The most critical part of starting a successful blog and making money from blogging is to treat your blog like a business. If you haven’t already, it’s time to ditch the old habits of hobby bloggers that only cost you time and money.
When you learn how to take advantage of the right mindset, you’ll start seeing instant results. Knowing your blog is a business will help you save time, create better content, and generate more traffic.
And if you don’t… Well, let’s just say that you’ll have a hard time achieving your blogging goals and making money with your blog.
In this post, I’m going to reveal 8 simple ways to treat your blog like a business. I’ll also share with you a few great learning resources to boost your blogging skills to help you build a successful business out of it.
Keep reading!
Hand-picked related articles you may want to read:
- 5 Proven Ways to Monetize Your Blog: Beginner’s Guide
- How to Find the Best Blog Hosting? Blog Hosting Review
- 10 Deadly Blogging Myths That Will Kill Your Success
#1: Research first, then execute
Running a successful blog eats up a lot of your time. I’m sure you don’t want to waste any of your valuable hours on things that aren’t helping you achieve your long-term goals, right?
Related: 6 Worst Blogging Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Therefore, don’t rush things. I know this is easier said than done, but trust me on this. I’ve wasted hundreds of hours doing stuff that wasn’t helping me get forward with my blog – a number of times. And yes, they were things I was feeling excited about. But they had zero value to my readers.
That being said: before you do anything, make sure it’s going to take you one step closer to your goals. And remember that everything you do should serve your readers by creating value for them.
#2: Have a clear content strategy
Having a solid blogging strategy means having clear goals you want to achieve by following a plan. Now, if you don’t have a goal, how could you ever achieve it in the first place?
Not long ago, I was just a beginner blogger like you might be. I had no problem finding a blog topic I was passionate for. So I started writing blog posts and interacting with my readers.
The problem I had was this: I didn’t feel like I was going anywhere.
You know, I kept publishing blog posts and answering my readers’ questions.
But in my head, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my blog. I felt confused about why I was blogging in the first place and almost gave up altogether.
Then one day, I decided to take the bull by the horns. I asked myself:
- Where do I want to go with my blog?
- What do I want to achieve?
- How can I get where I want to go?
- When will I achieve my goals?
These simple questions helped me build a robust long-term plan for my blog. Since then, I’ve saved countless hours of work and heaps of money, too.
Also, my strategy includes clear, measurable milestones.
Oh, the satisfaction I get when I can tick off a milestone off of my list! They help me track my progress and make me feel like I’m getting closer to my goals, step by step.
#3: Stay consistent
Can you imagine a supermarket that didn’t have regular opening hours? How would you feel if you never knew if they were open when you wanted to get your groceries?
The secret behind any successful business is consistency. When customers know what they can get and when they can get it, they start trusting the business.
And your blog should be no different!
Here’s the catch:
When you publish content regularly, your readers will keep coming back to see what you have to say. They know they can find valuable content on your blog, becoming your most loyal readers.
Recommended: How to Find Your Blog Target Audience: The Ultimate Guide
What does consistency mean then? How often should you publish a new blog post?
In short, blogging consistently simply means publishing new posts at regular intervals.
Don’t worry about posting new articles daily if you can’t. If you can write a new post once a week, commit to publishing a weekly article. Choose whatever schedule works for you.
Related: How to Write a Great Blog Post (Every Time): The Ultimate Guide
To avoid feeling overwhelmed with blogging, set yourself realistic expectations. You’re the boss, so there’s no need to put yourself under pressure.
#4: Self-host your blog
You can start a professional blog for free. You can even start a blog to make some money on a very small budget. But if you want to grow your blog into a proper business, you should be prepared to invest a few bucks in it.
Read next: 4 Profitable Blogging Investments for Making Money Online
If you ask me, the most critical investment is to start your blog on a self-hosted platform. Here’s a helpful post with 9 critical reasons why you must self-host your blog.
Self-hosting means you need to do two things:
- Sign up for blog hosting (that’s where your blog “lives”) and
- Register your own domain name (that’s the name of your blog like bloggingexplorer.com is for me).
Don’t worry if this sounds a tad technical. Setting up blog hosting with your own domain name is easier than you think.
To help you get started, I’ve written a full step-by-step tutorial on how to start a self-hosted blog in just 30 minutes. I’ll see you there!
#5: Offer value to your readers
Write helpful content!
