11 Ways to Stay Motivated as a New Blogger

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It was back in 2020 when I started and got serious with blogging.

With serious efforts, sleepless nights, and errors I made in my first year of blogging, I managed to earn enough to substitute for my full-time job.

However, building a blog wasn’t a walk in the park.

It took me a whole year to finally grasp what I was doing — the dos and don’ts, must-haves, and must avoid.

So if anyone would say blogging is easy, hah! You gotta stop right there.

Indeed, sparkling 4-6 figure income blind beginner bloggers (and money is in fact a great motivator), but blogging is nothing but rugged terrain, especially when you’re beginning.

Let’s set that expectation right from the beginning.

That said, here’s how new bloggers can keep themselves motivated especially when they’re dealing with a lack of discipline, demotivation, and uncertainty.

Uncertainty IS UNBEARABLE FOR ANY NEW BLOGGER (and That’s Alright).

Uncertainty is excruciating, grim, and intense.

Most bloggers don’t admit how long and what it took before earning anything with their blogs.

What most successful bloggers do is flaunt their mind-blowing income which leads new bloggers to the wrong expectations.

But the truth is, behind their staggering revenue and success, it’s pure hard work, Years of hard work (and showerless days.)

But here’s your situation: 2 months in, you’re consistently publishing blog posts but nothing seems to happen.

Instead, your high hopes start to cloud with doubt and uncertainty.

If you’re dealing with these, the list I’m about to share with you will definitely give you assurance.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS another CULPRIT.

What demotivates bloggers from continuing their work?

Instant gratification.

Ahh, I can still remember how my impatience was so agitating, and the long wait so disheartening.

And that’s because people are wired to receive rewards right after putting in the effort.

Without a prize, salary, appreciation, or profit, people start to doubt their process, change routes, and abandon their supposed meaningful pursuits.

Money, praise, or increased traffic — these things validate our work. It conditions our minds and becomes proof that we’re doing something right.

When we don’t get these after exerting efforts for months, it’s not only stressful but worse, anxiety-inducing.

But to succeed in blogging, the need for instant gratification is the top trait we need to scrape off.

Why? It’s because everything in blogging is delayed gratification.

You have to wait for a day to get an accurate pageview metric, at least 6 months to expect a blog to take off, and a year of trials and errors to finally see your blogging blueprint.

Moving on, how do bloggers exercise delayed gratification and stay motivated as a blogger?

How to Stay Motivated as a Blogger

Here’s how I stayed motivated as a new blogger:

1. Define your reason for blogging.

Define why you’re blogging in the first place.

Do you do it as a hobby, to share your expertise, or simply process your thoughts?

For many, it’s money.

More than the passion and expression, blogging is undeniably a writer’s way out of their 9-5 job.

It’s an escape to a more flexible work schedule, work-life balance, or being your own boss (and nagger).

Just like most blogging success stories, I pursued this career because I’m tired of unsympathetic workplaces.

One day, I snapped and dropped everything that made me miserable at work.

When I learned I can earn from blogging, I worked on it religiously for more than half a year. earned my first full-time income and made a red-carpeted escape to blogging.

And whenever I think of going back to the office, it sends a shiver to my spine and forces my lazy ass to write. That’s my story.

We all have a reason why we blog. What’s your reason?

2. Put in the hard work now, reap the fruits later (it’s passive income for 10 years or more we’re talking about).

I understand how long writing a blog post takes. It isn’t something you can do on a whim, like writing a diary, especially on difficult topics.

We’re long past diary-like blogs.

Blogging today requires considerable research.

Now I understand what you’re going through because I dealt with the same impatience, doubt, and uncertainty.

There may be a time when you already published 5 or 15 blog posts, yet all we see is a flat line on the metrics — zero page views. Crickets.

You may have stalked your Google Analytics, too, only to see 1-5 pageviews in a day. Ugh.

However, let’s be reminded that blogging uses a different business model.

While traditional businesses launch with grand openings, blogging is the other way around — you launch with zero interested readers. Zero. None.

