How To Start Profitable Blog in 2019

#ProfitableBlog2019|www.productiveblogging.
com
#ProfitableBlog2019|www.productiveblogging.com
Week 1: RESEARCH, PLANNING AND SET UP
Welcome to week ONE! This week is all about laying down a solid foundation for your blog, setting up your
website and making it look attractive! By the end of this week you should have a fully functioning website and
be well on your way to fulfilling your dreams and creating a profitable blog in 2019!
Although I’ve assigned a week and a day to each set of activities, you don’t have to stick rigidly to the plan. If
you find it takes you more or less time to do a set of activities, that’s fine! Go at your own pace.
Day 1 – RESEARCH + PLAN
The first step is to get to lay a solid foundation for your blog. I know what it feels like to be super excited and
just want to dive in and start your blog – but that was the mistake I made first time round.
If only I had spent a short amount of time researching and planning my blog, I would have made far fewer
mistakes and my blog would have been profitable far sooner!
Read => 9 essential things to do before starting a blog
Read => How to choose the right niche for your blog
Action steps
1. Decide what you want to blog about

2. Research blogs in that niche
3. Decide on a domain name
Bonus step
Check to see if the social media usernames you want are available. It’s best to get something as close as
possible to your domain name, failing that your own name is a good choice – e.g. I am @productiveblogging on
Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, and @ebgargano on Twitter.
Day 2 – START YOUR BLOG
Woohoo! Now you have a much better idea of what you want to blog about, it’s time to actually start your
blog.
If you want to start a PROFITABLE blog in 2019 you really do need to start a self-hosted WordPress blog. Whilst
it is possible to make money on other kinds of blogs, it is much, much harder.
Read => How to choose the right host for your blog
Read => How to start a successful WordPress blog – a step by step guide (steps 1-4)
Action steps
1. Choose a hosting plan

2. Buy your hosting
3. Set up WordPress
Bonus step
Once you have your blog name, make sure you go and get the social media usernames while they are still
available!
Week 1: RESEARCH, PLANNING AND SET UP
Day 3 – SET UP YOUR BLOG
Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a brand new blog! I am so excited for you. This is a decision
you are not going to regret! So long as you put the work in, you are well on the way to creating a profitable
blog in 2019.
With any new venture, absolutely the hardest part is actually STARTING – and you’ve done that!! The fact you
have put a little bit of money into this now will also be a great motivator… you won’t want to waste that
money! Now the next step is to actually set up your brand new blog – and make it look good!
Read => How to choose the right theme for your blog
Action steps
1. Choose and install a theme

2. Create a logo for your blog
3. Install my recommended plugins
Day 4 – WRITE YOUR STATIC CONTENT
Hopefully you should be feeling extra motivated now your blog is starting to take shape! The next step is to
write your ‘static’ content, that is your about me, contact me and privacy policy pages.
Read => How to start a successful WordPress blog – a step by step guide (step 9)
Action steps
1. Write your ‘about me’ page

2. Write your ‘contact me’ page
3. Write your privacy policy
Day 5 – SET UP YOUR MENUS, SIDE BAR AND PERMALINK STRUCTURE
This is the final day of set up! Today you will be setting up your menus, side bar and making sure you have the
right permalink structure. This is the last step before you can start actually writing blog posts!!
Action steps
1. Set up your menus

2. Set up your side bar
3. Edit your permalink structure
MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS!!! You now have a brand new blog, and it already looking really good! I haven’t
created a day 6 and 7 as it’s good not to blog EVERY day and also, I want to make this plan realistic and
achievable.
If you are desperate to do more (I know how that feels – I was super excited when I first started my blog), I
strongly recommend that you spend day 6 and 7 doing some more research into blogs in your niche. If you
want to go one step better, you could leave a few comments too!
WEEK 2: PUBLISH YOUR FIRST 2 BLOG POSTS
This week you are going to start by brainstorming ideas for your blog, before actually getting down to writing
your first two blog posts!
Day 1 – BRAINSTORM BLOG POST IDEAS
I know how keen you must be to start writing your first blog post, but I really want to encourage you to first
start by deciding on your blog’s categories and then brainstorming your blog post ideas.
Your first posts should ideally be foundation posts – sometimes called cornerstone blog posts. You should
write one foundation post for each of your categories. These foundation posts are super important for SEO as
they help search engines understand what your blog is about and how your blog is structured.
Read => 9 essential things to do before starting a blog (steps 3 -4)
Read => How to create 52 blog post ideas in less than 2 hours
Action steps
1. Choose your blog’s categories

