The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 73. Important Tips for a Lifestyle Blog

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

Welcome back to The Ultimate Blog Podcast!  It’s Amy here and today I am sharing four foundational tips to help you if you are wanting to start a lifestyle blog. A lot of bloggers want to start with a lifestyle blog and there are some things we think you should know before creating your own. If you are considering starting a lifestyle blog, you won’t want to miss this episode! Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsCheck out Restored 316's Templates here!Check out The Blog Depot. This is a community and course that we have set up for you if you need questions answered before you start your blog. Join The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp, our online course and coaching that helps you build the blog that you have always dreamed of.Check out the show notes (link below) for more information including links and resources mentioned in today's episode! SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode73

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Hey, welcome back to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. This is Episode 73. And it's Amy, all on my own today. And I am talking to you today about lifestyle blogs. So lifestyle blogs are kind of all the rage. A lot of bloggers want to start with a lifestyle blog. If you clicked play on this episode, it's likely that you are one of those people who is considering starting a lifestyle blog. And going into that, we just think that there are some things that you need to know. So first and foremost, what is a lifestyle blog? Well, it is a website that focuses on personal style. It might focus

on beauty tips, recipes, travel adventures. It might focus on crafting. It kind of is a wide array for one person. So a wide array of topics. It's not just about one thing. So it's not just about one solid niche. Rather, it's about multiple different things that usually correspond with the person who is the blogger. So who is actually writing the content on the blog. And it's how these things fit into their life. So lifestyle blogs, there's no box really that you can put them in because they're all very different. They're usually written by one person. They might be written by two people if they decide to blog

together, but that's more unlikely. And they're each going to have their own point of view of whatever the topic is or of the world and things like that. So like I've said, it's just not super niched down. And that's actually one of the drawbacks with a lifestyle blog. It doesn't mean you can't do it, but it's just something that you want to be aware of when you get started. Also, they can be super fun, not only for the person blogging, but for the person who's reading. Because a lifestyle blog adds that extra layer of vulnerability. It adds an extra layer of getting to know that person. And you feel like you're talking to a friend. A lot of lifestyle blogs grow because people connect with that person and you feel like you're talking to a friend. A lot of lifestyle blogs grow because

people connect with that person as an individual and they begin to trust them. They build that like-no-trust factor, which is really important in blogging. So that is a benefit for sure for lifestyle blogging. And it's a ton of fun to do. You have a lot of different opportunities that you can share your passions and you can get to talk to other like-minded people and express yourself in a way that you never thought possible. Because you really are able to just share who you are, what you love, what you're using, what lights you up, what you're passionate about. And you're kind of going to find your community that comes alongside you and is really interested and curious in what you're doing. For any blogger, my best advice is be yourself. When you are yourself, when you don't try to copy

or fit into a mold that other people are doing, that is how you are going to stand out from the crowd. That's how you are going to express your passions to others because you are going to be authentic. It is so, so important. I don't care if you're doing a lifestyle blog, a food blog, a health and wellness blog. I honestly don't care what kind of blog you're doing. Authenticity is first and foremost, the most critical factor when it comes to blogging. This doesn't mean that you have to share your entire life story. It doesn't mean that you have to share things that make you uncomfortable. But share what people might be interested in learning about in regards to what you are sharing about. Then you'll have a chance at building a

successful lifestyle blog or any blog that other people are going to love to read. Lifestyle bloggers can make money from their blogs just like any other blogger. It might take you a little bit longer. And we're going to dive into that a little bit here. But know that that possibility is far and wide. Blogging truly is a great way to make money. Now, I will say this. It takes time, you guys. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme here. We are not ever going to tell you that if you need to make X amount of money by X time, that you should put all of your eggs in the blogging basket. Until you are making money

blogging, keep your job. Unless you are literally diving all in and you have sponsorships ready to go. So that would be something that you would have to make a decision for yourself. But if you are just starting out, it is likely going to be something that you are building alongside your full-time job. You can earn some extra money along the ways that are going to support your financial goals. And you just need to know, what is my long-term goal here? We're going to talk a little bit about those tips here in a little bit. So while lifestyle blogs themselves can be about a wide variety of topics, something to consider is that you still want to find your own niche.

