How to Be a Better Blogger in 31 Steps & Make Money From Home

Some people say that blogging is dead. We know that’s not the case. In fact, in some ways, this is the best time to learn how to be a better blogger.

Why? Because the bar has risen significantly over the last couple years. At one time, you could post a few 500-word articles on your blog every week and call it good. That won’t cut it anymore.

There’s too much clutter in the so-called blogosphere, which means that only the best blogs get read. If your content is boring, lazy, or irrelevant, nobody will bother visiting a second time.

If you learn how to be a better blogger, though, you can increase the money you earn through Knowledge Commerce and build your brand faster. That’s why we’re sharing 31 blogging tips to help you make money from home and get your content out there.

How Can You Make Money From Blogging? 

Entrepreneurs have found dozens of ways to monetize their blogs. Some run ads on their blogs, which allows them to earn passive income. However, the days of banner ads and big paychecks have largely disappeared.

You can post sponsored content, which means that a brand pays you to write an honest review of its product or service. When you have a huge audience, sponsored post deals can get lucrative.

However, our favorite way to make money from blogging is to use content marketing to attract more traffic and help you sell your Knowledge Commerce products. You can use your blog as a stepping stone between connecting with a complete stranger and converting a lead into a customer.

31 Ways To Become A Better Blogger And Make Money From Anywhere

If you want to learn how to be a better blogger, you need a strategy. In fact, you need several.

There are tons of factors to consider when setting up your blog, writing blog series, penning a , and scaling content production.

Does it sound intimidating? Don’t worry. We’ve broken it all down into 31 easy-to-follow steps that will help you become a better blogger and sell more products based on your knowledge.

1. Get to Know Your Audience

This is a common cart-before-the-horse situation. Many entrepreneurs start blogging before they even consider what their audiences might want.

Don’t make this mistake. Instead, take the time to get to know your audience before you write a single word.

Create several buyer personas that describe your target customers in detail. What do they do for a living? How much do they earn? What are their hobbies? Do they live alone, with a significant other, or with children?

Figure out what types of questions they ask and what they’re interested in. The more specific you get, the more relevant your future blog posts will become.

2. Create a Content Schedule

In the blogging game, consistency beats quantity every single time. If you post seven new articles one week and none the next, your readers will get confused.

Most importantly, they won’t know when to return to your site to find more content.

Create a content schedule. You can use a free calendar program, such as Google Calendar, to help you keep track of everything. Your calendar should include two separate sets of data:

1. Dates and times when you will post new content
   Titles or topics for blog posts at least six weeks in advance
2. When you know exactly when and what you’ll post, blogging becomes far easier to manage. You won’t feel pressure to create content on the spot; instead, it’ll be ready to go.

3. Get to Know the Competition

Understanding your competition matters almost as much as understanding your audience. If Home Depot doesn’t know what Lowe’s is doing, for instance, how can the company actively compete?

You’re Home Depot in this analogy. Google niche-related terms and find your top 20 or 30 competitors. Read their content, check out their social media profiles, and track their engagement.

Your goal? Create better content. If your competitor wrote a 1,000-word post on a topic, publish your own version that’s 2,000 words long and packed with much more information.

Don’t copy your competitors. Figure out their strategies so you can create your own better, more effective strategies.

4. Brainstorm Ideas When You Feel Creative 

Some days, you might not feel creative. That’s okay. Just make sure that you’re feeling excited about blogging when you sit down to brainstorm blog post ideas.

You can often generate 50 or more ideas in a single sitting. You might type them in a spreadsheet, write them in a spiral notebook, or create Trello cards for them. Go with your instincts and preferences when it comes to organization.

Some of your ideas won’t ever become blog posts. That’s also okay. When you’re brainstorming, don’t try to censor yourself. Later, you can decide which ideas warrant posts and which you should discard.

5. Begin With Storytelling 

You’ll notice that we often start blog posts here on Kajabi with some type of story. There’s a good reason for that.

People relate well to stories. We connect with other people’s narratives and can become the heroes and heroines of other people’s stories.

You don’t have to write a novel or even tell a true story. Consider coming up with hypothetical scenarios to help your audience understand your perspective or topic.