2. Brainstorm a minimum of 10 ideas for each category (more if you can!)
3. Choose 1 idea from each category that will be your cornerstone blog post for that category
Day 2 – START WRITING YOUR FIRST BLOG POST!
Hooray!!! Today is an exciting day because today you will start writing your first blog post! Please don’t stress
about this first blog post being ‘perfect’. Chances are it won’t be – but that’s the beauty of blogging, you can
always go back and improve on it at a later date when you are more experienced. For now, just make your aim
to get something written and ‘out there’.
One other tip I will give you – no one is going to read your first draft, so give yourself permission to write a
‘terrible’ first draft. When you have finished it, go back and edit it to improve it. It’s much easier to write first,
then edit. If you try to edit as you go along, it will be harder and much slower!
Read => How to start a successful WordPress blog – a step by step guide (steps 13)
Read => The 10 essential elements of a successful blog post
Action steps
1. Pick one of your cornerstone blog post ideas to be your first blog post
2. Write a first draft of that blog post
3. Re-read your first draft and try to improve it
WEEK 2: PUBLISH YOUR FIRST 2 BLOG POSTS
Day 3 – PUBLISH YOUR FIRST BLOG POST (CORNERSTONE POST)
Well done for writing your first blog post. Today you will be publishing it on your blog! It can be a bit nerve-
wracking publishing your first blog post. But don’t worry, nothing scary happens – in fact most likely no-one will
read it (except perhaps your mum or your OH!). I don’t say that to discourage you, but rather encourage you! If
you know no one will read it, it makes it less scary.
Read => How to start a successful WordPress blog – a step by step guide (steps 13)
Read => The 10 essential elements of a successful blog post
Action steps
1. Re-read your second draft and try to improve it again

2. Give your text one final proof read
3. Copy and paste the text into WordPress – make sure you give your post a title
4. Edit the URL
5. Use H2 tags for subheadings (use H3 for sub-sub headings)
6. Add a few photos and/or graphics (see tip)
7. Make sure you have selected the right category and chosen a featured image
8. Press ‘publish’!!!
9. Check your post looks ok on the ‘front end’ by clicking on the URL
Tip
You can get really good FREE images to illustrate your blog posts from Pexels and Pixabay. Use PicMonkey or
Canva to edit them and make great graphics. Never copy and paste images from the web to illustrate your
posts – all images are copyrighted. (free image sites like Pexels and Pixabay are fine to use freely though!)
Day 4 & 5 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR SECOND POST (CORNERSTONE POST)
Congratulations on writing and publishing your first post. The first post is always the hardest! From here on in
it’s much easier. Use Days 4 and 5 to go through the same process to write your second post. Again, choose
one of your cornerstone blog post ideas to write about.
If you feel a bit stuck, don’t worry! I’ve included a post on overcoming writer’s blog in your reading today!
Read = > 17 tips to overcome writer’s block for bloggers
Action steps
1. Pick one of your cornerstone blog post ideas to be your second blog post
4. Publish your second blog post (don’t forget headings, photos etc.)
A BIG WELL DONE for getting to the end of your second week and publishing your first TWO blog posts! You
have done a massive amount in your first two weeks, and really set your blog up for success.
Again, I am not setting any specific tasks for day 6 and 7, but if you want to do some extra work you could
either do some more research/commenting and/or write and publish another cornerstone blog post!
Week 3: GET READY TO MAKE SOME MONEY!
Now your blog is up and running and you have a couple of posts written and published, it’s time to start
making some money! The easiest way for a brand new blog to make money is via affiliate links. Affiliate links
are special links you can add to your website to advertise recommended products and services. If someone
follows your link and goes on to buy that product you will get a commission.
Day 1 – RESEARCH AFFILIATE SCHEMES AND APPLY TO JOIN
The first step towards making money is to research affiliate schemes in your niche. A good one to join for any
niche is the Amazon Affiliate Scheme. This scheme will give you a commission of up to 12% of the cost of a
purchases made through one of your links.
The really great thing about Amazon is you make that commission on ALL the qualifying purchases your reader
makes after following your affiliate link, not just the product you mention. That can add up to a lot!
Read => How do blogs make money?
Read => How to make money on your blog…with affiliate links
Action steps
1. Research possible affiliate link schemes related to your niche