Your reader avatar is going to be really important here. And it might be looking at that person and what they need and what fits in that based on what you are talking about. Bloggers often feel like they need to spend a fortune on a custom website to have a professional online presence. Not only do you not need to spend a fortune, you can actually build your own website with a beautiful theme that won't hold you back from success. That's why we recommend Restored 316 website themes. You can have the website of your dreams with a beautiful conversion focused online presence without breaking the bank. We love Restored 316 so much. It's the only website themes we recommend to our students

because of the heart and soul they put into their themes. They're also so customizable. So even if you purchase a theme that someone else has, you can absolutely make it your own using the block features of Cadence. So it's customized to your needs without the price tag. To learn more about Restore 316 themes, click the link in our show notes. We're going to get into some tips here. I have 4 tips today. If you are wanting to start a lifestyle blog... Now, there's a lot of tips that I can share with you. But I really think that these 4 are your foundations. So I can keep you on here for a long time. But I want to make this a short and sweet episode. So your first tip, back to the reader avatar, is have a strong reader avatar. Since your niche is not as defined,

knowing who you are talking to is going to be so important. This is critical. It is critical. You need to sit down and brainstorm who is your ideal reader. Now, I want you to really break this down. I want you to ask yourself, how old are they? Are they male? Are they female? Are they married? Are they single? Are they divorced? What line of work might they be in? Do they have kids? Are they trying to have kids? Are they a spender or a saver? Now, I know that right now, you might be thinking, wow, that's really intrusive. You're really thinking a lot about somebody who might be coming to my site. And what if everybody doesn't check all of those boxes? That's fine. That's fine. You still need to get really clear on who you're talking to. That is only going to benefit

you. It doesn't mean that the only people who can come to your site are those people. But when you sit down to create content, you have that ideal reader in mind. And I promise you, it will help you as you create content. So it's going to help you narrow down what you are going to be sharing because you're going to know what those people's pain points are. You're going to know that ideal reader and what keeps her up at night. What is she needing a solution for? What does she want to spend her money on? We are all multifaceted. All of us. We have lots of different interests.

So that's where the lifestyle blog is really fun because we get to speak to people in a wide variety of areas. And because we all have different interests. And so you get to talk about a number of things which can keep your job as a lifestyle blogger a lot more interesting, to be honest. It's just there are some pros and cons to it along the way because you are not as niched down. So it might take a little bit longer to find that community, find your ideal reader.

But if you just stay very true to who you are speaking to, and then really get to know your audience and who is actually coming to your site when traffic starts to increase, then that is only going to benefit you. Tip number two. I know if you are thinking about a lifestyle blog, you're saying to yourself, I really want to write about all the things, but I'm going to push you to narrow your content pillars down to just three to start. I want you to know you can branch out later on. But until you know what people really want to know, you're going to need to do this. I want you to consider yourself kind of like a tree. You need to build that foundation, that solid foundation, first and foremost, so people understand who you are. So when you have those three content pillars,

those are going to be your strongest topics that you can see yourself writing a ton of content on. The branching out can come later. So I'm going to use the example here of health and wellness. It's a popular space. And I actually am in this space as well. I consider myself a health and wellness blogger slash lifestyle blogger. So I've shared about my thyroid since I have Hashimoto's. And I also share about things that I think that women around the age of 40 years of age are going through or might be interested in. Also, people in this age, they are more likely to invest in their health because we're a little older. We're a little older and we realize that our health is wealth. And we will invest in that a little bit more than we might have done in our

early 20s, for instance. But my audience is also really skeptical. So they aren't quick buyers. They are not going to just buy everything that I'm sharing, either on a blog post or on social media. They're skeptical and they want to know actually why I am using something and why I like it. So I've learned not to just share about any little thing. These are the kinds of things that you are going to learn about your audience. It's really important to be authentic. It's really important to narrow down those content pillars. So you know, this is the kind of content that I need to share. And this is how my audience is going to respond to it. You'll get a pretty good

idea what they are going to like the more you create content. But you want to start with just those 3 pillars. Like I said, you're building that solid foundation. As your tree, as your foundation grows, you can branch out a little bit. You can add some things. For me, for instance, when I started, I never thought I would have recipes on my site. It was not something that I thought I could do or wanted to do. But it just seemed to fit and it helped drive a little bit more traffic to my website, to be honest. And so that fit for me. I needed to make sure that that worked. And for in the health and wellness space, it does work. And so it's something that I've still been able

to do over the years is add different recipes onto my site. So think about that. Think about what 3 content pillars could be. This is something that you're going to want to sit down and brainstorm as well. What is the content that I could write the most about? What is the content that I love learning about or I could break it down or share more about? What is the content that I love learning about? Or I could break it down or share more about? Just think about that in regards to your blog. Tip number three is... And it's also a great thing is your income streams can come from a variety of places. But be thoughtful about what you're sharing. So as a lifestyle blogger, you're going to have a wide array of different products or services that you are going to be able to talk about.

