5 Steps: How to Get Started Blogging (So You Can Attract Dream Clients)

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The key question to ask about how to get started blogging is … how does it support your marketing strategy?

Before you jump into blogging your socks off, take the time to plan your content strategy and your blogging strategy. In that order.

Decide what content you’ll enjoy creating. It could be articles, videos, guides, studies, podcast episodes, or stories.  What content resonates with your dream clients and helps them solve their problems?

Also choose your cadence. Determine how often you will commit to posting on your blog. A content calendar, based on your best energy and creativity times will do wonders to keep you organized! It will help you stay consistent and provide value to your readers on a regular basis.

The steps below are designed to help you add blogging to your current client growth strategy. So you can attract more dream clients who are eager to work with you.

Consider why you want to start a blog

I’ve learned this in my 20+ years of marketing consulting and coaching: service business owners have murky misconceptions about blog marketing.

Some expect overnight results. They assume readers will engage automatically. They think that all you have to do is publish a blog post and you’ll (magically) attract new clients.

Ah. If only this were true. 

Some women tell me that they find the idea of blogging difficult because they don’t think of themselves as writers. They believe it takes too much time.

No worries. Even if you have mixed feelings about it, with the steps below you can still set yourself up to get the best blog results.

And spend your time wisely.

Keep in mind, when you get started blogging, you’re able to share your unique spin on your area of expertise. You’re sharing your one-of-a-kind knowledge. When you pour your personal practices of how to solve problems in your specialty, that helps you stand out to your people.

When you dig deep and write your approach into blog posts, they will better resonate with your dream clients. At the same time, you’re creating a resource. You can use these posts again and again to make connections.

You’re not just making content. You’re building a trove of resources. These can forge lasting connections and support growing your client list.

Let’s look next at what blog marketing can accomplish for you.

What does a blog do for service business owners like you?

When thinking about how to get started blogging, you likely don’t intend to “make money” per se with your blog. (i.e., you’re not into selling products to earn commissions as a marketing affiliate for other online businesses.) 

As a solopreneur, life coach, or other expert offering services, your blog’s primary purpose is to help sell your offers. 

For you, blogging is a client attraction marketing strategy

It’s an online world today. You want to develop a blog marketing strategy that enables you to achieve 4 key service business objectives:

Now you may ask yourself: should you restart your current blog to boost your marketing efforts? Or how can you get started blogging in a way that helps build your client roster?

Let’s look at that next.

Avoid the mistakes I made when I got started blogging

It was humbling when I shared this experience in my Amazon #1 bestselling book, She Markets.

As a newbie solo entrepreneur, I made all the classic rookie marketing mistakes. When I launched my marketing consulting business, I tried to talk to everybody who was a small business owner. When networking. When writing content for my (early days) website.

When I began blogging around 2008, I kept trying to “be all things to all small and midsize business owners” (I know. Prehistoric times.)

My blog posts (foolishly) sounded something like this, “As a small-to-medium sized business owner, you want to…” Because small-to-medium sized business owners is a boatload of people. 

It’s like they say, you can’t read the label from inside the jar.

I couldn’t see my own blog marketing mistakes at first. I was too close to my own work. I didn’t want to leave anyone out, so my blog posts were blah. Vanilla. Generic. 

For example, to teach a lesson in a blog post, I used examples from the giant company, IBM. Yes. Not helpful to the startup founders and small business owners who were my ideal clients at the time.

To save you from wasting time and energy like I did back in the day, let’s dive into the steps I wish I’d had for how to get started blogging. Been neglecting your blog? Good news: they also apply when you want to restart your blog.

If you’d like help to get your blog marketing planned and started, I can help. Clients tell me they like working with me so that they can get clear about their best strategies. Book a discovery call with me here.

 How to Get Started Blogging: 5 Intentional Steps

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1// Understand your ideal client avatar

Shouldn’t you stand out with ease, as you put yourself out there with your blog postings to find dream clients? Yes! 

I will die on this hill: knowing your ideal client better than anyone else in your industry improves your marketing. Blogging. Emails. Everything.

Knowing your ideal clients well means…

• You can differentiate your services with ease
• You’re clear about which blogging content topics are relevant to your dream clients
• You can make confident decisions about the programs and packages your clients want 

In fact, my self-published Amazon #1 bestseller, She Markets, focuses on understanding your ideal client.