2. Apply to as many as possible
3. Prioritise applying to the ones you think will be most lucrative and fit your blog the best
Day 2 & 3 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR THIRD POST (AFFILIATE POST)
Whilst you are waiting for those affiliate schemes to get back to you, it’s time to start writing blog posts which
will ‘sell’ your affiliate links. There are typically 2 kinds of affiliate post: a ‘review’ post and a ‘roundup’ post.
In a ‘review’ post you write a review of the product you are an affiliate for – explaining why it is so great.
A ‘roundup’ post is similar, but in this type of post you include LOTS of affiliate links (and probably also some
non-affiliate links too) – these posts tend to be thing like ‘the top 10 best X’ or ’30 ways to X’.
I’ve included in the reading this week example posts, showing how I have done these kind of posts on my blog.
Read = > How CoSchedule can help you get more done in less time on your blog (REVIEW)
Read => A beginner’s guide to ConvertKit (REVIEW)
Action steps
1. Choose 1 of the affiliate schemes you have applied to and write a REVIEW post
4. Publish your third blog post (don’t forget headings, photos etc.)
5. Don’t forget to add your affiliate links into the post
Week 3: GET READY TO MAKE SOME MONEY!
Tip #1
If you haven’t been approved for the affiliate scheme yet, just put in a normal link for now and go back and add
in your affiliate link later, when you get approval.
Tip #2
All affiliate links must be declared. I do this by putting a * next to the affiliate link and a disclosure statement at
the bottom which reads like this.
*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I
recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Day 4 & 5 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR FOURTH POST (AFFILIATE POST)
Congratulations on writing your THIRD BLOG POST! You might not make huge amounts of money to start with,
but as your traffic grows you will hopefully start to see some income from this post. The more affiliate schemes
you join and the more you write posts designed to ‘sell’ these affiliate products and services, the more you will
be in a position to make good money as your blog grows.
Always keep in mind that your affiliate posts should be genuinely helpful to your readers. A post which just
tries to hard sell a product is unlikely to be popular. One which genuinely helps your readers with a problem
and just so happens to have a couple of affiliate links in it is much more likely to succeed.
Read => The best blogging tools to increase your productivity and traffic (ROUNDUP)
Read => 15 essential plugins for WordPress blogs (ROUNDUP)
Action steps
1. Choose a few of the affiliate schemes you have applied to and write a ROUNDUP post
4. Publish your fourth blog post (don’t forget headings, photos etc.)
5. Don’t forget to add your affiliate links into the post
6. Don’t forget to add your affiliate link disclosure to your post
7. Create a disclosure page and link to it from both your affiliate posts.
Bonus step
Are there any affiliate links you could add to your first two blog posts? If so go and add them in, or at least
apply to the affiliate schemes and add in the links when you get approved.
Congratulations, you have reached the end of week 3 and you are well on your way to a profitable blog. You
are already months ahead of bloggers who don’t follow a plan like this. Recently I heard of a blogger who had
been blogging for EIGHT YEARS and hadn’t made a single penny! By regularly adding affiliate posts to your blog,
you will ensure you are making money as soon as possible.
Again, there are no actions for day 6 and 7 - but if you are feeling extra keen, why not write and publish
another affiliate post – either a review or a roundup post, whichever you prefer!
Week 4: GET TO GRIPS WITH SEO
I know that by now you will be itching to start promoting your blog, but I recommend waiting another week
and instead focus on learning the basics of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) first. SEO is all about getting
search engines to find your blog and rank it in search results. The ultimate goal of SEO is to get your blog to
rank as high as possible for as many search terms as possible.
SEO is a great long-term way to grow your blog and the sooner you get started the sooner you will start
ranking in search results. It’s really important to get to grips with this as soon as possible, otherwise it becomes
a big job to go back through your blog optimising it later (I know because I had to do that with my first blog and
it’s painful!)
Day 1 – INSTALL & SET UP THE YOAST SEO PLUGIN
The Yoast SEO plugin is an amazing FREE plugin which will help you optimise your posts for search engines.
Today’s actions are simply to install and set up the plugin properly. Setting up the Yoast plugin properly is
something that many experienced bloggers still haven’t done, so by doing this you are already streets ahead of
other new bloggers!
Read => A beginner’s guide to SEO
Read => How to set up the Yoast SEO plugin PROPERLY!
Action steps
1. Install the Yoast SEO plugin