The reason being is because you're multifaceted. You're talking about more than one topic. And so you are going to have more opportunity. With that said, you don't want to overshare affiliate links. I don't know about you, but when I feel like I'm just constantly being sold to, that feels icky. It feels inauthentic and it just turns me off. So you want to be very thoughtful about what you are sharing. And while this is a positive thing that you're going to have a lot more opportunity possibly there to share, just be thoughtful about it. Make sure that when you are sharing a link or when you are doing something that could possibly earn you commission or compensation,

make sure it aligns back to that ideal reader. Make sure that this is something that they're actually going to benefit from or that it's a solution to a problem that they might be having as well. So as an example, let's say that you talk about gardening, recipes, and non-toxic living. You're going to have a wide range of products that you can recommend because of those three content pillars. Make sure those companies,

the companies and brands that you're sharing are in alignment with your values and are worth selling to your audience. You'll live and learn here. There's going to be brands that you work with that you're like, shouldn't have done that. That did not feel good. I didn't like it. And you might have chased a dollar amount instead of chasing the authenticity. You'll learn that in time. You'll learn what feels good and what doesn't. And just give yourself grace as you go through that learning process.

Know that blogging is about so much more than just the money. Make sure that you're authentic. That is... I keep saying it, but it is truly so important. Final tip. And this really goes for everybody. But I really want you to ask yourself this if you are considering starting a lifestyle blog. Know what your goal is.

Why are you blogging? Why are you blogging? Do you want to be a full-time business? Do you want to build a blogging business? Or is this just a hobby? Is this just something fun that you want to do on the side? You can likely build a really fun lifestyle hobby blog. No big deal. But if you want to build a full-time lifestyle blogging business, it might take a little bit longer. Know that going in because it can be a little harder to rank. It can be a little harder just because you're a little bit more spread in regards to your niche. And especially if you don't have a social media presence to start with. Now, I am not telling you that you cannot start a lifestyle blog without a social media presence. I believe that you can. But you are going to have to just get creative with how you are going to present yourself to

people. Where are you going to spend your time? Maybe you're going to put your eggs in the Pinterest basket. Maybe you are going to try to get on podcasts. You're going to have to maybe have some freebies and things like that to entice people to join your email list. That way you can get them on your email list and stay connected to them. Most of all, you're just going to need to practice patience. And that is going to go back to your goal. What is your long-term goal? What is your vision? Once again, sit down, write it out. What do you want? And don't hold yourself back here. Dream big. There are a lot of very, very successful lifestyle bloggers out there who are making a lot of money, who are able to take care of their family. They're the sole breadwinner.

That is possible. It just takes time. If anyone is promising an overnight success in any niche in regards to blogging, please run the other way. They do not have your best interest at heart because this job truly does take time. And Jennifer and I don't tell you that because we want to detour you away from blogging. We tell you that because we think that that, once again, is really important to be authentic about the work that it entails to build a blog. It is not something that you can do overnight. It is something that you work on and you might think for a while, nobody is reading my content. Nobody is listening. I'm not getting through to anybody. And then all of a sudden, one day you log in and you're like, where are all these people coming from? Hold on. My traffic is

raising. Where are they coming from? I promise you, it just takes time. If you focus on the important things, if you stay authentic, if you know who you're talking to, if you narrow down your content pillars to start and branch out later, I promise you that you can be a successful blogger. You can reach those goals that you've set for yourself. The timeline is variable. It depends on how many posts a week you're going to put out, what other areas you're going to do to promote. There is no timeline that I can guarantee to you. But when you know these four things, when you have a strong reader avatar, when you narrow down your content pillars to three, when you think about the different ways that you want to earn an income, when you know what your goal is for blogging, that's your

foundation with a lifestyle blog. When you have a really clear vision on all of those ideas, on all of those things, you can set yourself on a path to success. All right. I would love to know what you thought about this episode. I would love to know if this is helpful for you. Lifestyle blogs are something that we get asked questions on all the time because you can go on the internet, you can read, maybe I shouldn't be building a lifestyle blog. That's what they're telling me I shouldn't do. But I think you have to take that with a grain of salt. And I think you have to ask yourself what your goal is for blogging and why you want to do this. If you are passionate about multiple things and you want to have more of a lifestyle

blog, that is your goal. You're not just literally wanting to blog just to make an income. Come talk to us. Send us a DM, send us an email. We can help you. We can help you narrow down some of those different content pillars that might help you get started on the right foot. We would love to help you, quite honestly. So we'd love to hear from you. And I hope that this was helpful. I hope it was a quick and dirty episode here that you learned a lot today and that you feel inspired to go after your dream of starting a lifestyle blog. Or maybe you have already had a lifestyle blog that you're just trying to grow. And maybe you need to go back to these 4 tips and start fresh again. So either way, whatever camp you're in, I hope that you found this helpful.

And thanks for tuning in this week. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at Spark Media Concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.