Just so you know, I’m not shaming anyone who does these mistakes. For one thing, I’ve done ALL of these mistakes. And I’m sharing my experience so that you don’t have to do it. Second, hopefully at the end of this video, you’ll realize that maybe there are things you’ve been doing that has slowed the progression of your blog.

Watch my video below or scroll down to read the transcript ▼

https://youtu.be/mQ4jHQ2B5Kg

#1 Stop boxing yourself into a niche

If you find yourself wanting to create a certain piece of content but you’re like, “Uhh but it’s not my niche. So I can’t do it.” Stop that.

By doing this, you’re stopping yourself from being fully self-expressed and not honoring your creativity. And as a creative, it’s really important to explore where your creativity wants to go, riding the wave, and finding out where it’ll end up.

Instead, try this

Consider that YOU are the niche. And whatever you talk about still fulfills the mission of your blog. For example, Jennifer Scott of The Daily Connoisseur’s mission is to help women live with more style & elegance. And you might think, her niche is Fashion, maybe bordering on Lifestyle. But she talks about everything from building a ten-item capsule wardrobe to meal prepping to ASMR videos of her cleaning her house. And looking at her body of work, you can tell that she’s not limiting herself to a niche but still fulfilling her mission. She’s living a life that’s true to her and sharing it in a way that helps other people do it too.

Jennifer is the niche. And you can be the niche too. So consider what the bigger mission of your blog is. Then see if that certain piece of content you’ve been wanting to create fits into that mission.

Speaking of niches, if you’re thinking of expanding niches or completely switching, check out my video on why you should & shouldn’t change niches and how to do it, if you feel it’s right for you.

#2 Stop boxing yourself into a brand

Another version of #1 is “Stop boxing yourself into a brand”. The brand that you start off with is simply what it is, what you start with. It’s not your end-all-be-all brand and that you must follow for years. It’s normal for new brands to change because as you go, you get clarity on the mission of your blog and the kind of impact you want to make in the world, which will, inevitably, change your brand.

If your brand is based on you and your brand isn’t changing, maybe you’re not growing.

Instead, try this

Give yourself permission to step outside of your brand and create. Create, create, create, and then curate. Think of it as an experiment and you want to see if it works or not.

This also takes the pressure off of trying to create the perfect brand right from the start. You don’t even have to create one to start a blog. By nature, it will develop itself as you create content.

#3 Stop creating content for likes & views

I’ve seen people on Youtube go like “I’m going to make another video about X topic because apparently, this is the only kind of video that gets views.” NO. This is just another way of boxing yourself. If you operate this way, you’re, again, not fully expressing yourself and operating out of fear like “I want to talk about X but it doesn’t get a lot of views.” First of all, stop trying to please your audience. Life is too short for that. Second, this is a scarcity mindset.

Instead, try this

Take a deep breath. Then give yourself permission to blog for yourself, not for your audience. And believe that no matter what content you create, it will find its way to people who like it. And maybe, you just don’t know if people will like it because you haven’t talked about it long enough for it to actually reach people. In my experience, it takes 3 months to 1 year for my content to get consistent views. And I’m talking about the content on my blog, in Youtube, and Pinterest. You just need to keep working on it. It takes time.

This is why you should blog about something you can talk for hours without return. Without money. Without attention. Without likes and views. Because for a good while, no one’s going to see your content yet. And then as you create more content and become a better content creator, you’re going to create that one piece of content that goes viral. Then people will see your body of work and hopefully, follow you.

#4 Stop creating the perfect website

STOP. Especially if you’ve been stuck on it for months. Especially if you don’t plan to write your first blog post until you finish perfecting your website to show to the world.

Instead, try this

Realize that good enough is good enough and you are good enough. Whether you’re building a website or anything that you’re stuck at, create a list of what you need to get done in order to complete the task. Then divide that list into two: what you actually need to get done, and the bells & whistles. Complete what you need to get done first and move on to the next step. Because you can always go back to adding the bells & whistles later.

What’s important is that you don’t lose your momentum and that you don’t stop. Just like driving a car, it’s harder & slower to gain momentum if you’re stopping all the time.

#5 Stop making money with only ads, sponsorships & affiliates.

When people think about monetizing their blog, they first think of using their blog as ad space, collaborating with brands through sponsorships, and selling products with affiliate links. And there’s nothing wrong with that, I make money that way too. But it shouldn’t be the only way especially if you’re a new blogger. To make money through ads and affiliates, you need to have a steady stream of traffic to your content. And to get sponsorships with brands, you need to have some form of a following. And it’s hard to have both of these when you’re just getting started.

Instead, try this

Start offering products & services. I know it takes more time and more energy. First, you have to think of what to sell. Then, you have to create it. Then, you have to market it. It’s a lot of work but at least it’s towards your brand, not someone else’s brand. If you’re going to put in so much work to promote a product, it may as well be yours.