2. Set up the Yoast SEO plugin
Day 2 – OPTIMISE YOUR FIRST 4 BLOG POSTS FOR SEARCH ENGINES
Now is the time to go back through all your first 4 blog posts ensuring they are optimised for search engines.
Yoast is a tool you can use to help you do this. If your post is optimised, you will get a green traffic light. You are
aiming to get a green traffic light overall for both READABILITY and SEO.
Read => How to use the Yoast SEO Plugin to grow your blog
Action steps
1. Optimise all 4 posts you have written so far

2. Aim to get a green light for READABILITY and SEO on all your posts
3. Make sure you also fill in the snippet preview on all your posts
Tip
Going forward you should optimise your blog posts as you write them and before you hit publish! In time all of
this will happen very naturally, and you will barely have to think about it.
Week 4: GET TO GRIPS WITH SEO
DAY 3 – ADD YOUR WEBSITE TO GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE AND SUBMIT YOUR SITEMAPS
The next step is to add your website to Google Search Console and submit your sitemap. This step will help
Google find and crawl your website faster and more efficiently. It will also give you access to Google Search
Console, which will allow you to see how your website is performing in Google searches.
Read => How to use the Yoast SEO Plugin to grow your blog
Action steps
1. Add all 4 variants of your URL to Google Search Console

2. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
Day 4 & 5 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR FIFTH POST (CORNERSTONE POST)
It’s time to write another blog post! It’s a really good idea to aim to write one post every week. This will get you
into the habit of writing and help you start to find your ‘voice’. It will also help you get found on Google
quicker! The more content you write, the more chance you have of being found AND Google likes blogs which
produce regular fresh content.
However, don’t try and write more than one blog post per week. Not only will that lead to blogger burnout, but
it will also mean you are not prioritising other essential things that will ensure your blog grows and starts
making money as soon as possible.
Today and tomorrow you will write and publish another cornerstone blog post, this time making sure you pay
attention to keyword research and optimising for SEO.
Read => How to do keyword research for bloggers
Read => How to use cornerstone content to increase blog traffic
Action steps
1. Choose one of your remaining cornerstone blog post ideas

2. Use keyword research to identify the keyword phrase you want to target
5. Optimise your blog post using your target keyword phrase
6. Publish your fifth blog post
Well done on getting to grips with SEO – this won’t show much of a result to start with, but by following all the
action steps this week, you will be setting your blog up to perform well on search engines as soon as possible. It
may take a few months before you start to see the fruit of your labours, but boy will you be glad you did this
early on in your blogging journey!
You definitely deserve a few days off, but if you are feeling really keen and want to work on days 6 and 7, then
why not write and publish another blog post?
Week 5: START PROMOTING YOUR POSTS!
Your blog is up and running and you already have 5 (maybe more?) awesome posts written, published and
optimised. It’s now time to start promoting them! This week you will set up your social media profiles and
promote all your blog posts on social media. You will also create pins for all 5 posts and pin them onto
Pinterest. This is a super fun week, so hold on to your hats and let’s get started!
Day 1 – SET UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES
The first step is to set up your social media profiles. If you haven’t already, then first you need to get a
username on each social platform that matches your blog name. In an ideal world they would all be the same
and all match your blog name exactly.
Unfortunately, that is not always possible – but do your best. The closer they are to your blog name, the more
easily people will be able to find/guess them! If you can’t get your blog name, getting your own name is a good
alternative. That’s what I had to do with Twitter – I had to go for @ebgargano as @productiveblogging was too
long!
Read => 14 things you should do AFTER you publish a new blog post
Action steps
1. Set up profiles for your blog on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram, and get a Facebook page
2. Make sure you have included a profile picture – a decent headshot, NOT your logo!
3. Make sure you have filled in ALL THE SECTIONS: intro, links, about etc.
4. Share your FIRST and SECOND blog posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
Day 2 – MAKE PINS AND SHARE THEM ON PINTEREST
CONGRATULATIONS! It can be a little daunting to share your posts on social media, but it’s a great way to gain
visibility, get ‘known’ and drive traffic to your posts.
Today we are going to focus on Pinterest. Pinterest is an amazing way to drive traffic to your blog. It’s kind of a
cross between social media and a search engine – and it has the advantages of both!
You don’t need a massive following to get found on Pinterest as there is a strong search element and getting
found in searches on Pinterest usually happens much faster than search engines, where it can take several
months before you start to rank.
Read => How to create a business account on Pinterest
Read => How to claim your website on Pinterest
Action steps
1. Make sure your Pinterest Account is a BUSINESS ACCOUNT.

