Countless brands and individuals have started blogs as one way to reach like-minded individuals, sell products, promote ideas and otherwise influence the world. The ability to reach large numbers of people is only limited by your blog’s overall appeal and its technical prowess with respect to concepts like SEO. Unfortunately, many bloggers make a litany of mistakes that can cost them both time and money. Whether you’re merely losing efficiency or actually losing money, it’s best to avoid making these mistakes. Today, we’ll review some strategies that can help you avoid losing time and money when blogging about your favorite subjects.

Build an Email List

Even if your blog is brand new or small, it’s important to start building an email list as soon as you launch. While it may seem insignificant at first, email lists can exponentially increase the number of people who see your content over time. Additionally, they are a great way for you to start pinging servers and reaching those who have already demonstrated loyalty to your brand – but who might not return without prompting. You’ll be able to gradually leverage this email marketing list into serious money-making potential, if you’re promoting it properly. Be sure to use a combination of pop-ups, calls to action and other pleas in order to sign up as many people as possible.

Stay on Point

Most blogs are at their best when they are deftly focused within a particular niche. With the exception of major institutions that can afford to cater to multiple audiences, it makes no sense to jump from topic to topic. Some attempt to do this in order to expand their readerships, but it often backfires. If you can be a dedicated expert on a particular niche or topic, you stand a better chance at growing your audience than attempting to cater to a variety of different topics and angles. By keeping your blog’s focus laser-like, you’ll be able to more effectively establish yourself as an authoritative brand within your niche, maintain SEO clout and keep your audience entertained.

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing

You’ll never be successful if you just write content and wait for others to find it. Instead, you need a strong marketing effort that combines a variety of tactics. For starters, you want to be pinging servers all over the web with your blog’s presence (without being spammy) – in other blog comments, on forums, on social media and via email. Additionally, you want to find methods that’ll allow you to earn passive revenue through your blog. Google AdSense is a common tool used by many, but it may not generate much revenue unless you have a ton of traffic. If you have products and services to offer alongside your blog, then consider finding more spaces in which to market them as well.

Ultimately, blogging can be a waste of time and money if not done correctly. You’ll want to stay on point, build an email marketing list and using many different forms of advertising both on-site and off-site in order to reach your true potential.  If you can follow these simple steps, then you’ll be well on the way to eliminating some of the most inefficient aspects of blogging from your regimen.