And like I said, there’s nothing wrong with making money with ads, sponsorships & affiliates. It’s great passive income. I just think you can think bigger, play bigger, and have more skin in the game when you sell something you made. And that feeling you get when you sell something for the very first time, it’s priceless. And I want you to experience how powerful that feeling is.

#6 Stop doing things “the right way” i.e. the hard way.

So this piece of advice is for the perfectionist who always has to do things “the right way.” And that the right way is sometimes the harder way. But to me, I think it’s just adding unnecessary obstacles and hoops to jump through. Maybe, you will learn a new skill but will that new skill be valuable to you in the future? More valuable than, let’s say, getting better at your craft?

For example, you’re a photographer and you want to build a website. You can do it the hard way building it from scratch and learning code (because you believe that’s the right way). You’ll learn how to code but is that new skill valuable to your career as a photographer?

Instead, try this

Change your mindset to do things the easy way instead. And consider that the easy way is the right way. Consider buying a website template where all you have to do is plug in your photos, colors, text, and boom, you have a website. Or consider hiring a friend to do it for you. Now, you’re allowing yourself more time to focus more on your craft and become even better at it, while still getting other things done stress-free.

Also, your energy is limited. Look at what you’re good at and not good at. Make smart choices by knowing when to challenge yourself because everything does not have to be a challenge.

#7 Stop shaming yourself for not posting consistently

I get how important it is to post consistently like once a week. But, you’re also not a cog in the machine. Most especially if you’re a one-person shop. And just like nature, we go through seasons. We’ll go through a season where we bear fruit through spring & summer. And it’s great, we’re putting content out that and it feels great to create it. But just like trees, we also have to recuperate from creating, just like fall and winter. And it’s okay to do this. Mother nature does this.

Instead, try this

Post content that’s consistent with who you are. Quality over quantity. And also take the stress off of creating by allowing yourself to stop and take a break. And for you workaholics – I know it’s hard to believe you’re being productive when you rest. But rest is necessary to create. Resting is productive. I know someone like this and she wonders why she’s burnt out all the time. The reoccurring conversation that we have is that she needs to stop and take a break. And a way for her to do that is to schedule rest time in her planner to make sure that she actually has time for it. Because her excuse was “I don’t have enough time.”

Anyway, post content that’s consistent to yourself. Let your creativity lead the way and let your body of work be a reflection of you and speak for itself. That way you can look at back at it and be proud of what you created.

#8 Lastly, stop researching

If you’re like me, maybe you want to have all your research done and all your tools ready so that you’re prepared for the next step of whatever it is you’re working on. And maybe you’re doing this because you want to get clear on what to do first before you actually do it.

Well, guess what – you’re never going to get clear on what to do until you actually do it.

I do want to acknowledge that there is a knowledge gap. Maybe you want to start a blog and you literally have no idea how to get started. So you have research in order to fill that knowledge gap. I understand that. But there is a fine line between filling in that knowledge gap just enough to get started vs. learning more than what you need to know and getting ahead of yourself. And by default, I always do this. And this stems from feeling like I’m not good enough. So I have research more than I need in order to be enough. For others or for you, it could also be the same. Or it can also stem from perfectionism, trying to make things as perfect as possible. Or fear of failure and disappointment.

Instead, try this

And if you don’t know where that fine line is, write a short checklist of what you need to learn for the first step. Like 2-3 things of the bare minimum that you need to know. Then, take action. Don’t even think about it. Just do it. Then repeat before you move on to the next step.

Oftentimes, doing too much research and having too much knowledge (sometimes too much knowledge is a bad thing) can lead us to overwhelm. When really, we’re just getting ahead of ourselves. Take it one baby step at a time.

To wrap up,

These are the worst blogging mistakes I’ve done and maybe you’re doing it too? And it’s okay! The best way to avoid these mistakes is having done it, learning the impact of how it slows our progress and then moving on. So I hope that from this video, you realize a few things that you can improve on or switch up.

And what I tell you to stop doing might not even work for you. At the end of the day, It’s about doing what works for you. Not for me or for anyone else. Just go with your gut, honor your intuition, honor your creativity, honor yourself. Then just do it. Don’t even think about it. Then get clarity. Then take the next baby step.

  1. Stop boxing yourself into a niche
  2. Stop boxing yourself into a brand
  3. Stop creating content for likes & views
  4. Stop creating the perfect website
  5. Stop making money with only ads, sponsorships & affiliates
  6. Stop doing things “the right way” i.e. the hard way
  7. Stop shaming yourself for not posting consistently
  8. Lastly, stop researching

Thank you so much for watching. I’m Jojo and I love to grow myself in ways that put me outside of my comfort zone, through blogging, travel, and lifestyle. Do you see that? I am my niche. Not blogging, not travel, not lifestyle. 😉 But I still these keywords so that people can have a better understanding of my content. But all of these are under the bigger mission!

Please like and subscribe if you learned something from this video. And let me know which mistake you were doing in the comments below. Thank youuuu! Take care! Byeeeeee!