2. Claim your website on Pinterest (see tip #1).
3. Create a board for each of your categories (see my account for inspiration).
4. Create pins for each of your blog post using PicMonkey or Canva
5. Add your new pins to your blog posts.
6. Pin your new pins onto your Pinterest boards
7. Add some more pins to each of your boards (by searching in Pinterest)
8. Share your third and fourth posts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
Tip #1
To claim your website on Pinterest, follow the instructions in the reading above, but when you get your meta
tag, go to YOAST > SOCIAL MEDIA > PINTEREST and paste your meta tag into the box. Click SAVE CHANGES and
it’s all done!
Tip #2
Create a ‘Best of YOUR BLOG NAME’ board and pin all of your blog’s pins on this board. Drag this board so it is
the first board on your Pinterest profile. Anyone who visits your Pinterest profile will see this board first.
Day 3 – GET SOCIAL!!
One of the most important things with social media is to be sociable. Today is a fun day because it’s all about
being sociable on social media! So get out and have some fun – follow people on all 4 social media channels
and get liking, sharing, retweeting, pinning and commenting!
Action steps
1. Follow some people in your niche on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest
2. Follow your friends and family on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest
3. Invite your Facebook friends to ‘like’ your new Facebook page
4. Spend time liking, sharing, retweeting and commenting on social posts in your niche
5. Pin some more pins onto your Pinterest boards
6. Share your fifth post on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
Tip #1
Don’t just promote your blog posts on your own social channels. Write social media posts on the topic of your
blog, about yourself and what you are up to, etc. Share photos of yourself too! People like to see the face
behind the blog.
Tip #2
Don’t forget to follow me! I am @productiveblogging on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, and @ebgargano
on Twitter.
And do come and join the Productive Blogging Community Facebook Group, if you are not already a member.
You will be more than welcome! Write a post in that group telling us all about you and your new blog and let
me know you are doing this #ProfitableBlog2019 challenge!
Use the #ProfitableBlog2019 hashtag on social media. I will be following the hashtag and I’ll like / comment /
share / retweet as many as I can!
Day 4 & 5 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR SIXTH POST (AFFILIATE POST)
It’s time to write another blog post! This time, make it another affiliate link post. Check back through the
affiliate schemes which have accepted you and write either a review or a roundup affiliate post.
Now would be a good time too to check and see if you have been accepted for any more affiliate schemes and,
if so, put the new affiliate links into your existing posts.
Don’t forget to make your affiliate post truly helpful to your target audience. The links should drop into your
post naturally and it shouldn’t feel like a hard sell.
And don’t forget to optimise for search engines!
Read => How to do keyword research for bloggers
Read => How to make money on your blog…with affiliate links
Action steps
1. Decide what to write your affiliate post about

6. Make sure you add your affiliate links
7. Make sure you include a pinnable image
8. Publish your sixth blog post
9. Share your new post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest
Wowsers! You are doing brilliantly. You have come a long way in just 5 weeks. You already have a great looking
blog, which has six really good posts and is optimised for search engines AND making money!
Hopefully now that you have started to promote your posts you should also have started to see some traffic –
maybe even made a few pounds??? Don’t lose heart if you are not getting very much traffic (or any money) yet
- it takes time. But if you keep following the plan you will get there!
Week 6: GET TO GRIPS WITH EMAIL
The next thing we are going to focus on is email! You need to start collecting email addresses and sending out
regular newsletters. This is a really important way to get new readers to keep coming back and grow your core
fan base. Later on, an email list is really essential if you plan to sell a product or service on your blog.
Day 1 – SET UP YOUR EMAIL PLATFORM
The first thing you need to do is choose an email marketing provider and set up your account. You need a way
of capturing email addresses and sending an email out to them – you can’t just send an email from your
personal email account!
There are lots of different email marketing providers out there, but the two I recommend are MailChimp and
ConvertKit. If you want to grow your email list FAST, then I cannot recommend ConvertKit highly enough.
ConvertKit will allow you to create lots of different opt-in offers that will grow your list really quickly. The
downside is you have to pay – but I can assure you it’s more than worth the cost!
If you really can’t afford ConvertKit right now, then MailChimp is the next best option. You can still create ONE
opt-in offer with MailChimp and it’s totally FREE! It’s an OK solution, but not perfect. If you are not sure, then
get a free account with MailChimp and move over to ConvertKit when you are ready to take your email
marketing up a notch!
Read => Why every blogger NEEDS an email list
Read => How to get started with email marketing and get your first subscribers
Read => A beginner’s guide to Mailchimp or ConvertKit
Action steps
1. Choose whether to go with MailChimp or ConvertKit

