Woops! Learn from My 3 Biggest Blogging Mistakes

I have a fellow blogger from my Families.com blog who is considering starting her personal blog. She has been asking me for some advice. Wow...me? For blogging advice? At first I was honored until I realized that the only advice I can offer comes from some of my biggest blogging mistakes.

Let's be realistic. I am not the "go-to" gal for blogging advice. So I started by referred her to Darren Rowse (problogger.net) (a blogging guru) along with one of my fellow mom-bloggers, Gayla McCord. (While there are plenty of blogging "experts" that you can look to for advice, these are two of my personal favorites).

For me, the whole idea of taking advice from the pros came a bit too late. In fact, I remember thinking, "how hard can it be... It's just an online journal, right?" WRONG.

I am desperate to become a "professional" blogger. I have two young children and have found blogging to be the ideal home-business for balancing my business and family life. I am sharing this initial goal of mine because it launched me head first into mistake #1.

Mistake #1: If you want to blog as a career, start with a plan and consult the pros. I don't care if you were the top student in your writing class in college. Professional blogging isn't "just" about writing. Okay, I take that back. If you don't want anyone to read your blog but your mom...have at it. There are many components to blogging that I am still learning. You need to monetize it, you need to find readers, you need to work on page rank and marketing. If you think it is just about journaling and writing (like I did) than you are in the wrong business.

I wish I would have created a business plan before jumping into my first blog. - a FORMAL one that that intelligent people create when they are opening up a brick and mortar store. I am six months into blogging now and I desperately need a road-map. I am reminded of the movie "Dumb and Dumber" when the "dummies" drive hundreds of miles in the wrong direction in the middle of the night. That's me. Thankfully, I am smart enough not to get back on the right track with a moped.

Mistake #2: If you want a serious blogging business, start with your own domain. This is one of my biggest mistakes. I started with numerous blogs all hosted by Blogger. While I love how user-friendly the blog interface is, there is not a lot of room for growth. I switched to my own domains after blogging for well over three months. I lost page rank and I lost readers during the move. While I loved having a place I could truly call home...I had to start from square one again well over six months into my blogging "gig".

Mistake #3: Blogging, like crack...is addictive. Just say no. I literally felt high when I started writing my first blog. So I started another one...and another...and another. Five blogs later (with very little content) I was ready for rehab. I couldn't keep up. My home was falling apart. My children were dirty and neglected. My husband was ready to divorce his frantically typing wife. (Okay, I am exaggerating...a lot). However, if I had to do it over again, I would have focused the bulk of my attention on a blog I was passionate about while getting a feel for how much time it would take me to post daily and market it. Frankly, had I focused on ONE blog initially, vs. a half-dozen my favorite blog (yes, it is okay to play favorites) would be more popular today. Now, I've learned that I can successfully manage three blogs without losing my home, my children or my husband.

Stop in again for the sequel to this post: Even MORE Blogging Mistakes I've Made.I am sure I will have plenty of "content" to add soon.