Receiving your first trickles of revenue may not even start until 3 to 6 months (or even more) after publishing content.

I’m not kidding when I say blogs take off after 3-6 months.

Here’s how my lifestyle blog did in 2021. I started it in December 2020.

Despite the disheartening amount of page views, I still published around 30+ blog posts within 6 months.

It took off on my 6th month of blogging and continues to grow from there.

Don’t lose confidence and grit when you don’t see results early on.

I did the research for you. I stalked (I meant analyzed) multiple blogs. When their blog interests me, I check the monetization models they use, the number of blog posts, and domain age.

Did you know that most bloggers who claim they’re earning thousands of dollars already have:

100+ blog posts on their blog
have a domain age of more than 2 years
opened their website to monetization models (ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, etc.)

If you’re not anywhere near that, you gotta be patient, my friend.

Publish now, reap the fruits later!

3. Count by growth, not goals.

Goals — I love setting them. But I’m not clinging up to them.

Here’s a mistake many of us are guilty of: we compare our grandiose goals against our present circumstances.

Because we’re far from our supposed “success,” it demotivates us whenever we wake up to the reality that there’s a huge gap between us and our goal.

Thinking too far ahead makes us think we’re not qualified and unprogressive because of the miniscule growth.

But the truth is, reaching goals is not as groundbreaking as you imagined them to be.

Stepping on the “success” isn’t as magnanimous as you visualized it years back.

Sometimes, you don’t even notice how you’re already in the place you wished or prayed for years ago.

Progress is more breathtaking than reaching the goal — especially in blogging.

Reach a goal, set another one, and another, and another.

I count my growth, not goals. Even if it’s as simple as converting a PDF to Microsoft Word File, you bet I was ecstatic when I learned it.

Long-term goals are the guide, and short-term goals are what you take action on each day.

Find fun as you take every step.

4. The goal is not only to earn but to genuinely help people.

Blogging could be tiresome, especially when you’re entire focus is to publish more content and earn more money.

Bloggers suffer from burnout, too.

There was a time when I took a rest from blogging for 2 months. I was tired of my niche. It felt like I had nothing more to share.

That was the time I took a rest and sought purpose for writing.

I reminded myself not only about the money but how much impact my words left on people.

More than money, blogging is for your (and my) expression and people’s resource.

Write content so valuable that you’d call it your masterpiece.

When you write solely for SEO and money, passion begins to melt away. That said, realign your goals and aim to help readers first.

Don’t worry because anything that has value leads to excellence. And everything excellent is worth the money.

5. Watch videos or read successful blogs to remind you that the challenges you face as a blogger are all valid.

Yes, blogging gets you away from bosses and toxic workplaces. You get to work on your own.

On the (not-so) downside, your overall blog’s growth and direction are dependent on your hard work and initiative to learn, too.

And yet, it’s demotivating when no one beside you seems to understand this whole process.

When no one around seems to validate your blogging struggles, go back to the blogs and videos you binge-watched when you were starting.

I’ve been blogging for a few years now, and I sometimes still drift afar, questioning why I took this career.

So when I’m demotivated, I go back to watching Youtube videos and reading blogs to remind me that this is a legitimate business in which people thrive.

We retrieve our passion once we see passionate people doing it. And after reading testimonies, it’s exciting all over again.

6. Be excited with every win.

I mentioned above that growth is more important than chasing a distant goal.

It’s true. Celebrating every little win will raise your morale more than ultimately waiting for this big chunk of success.

What does every little win look like?

I sometimes count the number of blog posts I’ve written, and tell myself, “wow, I’ve written all these? Dear self, you rock.” (taps on my shoulder)

The first cent from AdSense, the first ads, the first Google snippet you won, the first time your content ranked first — these are the breathtaking little wins we must celebrate.

Buy yourself a cake. Treat yourself.

But you can also do what I do — celebrate alone and dwell in nostalgia as I look back on how far I’ve come and learned.

