Blogging Expenses that Are Worth Paying For

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If you want to run a successful blog, you need more than just a domain and web hosting–you need to put time and money into it.

Smart bloggers know the importance of investing in your blog to drive growth.

Remember, your blog is a business. Make the decisions that will help it thrive!

These are three blogging expenses that are worth every penny.

1. Legal Protection

That sounds scary and expensive, but I promise you, it’s not.

The simple matter is, every blog needs terms of service, a privacy policy, and any relevant disclaimers, like affiliate disclaimers.

The absolute easiest way to cover yourself is with legal templates!

That way, you can just fill in a few blanks (e.g. your name, email), throw them up on your blog, and move on with your life.

These templates are the ones I use–it’s a bundle of Terms, Privacy, and several disclaimers.

They only take an hour to read through, fill out, and publish on your blog.

Plus, you can use them on as many sites as you need.

So if you have (or plan to start) another blog, you can use the same templates!

>> The Legal Pages Every Blog Needs <<

Once you get your legal pages squared away, it’s a HUGE relief to not worry about them.

Another Way Bloggers Protect Themselves…

You can manage your blog as a sole proprietor without registering as a business, but running your blog under an LLC can help protect you from liability.

An LLC gives your blog a business identity so that it’s separate from your personal life.

If forming an LLC is something you’re interested in but you feel overwhelmed, consider using Northwest to help you register.

I was nervous about filing an LLC on my own, but Northwest made it a super simple process.

I just had to select a few options and they completed the registration for me.

Massachusetts (where I live) has a really quick turnaround time, and my LLC was official 14 hours after I applied!

Plus, they give you an LLC operating agreement, which you need to open a business bank account, so it was one less thing to worry about.

>> Register an LLC for your blog <<

(If you don’t need help registering your LLC but you need an operating agreement, you can purchase a template like this one.)

2. Automation Tools

The time you spend on menial tasks is time you’ll never get back.

So why waste hours every week posting to social media, when scheduling tools can do the heavy lifting for you?

For instance, Pinterest wants you to pin throughout the day; you have WAY more important things to do with your time!

So use a tool like Tailwind to automatically post your pins on a schedule.

You decide how often you want to post, and then you add pins to your queue. Tailwind will post them for you at the best times each day.

They also have a feature to loop your pins, which will automatically post your pins month after month!

So you could assign a bunch of pins to loop, and never pin again…and still your Pinterest account would be full of pins that Tailwind automatically posted for you!

I’ve used Tailwind to manage my Pinterest account for almost two years and it’s been such a time saver.

>> Try Tailwind for free! <<

You can also use Tailwind to schedule your photos, videos, and stories to Instagram.

They’ll automatically post your content for you, continually figuring out the best times to post, so you don’t have to.

Plus, you can use it to plan your grids, find the best hashtags, and save your hashtag lists.

If you want to use Tailwind for both Pinterest and Instagram, you’d need to pay for two plans, which you can manage from one account.

You can try it for free to see if it’s right for you!

Alternatively, Buffer and Hootsuite are two other leading automation tools. I haven’t tried them, but they both have free plans, so they’re worth looking into.

3. Your Education

If your marketing is bad, then your traffic will suffer. If your traffic is bad, then your revenue will suffer. If your revenue is bad, then your motivation will suffer.

*Cue the trombone* Wah waaaaah.

If you’re bad at something, learn to do it better and practice until you improve!

You don’t know what you don’t know.

But if you can identify your weaknesses, you at least know where to start.

There are some great free resources on the web, but something like a book or an online course gives you more comprehensive instruction on a topic.

Take notes and make a plan. Then, and this is key, implement what you’ve learned.

Don’t just sit on the knowledge.

Put in the effort so you get your money’s worth and then some!

You’re competing against bloggers who are great at what you’re bad at.

Developing your skills should be a priority.

When your marketing improves, your traffic will improve. When your traffic improves, your revenue will improve. When your revenue improves, then your motivation will improve.

And when it comes to blogging, motivation is worth its weight in gold!