You can also tell your customers’ stories (with their permission, of course). Interviewing someone who has benefited from your knowledge can help you convert more of your blog readers.

6. Outline Each Blog Post

If you try to write a blog post by starting with the first sentence (or even the first word), you might hit a metaphorical wall pretty quickly. Instead, figure out your blog post structure first.

Outline the headings, subheadings, bulleted lists, and other components before you start writing. That way, you know where you’re going in advance.

This tactic can also improve your search engine optimization (SEO) and help you better understand your own narrative. Blog posts that follow a logical flow will translate better for your readers and make a better impression.

Spend some time brainstorming your post’s title, too. A great title can result in more clicks, more eyeballs, and more conversions.

7. Write Concisely With Plenty of White Space 

Nobody wants to read a giant wall of text. It’s hard on the eyes and the brain, and most people will skip it entirely because they assume it will take forever to read.

This is just psychological. You might have noticed that we write long blog posts here at Kajabi — often between 3,000 and 4,000 words — but you still read them because we break them up with subheadings and white space.

Short sentences and paragraphs will help move your readers through the blog post. Using subheadings provides your readers with visual breaks and helps dissuade them from skimming or skipping your content.

8. Answer Common Questions From Customers 

Most websites have one or more FAQs. There’s a good reason for this.

Entrepreneurs know that people often ask the same questions over and over. It’s easier to anticipate those questions with thoughtful answers than to respond to hundreds or thousands of emails, phone calls, and messages.

You can also use this principle to become a better blogger. Answer popular questions related to your niche so people will find your content when they search on Google.

You can probably think of 10 to 20 questions right off the top of your head. They’re queries you’ve fielded dozens or even hundreds of times, whether online or in person.

If you use that question as your blog post’s headline and provide the most thorough, detailed answer available on the Internet, you’ll be well on your way to building a devoted following.

9. Insert Bulleted and Numbered Lists

Remember how we talked about breaking up content? Bulleted and numbered lists can prove particularly useful for that purpose.

Any time you want to provide readers with a list of three or more things, use bullets or numbers. Your readers will thank you.

10. Use Simple, Easy-to-Understand Language 

You can also build a better blog by devoting yourself to simple language. People would rather read five-cent words than five-dollar synonyms.

Don’t talk down to your readers, but don’t assume that they read with thesauruses in their laps. When in doubt, use the simplest word possible.

11. Write Content That People Will Want to Quote 

Blogs often become popular because they get shared on social media. Of course, people won’t share every word you’ve written — they’ll pick out a memorable or insightful quote from the article.

You can even add “Tweet This” buttons to your blog. Give people a reason to share your content. Believe it or not, they will.

12. Establish Credibility and Authority at Every Opportunity 

Credibility and authority are like currency in the Knowledge Commerce industry. Without it, you’re pretty much broke.

Think about the last time you wanted to learn a new skill or acquire new knowledge. DId you seek out a layperson to provide you with the 411? Of course not.

Instead, you sought out industry experts. You might have read books by published and verified authors, looked for teachers’ credentials before believing what they taught, and paid more attention to people who could establish why they were the person to follow.

That’s what you have to become for your blog readers — and your customers.

Do you need a degree? A certification? Maybe not. If your expertise comes from experience and intense studying, that will work in many niches.

You establish credibility and authority by making bold assertions, backing up your statements with data, and explaining how you acquired your knowledge.

If you can accomplish those things, people will trust you and want to learn more from you.

13. Optimize Each Blog Post for SEO

Good SEO helps you get found on the Internet. Google uses on- and off-page SEO to decide where to rank your page in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

On-page optimization involves things like targeting long-tail keywords, using keywords strategically, and optimizing headings and images. You can also build backlinks for off-page SEO.

14. Don’t Forget Your CTA 

The call to action usually comes at the end of a blog post, but you can put it anywhere on the page. In fact, you can have multiple CTAs as long as they all communicate the same message.

Use your CTAs to tell your readers what to do next. Maybe you’d like them to sign up for your online course or subscribe to your email list.

If you don’t ask, you can’t expect to get what you want.

