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I would have started doing some serious guest posting sooner. I take the a guest post a day challenge.

Mike – Saving Money Today said:

I would have spent more time planning and mapping out where I wanted to go with it instead of just diving in.  You can always make changes on the fly but it's easier if you can get it right the first time around.

 

@Mike. Thanks! I have been working on developing a clear mission statement for my site. So hopefully I will be able to stay the course (with some course correction if need be).

 

Thanks again!

Its a good thing that you have started with buying your own domain name and using Wordpress with it.

I started off with Blogger nd it was a pain to move everything over to Wordpress.

Like Tony said, Guest Posts are a must. The earlier you get into the better.  And that goes for accepting guest posts as well.

You should also invest in a good Wordpress theme. The 'Thesis' framework is pretty good. I'm sure other Yakezie's will vouch for that.

I love the results I've gotten in just 6 months of blogging… but I know I couldve gotten here quicker by doing certain things.

1.) Social media – I wouldve started FB and twitter accounts on day 1.  I waited until a few months in, and they really helped push me along.  Not to mention Stumble, Reddit, Digg… I get a decent amount of traffic from these sites.

2.) Blog giveaways – I would start these on the first month as well.  Do something cheap and affordable.  If you setup the giveaway effectively, and you market in the right areas, they can boost your blog traffic indefinitely.

3.) Routinely comment on 5-10 PF sites (Frugal Dad, I will teach you, getrichslowy, and the remaining should be all Yakezie blogs)…help others…guest post…blog swaps…carnivals each and every week!!!!!  Keep up with all that and you will do yourself wonders.

I would have more focus.  As it stands, my blog covers about 4395849035 topics which makes it different, but I can see where it doesn't attract a core audience.  My core audience must be ADD, to say the least.

Also, I would have built up a longer list of timeless topics so as to be able to offer variety all the time.  For example, if I post twice a week, then having 3 posts in a row of the same topic/general theme may make 50% of the audience happy, and 50% feeling left out.  GetRichSlowly is exceptional at making sure their topics are varied enough to work with their daily post frequency.

MoneyforCollegeProject said:

@ Money is the Root. Awesome. What kind of items do you typically give away on your blog? Are there certain items you have found attract more attention?

 

@FSYA Good idea. I have already bought mine and thankfully, I did include two keywords in the domain!

 

@Money Mamba Thanks! I'm a little ADD myself so I can see how this would be a temptation. I've also heard about the "timeless topics" and  I think JD does a great job at GRS. Thanks for the insights!

I typically give away $25 Amazon.com gift cards.  Everyone loves Amazon, they offer everything, I regularly tout online purchasing over brick and mortar stores so it fits with my PF theme.  Not to mention it takes about 2 minutes to send out the gift card to the winner via email.  I can tell you from experience that it works well.  I get about 1,000 article hits on just the giveaway article each time I do one.  Stay tuned for one later today!

Write good content on a schedule, network, and don't get distracted by the little things. Focus on the big picture when you are getting started and iron out the details as you go. You will certainly miss something, but don't let it get you discouraged. Always try to improve as you move forward.

I would have looked at similar sites and gotten ideas for design (buying the Thesis theme upfront), categories, and phrasing of certain questions and topics. Also, I would have started with Aweber right away and also Market Samurai and Scribe SEO.

I didn't read even 1 article about blogging, and I wasn't following any blogs either, so I didn't have a clue what I was doing.