Your time for creating content is precious. To make good content and succeed at marketing, you must know exactly who your dream clients are.  Know them well, far beyond their age, career, and marital status.

In blog marketing, avoid a common mistake many entrepreneurs make. They try to be people pleasers, not leave anyone out, and speak to everyone who has the problems they solve.

Instead of marketing (talking) to the giant pool of people with those problems, talk to your specific dream clients. Use their exact vocabulary. That way, they’ll know you’re speaking to them. They’ll feel seen and heard. 

That’s how you can build trust and stand out with your online content.

That’s how you build a sustainable, profitable business. 

What are their top urgent challenges?

When blogging, it’s crucial that you clarify your clients’ specific desires and pain points. It’s the best way to effectively attract them with your blog posts.

Remember, avoid generic marketing content. In your blog posts, don’t try to speak to everyone who has the problems you solve. You can end up with a generic message that fails to resonate with anyone.

Instead, dig into your clients’ deepest fears and pains. Your goal is to craft impactful marketing messages that stand out from others in your space. Writing blog posts to connect with those you wish to work with is not about settling for giving the same old advice.

Bonus: when you use AI as your junior assistant: Having a clear picture of your ideal client means you can create way better “prompts” when using artificial intelligence apps. That way you ensure the AI output is relevant to your specific ideal client audience.

Check out this post for more info on why it’s important to know your ideal client.

Here’s a tidy summary of characteristics of your perfect clients’ most urgent problem should meet:

⇒ It’s major. The reason clients hire you is to solve a massive problem they are desperate to move beyond. It’s not a simple, pesky issue.

Many business owners fail to recognize that they focus developing solutions for pesky issues. Aim higher. Your clients face significant pain points. Your service is the aspirin, not a nice-to-have vitamin.

⇒ It’s an urgent challenge. This problem is a critical barrier, blocking their path to a better life.

⇒ It’s motivating them to make a change. Your dream clients are determined to get the necessary skills to fix this puppy! Either by enrolling in your course or hiring you, the expert, to teach them how to fix the bloody problem once and for all.

⇒ They’ve tried everything else. Your clients have exhausted all other options without success. Now, they’re motivated to pay for a solution. Because you’re the expert who understands them, they’re eager to collaborate with you!

What are their biggest desires?

In addition to their problems, if you don’t pinpoint your clients’ urgent desires, it can stall your marketing efforts. It can become an epic challenge to pack your calendar with clients who love your work.

After all, your ideal client avatar has a reason they want to solve problems, right? It’s their why. It may be that they want to earn enough income to send kids or grandkids to college. Or buy a home. Or a vacation home.

As you research dream clients, learn the “why” behind the reason they want to hire you. 

What (who) are they fiercely opposed to?

Take the time to uncover your dream clients’ hot button issues. Then, you can include those things they cannot stand in your content and they’ll know you get them.

• Should you not get them started on people-who-text-and-drive?
• Do they rail against mega companies that don’t offer paid family leave?
• Do they detest people who overpromise and underdeliver?
• Are they fed up with ‘get rich schemes’ flooding the internet? 

(My personal pet peeves range from pineapple on pizza to racial injustice. The list is long.)

What misconceptions does your client audience have about your industry?

This is a great area to explore when you’re looking for how to get started blogging and need juicy topics.

• As a health coach, does your audience think that the perfect meal plan is all they need to get healthy?
• Does your leadership coach audience of women believe there’s no way around the corporate glass ceiling?

What have they already tried to solve their problem that didn’t work?

When talking with clients, ask them what they’ve already tried that didn’t work. Is that what drove them to hire you.

• Are they collectors of “free” online information?
• Do they try to find fixes with free stuff: YouTube workouts, online leadership advice/career planning?
• Are they voracious readers, relying on self-help books, but need expert guidance from you?
• Have they been burned by other coaches who promised dramatic results … but didn’t deliver?

2// Reimagine your client growth strategy

When you consider how to get started blogging, ask: How can blogging help your client growth?

If you need more clients to earn the income you desire, you may still resist marketing and blogging. You may have different reasons why you are resistant to marketing your business on the regular. 

