Let’s Build Your Blog Together: Welcome to The 9-Day Challenge
Build, launch, and set up your blog in just 9 days, step by step.
I just started my Substack, and I’m here to teach you the business of blogging. And while I have SO MUCH to share from my 10+ years of experience in the blogging space, and while I specialize in teaching you how to monetize with brand partnerships, I decided to begin with something very simple. It’s a free challenge for those who haven’t started their blog yet (I mean an actual blog, not a Substack) but are ready for it.
In the next 9 days, you’ll learn the basics of starting a blog and setting it up for monetization. You’ll do it together with me, and you can always leave a comment under the posts, share your progress, or ask questions.
From understanding the technical side of blogging and following the steps I’ll share on how to choose your niche, register your domain name and set up hosting, to the actions you’ll take once your blog launches (such as designing it, building traffic and monetizing it), we’ll cover all the basics.
You might be wondering, though:
Why a blog when you can just have a Substack?
Good question. Substack is amazing, that’s why I’m here and excited to connect with fellow creators. But there’s one thing you don’t have: full control.
We’ve seen this before. Every new platform that grows quickly and can be monetized seems tempting. We want to ditch everything else and just create content on it.
Until it becomes too crowded.
Until the algorithm changes.
Until it’s filled with people you don’t want to be around, and until you realize you have no control over it.
So, I don’t know how the future of Substack looks like, but I know one thing - with a WordPress blog, a self-hosted blog, you can do anything.
I’ve run mine since 2013, I have 2 more, and nothing compares to that.
So, if you’re up for this journey, subscribe and stay tuned for the rest of the challenge.
But before that, let me share a bit more about me and blogging as a business.
Who am I?
I’m Lidiya Kesarovska, a blogger, blog sponsorship expert and the founder of Let’s Reach Success.
I help people create an abundant, value-driven business so they can become financially free and serve their purpose.
I’ve been named one of the top 10 course creators and experts to watch in 2021 by Yahoo! Finance, been featured on MSN, TIME magazine, Thrive Global, Disrupt Magazine, and more.
My Blogging Journey
I started my blog Let’s Reach Success back in March 2013 when I knew absolutely nothing about blogging.
Because of that, I made many mistakes and lost years trying to figure out what works best.
Thanks to staying consistent and being truly passionate about blogging, this became my full-time venture. It has allowed me to share my message and write on topics I love (such as personal development and starting a business), turn Let’s Reach Success into an authoritative platform, ditch the 9 to 5 lifestyle and move to another country where I can design life on my own terms.
I now love helping other bloggers do the same. And the first step is to overcome the mental barriers and actually set up your blog as soon as possible.
I created this free challenge to show you the steps you need to take to build a blog quickly and the right way.
Whoever you are, you too can become a blogger and make money out of this.
And now, here’s the very first step of the 9-Day Start a Blog challenge:
KNOW YOUR WHY
Starting a blog was one of the best decisions I’ve ever taken. It became my ultimate portfolio back when I was a freelance writer, the foundation of my online business and personal brand and a way to create multiple income streams (I now earn mostly from sponsored posts, but selling courses, affiliate marketing, and ads have been part of my revenue for years)
If you’re a beginner with no experience in the digital world, that’s okay. I too started from nothing and wasn’t tech-savvy either. But you learn as you go.
Following the steps in this challenge will help you set up your blog and get started. All this is necessary to build a name for yourself and start blogging for profit. From then on, the possibilities are endless.
It took me years to find the best hosting provider, fantastic WordPress plugins for free, to test different monetization strategies, read about other bloggers and how they were earning from their platforms, take my first online course, and more, till I got to earning a full-time income from my blog.
I want to save you the time and trouble by giving you the best of the best when it comes to building a profitable and trusted platform that both readers and search engines love. So, let’s get to the point.
Know your ‘why’.
Blogging can be a hobby, a therapy, an experiment. But this is a challenge on how to start a profitable blog. That means you’ll create content, gain traffic and have an audience that you will want to monetize in different ways.
This allows you to become self-employed, earn passive income, quit your day job and become location independent, travel while working or just do it from home. At the same time, you’ll be helping people achieve a certain result and will get paid for it.
Starting a blog to make money is for those who are determined to commit to it as a goal and won’t give up early on.
It might take some trial and error till you see your first visitors and even more till you make your first sales. Once you do, however, you will learn more about making money online and will be able to double your profit.
The point is to start and stick to it until you begin earning from your blog. For that to happen, you’ll need a pretty good reason to keep you motivated. This is what I call your ‘why’ for blogging.
Maybe it’s to share your passion for crafts and teach people how to do the same from their home. Or it’s because you are sick of being part of the 9 to 5 lifestyle and want to spend your time more effectively. It could also be that you can’t wait to travel the world but would love to work remotely at the same time.
Some people invest all their free time for months to start a profitable blog that will make them money forever. Then, they provide for their families and can leave anything else behind while devoting time to loved ones and business full-time.
Whatever your ‘why’ is, write it down and let it guide you along the way.
Why do it professionally in order to make it profitable?
Most guides on how to start a blog can be too promotional, linking to cheap hosting providers and only giving you general tips. But I think there’s a better way to start blogging. By building a solid platform with the best tools from scratch so you can be sure it loads fast, looks great, can handle a lot of traffic and content, and lets you monetize it in any way possible.
I regret using a cheap hosting for the first few years of Let’s Reach Success and only switched to a better one and got a premium WordPress theme years later. But that’s also when I doubled my income and my site began performing much better. Also, I didn’t stress over downtime anymore.
Now, let’s get to work.
I’ll see you tomorrow for day 1 of the challenge. Are you ready?