7. Join communities

Blogging is a lonesome career. I can attest to that.

I’m so focused on creating content that the only social life I get is scrolling and reacting to my friend’s socials.

My lack of social life makes my family raise their brows.

I also thought, “My, my. Should I continue blogging? I might end up alone. For real.“

I had no bosses or workmates to share my life complaints, and worse, no one around me understood my work.

What to do? Join communities.

But not any community. Find one where you can connect, ask and answer queries, share experiences, and announce your milestones.

Surround yourself with fellow bloggers who share the sentiments. Find your tribe.

Get out of the solo bubble.

Ask questions to more experienced bloggers and give advice to new ones.

Keeping in touch with people who do the same job as you is definitely reassuring.

8. Attend live training and webinars.

Searchers’ behavior changes over time as more technology progresses.

Search engines like Google and Pinterest algorithm accommodate that change.

That said, keep yourself up to date. There are loads of free online training out there if you’re on a tight budget.

Also, watching live training allows interactions with the host.

Real-time interaction gives a boost more than watching prerecorded webinars.

So take your time waiting for live events.

If it means waking up in grave hours, so be it. Attend and interact.

9. Invest so much that you can’t just give up.

I’ve mentioned in my other blogs how I created 3 websites using Blogger and WordPress.com — all are free blogging platforms.

But knowing I have nothing to lose in a free blogging platform, guess what happened.

Yup, every blog ended up abandoned.

But here’s what “forced” me to continue blogging and get serious.

I started to put out money.

I vowed to make my blog work and so I spent money on my domain name, web hosting, and, most significantly, I spent sleepless nights.

Other things I’ve spent on are Grammarly Premium and more subscriptions.

Whenever I think I would waste all those, I’d get up, open that laptop, and write.

It was the best risk and motivator I had.

10. Don’t stress out about blogging. Take breaks.

Successful blogging doesn’t mean writing until you burn yourself out.

You see, publishing every day is consciously draining, especially when you’re a solo blogger.

Instead of draining yourself out and ending up hating the whole process, take your progress slowly.

Sometimes, you need to procrastinate. Yep, you read that right.

I admit to procrastinating, and I say it’s vital. I even teach people to use procrastination to their advantage.

Procrastination is not merely lazying around.

Rather, it is detaching yourself from building up stress and recovering mental stamina right before you run out of it.

It’s a time to reorganize thoughts, do whatever we love, or expand our knowledge while we rest from blogging.

Take breaks and keep a healthy blogging schedule.

11. Diversify your tasks and create a work schedule.

Routine is the death of many.

Routine, especially for me, is emotionally and mentally exhausting. Good thing, blogging can be anything, dealing with diverse tasks included.

How to diversify your work in blogging? Here’s what I do:

In a week, I write 2-3 blog posts. I vary my topics from a lifestyle niche, business blogging, travel, or even food blogs to avoid burnout from a single topic.

If I had to get freelance work to break the routine from my main niche, I’d do it.

Aside from blogging, I do other tasks like researching, managing my social media, and creating Youtube videos.

Give your work a variety so you won’t struggle with a boorish routine.

Bonus Tip: At the end of the day, have something accomplished.

Accomplishing something every day helps satisfy the craving for instant gratification.

For me, it’s frustrating how I spend hours and days stuck in a draft, jumping over browsers, obsessing over e-mails, and re-reading my favorite blog posts.

In the end, I haven’t completed anything and it becomes more exhausting the longer you stay in an unfinished business.

That said, set daily and tiny goals to give you a sense of accomplishment.

As of today, I’ve edited an audio recording, talked to support for assistance, did keyword analysis for a new post, and now finishing a draft.

Even when you have one or ten tasks, it’s crucial to accomplish a task to fulfill you.

WRAP UP

Now, that’s how I stayed motivated as a new blogger.

Even now that I’m managing multiple blogs, these tips and techniques still work.

Hope these tips help you reach your goal and continue growing.

Happy blogging!

-M.Mathias

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