50 Lessons I Learned After 88 Months of Blogging
In October of 2016, I started my blog on Medium. That was 88 months ago.
I wanted to do a quick round up of some of my best blogging tips for you—let’s say the top 50—that I’ve learned since then.
Let’s get started.
You always suck at the beginning. Always.
Responding to every comment is never a waste of time.
Leaving 5 comments a day is one of the best marketing strategies you can use as a beginning blogger.
If someone emails you a question, that’s a tell-tale sign you have a serious future in blogging.
Blogging is the most humbling thing you will ever do. People will light you up if your logic isn’t sound.
PLOT TWIST: You can be better than these people if you legitimately try to see their point of view and change.
Blogging is by far the easiest/best way to become a better person. You’re constantly having your views attacked/challenged, while others keep their thoughts to themselves. Congratulations, you’re going to grow 1,000% faster than everybody else.
Headlines are 90% of the battle.
If your post doesn’t present anything new, you shouldn’t even write it. Like, your points should be brand new. If you’ve seen them before in another article, that’s BAD.
I come up with all my post ideas directly before I write them.
My best-performing blog posts were written in less than 45 minutes.
Post sucks? Don’t delete it. Save it and come back to it a month later.
If you’re pissed about something, fire up your laptop and write immediately.
If you’re pissed about writer’s block, go eat a Snickers. Then eat another one. Then come back. You’re welcome.
Write 10 variations of your headline, wait 5 minutes, then choose the one that jumps out at you.
Write 15 variations instead of 10 next time.
Your tribe will read everything you write, not your friends or family(weirdly enough).
Scared to post something where you’re being raw? People don’t care as much as you think they do. There is no spotlight surrounding you every moment of every day. I say this to inspire you to publish!
During your first six months, it’s best to post every single day. Nobody does this, which means nobody’s getting the practice you’ll be getting.
BLOGGING IS ABOUT HEART. You should care about the stats, but don’t let them overwhelm what your soul wants to express.
Start building your email list NOW. If you haven’t started yet, stop writing everything and get that set up immediately. Good thing you’re on Substack ;)
Be patient. It took me three years to get 100,000 page views per month.
Once you start finding success, your growth becomes exponential.
Every email subscriber you have equals about $1 per month.
If you have a blogging question, Google it. I’ve learned everything I know from Google.
A 300-word article crammed with useful advice is MUCH more valuable than a 2,000-word piece with regurgitated fluff.
You won’t want to write every day, but neither does anybody else. If you can find a way to get over this, it’s a foregone conclusion that you’ll see success.
Writing with zero expectations is a surefire way to enjoy blogging.
Just because your article got 5 views doesn’t mean it sucks. Your headline probably just sucked.
Don’t throw away 700 great words by spending 10 seconds writing a headline.
There are a billion reasons people shouldn’t read your article. Get to your points, and get to them quickly.
Writing isn’t always fun. Read that again for me.
Everybody has time to write every day. Don’t give excuses.
Perfect grammar doesn’t matter as much as you think. Just write.
Neither do big words. This isn’t a college paper. I write with the vocabulary of a 5th grader.
Some of the best writers I know do not speak English as a first language.
Your content MUST be native. A tweet should look different than a LinkedIn status. Your words will mean nothing if they don’t look natural to the platform.
For the love of Pete, use stock images.
Do not use weird images you found on Google. Use Pexels and Unsplash for everything. I repeat: EVERYTHING.
Like, literally, all you have to do is read the best writers for an hour and you’ll understand how to make your post look beautiful.
Other people will be mean to you in the comments. To disarm them, reciprocate with love. It’s worked for me.
Writing and blogging are two totally different things.
Medium is not the best place to grow an audience anymore.
For the first year, I did everything on my own. Then I started reaching out to other bloggers to meet them/network. This has made the biggest impact on my success EASILY.
Building an audience requires one set of skills. Monetizing that audience requires a totally different set of skills.
Some of the best writers I know never got into blogging for the money. You shouldn’t either. Get into this because you love to write.
Content writing is a long game. You’re constantly telling your story over a period of months/years. With each new post, your audience discovers one more piece of your puzzle. That’s why blogging is so powerful.
Haters normally hate on everybody. Just look at their profile and see some of the recent responses they’ve written.
Always make your writing about helping other people. This isn’t just about telling your story/a way for you to vent when you’re pissed off. Ground your content in giving more than you take, and you’ll be so much closer to success.
The best posts happen when you’re deeply, deeply upset. Use writing to help yourself feel better, then publish it to help other people feel better who are going through the same thing.
Get my free 6-day course ‘How to get 100 subscribers on Substack in 30 days’ right here. It’s brand new! Let’s keep real writing alive together.
I love that your best performing posts were written in 45 minutes. I suspect that’s because you had passion behind them. Good thing to remember. If I am passionate about something, write about it.
I've found the best reach on my other social media sites to come from the posts I didn't agonize over. One draft, a quick proofread and send it.