My Advice to New Bloggers

I’ve received a bunch of emails lately from new bloggers looking to tackle a site for themselves, which is awesome!  Given that most people have similar questions when starting out, I’ve come up with the following advice letter that I send back.  That way they at least get the basics answered in advance while they come up with specific questions.  Here is my new blogger advice letter for anyone out there that may not want to email me directly:

Hi!

Here are my first tips, but let me know if you have any specific questions!

1. COMMENT.  I used to comment on 10-30 blogs a week in the personal finance niche and am trying to pick up the habit again.  You will get the most new readers from comments you leave elsewhere and it shows you want to be part of the community.
2. Commenting is followed closely by guest posting.  If your guest posts are interesting and fun, you will build a great reputation and draw in contacts and readers.
3. Post regularly.  Blogs grow faster when there is material flowing.  I’d suggest a minimum of 3 times a week for fast growth – I post daily at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff and post about once a week at How I Make Money Blogging.  BFS grew way faster. 
4. Blog carnivals are great for link love but won’t bring a ton of new readers.  Link love is VERY important though so I highly suggest them as well.
5. Join a forum.  Being a member of the Yokeezie blogging group has been amazing.  Lots of free help and promotion (from me and for me – it’s a fantastic group).
6. Don’t be in this for the money.  It’s a downer to only make 40 cents in the first couple of months.  Have fun with it.  If you are having fun, your readers have more fun.  I look at my blogs as a solid community and the money-making as a huge bonus.  I do this full time, but I always keep in mind that it is mostly about having my own online community to hang out with.
7. Read the successful blogs in your niche.  I attacked the archives of a bunch of highly successful personal finance blogs before I started Budgeting in the Fun Stuff just so I’d have an idea of what helped them succeed.