When you first start blogging, you’re probably just super excited and can’t wait to start creating awesome content for your readers. Your head is bursting with new ideas for blog posts and you’re eager to take the first steps towards your blogging success, right?
As empowering as blogging is, there comes a time when you’re just feeling like it’s all for nothing and you just want to quit altogether. Usually, this happens a few months after you start your blog. You’re thinking, “Why did I start blogging again?” or “I think I have better things to do, right?.
And that’s perfectly normal!
What I can tell you right now is that you should be PROUD of your blog! It is worth your time!
I started my first blog a few years back, just for the fun of it. It was a hobby that I turned into a successful side hustle. And if I didn’t love my freelancing jobs so much, I would do it full-time. If you want to do the same, read my tutorial on how to start a profitable blog from scratch.
To help you keep up your momentum, I’ll share with you some easy and quick tips for staying on top of your game in this post.
These are all tips you can start using TODAY, and they’re all FREE. So, whether you feel like you’re running out of content or just losing motivation, keep reading!
Here are a couple of related posts you may find helpful, too:
- How to Start a Successful Blog? 6 Instant Steps for Blogging Beginners
- What to Blog About? How to Find Blog Post Topics That Generate Traffic
Alright, let’s get to it!
How to Stay Motivated When You Start Blogging
1: Know Your “Why”
If there’s only one point you’ll read in this post, this one should be it!
When you start a blog, the most important thing to know is WHY you’re doing it.
And just to be clear, your “why” can NOT be:
- “I want to become a successful blogger.”
- “I want to make money online.”
These are both your “what”. They’re things you may wish to achieve, but they’re not reasons why you’re starting blogging in the first place.
So, try to think of why you first became interested in blogging. And I mean, making money is a perfectly OK goal to have, if that’s what you’re after.
But what are you going to do with that money?
What is it going to give you?
For me, my “why” is achieving more freedom. I’m free to to pretty much anything I want. I can stay in bed if I want to, travel more, and use my time as I see fit.
So, your “why” could be something like:
- Spend more time with your family
- Help your readers solve their problems
- Establish an online brand
- Become an author in the future
- Be your own boss and completely independent
So, what’s your “why”? Drop me a line in the comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Related post: 6 Secrets to Successful Blogging for Beginners
2: Have a Clear Goal
Let’s take a minute to figure out why it’s so difficult sometimes to keep your motivation as a blogger.
In general, what keeps us motivated with whatever we’re doing is one thing: PROGRESS.
We know what we’re after, and we feel good for getting one step closer to our goal, right?
But in order to see and feel progress, you have to be able to measure it.
And that’s where most bloggers get lost. They want to start a successful blog, but forget to define a clear goal from the beginning.
Actionable Tip:
Do you feel like your goals are a bit foggy? When was the last time you did a little checkup on them?
If it’s been a while, take a few minutes to ask yourself a few questions. This won’t take long:
- Where do you want to be in 1 month?
- How about 1 year?
- Or maybe 5 years from now?
Can you see yourself achieve your goals with blogging in the future? I’m 100% sure you can.
Whenever you’re feeling like your motivation is going down the drain, come back to your goal.
Remember why you’re working so hard in the first place!
Oh and one more thing: don’t forget that success doesn’t come overnight. Most big names in the blogosphere have worked for years to be where they are right now.
So, when you’re reading about other bloggers’ success, don’t forget how much work they’ve put into it.
And if you feel inspired by them, just leave them a message and ask them how they did it!
Related post: Why Start a Blog? 12 Reasons To Start a Blog TODAY
3: Break Down Your Goal
Ok, so now you have a clear goal in mind. How can you motivate yourself to keep working towards it?
What I see happening to bloggers way too often is that they get lost in their daily work. They start with a great target in mind, but before long they’ve forgotten about it altogether.
And that’s perfectly normal!
When you start a blog, you’re starting a business. Needless to say, there are tons of moving pieces to manage as a beginner, like:
- Learning new tools
- Writing your posts
- Connecting with your readers
You’re multitasking like a superstar! But it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re so busy, right?
Therefore, make sure you break your goal down into smaller milestones from the beginning.
Also, make your milestones measurable, so that you can track your progress.
What You Should Do:
Do you have a monthly strategy session scheduled? If not, create one now. Block 1 hour every month to do a quick checkup on two points:
- What happened in the last month?
- What do you wish to achieve in the next month?
Knowing you have a regular session in your calendar helps you focus. You can stay productive when you know you’ll review your ideas every month. A brief strategy meeting with yourself is your chance to catch up with your expectations and progress so far.
You’ll find your daily blogging tasks much more enjoyable and rewarding this way. You will know where you stand, what you need to do next, and when you’ll reach your next milestone.
4: Think About Your Readers
Writing a blog for your niche automatically makes you more or less of an authority in your field.
You attract a certain group of readers that keep coming back to explore your content.
In other words, you create a community of like-minded people that actually take their time to visit your blog. They want to see what you have to say, time after time.
This community is something you should cherish! I mean, you’ve created it out of thin air, offering your readers a forum where they can gather new ideas, share their thoughts, and connect with others.
So, apart from your financial goals, try to think of the “softer” side of your progress, too. Think about how much joy and value you bring to your readers.
