Beginner Blogger Overwhelm

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It can be hard to accept that growth may be slow and steady when you read all kinds of income reports of bloggers making bank from the get go.

But for the majority of people, this is not the case. In fact only about 1% of bloggers make enough to earn a full-time income blogging.

The reality is there’s no easy way to do blogging. It’s tough work that you gotta put in if you want to reap the results. But as with any good thing in life, it’ll take time to nurture.

No one goes into blogging and becomes an overnight success (even for those that make it seem that way, I can bet you that they've also felt frustrations and setbacks that only propelled them to put in 200% to succeed).

Be patient yet persistent and if you continue to work towards your goals in a smart way by getting consistent traffic through Pinterest and Google and setting up your blog to make money, you will eventually reach where you want to be.

4. Connect with others bloggers

As supportive as my husband is, he doesn’t truly understand what I’m going through when the learning curve for blogging feels like a vertical cliff. I'm glad I reached out to other bloggers.

Here are insightful advice I got on how to stay motivated when blogging gets the best of you.

Get clear on your goals

From Meera Kothand of Meera Kothand:

"My no #1 tip is to define what success is for you from the very start. Take a piece of paper, and try to get as specific as possible with what that is. Because that definition of success will be your roadmap.

It’s easy to get swayed by all those 5 and 6 figure blogger reports. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and dejected when others who have started at about the same time as you seem to have have achieved lots more.

This is when your passion will start to fizzle out.

But if you know your goals and you keep your ‘why’ centered, you’ll have the passion to wade through the rough patches when nothing seems to work as well as you want it to."

Meera is an email marketing specialist and Amazon Bestselling Author of the book The One Hour Content Plan*.

Her speciality: Simplifying marketing strategy with no-fluff, direct and actionable advice. She has been featured on Smart Blogger, Marketing Profs, YFS, Addicted 2 Success and several other sites.

If you want to get started with email marketing from scratch, sign up for her free course.

Recenter your why

"Blogger burnout. It’s pretty common.

My top tip to getting through it, staying motivated and getting ahead is to remember your why. And not just your me-focussed why, but your audience-focussed why. It’s easy to get demotivated if you’re just chasing extra income. But, if you’re trying to make a real difference in people’s lives… well, that’s motivating.

When your goal is to serve others with your content, it’s easier to create. Changing your internal dialogue from ‘what would make me the most money?’ to ‘what would my audience find the most helpful?’ is one of the best mental leaps you can make."

Cath blogs at Catherine Oneissy where she teaches moms how to build a passive income empire through their blogs using the power of Pinterest. Take her free Pinterest course.

Pace yourself

"As a new blogger, everything is shiny and bright, eh? New tools, new stock photos, no graphics and new social media profiles.

Everything is fresh and new as a beginner. But, then something happens.

You start to feel overwhelmed.

Suddenly, you're dumped with hundred things you need to know as a new blogger. From SEO tips to WordPress to how to write a post that people will comment and share.

It's too much and you stop. Weeks go on and now the passion has died.

I don't want that to happen to you! As a newly full-time blogger, I'm learning to pace myself and to make sure that my creative juices are always flowing.

My #1 tip (and a half!) to help new bloggers have that passion and fire for months and years to come, is to figure out your greatest passion niche. LOVE what you write about and CARE about your readers.

Help them with their problems and you'll always have that drive to inspire and connect.

My half tip is to be okay if you don't have that spunk. This means you need to re-evaluate your blog's purpose and to shut the noise. Stop following other bloggers in your niche. Stop reading Facebook posts on groups.

Put your head down, focus on your plan and goal and I know that motivation will start happening. New ideas will form and your blog will thrive."

Elna is a blogger and course creator. She help moms make money by giving them tips to grow their blog traffic and email list as well as grow their income. Follow her on Pinterest.

Go with what you know

From Elise McDowell of House of Brazen:

"Document, don't create. I learned that from Gary Vaynerchuk.

Basically what he means is that instead of constantly needing to come up with new and creative blog content, write your blogs from the perspective of documenting what you've already done.

That way you will never run out of content and you won't burn out from lack of ideas or creativity. That's how I've run my blog since the beginning and it's made the whole process so much easier!"

Elise McDowell is the founder of House of Brazen where she helps women business owners make money online through sharing no-BS business advice on how to find the gumption, install the mindset, implement the systems and sell with personality to make the money you deserve so you can have the freedom you want.

If you like the sound of that, then come stalk Elise over at Instagram and Facebook!

Keep believing in what you do

From Ana Savuica of The She Approach:

"To the bloggers out there who write about what you love and what you feel that you're called to write about, know this.

You're going to meet resistance. You could be 100%, no doubt about it, on the right path and doing what you're meant to do and still feel discouraged, unmotivated and unpassionate about it sometimes. It's not always going to come easy. And it's not always going to feel good.

The hardest part will be dealing with that inner resistance, that self-doubt, those "is this really worth it?" moments.

Know that it is. Trust the path that you've chosen because you got there for a reason. And yes, this path still has roadblocks. But sometimes they are not there to show you to take another route.

They are simply there to make sure that you're committed to the journey. (And from my own experience I know that includes a few bumpy rides.)"

Ana is the blogger behind The She Approach, a platform that teaches women how to speak out online and be heard through blogging.

Started by her passion for empowering women to build their digital empires, the blog soon became a resource for new and established bloggers to grow their readership and social media accounts and even make an income blogging.

If you want to follow her journey, check her out on Facebook and Instagram.

5. Chillax

Seriously, you'll need to take a chill pill.

As my husband tells me, blogging should be fun, not a chore. So instead of fixating on how to SEO my posts up the yin yang (when I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing), I’m trying to enjoy the writing more.

I also reminded myself of the little guy whom I’m blogging for and am now making a conscious effort to spend less time on my blog and more time with him and my husband.

I actually exercise now. And take our son out on weekday nights. It's quite nice.

6. Work Hard, but Work Smarter

In line with not letting blogging get the best of you, try to find ways to cut down your tasks and come up with systems to work more efficiently so you don’t overexert yourself.

For example, I have a blog post template so I have the basic structure for my content every time I write. I also use a similar template for all my Pinterest pins.

7. Learn Where to Focus

You cannot do allthethings. As much as you want to be the person who will prove the rest of the million others wrong, unless you have a previous background in blogging or social media, etc, then you're gonna have a realllly tough time.

I stopped all social media platforms and just focused on my blog and Pinterest. That's it. I learned that one platform in depth and it has returned dividends.

It can be hard to judge what warrants your focus when you're starting out and have no clue. This is when I feel grateful to have followed this framework* so I can have the knowledge presented to me and then just work from there.

8. Just Do Those Important Things

So easy to get distracted. But really, know what you need to focus on and just do those things.

If you find yourself spending way too much time reading up on things than actually implementing, set a timer to allot yourself the time to get the research out of your system.

If you are going to buy courses, set a max budget, spend only up to that much, then cut yourself off (or have someone you know do that for you to help you stick to this). Also, it is important to note that you do not need to buy tons of courses to succeed in blogging.

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