Disclaimer: ♡ As an affiliate, I may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. I only recommend products or services that I use and trust and that will be valuable to you. ♡ :
You did it! You finally took the big leap and started your blog. But… now what? The first-month blogging can be so confusing. There is so much to do, so many things to learn, where do you start? If you’re confused about what you should be focusing on right now, here are 10 essential first-month blogging tasks to help you get on the right track!
These are the things you need to do in your first month of blogging if you want to become a successful blogger.
I just want to mention that there are quite a few first month blogging tasks here. You do not need to do all of them to be ‘successful’ but it is good to just be aware of these things.
RECENT POST: Free Courses for Bloggers: Starting a blog, Pinterest traffic and more!
Essential Tasks for your First Month Blogging: Overview
- Self-host your blog
- Start social media accounts
- Have a strategy in place
- Have a content calendar
- Research how you’re going to make money blogging
- Be actively promoting your blog
- Set up an email list
- Invest in yourself
- Create a media kit
- Go into blogging with an open mind
🡫🡫 PIN FOR LATER IF YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO READ IT NOW 🡫🡫

Self-host your blog
If you haven’t gone self-hosted already with your blog, you need to! It’s super important if you want to make money with your blog! This is the number one first month blogging task!
What is a self-hosted blog?
If you’re unfamiliar with what self-hosted means, it essentially means that you own, and pay for, your blog.
There are ways to start a free blog on sites like Blogger.com and WordPress.com. But they are super limiting on many things:
- Limited ability to customize your theme
- Will have WordPress ads on your site, that you have to pay to remove
- Can’t use Google Analytics to track site views (Jetpack is available however very unreliable and slows down your site)
- Can’t install essential and helpful plugins to your site
- Your domain looks like “mywebsite.wordpress.com (must pay to remove .wordpress.com)
- You are limited in the ways you can make money
On top of all of that, you don’t actually own your blog. So it can be taken down at any time for any reason!
I actually started my blog out on WordPress.com and as I grew I saw how very limiting it was. And I even paid for the business upgrade that is available and it still was not what I wanted it to be!
When I found out about self-hosting, I never went back! If you want to grow your blog and your income, you need to be self-hosted right away.
Want to learn how to start a self-hosted blog? I have a step-by-step guide right here!
Which Web Host should you use?
I use Hostinger as my Web Host. I managed to get 3 years for £0.99 a month! Hostinger was one of the cheapest web hosts I could find. There is no compromise for the low price. The service they offer is excellent. They provided me with so much help throughout the whole process.
I have friends who have used Hostinger and have the same opinions as me so I am happy to promote them as a brilliant web host.
You can sign up to Hostinger here!
Start social media accounts
Social media is a great way to connect with bloggers and promote your work. It’s an important first-month blogging task that you start social media accounts as soon as possible so you can start building up a following of people.

How to get the most out of social media
There are different strategies for each social media platform, and they also vary by your target audience as well. So it’s easy to get stressed out over social media and not know where to start. Here are some tips to keep you from getting overwhelmed!
- Pick 1-2 platforms to start out on
- Don’t try to master every single platform at once. You could end up spending all of your time just promoting and working on social media instead of your blog!
So pick one or two platforms to start out with and grow your following on there first, before moving on to another.
It’s okay to create accounts on all the platforms when you start just so you can claim your blog name and have your name out there, but don’t feel like you need to regularly post on every platform every day.
How do you know what social media sites to choose?
There is a lot of sites to choose from, so how do you choose the best one to start out on?
- Check out other bloggers social media
Look and see what other bloggers in your niche are doing. What social platforms are they most active on? That might give you a good idea of where to start.
- Think about the audience you are trying to reach
What platform would your readers spend the most time on? If your blog is about DIY or home decor, maybe Pinterest would be best for you. Or if you run a food or fashion blog, maybe Instagram fits your demographic better.
Think about the content you are talking about on your blog and the age group you are trying to reach when choosing a social media platform!
Need more help to decide? Check out How to Choose What Social Media site is Best for your Business!
Have a strategy in place
Not only is this a good first-month blogging task to have, it’s also good to help make your blog easier to grow in the long run as well.
You want to have a clear idea of what you want to do with your blog, what you plan to get out of it, and what the end goal is with it.
So how do you create a strategy?
Create goals
Start by creating goals for yourself. The best place to start is with your end goal first and then you can work your way backwards.
Ask yourself what do you want to achieve with your blog? Do you want to make enough money to quit your full-time job? Do you want to have your blog as a side hustle to help you increase your savings account?
RECENT POST: June 2020 Goals: Blog, Social media and Personal