2. Create an account with your chosen email marketing provider
3. Create a subscription box and embed it onto your blog
4. Subscribe to your own email list to check it works
5. Create and send a practice email to yourself
Day 2 & 3 – CREATE AN OPT-IN OFFER
The quickest way to grow your email list is to create an opt-in offer. An opt-in offer is simply a free gift you give
to incentivise your readers to join your email list. In fact, this 7 week Profitable Blog Plan is a free opt-in offer! It
was the one I used to incentivise you to join my email list. So, if you are reading this, then you already know the
power of opt-in offers!!
But an opt-in offer needn’t be as big as this one! In fact, when your creating your first one it’s best to keep it
very simple!! It could be a simple worksheet, a printable, a guide, a menu plan, a more in-depth version of your
blog post… But the most important thing to remember is it must be genuinely USEFUL – it must solve a
problem for your reader. If it doesn’t, it won’t be an effective tool to grow your list.
Read => How to grow your email list with a free opt-in offer
Read => A beginner’s guide to Mailchimp or ConvertKit
Action steps
1. Create an opt in offer for one of your existing posts (something easy!)
2. Create an automatic email which subscribers get when they first join your list
3. Add your opt-in offer to that automatic welcome email
4. Advertise your opt-in offer on the relevant post(s)
5. Embed an email sign up form into that post
6. Test that it works
7. Tell your followers about your opt-in offer on social media
8. Pin your opt-in offer on Pinterest
Tip #1
With MailChimp you can only create ONE opt-in offer, so make it something that will work across your whole
site (you can see an example of this on my food blog where I have one site-wide opt-in offer, my 4 Week Easy
Dinners Meal Plan)
Tip #2
With ConvertKit you can create as many different opt-in offers as you want, so you can make the opt-in offers
quite specific to individual blog posts. Having multiple different opt-in offers is a much better way of growing
your list.
Day 4 & 5 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR SEVENTH POST (EMAIL LIST POST)
You are now going to write another blog post. This time the main aim of your post will be to encourage readers
to sign up to your email list. You need to think of a subject which you can easily create an opt-in offer for.
Write a post on that subject and create an opt-in offer. Make sure you advertise your opt-in offer in the post
and embed an email sign up form into that post too. Make a pin for the post and don’t forget to optimise for
search engines. Finally, you will need to share your new post on social media.
Action steps
1. Decide what to write your post about

6. Make sure you add any relevant affiliate links
8. Make sure you include your opt-in offer
9. Publish your seventh blog post
11. Don’t forget to use the #ProfitableBlog2019 hashtag!
How are you doing? You should feel incredibly proud of yourself for getting this far. You have already achieved
much more than most bloggers do in years! I’d love to hear about your progress – either email me or let me
know on social media. I’d love to cheer you along!
Week 7: BLOGGER ROUNDUPS & GUEST POSTS
This is the last week of the #ProfitableBlog2019 challenge. In this week I am going to show you a few tricks to
turbo charge your blog growth – two types of blog post that will seriously help you grow your blog (and your
income!). The first is a blogger roundup post and the second is a guest post.
You are also going to send your first email this week!
Day 1 – PLAN YOUR BLOGGER ROUNDUP POST
A blogger roundup post is a post where you ask other bloggers (or experts) to contribute to your post. When
you have written your post, you email all your contributors (or let them know via social media) thanking them
for helping you and asking (very politely) if they wouldn’t mind sharing the post with their social media
followers.
You must make sure your post links back to each contributor’s website so there is something in it for them! In
the reading I’ve given a couple of examples of roundup posts I’ve done on my two blogs.
Read => 45 Easy Peasy Back to School Dinners
Read => How bloggers can best work with PRs and Brands: what the PR professionals say
Action steps
1. Decide on the topic of your roundup post.

