That’s a Wrap! (The Start a Blog in 9 Days Challenge) + Next Steps
What’s Next After Starting Your Blog
In the last 9 days, I shared with you the steps of starting a WordPress blog, and introduced you to SEO, blog traffic and monetization.
Here are all the posts:
Once you got through all the days, you’re officially ahead of 90% of people who “want to start a blog” but never actually do it.
What makes this challenge special is that it’s free, it’s the first series of that kind I post on Substack, and there will be more coming.
I love this format and I haven’t seen anyone else doing it here. I believe it’s more interactive and can help you take action in your blogging business. It also provides accountability.
I’ve been blogging for over 10 years so there’s a lot more I have to teach around blogging, but it was important to cover the foundation. Without it, nothing else would work.
So, what’s next?
Your Next Steps This Week
1. Write and publish your first blog post.
Pick a topic your ideal reader cares about, and aim to genuinely help them. Don’t wait for it to be “perfect”, done is better than perfect. You can always go back and improve it later.
2. Create your Pinterest profile and link it to your blog.
Pinterest is one of the fastest ways to drive traffic to a new blog. Set up a business account, upload a profile picture, and add your blog URL so every pin can lead people straight to your content.
3. Install a WordPress SEO plugin like Rank Math or Yoast SEO.
An SEO plugin helps you optimize your blog posts so search engines can find them. This is your ticket to free, long-term traffic. Choose one, activate it, and follow its prompts when writing new posts.
4. Join one affiliate program that matches your niche.
Affiliate marketing lets you earn money by recommending products you trust. Sign up for a program your audience will actually benefit from, and start adding relevant links to your blog content naturally.
Fast-Track Your First Income
Want to create your best content ever? Fearless Content might help.
Want to earn from sponsored content as a blogger? The Blog Sponsorship Boss is for you.
Want to create, launch and sell digital products? Check out Bold Business School.
Need help writing emails that actually get opened and clicked? The Email List Bundle makes it simple.
Your Future is Waiting
You’ve got the tools. You’ve got the plan. The only thing left is to start and keep going.
Your audience is out there. Let’s go find them.
Got any questions? Leave them below.
And if you started a blog thanks to this challenge or found it helpful in any other way, please share the URL and anything else that’s on your mind. I’d love to hear.
Best,
Lidiya
Lidiya, I just found this post of yours… and when I ran it through the little analysis tool I’ve been building, the structure was incredibly clear:
Hook: the quiet milestone most new bloggers never reach — actually finishing the foundational steps instead of endlessly planning.
Pattern: the shift from “I want to start a blog someday” → to “I’ve already taken the first real actions.”
Authority: your 10 years of experience paired with a 9‑day, zero‑fluff sequence that removes overwhelm and replaces it with momentum.
Turn: from “blogging is complicated” → to “blogging is a series of simple, doable steps anyone can follow.”
Mechanic: the four next‑step actions (publish, Pinterest, SEO plugin, affiliate program) — each one a lever that compounds early progress.
Close: the invitation to keep going, not by consuming more information, but by taking the next visible step.
What I love is how you turn a challenge into a runway.
The tool flagged this as the real insight:
most beginners don’t need more ideas — they need a structure that makes action feel obvious.
Beautifully done.
Have a great day
Another day
Another day to ✍️