Whatever the end goal is, start there. Then you can move on to breaking that goal down into smaller, more achievable goals.
- Where do you see yourself in a year?
- What do you want to achieve in 6 months?
- What about next month?
Once you’ve broken it down, you can create weekly goals and break those down even further to daily to-do lists.
Once you have an end goal in mind, it will be easier to create a plan and make sure the things you do every day will lead you there.
Keep track of your progress
Something I find really helpful is to keep track of your soical media stats so you can see the progress you are making.
Once you put your plan into action you will slowly start to see results so keeping track of these can keep you motivated.
Don’t expect to see massive results, but do try and see the little progress you are making!
Have a content calendar
A must in my first month blogging tasks list is to focus on is creating a content calendar. Keeping organized as a blogger is so important! And a content calendar is a great way to make sure you not only are organized but can be on top of things as well.
RECENT POST: 200+ Easy blog ideas for different niches

If you don’t know, a content calendar is essentially a calendar that can keep track of all of the blog posts you want to write for the month.
You can make these as simple or as complicated as you want. Either keep track of the blog posts you want to write in your physical planner calendar, or you can create a customizable one yourself.
I like to use Google sheets to create mine. I keep track of the posts I want to write, dates they need to go out, if I’ve finished them or not, general notes, where I’ve shared the post if I’ve written an email about it and affiliate links I’ve added.
What I like about creating my own calendar is I can keep track of any of the metrics I want for it. You can use this method to create a social media calendar as well so you can track what you want to post each day.
Research how you’re going to make money blogging
This is an important first month blogging task that is often overlooked. If you want to make money with your blog, you need to create a plan on how you are going to do it. You need some sort of strategy if you want to get on the fast track to making money, and it’s best to start thinking about it as soon as possible.
Here’s how to start.
- Research the different ways you can make money
There are so many different methods out there for making money online. It can get overwhelming, but it’s good to know what your options are because what works for someone may not work for you.
The main ways people make money are:
- Ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Making your own products
- Choose 1-2 ways to start making money and go all in
Once you research the ways to make money online, choose 1-2 of them and get as much information as you can on them.

Carly Campbell has created a course called ‘Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers’. This course provides you with everything you need to know about how to make money through affiliate marketing. Carly is a pro at monetising her blog so you are learning from the best!
Shareasale is a great way to start making money as a new blogger. They accept anyone whatever level of traffic you have going to your blog. There are so many affiliate programs you can sign up for within Shareasale. Then all you have to do is add the links to your site.
Join shareasale.com, Earn Cash!
I recommend starting with ads on your blog and then moving to affiliate marketing first. Media Net and Google Ads are both great starts.
These are the main two ways people start out with making money online.
Sponsored posts are hard to get in the beginning because you don’t have a following yet to advertise to. And making your own product will come later once you’ve established a base and you know more of what your audience wants.
It can be tempting to want to try a ton of different ways to make money, but I encourage you to stick to 1-2 until you master them. You don’t want to stretch yourself too thin in the beginning. There’s only so much time in the day to learn new strategies and implement them.
Recommended: How to Monetize your Blog in the Early Days
Be actively promoting your blog
This is one of the first month blogging tasks I see some blogger leaving out, myself included. You should always be promoting your blog!
There may come a time in the future when you master SEO and have your blog ranking in Google searches, so people end up finding your blog organically. But it will not happen in the first month!
That is why it is so important to create those social media accounts ASAP and start promoting right away!
– But my blog only has one post? It is ready to be promoted?
YES! Even with one post, your blog is ready to be out in the world. I know a big fear is your blog doesn’t look “ready” for people to come to visit it, but don’t worry! If you have one post out, that is enough for people to come read.
I had the same fear of my blog not looking “ready” enough and I wanted to launch with more content for people to browse, so I totally understand the feeling. This is why I held off my launch until I had ten posts ready to go.
While you don’t have to have as many as me, if you want to get your blog “promoting ready” you can start by adding a few more posts as soon as possible. However, you really don’t have to wait. Start promoting right away!
Where/how can you promote your blog?
- Twitter – Search up #writerslift on Twitter for blog commenting trains – On @unpredictedpage there are daily comment threads at 8 am every morning
- a Facebook business page
- Facebook groups
If you’re active in Facebook groups dedicated to your niche, you can answer questions people have and leave a link to your blog with more information. Just make sure this is allowed in the group rules, and don’t make it look spammy. Make sure it’s genuine!
Some groups even have opportunities for you to leave your blog posts in a thread as well. The way to get the best results out of these is to not just link drop and run. Always always make sure to return the favour and comment on other blogs as well. It’s just common courtesy!
A great tip for promoting your blog on Twitter is to install the Revive old posts Plugin (if you are on WordPress). This plugin automatically promotes your blog posts onto Twitter for you.
Pinterest is no.1
Pinterest is the number one way many bloggers bring traffic to their sites, including me. If you haven’t jumped on the Pinterest train yet, you are missing out! There is a ton of help on getting traffic from Pinterest if you don’t know where to start!
Carly Campbell has an amazing Pinterest Strategies course where she shares hoe she gets 200K blog views a month purely from Pinterest! I have loved leaning from her and I am slowly implementing her techniques and improving my Pinterest.
RECENT POST : What’s trending on Pinterest 2020?
Set up an email list
An email list can be super important in the long run which is why it makes sense to get one set up ASAP. I started my newsletter in my second month of blogging. I have had my newsletter running for approximately 2 and a half months so far and I have 164 subscribers. On average that is 2 new subscribers a day.

