I recently interviewed Lisha Yost, a pro blogger, entrepreneur and founder of Blog and Retire University. She has been blogging for 3 years and helping people to create successful and profitable blogs. The concept of Blog and Retire University is pretty amazing as it focuses on scheduling the blogging tasks and to follow a particular routine. After all, blogging is all about planning, implementation and consistency.
1) Please tell us more about yourself.
Lisha: I have a BA in Psychology and I’m very interested in entrepreneurship, small business, social media, real estate investing, marketing, blogging, and personal development.
2) What inspired you to start blogging and become an entrepreneur?
Lisha: Mainly I just didn’t want to have a boss any more. I lost my job in 2009 and I wanted to be in a bit more control of my schedule and daily life. I wanted to start accomplishing my goals, rather than just helping my boss accomplish theirs. And by doing this, I’ve actually been able to help more people accomplish their goals as well.
3) What is Blog and Retire University?
Lisha: I created Blog and Retire University in order to help people build a successful blog from the ground up, step-by-step for one full year. It tells you not just how to run a blog, but how to create a business and an income out of it. The one year course tells you what to do for one hour per day, 6 days per week, for 52 weeks. Blog and Retire membership also comes with other helpful guides and tools for small business, bloggers, and entrepreneurs.
4) Apart from Blog and Retire, what are your other projects?
Lisha: I have a few other blogs. One where I talk about my life and home projects, and things my husband and I do. I created this blog because I wanted to share with the world the house my husband and I fixed up and sold for profit during the recession, all with just our own four hands. I also just started UpGusto.com, a personal development blog with a monthly newsletter. I’m planning on creating courses to help people with various aspects of their life that they need help with, whether that be marriage, time management, or their finances, etc.
5) What would be your tips to a novice blogger?
Lisha: My main tip would be to be realistic and patient. If you’re blogging to make money, realize that it’s going to take time and a lot of hard work. But more than that, it’s going to take smart work. Network and market yourself. Be smart with how you spend your time.
6) How to create a perfect blog post?
Lisha: The perfect blog post is different depending on what type of blog you have. If you have an informational blog, the best blog posts to me are ones that have specific key points with an explanation about each key point. If you have a personal blog, the more personal you are, the better. The title is also just as important as the article itself, so create an amazing alluring title every time.
7) According to you, what are the most common mistakes made by bloggers?
Lisha: For bloggers who are trying to make an income, many people limit themselves by only putting ads on their blog, or things like that. There are so many ways you can make an income from a blog, and you might as well use as many as you can without taking away from the goal of your blog or the reader’s experience.
The other mistake I see people making is drifting away and writing less and less posts (not being consistent) or just giving up completely. It takes time. Be consistent and patient.
8) What are the tools and resources you use for blogging?
Lisha: I use WordPress for blogging, MailChimp as an autoresponder, TweetAdder and Hootsuite for social media stuff. I mainly use Twitter and Facebook for marketing.
9) Apart from blogging, what are your other interests?
Lisha: I like to write songs and play guitar, build things and fix things, ride my bike, play tennis, go to the beach, surf, go in the water, etc.
10) Is there anything else you wish to add?
Lisha: For blogging, choose a topic you’re passionate about, know a lot about, or are going to be learning a lot about. Create goals for your blog, create a plan, and create a schedule for your blogging tasks. Be consistent and patient. Work smart. You’re going to have to work hard, but you won’t have to work quite as hard if you work smart. Don’t be afraid to wisely invest a bit of money into your business or blog. If you’re trying to create a business, you’re either going to need to invest a lot of time, or a lot of money, or both. My best advice is to do both because if you only invest your time, you’re not going to have enough time to do it all, and it will take you way longer to create an income from that. Think about how much your time is worth. Then if there is something you can purchase or someone you can hire that will save you that much time for less than what your time is worth, then do it! Believe me, it will be worth it.