• You don’t know which client growth strategy to try next because you didn’t get great results before
• You haven’t found a client attraction method that inspires you
• You may be procrastinating
• Until recently you haven’t needed to seek out clients because you’ve had steady referrals

Referrals are fantastic till they dry up. You may find that today you must be extra proactive, do more outreach so you can connect with potential clients. 

Blogging and blog marketing could help you. Decide how blog marketing can contribute to the specific methods you attract and engage clients today.

Three meaty examples:

• Sharing a blog post link when you follow up with new connections you meet at networking events
• Keeping your email list folks engaged by sending a link to blog posts as soon as they’re published 
• Giving prospective clients a sense of who you are: your expertise, your authority with links to your most relevant blog articles

3// Decide how will you invite blog readers into your world

To choose your strategy for how to start blogging, evaluate each of your marketing tactics to increase email list subscribers.

Then choose a method for how to get started blogging that enhances your process.

• Are you growing an email list? Place calls-to-action (CTAs) across your blog + blog posts to entice readers to subscribe
• Are you attending in-person networking events? Share blog post links in your follow up emails
• Do you maintain referral relationships? Stay top of mind by emailing blog post links
• How do you book discovery calls with future clients? Add a “book a discovery call” CTA in each post
• Do you offer a free resource, such as a PDF download or video series, packed with your valuable expertise? Include links to these in every blog post.

You can improve how you bring visitors to your website with blog marketing. Not only that, creating blog posts that are super-specific to your dream clients can engage them after they arrive on your site.

Note: In case I haven’t emphasized this enough: In each blog post, Always. Use. CTAs.

 Now let’s switch to the often-forgotten, unexciting party guest: your blog strategy.  

4// How to get started blogging? Plan your content strategy

Don’t get started blogging without developing your blog strategy as part of your content strategy. It should fit your working style, your business, your cadence, and your ideal clients’ needs.

Set goals that focus on what you want to do with your business. Also, how you wish to serve your clients. Do you want to:

• Build your online authority
• Increase your personal brand by becoming more visible online
• Promote your services by educating your audience
• Increase the number of readers who convert to email subscribers and paying clients
• Fold your goals into your strategy

As mentioned above, you must know your readers well. Your blog posts should inspire them to say, “Tell me more!”

Commit to planning content. Organize the urgent issues and dreams of your ideal clients into blog post topics. I don’t recommend a year-long editorial calendar.

First, you want to learn what readers care about–and this can shift. Plan content topics no more than 90 days in advance. Always test your content to discover which topics are most popular and which convert.

To stay on top of how your market shifts, analyze your blog’s performance. Adjust as needed.

Be purposeful about promoting your blog posts. See our next step.

Another post you may enjoy: How to Market Your Business Online, Even If It Feels Scary 

5// Attract readers to visit your blog consistently 

Once you’ve implemented your plan for how to get started blogging, the real work begins.

You must develop a plan to ensure people find, visit, and engage with your blog posts. Happily, you have a boatload of marketing tactics, blogging practices, and online strategies to choose from.

1) Reach out to your network. Let them know you have a blog by sharing a link to a post they’ll find relevant. Ask them to share the link with someone who could benefit from your expertise.

2) Be consistent about crafting blog posts. Choose your cadence. It can be monthly or weekly. Try not to let too much time elapse between fresh posts.

3) Grow your email subscribers. Share links to your new blog and to new posts with your email list. With each post, craft a message that tells subscribers what they’ll learn when they click through to your post.

4) Use the hell out of social media. Here’s where social media marketing can be valuable. Share snippets from your posts on the social media platforms your clients prefer. You don’t have to be on all platforms, choose strategically. Use automated tools to publish your posts. MeetEdgar, Tailwind, and other automation apps can save you time. 

5) Reuse, remix, reshare your blog posts. Not everyone will see your blog posts when you initially publish them on your site or share them online. You can repurpose your blog content by keeping it visible. 

Conclusion

When you consider how to get started blogging, remember: marketing is educating.

At its best, blogging is marketing.

Marketing is serving in advance.

Marketing is sharing your knowledge and your expertise.

You love what you do. You’re damn great at it. That means sharing about the topic you love in your blog is a natural extension of your business.

The reality: blogging is a time commitment. When you commit to blogging as a growth strategy, treat yourself like you treat your clients ... keep your commitments to yourself, your business.

Be intentional. Create content that aligns with both your ideal clients’ specific needs and your offers.

 

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