Tools to Get Started Blogging as a Health Coach

Did anyone ever wear the little orange Home Depot apron when they were kids? I can’t remember how we got them, but I remember my mom handing us mini Home Depot aprons to wear when we did work around the house or for playtime. My favorite part was the little pouch for tools.

I am all about working with the right tools in place. In this article, I will share with you the tools you need to get started blogging as a health coach. This list includes the elements you need to set up or have in place to run a successful blog.

As I said, I’m obsessed with having the right tools available. For me, it’s about efficiency and doing the job right. For example, under each of my bathroom cabinets, you’ll find a bottle of cleaner and a rag, so I have the available tools for cleaning.

The thing is, I’m notoriously lazy. If I don’t have what I need right in front of me, I would probably just wait until the bathroom gets so disgusting I couldn’t stand not cleaning it.

For me to keep a clean house, I’ve got to do the prep work. 

It’s kind of the same thing with blogging.

If you want to run a successful blog for your health coaching business or functional medicine practice, you need to do the prep work to have the right tools in place for efficiency and a job well done.

You can’t just slap a 1,000-word article on your website and expect it to take off. Well, I guess you could, but most likely, it wouldn’t build you much traction. So without further ado, here are the “tools” you need to have in place to run a successful health blog.

Build An Email List

Imagine cooking a huge meal; we’re talking Thanksgiving-level quantity here, only to have all your guests bail on you at the last minute. You’re left with all this delicious food and no one to serve. That’s what happens when you have a blog without an email list.

Now, unless you already have a lot of clients and their emails, you probably won’t have an email list when you start blogging. That’s okay. If you are launching your business online, you definitely won’t have an established email list.

If you’re the hostess of this huge meal and no one shows up, you’ll most likely start inviting your neighbors over, so the food doesn’t go to waste.

It’s the same deal when building an email list. 

You can start with the blog, or dinner, and invite your audience, or neighbors, to subscribe to your email list if they want some of the yummy stuff you’re offering.

The point is, if you create content and publish it online, an email list will be your first avenue of promotion (I’m talking about an email newsletter here). Your subscribers will also become your potential leads and new clients!

It will be slow going at first, and you’ll need email marketing software to collect and track your subscribers’ emails. I like to use MailerLite because it’s free for the first 1,000 subscribers. You have a low level of risk involved when just starting.

A Compelling Lead Magnet

A compelling lead magnet is an essential tool for building your email list and running a successful blog.

A lead magnet is a fancy way of saying “freebie.”

Simply put, it’s a free resource that your audience can download in exchange for giving up their email. It’s HOW you build an email list with a blog. Yes, you can put it up on your website, but if you’re not actively promoting it with blog content, it may not get much visibility.

It’s also another way to provide value to your audience and help them keep YOU top of mind.

The Marketing Rule of 7 states that a prospect needs to “hear” the advertiser’s message at least seven times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service. It’s a marketing maxim developed by the movie industry in the 1930s.

The more you can get in front of your audience and provide value, the better off you’ll be.

Here are a few ideas for a compelling lead magnet:

• Ebook
• Workbook
• Checklist
• Online Quiz
• Roadmap or outline
• Cheatsheet
• Webinar
• Access to a community
• 5-day challenge

If you want to start using lead magnets but don’t have the time to create them, check out my services. I love making holistic health-related lead magnets for my clients!

Engaging Graphics

You must have engaging graphics to create a successful blog. They are paramount for promoting and appealing to your audience.

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create beautiful graphics. You don’t have to be a photographer, either.

People want to consume online content quickly and in small bite-size pieces. (That’s why it’s essential to vary the length of your blogs and sentences). That’s also why graphics are so important.

 Graphics are also needed to promote your blog on sites like Pinterest.

Grab a few stock photos that align with your brand, I like to use ones that aren’t super popular, and I would recommend the same to you. I’ve paid about $75 to gather a library of stock photos that fit my brand that I can interchange throughout my website and graphics.

Here, Canva is your best friend. Once you have some photos, go into Canva and create about 20 templates with a cohesive look.

INSIDER TIP: if you’re struggling to create a cohesive look, check out some of your favorite bloggers’ Pinterest pages. Look at how they pair design elements and try to do the same for your graphics.

Then, you can easily go into Canva anytime you have a new blog post and quickly create engaging graphics to go with every post!

Bada BANG Bada BOOM.

SEO Research Tool

SEO doesn’t have to be the monster under the bed, folks.

It’s not as complicated as you think, but it is an important tool to master if you want a successful blog. I won’t get into all the gritty details, but you need to include SEO keywords in your blog posts. My favorite SEO Research Tool is Rank IQ. 

Well-Written Content

Okay, this might come off as a little tongue-in-cheek, but you can’t have a blog without well-written content.

Here are a few tips for writing high-quality content that will serve your audience well:

• Write from an outline
• Research before you write
• Don’t write when you are tired!
• Use Grammarly and spell check
• Use the Hemmingway App and aim for grade level 8
• Vary your sentence and paragraph length
• Use lots of bullet points and numbered lists
• Beautify your text with bold, underline, and italics
• Focus on educating, not selling (there’s a different place for that)

Okay, I hope I’ve given you the tools to get started blogging as a health coach, especially if you’re launching your business online!

Remember, build an email list, and promote your blogs to your list once you have an email list. Use lead magnets to help build that email list. Always add engaging graphics, write for SEO, and write educational, high-quality content.

Need help doing all that? I offer custom SEO blog packages and copywriting for functional medicine practitioners and health coaches! Send me a message to learn more!