2. Email potential contributors to ask for their input.
3. Alternatively ask for contributions on social media (e.g. my Facebook group!).
4. Set a deadline so you can start writing your post on Day 4.
Tip
Don’t make the contribution too big or complex. Something someone is able to dash off in a minute or two is
much more likely to get a response than something that will take half an hour to write!
Day 2 – ASK TO GUEST POST ON OTHER BLOGGERS’ BLOGS
Another really great way to grow your blog is to guest post on other people’s blogs. You have a little time to kill
while you are waiting for responses back for your roundup post. So, use this time to research other blogs you
would like to guest post on and then pitch your ideas to those bloggers.
Writing on other blogs will give you exposure to that blog’s (usually much bigger) readership AND it will give
you a good backlink which is very important for SEO.
In your reading today, I’ve included a couple of guest posts I’ve done to show you what is possible.
Read => How to be a successful Work at Home Mum (Honest Mum)
Read => How to be a more organised blogger (Foodies100)
Action steps
1. Research other blogs you would like to write guest posts for
2. Research to see if any of those blogs have contributor guidelines
3. Email the bloggers, pitching them your idea for a guest post
Week 7: BLOGGER ROUNDUPS & GUEST POSTS
Day 3 – WRITE YOUR FIRST EMAIL NEWSLETTER
Another thing to do while waiting for those roundup responses to come in, is send out your first newsletter.
Hopefully by now you have had a few subscribers sign up. It’s worth getting in the habit of writing a regular
newsletter even if you only have one subscriber.
If you still have ZERO subscribers, still write the newsletter, but save it until you have a few subscribers, then
send it out.
Read => What to put in your email newsletter – 11 ideas to really connect with your subscribers!
Action steps
1. Research other blogs you would like to write guest posts for
2. Research to see if any of those blogs have contributor guidelines
3. Email the bloggers, pitching them your idea for a guest post
Day 4 & 5 – WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR EIGHTH POST (ROUNDUP POST)
You are now going to write up your roundup post. This should be a nice simple post to write, as most of the
work has been done for you by your contributors!
Make sure you make a really good job of this post and then share it with all your contributors. Thank them for
their time and ask them (very politely) if they would share it with their followers. Also tag your contributors
when you share the post on social media.
You should get a real boost to your page views and social media likes/shares etc. doing this - roundup posts are
well worth doing!
Action steps
2. Write a first draft of your blog post
5. Make sure you add any relevant affiliate links
7. Make sure you add links back to all your contributors’ blogs
8. Publish your eighth blog post
10. Don’t forget to use the #ProfitableBlog2019 hashtag!
Woohoo you’ve done it! You’ve completed the #ProfitableBlog2019 Challenge!! I would love to hear about how
you’ve got on. Please send me an email or let me know in the Productive Blogging Community Facebook
Group. I especially want to know when your blog starts earning money. If you’ve already made some money let
me know how much – I’d love to share your story!
WHAT NEXT?
You have already achieved so much – you’ve got a really awesome website with eight fab blog posts, you’ve
set your blog up for SEO and making money, you’ve promoted those blog posts and you’re active on social
media, you’ve written your first roundup post and sent your first newsletter - you are on fire!
Here’s a few ideas for what to do next…
1. Keep writing 1 new blog post every week. Make sure each post has a purpose: either a cornerstone blog
post, an affiliate link blog post, a blog post which grows your email list (with a free opt-in offer) or a
blogger roundup post.
2. Keep writing 1 newsletter per week (or 1 per month, if that suits you better)
3. If and when you get responses from your guest post requests, write those guest posts and make them
really good!!
4. Keep being sociable on social media and sharing your posts there regularly too.
5. Keep pinning to Pinterest – pin your own pins regularly AND pin other relevant posts onto your boards.
6. Ask to join a few Pinterest group boards – these are great for boosting the reach of your pins.
7. Join some more Facebook groups – many of them have threads where you can share your posts.
8. Keep creating new opt-in offers to grow your email list.
9. Keep pitching other bloggers with guest post ideas.
10. Keep reading blogs in your niche and commenting on them.
11. Create a product or service to sell on your blog.
12. Keep in touch and let me know how you get on!
Phew! I hope that little list will keep you going for a while. I wish you the very best of luck with you blog and I
look forward to hearing all about how you get on :-D
Happy blogging!
Eb x
LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON!
If you have completed my #ProfitableBlog2019 Challenge, I would love to know how you’ve
got on! Send me an email at eb@productiveblogging.com and tell me all about your blog
Alternatively share a screengrab of your blog on Instagram, using the hashtag
#ProfitableBlog2019 and tag me @productiveblogging
Wishing you the most INCREDIBLE success with your new blog in 2019!!!
Eb x
ABOUT ME
Eb Gargano is a professional blogger who blogs at easypeasyfoodie.com and productiveblogging.com. Drawing

