Finding your footing with a new blog and business is hard. There’s so much advice floating around and it’s impossible to know which advice will work for you.
Expert A says you *must* do this and this, while Expert B says you *have* to focus on these 5 things.
It’s overwhelming.
I didn’t get started all that long ago, so when I see someone in a Facebook group totally overwhelmed about where to start or someone responds to a course email asking where they need to focus, I totally get it.
When I started my first blog I made the mistake of:
- Writing blog posts
- Attempting to send weekly newsletters (and failing)
- Tackling all social media accounts
- Creating a free eBook
- Pre-launching a course
- Brainstorming services
- Searching for my ideal audience,
- And who knows what else
…all at the same time.
As you might be able to imagine, that didn’t go too hot.
I was left feeling completely overwhelmed.
My posts and newsletters were inconsistent.
My social media accounts grew by a follower or two per day.
My email list was almost non-existent. (I ended that blog with a whopping 18 subscribers)
And my course totally failed. (Not even one person signed up for the VIP list)
At the time, it was pretty awful, but now I’m so thankful for it. I had the opportunity to learn a little of what worked and what didn’t, but more importantly I learned how vital it is to ease into things. So let’s go over the key to getting started in your new blog or business.
Tackle one new thing at a time
The most valuable lesson I learned from that blog was how important it is to tackle one new thing at a time. Trying to implement every strategy you find at once will leave you feeling overwhelmed and defeated. If your attention is spread too thin you’re not going to see results anywhere.
If you’re in this boat right now, identify the main thing you need to focus on. If you’re starting from scratch, get used to writing consistent blog posts. After that, add in an email list. Then throw in your favorite social media platform.
Your progress might seem slower, but in reality, each of these areas of your business will grow more quickly when you can focus on them until you’re comfortable and learn how it all works.
How I did it
In case you’re curious, here’s the order I executed new areas of this blog to get everything up and running. This all happened over the course of about 8 months. It was hard not to focus on more than one thing at a time, and I definitely let my guard down and did a few times, but it was worth it.
- Consistent weekly blogging
- Weekly newsletters
- Free course #1
- Email list growth
- Narrowing in on a niche
- Free course #2
- Paid course + webinars (yep, I cheated here)
- Finding clients
- Facebook groups
- Live (paid) workshop
- Creating client processes
- Finally discovering my ideal clients
- More focused services
- Free course #3
I probably missed a few things in that list, but I can think back to a specific time where I focused on each of those items individually and saw growth that I’m happy with. Now I have the experience and strategies I need to manage them all at once (with some help from Berit).
Today I challenge you to slow down, find one area of your blog and business to focus on, and go all in. Once you see the payoff I’d love for you to come back here and give me an update!
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