Boss Moms is another fantastic Facebook group with many different types of bloggers as well as business owners in tons of different types of businesses.
Gain an Outside Perspective to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
This is not the same as a group of people from different niches.
No, this is the person who will say without hesitation, “Why would you do that? I would never do that.” “You did what??”
What ends up happening so often is that because we are so close to our content, we can’t see anything else. We can’t see what’s on the other side of it. Things that might make perfect sense to us might not be smart but we need someone on the outside to tell us. Or we could be missing a huge opportunity and not even know it.
Do you ever feel judged by others for lifestyle choices you’ve made? I recently had a conversation with the mom of a large family who told me she feels judged for the number of children she has.
The funny thing is that when she shared this concern in a Facebook group, tons of other women reached out saying that they shared the same struggle. But it took me telling her to help her see that these women are identifying with her struggle and she needs to reach out to them.
She could only see the struggle, not the opportunity. Having my perspective opened up a new idea for her. There was something she could provide to her audience but she hadn’t seen it.
Get One-on-One Coaching to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
There are times when you just need to sit down one-on-one with someone who is in the thick of it just like you.
I know that a lot of you may have had a business coach and maybe you didn’t feel like it was as productive as you had hoped. What I would ask you is, has that person actually done the things you need to do? Have they been in it? And are they still in it?
I have personally worked with coaches that aren’t bloggers. How can they help me move my blog forward when they aren’t familiar with what bloggers need?
I am not saying that a coach who isn’t a blogger will never be a good fit for you. There are many aspects to this blogging business and you can receive help in different areas from different people at different times.
But when you want to move the blog itself forward, you need a blogger who has done it to help you. They bring a true personal perspective to your situation. They can truly understand where you’re coming from and what you’re going through. Sound like anyone you know?
The same thing goes for courses. Have you ever taken a course and ended up feeling frustrated because you didn’t know how to put the course into action? Have you ever had someone take a look at your blog and give you feedback and ended up feeling stupid? I have!
I had an SEO audit done on my blog and it came back with this huge list of everything I was doing wrong. Would you like to guess what it didn’t come back with? It didn’t give me a single suggestion for how to fix what they said was wrong.
That’s right. They could tell me the problems but not the solutions. Listen, if someone can’t give you concrete steps to take to move your blog forward, then what are you paying them for?
*In case you need some SEO help, I want you to be sure to sign up for Mary’s email list for her soon to be released course, Search Engine Seduction. Mary is an SEO ninja and is coming out with a course that you will not want to miss.
Another example is Jennifer Rothkamp. Jennifer blogs over at The Intentional Mom and she has a killer email course. What sets her course apart from the hundreds of email courses out there? Jennifer has done it! She has been the beginning blogger who had to grow her email list. She’s been there and she has the experience to back up what she teaches.
One more thing about this type of help- you want to choose a person or a course that is both current and relevant. That person who put out a course out about social media 3 years ago…yeah, there is no social media platform that is the same today as it was 3 years ago. You want someone to teach you who knows the current state of the online world and can speak to it.
I’m Here to Help You to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
If these things I’ve talked about today touch on the areas of your business that you need help with, then you need to be in myMastermind. Let me tell you a secret. I have a superpower of being able to match people up with the person who is the perfect fit for them in their business. If coaching and accountability are what you need, I can promise you that you’ll get both.
This Mastermind is a 3 to 6 month commitment depending upon the program that you are accepted into. Go ahead and apply today if you are interested. We kick off in early April and go hard and steady for 3 months. If you miss the deadline for this one, sign up for the waitlist because I run a new group every 3 months.
This could be just what your business needs to take it to the next level, and from a blogger who is still in the trenches every day. I write posts, I pitch brands, I nurture my email list. I hope you’ll take the opportunity to come learn from me and receive the benefits of a diverse group of ladies who can support you and provide the accountability you need.
Action Steps:
- If you liked this episode of Influencer Entrepreneurs, please subscribe and leave a fabulous review!
- Mark your calendar for the weekly free trainings every Tuesday at 11am EST over on Jenny’s Facebook page.
- Join the conversation on Instagram by using the hashtag #WWJMD and tagging Jenny when you’re listening to the podcast. She’ll send you a personal message whenever you tag her.
