If you’re just getting started as a freelance writer, one of the best ways to showcase your writing skills is through a blog. Blogging is also a great way to build an audience and market your freelance writing business.

A freelance writing blog can also serve as a creative outlet and a way to meet new people. It’s exciting to start a new blog because it’s so full of possibilities. And it’s fun to pick out your domain name, set up your website, and create a new logo.

But let’s be honest about one thing -- blogging is a lot of work. And it’s very easy to get distracted and make very little progress on your blogging goals.

I’m all about maximizing your time and only focusing on the actions that will actually get you results. So let’s look at how you can start a freelance writing blog.

The Number One Blogging Barrier

You probably started your blog full of excitement and enthusiasm, but then suddenly, confusion sets in.

Did you really pick the right domain name? What is the perfect social media channel for you to market your blog on? Should you buy a course on blogging to help you get started?

You’re already stuck and you just started your blog a week ago! Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve just been introduced to the number one blogging barrier: distraction.

Yes, every one of those thoughts I just outlined is a distraction and a waste of time. Why? Because none of them really matter at the end of the day. The “perfect domain name” doesn’t exist. Nobody will ever care as much as you do.

Social media doesn’t matter that much unless you have actual blog posts to share. And a blogging course can be useful, but not if you’re buying it as an excuse to avoid writing.

Anytime you set a goal and begin something new, it’s really easy to focus on everything but the one thing you should be focused on. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and distracted by things that don’t really matter.

So what is the one thing you need to focus on when you start a new blog? Creating the habit of sitting down and writing every single day.

You can create a vision board and promise yourself you’ll post three blog posts a week. But scheduling time to consistently sit down and write is the only way to ensure those blog posts get written.

The Problem with Writing

Here’s the problem with writing: it’s an art so people think they should only do it when it comes easily. You know, when they feel “inspired.”

I’ve felt this way many times in my life. Because there are days when writing does come easily to me and I do feel inspired. Some days, I wake up and great ideas just come to me. Words just seem to flow onto the page and 1,500-word blog posts seem to write themselves.

Unfortunately, this is not what most days are like. I learned this the hard way when I started freelance writing in 2016. Most days, I didn’t feel motivated to write but I couldn’t afford to wait for inspiration to strike. My art was also my business and the thing that helps my family pay our bills.

And unfortunately, my clients weren’t going to wait an additional week for the blog post I promised would be finished today because I didn’t feel like writing. This is why I’ve found that the only way to consistently produce content is to schedule your creativity. Find a disciplined writing schedule and stick with it.

How to Overcome Distraction and Start Writing

So what does this look like on a practical level? What are the actual steps you can take to minimize distractions and start producing blog posts? Glad you asked! Here are the four things that work for me:

1. Find a writing schedule you can stick with

About two years ago, I had to face up to the fact that I needed to lose about 25 pounds to lose. Many years of inactivity, poor eating habits, and decreased metabolism had caught up with me.

I knew I had to change my eating habits and start working out if I wanted to lose that weight. But after 34 trips around the sun, I also knew myself. I knew I had to make it easy for myself to get started and stick with it.

I could have bought a gym membership, radically changed my eating habits, and promised myself I would wake up early every morning and workout. But had I done all that, I would have given up after a couple of weeks.

So I made it easy on myself. I found a workout plan I could do from home and committed to doing them for at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. And I didn’t try to change my eating habits at all.

Over time, I became stronger and was able to work out longer and finish more challenging workouts. My eating habits slowly began to improve because I wanted to continue the positive momentum I was seeing from my workouts.

At first, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough and that my results were happening too slowly. But I stuck with my plan because I wasn’t interested in overnight results anymore. I wanted a lifestyle change and something I could do forever.

So what’s the point of this story and what does this have to do with writing? Well, you need to schedule a time to write but you need to make it realistic. It should be a challenge but it should be a challenge you can stick with.

If 30 minutes every evening at 8 PM is all you can do, then do that. In a year, you’ll be much farther along than if you write for 2 hours a day but quit after a week.

2. Constantly brainstorm new blog post ideas

In my experience, one of the hardest things about blogging is constantly coming up with new topics to write about. Inspiration can hit us anytime, but it rarely comes when you’re wracking your brain for a new blog post idea.

This is how most people fall off the blogging bandwagon. Initially, they plan to blog twice a week and they stick that schedule for a couple of weeks. Then they have a hard time coming up with ideas so they start slacking on their posting schedule.

Hey, once a week is still pretty good, right? And after a while, they reason that twice a month is better than nothing. Then six months go by and their blog is a ghost town.

This is why I always make sure I have a list of 30-40 blog post topics at all times. And I’m constantly adding to it every time a new idea comes to me.

This is not hard to keep track of. I keep a content calendar in Google Sheets but you can just start writing down a list on the Notes app on your phone if you prefer.

3. Constantly ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time?”

Look, the question isn’t if you’ll become distracted or not -- it’s when. I get distracted constantly which is seriously annoying considering I’ve been a professional writer for over three years now. You’d think I would be better at this!

The only way to stay on track is to constantly evaluate your behavior, and be honest with yourself when you’re slacking off or giving in to distractions.

One thing that helps me stay on track is to schedule my day ahead of time. I spend some time the night before thinking about what I need to get done the next day and I make a schedule for myself.

This helps me out when it’s 10 AM and I suddenly remember that I’ve been wanting to get my haircut and feel like I should schedule it right that very moment.

Instead, I can stop, think for a minute, and ask, “Is that the best use of my time? Have I accomplished my goals first?”

If I’ve worked out, spent an hour writing, and done everything else on my to-do list then it may be okay to schedule that appointment. If not, it can wait until later.

4. Think about where you want to be in 10 years

I love the Tony Robbins documentary “I Am Not Your Guru.” If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it.

There are so many great takeaways from that movie but one of my favorite parts is when Tony says, “Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in 10 years.”

So when you struggle to write a decent blog post or you keep getting endless spam comments on your blog, stick with it. Think about your goals and where you want to be in 10 years.

And honestly, it probably won’t take you 10 years to start seeing significant progress. Four years ago, I made $8 an hour as a Starbucks barista. Today, I’m a six-figure freelance writer.

Amazing things can happen when figure out what you want, get focused, and take deliberate action.

Final Thoughts on Starting a Freelance Writing Blog

If there’s one thing I hope you take from this blog post, it’s to stay focused on the main thing: writing.

Stop worrying about your WordPress template or finding the perfect blogging niche. It doesn’t matter whether your stock photos look just right or whether you set up an Instagram account for your blog.

It only matters that you spend time everyday writing, producing content, and getting your blog posts out there.

What are the biggest blogging barriers you’ve experienced? Let me know in the comments!