on her business and marketing background, she has turned blogging into a successful career. Known as ‘the
organised blogger’ in blogging circles, she is passionate about sharing her business, blogging and productivity
tips and seeing bloggers turn their blogs into successful businesses, without burning out. She lives in Sussex, in
the UK, with her husband and two children (aged 8 and 10), and when not blogging, she can be found running
through the beautiful Sussex countryside with her local jogging group or curled up on the sofa with a good
book. Get my FREE Productivity Guide for Bloggers >>> BLOG SMARTER NOT HARDER

How To Start Profitable Blog in 2019

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Day 1 – RESEARCH + PLAN

Read => 9 essential things to do before starting a blog

1. Decide what you want to blog about

Day 2 – START YOUR BLOG

1. Choose a hosting plan

1. Choose and install a theme

Day 4 – WRITE YOUR STATIC CONTENT

1. Write your ‘about me’ page

Day 5 – SET UP YOUR MENUS, SIDE BAR AND PERMALINK STRUCTURE

1. Set up your menus

Day 1 – BRAINSTORM BLOG POST IDEAS

Read => 9 essential things to do before starting a blog (steps 3 -4)

1. Choose your blog’s categories

Day 2 – START WRITING YOUR FIRST BLOG POST!

Read => The 10 essential elements of a successful blog post

Read => The 10 essential elements of a successful blog post

1. Re-read your second draft and try to improve it again

Read = > 17 tips to overcome writer’s block for bloggers

Day 1 – RESEARCH AFFILIATE SCHEMES AND APPLY TO JOIN

Read => How do blogs make money?

Read => How to make money on your blog…with affiliate links

1. Research possible affiliate link schemes related to your niche

Read => A beginner’s guide to ConvertKit (REVIEW)

Read => 15 essential plugins for WordPress blogs (ROUNDUP)

Day 1 – INSTALL & SET UP THE YOAST SEO PLUGIN

Read => A beginner’s guide to SEO

Read => How to set up the Yoast SEO plugin PROPERLY!

1. Install the Yoast SEO plugin

Day 2 – OPTIMISE YOUR FIRST 4 BLOG POSTS FOR SEARCH ENGINES

1. Optimise all 4 posts you have written so far

1. Add all 4 variants of your URL to Google Search Console

Read => How to do keyword research for bloggers

Read => How to use cornerstone content to increase blog traffic

1. Choose one of your remaining cornerstone blog post ideas

Day 1 – SET UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

Day 2 – MAKE PINS AND SHARE THEM ON PINTEREST

Read => How to create a business account on Pinterest

Read => How to claim your website on Pinterest

1. Make sure your Pinterest Account is a BUSINESS ACCOUNT.

Day 3 – GET SOCIAL!!

And don’t forget to optimise for search engines!

Read => How to do keyword research for bloggers

Read => How to make money on your blog…with affiliate links

1. Decide what to write your affiliate post about

Day 1 – SET UP YOUR EMAIL PLATFORM

Read => Why every blogger NEEDS an email list

Read => A beginner’s guide to Mailchimp or ConvertKit

1. Choose whether to go with MailChimp or ConvertKit

Read => A beginner’s guide to Mailchimp or ConvertKit

1. Decide what to write your post about

Day 1 – PLAN YOUR BLOGGER ROUNDUP POST

Read => 45 Easy Peasy Back to School Dinners

1. Decide on the topic of your roundup post.

Day 2 – ASK TO GUEST POST ON OTHER BLOGGERS’ BLOGS

Read => How to be a successful Work at Home Mum (Honest Mum)

Read => How to be a more organised blogger (Foodies100)

Here’s a few ideas for what to do next…

Eb Gargano is a professional blogger who blogs at easypeasyfoodie.com and productiveblogging.com. Drawing

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