I’ve made it a habit lately to frequent blogging events. First, because I always want to learn new things. Second, because maybe I can help someone. I have been doing this blogging thing for a while, after all.
While attending these events and then checking out the blogs of the attendees, I’ve realized people are still making really common rookie blogging mistakes. Even people who’ve been doing this for a while are making rookie blogging mistakes!
Here’s a list of the most common rookie blogging mistakes I still see all the time.
Not having an opt-in with a lead magnet.
Okay, I admit that, in the beginning, back in 2010 when hardly anyone was making a living blogging, I went six months without collecting emails on my website. I know. It’s an embarrassing rookie blogging mistake.
However, I eventually wisened up and learned the power of collecting emails. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still made plenty of rookie blogging mistakes along the way as it pertains to email marketing, but at the very least I was giving out a free ebook in exchange for email addresses.
Now, the rookie blogging mistakes I see people make all the time are either not having an opt-in form or having an opt-in form that says “Join my newsletter!” Here’s a newsflash: No one wants to join another newsletter.
Instead, focus on giving something of value away for free in exchange for someone’s email address.
Not having social share buttons on blog posts.
I recently went to a blog of someone whose been in the game for a while and found a blog post I liked. I went to go tweet it, but soon realized they had no social sharing buttons on their blog posts.
You have to make it easy for people to share your stuff. Period. End of story. No one is going to go out of their way to open up Twitter in a new tab, write the headline, copy and paste the URL and then tag you just to share an article you wrote.
Fortunately, this one of the rookie blogging mistakes that’s pretty easy to fix. If you’re using WordPress, it’s as simple as installing a free plugin that automatically adds social sharing buttons to your blog posts.
Doing it for the money.
J.D Roth, one of the original personal finance bloggers of “Get Rich Slowly” fame, recently published a blog where he noted the many ways blogging has changed over the years. One of the things he noticed, was how people are getting into blogging for money.
He’s right. Not a week goes by where I don’t have an email or a message from someone asking me how to get into blogging to make money.
Can you make a living as a blogger? Yes. I do it. But if you’re getting into blogging for the sole purpose of making money you’re going to be very disappointed. Not only is that surefire way to fail at blogging, it’s also not a get rich quick type of thing. It takes a long time to become successful.