15. Read Other Blogs 

One of the best ways to learn how to be a better blogger is to read blogs written by people who have established large audiences and consistently drive engagement. Pay attention to what they do, then emulate their strategies.

It’s not copying. You don’t want to build a replica of someone else’s blog. However, you can apply their techniques in your own way to help boost your blog’s success.

Maybe you’ve noticed that one of your favorite bloggers shares a roundup post every Friday. You could do the same thing.

Perhaps you’ve discovered that the most popular bloggers post excerpts of their most recent posts on their homepage. Consider doing that, too.

Test these strategies to see if they work for your audience. If they don’t, go in a different direction.

16. Decide on a Consistent Monetization Strategy

Many bloggers begin without knowing how they will monetize their blogs. Don’t fall into this trap.

Maybe you’re dedicated to Knowledge Commerce. In this case, you’ll earn money by converting readers into customers.

Since you know this in advance, you can craft your CTAs and blog topics around your end goal. Blogging will become far more effective as a result.

17. Become Predictable...in a Good Way

Predictability can be boring, but it can also be lifesaving for an entrepreneur. People continue reading the same blogs every day because they connect with the personalities, tone, voice, and teaching style of the people behind them.

If you consistently deliver what people expect, they’ll come back for more. Of course, you can always throw in a few unexpected pieces of content, but always return to the style and strategies that have worked for you in the past.

18. Share Something Personal

There’s no reason to overshare on your blog. Confessing your deepest, darkest secrets will do more harm than good unless you’re doing so to connect with people over shared trauma or experiences.

Getting a little personal can help, though. Share stories from your own past and present that might help your readers get to know you better.

19. Add Mixed Media to Relevant Posts

Blog posts become far more readable and engaging when they contain more than just text. Photographs, illustrations, cartoons, videos, and infographics can all help improve engagement levels.

They also help your SEO and give you more ways to connect with people. For instance, you could post videos on Facebook, then embed them in relevant blog posts, as well.

20. Translate Your Posts Into Other Languages 

If your audience consists of people who speak languages other than your own, you can hire a translator to create alternative versions of your blog posts. Writing for people who speak Chinese, Spanish, French, Japanese, and other languages can vastly increase your audience size.

21. Repurpose Other Content for Blog Posts

Maybe you’ve created content for other purposes that would make great blog posts. For instance, you could turn a module from one of your free courses into a blog post so it has more chances to get seen.

Repurposing videos, infographics, SlideShares, and other forms of content can work just as well. Plus, you cut your workload by half in the process.

22. Check Your Grammar and Spelling

A poorly written blog post will send several negative messages. People will assume that you:

• Don’t care about the work you’re doing
• Neglect to run a simple spell check
• Devalue the importance of professionalism

In fact, they might decide that you lack credibility entirely and never return to your blog. That’s the last reaction you want to inspire.

You don’t need stellar grammatical skills to be a better blogger. Use a program like Grammarly or Pro Writing Aid to help you catch errors. Even the spell check function in Microsoft Word can catch minor errors that you might otherwise miss.

23. Focus on Headlines and Intros

Many people will only read your headline. Many more will only make it through your intro. For that reason, the headline and intro of any given blog post should represent your best work.

In fact, you might spend more time on these two sections than on the rest of the article combined. You want to create a strong, positive first impression so people want to come back to your blog.

Don’t buckle under the pressure, though. You’ll get better at writing headlines and intros as you gain more practice. Just focus on telling compelling stories, capturing your reader’s curiosity, and presenting a cogent argument for your blog post’s premise.

24. Keep People on the Page

“Stickiness” refers to a blog post’s ability to keep readers on the page. Instead of bouncing away to find something else on the Internet, they remain with your content until the very end.

Even better, they might click through to read some of your other content or to convert on your CTA. Improving a blog post’s stickiness can make a huge difference in your bottom line as well as your search engine rankings.

How do you make a blog post stickier? Keep asking questions. Tease the next section of the blog post so people feel compelled to read on.

Use images, stories, and other tactics to make people want to stick around. Insert internal links so if readers do click away, they’ll still remain on your site.