Setting up an email list is on my first month blogging tasks list because it means in the future you can convert your subscribers to sales. Or if you don’t want to go in the direction of selling a product then you can convert your subscribers into page views.
What can you use to create your email list?
I have tried multiple email list builders like Mailchimp and Mailerlite but I just wasn’t able to use them as easy as ConvertKit. When I started using ConvertKit it was so easy. The designs for emails, forms and landing pages were so much better and prettier.
There are different plans you can join on ConverKit – but you can use the free version which includes 500 subscribers for free.
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Sign up through this link you set up a free account today!
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How to gain blog subscribers:
- Offer a freebie
- Use pop-ups
- Use landing pages – I have a landing page for my free 4-page media kit and one for my 100+ hashtags you should be using on Instagram. So you can check these out.
- Offer tips – on a topic you have knowledge on
Invest in yourself and your blog
Spending money and investing myself and my blog was something I was very sceptical about doing at first. I decided to bite the bullet and it was the best decision I made!. There are so many excellent resources out there.
You have to think about it this way – say you buy a coffee every morning for £3 and a course costs £50 that means you need to skip 16 coffees to save the money for the course. So just have your coffee every other day for one month! Simple.

So far, I have invested in an:
- SEO course
- Pinteresting Strategies and Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers
- My WordPress Theme – So I am currently using the Charlotte Theme from 17th Avenue. They offer you lots of help when setting it up and the service is excellent. I was able to get it all going by myself.
- Canva Pro
- Web Host – I am currently using Hostinger as my Web Host. I have no problems so far and they were so cheap! I paid 99p per month for 3 years. They offer 4 plans all ranging in price all of which are totally affordable.
You can access my resource library where you can see all the cool resources I have been using to up my blogging game.
Blogging Resources I recommend spending your pennies on (you won’t regret it!):
- Pinteresting Strategies – I have taken many Pinterest courses and this one was the one that opened up my eyes
- Affiliate marketing for Bloggers – Affiliate Marketing is a whole different world, there is so much money to be made with affiliate marketing
- If you want a bargain: Pinteresting Strategies and Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers (two-course bundle with bonus blogging planner – I actually bought this bundle myself and I can tell you it is so worth it!
- The Bloggers Survival Guide – The author of this eBook has 12 years blogging experience so you know it is going to be good content – it is also a fab price for what you are getting
- Starting a Profitable Blog – There is so much helpful info in here considering it is free
Create a media kit
If you want to bag brand deals and sponsored posts then an Influencer Media Kit is essential for you. Media Kits are simple enough to make once you manage to get your head around them.
If you need help creating your media kit I have a post along with a free template you can use.
A media kit is so important for a blogger who is looking to monetise their blog. Whether you want to make blogging a full-time thing or not. It is like a mini CV that you can showcase to brands you want to work with.
RELEVANT POST: Build a killer Influencer Media Kit: FREE TEMPLATE
Go into blogging with an open mind
This really isn’t a first-month blogging “task” that you need to do, but it is a mindset shift you need to make if you want to be successful.
Please make sure to go into blogging with an open mind. Blogging is hard. You likely won’t be making money right away, you will have to invest money to get started on the right track and results will be different for everyone.
Don’t be too hard on yourself
These first month blogging tasks can be quite overwhelming. Some people make money blogging their first month, some take months, others take years. You have to understand that everyone’s journey is different. You don’t know how much time, effort, and knowledge people have behind the scenes of their blogs.
So the biggest take away here is to please don’t compare your journey to someone else’s.
There is enough room for every blogger to have success on the internet so keep your head up and keep pushing! You will never fail if you keep trying!
Give yourself breaks
Occasionally, the blogging world can become too much. So give yourself a well deserved break from social media.