Now, all businesses have one thing in common: they have customers and clients.
And the most successful businesses excel at helping their clients. They offer useful products and services that people are willing to pay for. That’s what you call value.
Your blog is no exception.
You see, your readers are your clients. You have to help them. Answer their questions and solve their problems and they’ll come back to read more of your content in the future.
In short: Offer your readers as much value as you can. Make their lives easier!
The best way to succeed as a blogger is to forget about yourself. Sounds harsh, but it’s true, trust me.
When you realize that your blog isn’t a hobby where you write about yourself, you’ll see how much monetization potential your blog has.
That said, you can turn your blog into a successful business when you understand that your blog posts are your products. They’re the service you offer to your readers. And if they’re good enough, your readers will be willing to buy from you.
Read next: What to Blog About? How to Find Blog Post Topics That Generate Traffic
#6: Dive into social media
If you want to start a successful blog, you will need to drive traffic to your blog. The best way to promote your blog and to grow your traffic is social media.
Some of us love it, some of us hate it. I’m somewhere between the two extremes.
Tip: This is self-explanatory, but I always remind my blog and website clients about one thing. When you’re on social media as a blogger, you are representing your brand. Keep that in mind when you’re busy and something’s rubbing you the wrong way.
#7: Track your expenses and blog income
Every year comes to an end at some point.
And no matter how excited you are about the New Year, you still have one more thing to do before you can check last year off of your to-do list: taxes!
Yes, just like with any other business, you need to keep track of your expenses and income while blogging.
It doesn’t matter whether you do it yourself or hire an accountant to do it for you. Just make sure you got everything covered.
#8: Never stop learning
When you start blogging, you’re up for a never-ending journey.
If you’ve chosen a blog topic you genuinely feel passionate about, you can keep writing about it for years to come. You’ll always find new inspiration for new posts and content to offer your readers.
That being said, make sure you never stop learning as a blogger. Whatever tasks help you reach your long-term goals, learn how to become more efficient and productive with them.
Find new ways of creating not just more content but, above all, better content. You want to engage your readers, have an active exchange of ideas and feedback with them.
Now, what types of skills could you learn as you go?
To help you get started, here are a few topics you could improve your skills in to become a more productive blogger:
- Design:
Learning more about design can be a great help for any blogger out there. When you know the basics of professional design (either graphic or web), you can create a cohesive branding for your blog. Check out these top design courses on Udemy to get started. - Coding and web development:
You don’t need to know how to code to start a blog these days. The easiest way to launch your blog is to simply install WordPress on your web server. Head over to Bluehost for a free, automatic WordPress installation when you sign up! However, learning some HTML and CSS fundamentals can help you expand your blog’s features and functionalities to take your business to the next level. - Photography:
Finding great-looking images for your blog can be hard work and you might end up paying a big buck for them. A quick way to save money and become a more professional blogger is to learn photography with an online course. When you know how to take great photos of your own, they’ll always look cohesive and professional. - Videography and presentation:
While you’re at it, why not learn some videography, too? Video editing skills mean you’ll know how to present yourself as a blogger, allowing you to connect with an even bigger audience. Adding a video channel to your blog is a fantastic way to increase engagement. Check out these videography courses to get started!
Final thoughts: How to treat your blog like a business
All in all, becoming a top blogger means you need to wear a lot of different hats.
Getting your blog started the right way is all about having a long-term plan and following it step-by-step. This will help you track your progress and boost your motivation, too.
The core of successful blogging is to know how to treat your blog like a business.
And even if you’re just getting started with blogging, now is the perfect time to get into the right mindset. When you’re aware of your goals, like making money with your blog, you’ll find it easier to stick to your plan.
With that being said, if you haven’t already, head over to my 30-minute step-by-step tutorial to start your first profitable blog today!
Ok, it’s your turn now!
Please let me know if you feel like I missed something in this post!
Also, drop me a line if you have any questions about how to treat your blog like a business to make money online. I love hearing about what you may be struggling with and how you’ve overcome any difficult phases with blogging.
Here are a few related articles you may want to read:
- 7 Critical Things You MUST Do Before Launching Your Blog
- 10 Instant Tips You Can Use Isntantly to Write an Awesome Blog Post
If you enjoyed this article about how to treat your blog like a business, please share your thoughts in the comments below!
P.S. If you found this article helpful, please share it with others! Thanks for your support!