25. Offer Expandable Content

Lead magnets are still great for capturing email opt-ins, but expandable content can prove just as effective. Expandable content means that the reader must provide his or her email address to read the entire article.

You can then deliver the rest of the article via email or a link to a “gated” page on your blog. The expandable content might include more tips, strategies, or advice that you didn’t include in the publically available post.

26. Write for One Person

You might have several buyer personas. That’s fine. But when you sit down to write a blog post, keep just one of those personas in mind.

Maybe it’s Frugal Fred, Eco-Conscious Emily, or Anxious Alexander. Your blog post should appeal to that specific persona. Tomorrow, you can target Spendthrift Sally or Millennial Megan.

27. Incorporate Humor 

Everybody loves to laugh now and again. You don’t have to train to be a stand-up comic to add humor to your blog posts.

The occasional joke can help make a serious post more lighthearted or keep people from clicking away. If you’re naturally funny, let that quality come out in your work.

28. Read Your Words Aloud

The most important thing to remember about blogging is that it should sound natural. Think like you’re writing a personal diary rather than an academic textbook.

Sometimes, it’s hard to know if your voice is casual and breezy when you’re reading the words silently to yourself. Try reading them aloud to yourself. Figure out whether the phrases, sentences, and paragraphs flow together seamlessly.

29. Get Specific 

There’s a lot of content out there. Too much, some might say. If you’re vague or broad in your approach to blogging, you won’t keep anyone on the page for long.

When brainstorming and refining blog post ideas, get as specific as possible. Set up a situation that could happen to a real person, then describe the solution.

If you’re writing a tutorial, detail every step with as many specific points as possible. For instance, in a tutorial about making a ham sandwich, don’t just tell the reader to add condiments. Describe exactly how to spread the mustard on the bread, add mayonnaise, and position the cheese.

30. Forget Viral — Shoot for Consistent 

The word “viral” has taken on a somewhat mythic vibe. People want everything they write to “go viral” because such an occasion will guarantee financial stability forever and ever. Right?

Wrong.

One piece of viral content might give you a temporary increase in sales and traffic, but it’s not enough to sustain a business. Be as consistent as possible with your content — in quality, tone, length, and depth — instead of trying to get it into viral territory.

31. Stretch Your Vocabulary

We mentioned earlier that the simplest word is usually best. However, it doesn’t hurt to expand your vocabulary so you have more options when seeking the right word.

No, your blog posts probably shouldn’t include words like “crepuscular” and “desiderium.” However, you might discover that you enjoy playing with language and surprising the reader with unique turns of phrase.

Use Kajabi to Turn Your Knowledge and Content Into Products You Can Sell 

Now that you know how to be a better blogger, you can start applying these strategies to the content you produce and the products you sell. The same strategies that make blog posts appealing can also inform your online courses, membership site, and other digital products.

With Kajabi, you can educate your audience about your niche as well as about your products. Help people become more familiar with you, your brand, and your unique teaching style.

Kajabi’s built-in email marketing, live event hosting, and analytics tools can help you succeed faster and more efficiently. From blogging to creating digital products, don’t be intimidated by the wealth of third-party tools out there. If you have an all-in-one platform like Kajabi at your disposal, you don’t need any extras to get in the way.

Conclusion

Learning how to be a better blogger can open up new income streams and help you grow your business faster. It takes time and effort, but the payoff is worth those sacrifices.

Start by preparing to create a stellar blog. Create a content calendar, get to know your audience, and study your competition.

Figure out the formula for writing a well-received blog post. A solid outline and a compelling headline should come first. Only when you have that framework in place should you begin to actually write.

Make sure to incorporate white space, bulleted and numbered lists, images and other mixed media, and compelling CTAs. Optimize every post for SEO and share it liberally on social.

Remember that consistency matters. Don’t worry about producing thousands of words per week if you don’t have time. It’s better to write an in-depth, highly valuable piece of content every two weeks.

Read other bloggers to see how they’re succeeding. You might want to incorporate storytelling and personal information to help people connect to what you write.

Don’t forget that you can create and manage your blog from the Kajabi platform. Since you don’t need any third-party tools, nothing is standing in your way from becoming a fantastic blogger.

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