Taking a break gives you time to think things over and come up with a fresh plan. It makes you more motivated when you take a break. So don’t be scared to come to a halt with your blog. I have put too much pressure on myself before and it can feel all a bit too much when it shouldn’t have to be!
Conclusion: Essential First Month Blogging Tasks
Overall, as a blogger, you’re going to be taking on a lot of tasks. There’s a lot more that goes into blogging than you realize in the beginning, so it’s important to not get overwhelmed and just do your best!
Here are the 10 First month blogging tasks you should focus on:
- Self-host your blog
- Start social media accounts
- Have a strategy in place
- Have a content calendar
- Research how you’re going to make money blogging
- Be actively promoting your blog
- Set up an email list
- Invest in yourself
- Create a media kit
- Go into blogging with an open mind
This post has mentioned a lot of tasks for you to complete here so don’t think that you HAVE to do everything here. I certainly didn’t get everything done within my first month of blogging because I was still learning. These tasks will just help you go in the right direction.
Helpful blog posts to get your started:
- 200+ Easy blog ideas for different niches
- What are the Best Free WordPress Plugins for Bloggers?
- Build a killer Influencer Media Kit: FREE TEMPLATE
- Free Courses for Bloggers: Starting a blog, Pinterest traffic and more!
Thank you for reading about first month blogging tasks that will set you up for success! I hope this post helped you out in some way! I would love it if you could let me know any other tasks you think are essential to creating a successful blog!
About the Author:
Hi! My name is Sarah, and I’m the owner of the blog businesswomenthrive.com. I started my blogging journey about 2 years ago. I’ve had two other blogs in the past but now I mainly focus on helping women start their own blogging business so they can pursue a life they love! You can find me at:
this was an incredible post! i have been back for 4 months now, and still haven’t done some of these things in case i thought i couldn’t continue with it/lost motivation, but i am definitely going to keep these all in mind. a break is coming for me soon, and i am going to start on these tips as well as a revamp :)) thank you so much for publishing this! x
mills 🙂
http://www.bymills.blogspot.co.uk
Very detailed post. I’m going to implement the tips and save it for later.
Great post! Really helpful for anyone starting out or thinking about starting. It can be overwhelming but with a guide like this, it seems much easier.
There is a lot here that I wish I knew before I started. Not going self hosted for almost 2 years was my biggest mistake!
Great tips, I’ve just signed up for the Media Kit. Thanks!
These are some amazing tips Amber, this is a great help for those bloggers who are starting out! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Some really good tips here, wish i’d of known all this for my first month haha!
Thanks for sharing, these are great tips for starting out, the problem sometimes is budget, most of these like buying your domain and self-hosting can cost a lot of money, but it might be worth saving 🙂
Nic | Nic’s Adventures & Bakes
Wish I had known all of this starting out! I have now worked on all, but investing money into it is still hard for me to be honest. But great post!
Amazing post. I am just starting out blogging and found this extremely helpful. Thanks very much
These are such helpful tips! I wish I was aware of them when I first started blogging – I don’t think numbers and monetisation were a big thing back then!
Serena / http://www.ramblingsofanotherunigraduate.com
Media kits are definitely something that all bloggers should have! It’s good practise to get one set up early on so that when the time does come you can reply to PRs/brands with your details quickly and hopefully secure something 🙂
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Thank you for the amazing post Amber.
I am a budding blogger and was hesitant to promote my blog as it contained only one post. But now I have a clearer picture for that matter.
Love,
Shreya | https://blogwithshreya.wordpress.com/
A brilliant post and lots of helpful tips. It can be overwhelming starting a blog so it’s great to have posts like this to help.
These are all great tips. For me, content was number one. It’s so easy to get caught up in all the other stuff but, first and foremost, you have to create content people will read.
Hi Amber. Loved this post. Really helpful for blogging beginners. Quick question: you say you moved from wordpress.com to self-hosting. How much monthly traffic were you getting when you decided to make the move? Thanks.