Related article: How to Find Blog Post Topics That Generate Massive Traffic
Here’s What You Should Do:
If this feels a bit difficult, make a list of things that you are giving to your readers, like:
- Useful information
- Helpful advice for their problems
- Answers to their questions
- Supportive discussions in the comments section
- You’ve created a community
See what I mean? Basically, you’re helping your readers cope with some of their problems.
I know it’s sometimes difficult to lose sight of the social side of blogging. It just doesn’t align with the mentality of our dollar-driven world. But it’s there, and you shouldn’t neglect it.
Trust me, you’ll feel even more empowered and rewarded when you are aware and mindful of the good you’re doing.
5: Take a Day Off (or Two)
Blogging is often incredibly time-consuming, whether you’re just a beginner or you’ve been blogging for years already.
There are just so many different things you need to learn and master. For someone on the outside, it might just look like you’re writing your posts and hitting that publish button a few times a month.
But in the background, there’s so much more going on beyond writing awesome posts, like:
- Learning how to design your blog using a theme
- Growing your traffic by marketing your blog
- Managing and tracking your analytics
- Learning and mastering SEO
I mean, it’s a lot to take in, right?
And the more you learn about it all, the more it feels like you don’t know anything yet!
You feel like you’re constantly running out of time and the goals you want to achieve just keep running away from you.
Here’s What You Should Do Next:
To avoid feeling overwhelmed with everything that’s happening, you MUST give yourself at least one full day off every week.
Trust me, you’ll see such an immense boost in your productivity when you do this. It might feel scary to “miss out” on an entire day of blogging, but just remember that you need to take care of yourself, too.
And you know what’s the best part of it? Since you’re the boss, you can choose whichever day you like!
Or even better, make that two days off!
Just take it easy, forget about the blog for just a day, and spend some quality time with family and friends.
6: Connect With Other Bloggers
Keep this in mind: you’re not alone!
When you dive deeper into the wonderful world of blogging, you can easily feel like you’re doing everything by yourself.
I know how easy it is to think you’re all alone with your blog. I mean, when you think about it, your blog is like a one-man (or one-woman) show: you’re the management, the marketing, the operations, the accounting, and the IT department!
Obviously, there’s not much room for actual face-to-face social interaction with others as a blogger. No matter how big your community is, you will most likely never meet your readers in the real world.
So, just know that you’re not the only one doing this. Other bloggers are struggling with the exact same issues regularly. Remember, we’re ALL in this together!
That said, just go out there and connect with them!
Read also: 5 Powerful Ways to Find Blog Post Ideas Quickly
What You Should Do:
Find a handful of great blogs that you like to read. Then, leave your comments and share your thoughts regularly.
(Leave one right NOW, I’m more than happy to connect with my fellow bloggers out there!)
You’ll find that creating a discussion with your peers can help you keep motivated but it also gives you new ideas on what to write about!
But wait! I obviously don’t mean you should copy someone else’s ideas. Simply use them as a source of inspiration for your own!
7: Look Back at How Far You’ve Come
Last but not least, remember that every blogger starts from zero. They create something great out of thin air. And so will you!
It’s so easy to focus on the future and what you want to achieve, while forgetting how far you’ve come already.
We’re so fixated on achieving more and more, becoming more successful and making more money in the future, that we often forget about what we’ve achieved already!
That said, keep in mind that you’re making progress every day. Even if you’re not posting that often, you’re still putting yourself out there.
You’re helping others, offering them value.
And while doing so, you’re getting one step closer to your long-term goals every day.
Actionable Tip:
What I like to do sometimes is to read through my old blog posts. And I mean OLD, like the very first ones.
The writing is just awful (as it still is sometimes!), the images look horrible, and it feels like that was ages ago. And that’s my point here exactly!
Seeing how far you’ve come already feels so rewarding sometimes! It helps you put your goals into perspective. Especially when you feel like you’re not doing a good enough job for some reason. Or when you feel like you’re not fulfilling your own expectations.
I promise you: you will achieve your goals one day. You hard work will pay itself off.
Bottom Line: Have a Clear Plan
How are you holding up? I hope you’ve found a few helpful pointers for keeping your motivation levels up.
All in all, you should simply keep your long-term goals in sight, track your progress regularly, and just have fun with it!
If you’re having difficulties with motivation, creating more structure into your daily routines helps A LOT.
When you have a clear plan, it’s so much easier to follow your steps towards your long-term goals.
Because above all, blogging is above all a long-term commitment! So I really encourage you to keep it up! Do no give up or let it get you down – you’ll be ah-mazed about where you can go with it!
And whatever happens, remember that your blog is something to be proud of! It can be whatever you want it to be, right?
Final Thoughts: How to Stay Motivated When You Start Blogging
Now it’s your turn! How do you get back your motivation when you’re going through a blogging slump?
Did you find a few useful tips above? Let me know in the comments section!
When you’re ready, get back to creating amazing content for your readers with these powerful tips for writing epic blog posts.
Here are a couple or related posts you may want to read, too:
If you enjoyed this post on how to stay motivated when you start blogging, drop me a line in the comments below!
P.S. I’d appreciate if you shared this post with others, so that they can find it, too! Thanks so much!