Starting a business and establishing a website domain doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

The biggest challenge you will face is learning how to market to your target audience using Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to drive traffic to your website.

There are plenty of resources on YouTube that explains how these platforms work.

Pick your resources wisely when searching for videos on Pinterest marketing, affiliate marketing, social media, blogging, and how to make money online.

I will share some throughout this four-part post that helped me at the beginning to get over the learning curve of blogging tools, email, and online marketing.

Take The Time To Learn About Blogging

Take the time to learn the process of growing a start-up, blogging, and online marketing from start to finish, so that you don’t have to spend time fixing costly mistakes later.

There is no reason your blog and social media sites can’t be up and running in less than a month.

Sure, you can get everything done in a week, but putting all your eggs in one basket will cause confusion and frustration, especially when it comes to posting on multiple social media platforms.

If you’re working a full-time job in which you are looking to leave in the future, taking small chunks to learn the process, start to finish, will pay off in the long run.

Seek Knowledge, Not Information

There is no need to reinvent the wheel here. That is where online blogging and social media courses come in.

If you don’t have an information technology (IT) background or know very little about social media marketing, I have two courses I recommend completing before starting your website and online marketing campaigns.

No, they don’t cost thousands of dollars. It’s a small short-term investment with big returns.

Best Blogging Course For New Bloggers

Nomadic Matt’s Superstar Blogging Course guides you step by step on the technical aspects of getting your blog up and running, ways to monetize your blog through affiliate marketing, tips and ideas on using social media to drive traffic to your site, and what mistakes to avoid.

Matt’s courses were within my budget compared to others that were asking for $200 or more that lacked the reputation he has built over the past ten years.

I have followed his travel blog for many years on best practices to stretch my travel dollars.

The online course can be completed at your own pace. After taking the course, the next step is to find a website hosting service.

WordPress And Website Hosting

After searching around comparing different companies, the hosting company that made the WordPress set-up a painless process was Bluehost.

WordPress sites are a frequent target for hackers due to its immense popularity at being one of the world’s most popular website builders.

A blogger I follow talked about her experience in having her website hacked due to a lack of security and a weak password.

With 24/7 customer support, continually identifying vulnerabilities while protecting my site against cyber threats, the 30-day free trial is the reason why I committed to a three-year plan.

I sleep well at night. Enough said.

The Power of Social Media

After selecting a domain, the next step is learning how to use social media for marketing your business.

I will be honest this was a learning curve for me. Why?

If you want to get your name out there, you have to post to social media multiple times throughout a day. Who has time for that while working full-time?

Social media, digital marketing, and artificial intelligence (AI) are the perfect marriage.

Remember, when I mentioned earlier that social media is a big driver of traffic to my website? What I didn’t say was which platform it was. Here is my website traffic breakdown for the last 30 days:

• Social: 88.00%
• Organic Search: 9.50%
• Referral: 1.50%
• Direct: 1.00%

The top traffic source driving visitors to my website is Pinterest. Are you surprised by that?

I am sure you were thinking of Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter as the top visitor traffic driver.

Traffic is free on Pinterest. Before signing up for a business account, I was already using Pinterest as my favorite go-to for easy recipes and workout tips.

If you already have an account, it’s easy to switch to a business account on Pinterest in a few minutes.

Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest is not only fun, but the potential for steady and constant traffic is right for you from pins remaining searchable over time. The demographics of who uses Pinterest is interesting as well:

• 300 million people are active on Pinterest every month
• 40% of New Signups are Men; 60% New Signups are Women
• Half of Pinterest users earn $50K or higher per year
• Pinterest users are under the age of 49
• 70% of users are female
• 50% of pinners live outside the United States
• Millennials use Pinterest as much as Instagram
• 80% of US mothers who use the internet uses Pinterest

One of the keys to building a robust online presence is knowing your target audience!

Remember earlier in the post why I shared that little info about internet users broken down by country?

For one entrepreneur, one single pin drove over 80K views a day. I say again that is free traffic, my friend!

The second course I recommend is Pinterest Traffic Avalanche. You could spend all day searching online on how to use popular social media platforms, but what is missing in a lot of online posts and YouTube tutorials is the AI integration piece.

To drive traffic to your website, you have to post multiple times a day on social media and create 10-15 pins a day if you’re on Pinterest.

Automating the process saves time in doing it yourself, so you can focus on growing your fan base and say adios to the cubical farm for good!

In part 3 of 5 Smart Ways to Promote Your Blog Online, I will explore more about the power of artificial intelligence, why every new blogger needs a scheduling tool for Pinterest and Instagram, and the importance of creating engaging and exciting content for your customers and readers.

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