[EXPERT ADVICE] How can online health & wellness pros build blogging confidence?

If there is one thing we have in common when we start blogging (or vlogging, or podcasting) it’s feeling the lack of confidence to do it!

So, how do some people do it? How did they overcome the feeling of overwhelm and vulnerability of putting themselves “out there?”

I asked dozens of experts in the health and wellness industry the same question:

How can online health & wellness pros build blogging confidence?

And, you’ll be both surprised and not surprised with what they said.

Some share their advice, their stories, their tips, and even their current level of confidence.

If you feel like you need a bit more confidence to publish content on your health blog (or vlog or podcast), look no further.

Just do it!

Tara Thorne is a Functional Nutritionist and a Certified Functional Nutrition Coach. She also has training from the Institute for Functional Medicine, specifically in hormones and is an expert at interpreting the DUTCH comprehensive hormone test and GI Map stool test. Additionally, Tara has training in MTHFR and nutrigenomics, having studied methylation and clinical nutrigenomics at the Seeking Health Educational Institute and with Carolyn Ledowsky of MTHFR Support Australia, and she is currently studying to become a Certified FDN practitioner. Tara’s practice focuses on helping busy mums navigate the overwhelm and confusion surrounding how to live healthfully in a hectic world by providing evidenced-based functional nutrition and lifestyle strategies.

Just start!

Starting is the biggest and best step you can make to building up your blogging confidence. If you want, start writing in a word document and come back to your blog post over a couple of weeks – with fresh eyes. Read what you have written out loud, (literally read it to yourself) to see how it “flows”.

You also have to keep at it – consistently – and be patient. Building an online presence takes time, and building your confidence takes time, (that’s what the “delete” button is for) 😉 The best way to learn and build your confidence is to simply start and don’t stop. Also, check out what other successful health and wellness bloggers are doing and read their posts to get ideas and examples of what works.

You don’t get better at doing something uncomfortable by NOT doing it.

I encourage you to set a goal to get in front of your ideal audience and provide great value (blog X amount of times a month, do one Facebook Live video a week and link it to your blog, etc.).

Once the goal is set, just go DO IT. Don’t overthink it. Accomplish the goal that you know will move your business forward and analyze how it went after.

Make tweaks, learn, grow, build confidence, and set a new goal!

Sarah Michelle helps fitness and wellness entrepreneurs create simple and effective strategies to grow and scale their online businesses. By providing done-for-you content, training, resources, and support, her goal is to empower you to keep showing up every day as you work to build your online business.

Krista O’Reilly-Davi-Digui is a stubborn questioner, honest storyteller & Joyful Living Educator. Her mission is to help women live unshackled lives of purpose, health & JOY. Her message can be summed up in the following: You’re imperfect; Life is Messy; Show up anyway – She’ll help you figure out how.

The only way to find our voice and deepen confidence in the gifts we have to share is by taking imperfect action and getting our hands dirty. When we let go of a need to look/sound/be perfect or polished, and we simply show up with curiosity, honesty, and clear on our WHY, we attract the right people and experience joy in our work.

The online world is noisy. We don’t need more of the same – people trying to keep up or measure up to each other. What we do need, in my (stubborn) opinion, is people who will simply show up real and lead by example. People who will move through perfectionism, comparison, and fear and let us peer into their messy, imperfect, beautiful lives so that we can understand that optimal health is not dependent upon knowing all the answers or having it all together, all of the time.

Repetition and focus!

First, I think we just have to get comfortable sharing and putting content out there before we feel confident or even find our voice. Your audience also has to see that you’re consistently blogging and come to rely on your posts.

Staying focused also helps. Pick up to 3 topics that fit under 1 major umbrella and write about those. If you’re all over the place, you won’t find your audience or your voice. By focusing on a few topics that you love, you’ll be more confident in exploring those topics through your content.

Sam Vander Weilen is an attorney-turned-entrepreneur who helps women entrepreneurs grow legally legit businesses through her DIY legal contracts and course, Fearlessly Legal.

Henri Junttila helps people find and follow their passion at https://www.wakeupcloud.com/.

When I first started blogging back in 2009, I didn’t have any confidence, but I knew that sharing my story was something that resonated with me.

What people don’t often see is the arduous journey before writers hit publish. There’s fear. There’s doubt. There’s everything in-between.

What helped me was to simply get started. Why? Because when you start, you realize that your fears aren’t grounded in reality. Your mind is creating a story that isn’t real. So I simply notice my fears, and I ask myself: What’s the next tiny step I can take? Then I take that step, and I’ve kept taking those tiny steps ever since I started my blog.

What I’ve discovered is that my mind doesn’t know what it’s talking about, so I might as well do what I enjoy, and help others by sharing what I know. In order to have that realization, you have to take action despite the seeming obstacles in front of you.

Nothing is more demotivating than pouring your heart into a blog post but then seeing your masterpiece go unnoticed. Nobody reads it. Nobody seems to care.

That’s what happened to a lot of my early work until I realized that writing is only a small part of effective blogging. Most bloggers spend their time crafting a great article, then post it on Facebook and hope people take a look. Instead, it’s important to spend at least as much time promoting your content as you do writing it.

To promote your content, I recommend taking at least these 4 steps: 1) Post it on all social media platforms 2) Send it to your email list 3) Re-send it (after about a week) to those on your email list who didn’t open your original message, and 4) Contact everyone you know in the industry who may be willing to share, post, or comment on your work.

When your blog content starts getting more views and positive feedback from readers, your confidence will increase and you’ll be motivated to create even more content to share.

Dave Smith is an online weight-loss coach who was chosen as “Canada’s Top Fitness Professional” in 2013. He shares health and fitness guidance through his blog and podcast at makeyourbodywork.com and helps fitness professionals grow their online businesses at onlinetrainersfederation.com.

Sean is the co-founder of the Holistic Nutrition Hub, a dedicated Personal Trainer and an Entrepreneur at heart. Passionate about all thing nutrition and fitness, he takes care of the HNH website, the community, and most of the laundry around the house. In his spare time, Sean loves building websites and writing about all things fitness, business, and marketing.

The best way to start blogging with confidence is to answer (in written form) the questions that you get asked frequently as a practitioner.

Whenever you get asked a question that is relevant to what you do, write it down. Keep track of the topics that you discuss with your clients, friends, etc… When 2-3 people have asked you the same question, you know that you have a winning topic to write about.

Write your answer to the popular question as if you were talking to someone who is in front of you. Try to recall what you answered in person, and take some extra time to elaborate on the more important points of your response. This is also a great time to add a few links (e.g. to other blogs you wrote, to research papers, to videos, etc…) to bring your blog post to life.

Aim to write around 300 words. As you get more comfortable with the writing process, you will start adding depth and nuance to your answers, which will increase the word count of your articles without having to even force it.

Writing is a skill that takes time to develop. Allow yourself to write a bad first draft and spend extra time changing words, re-writing sentences, and re-organizing paragraphs until you are happy with the overall feel and flow of the piece.

It took me awhile to be comfortable with blogging.

I kept thinking my posts wouldn’t be good enough, I spent too much time agonizing over them, and re-reading, changing them and taking days to write them, and then flaking out and not even posting them, and just letting them sit in the dropbox folder of “blog posts yet to be posted”.

That got tired fast, so I just kept practicing, and made sure to outline what I wanted the reader to learn from my post and give them at one small take away; be it a habit, a daily change, recipe or workout they could do on their own. Once I was on my own little blogging roll I decided to seek other bloggers and write for them, eventually writing for small regional magazines, and online magazines as well.

Practice builds confidence.

Denise Chiriboga is a personal trainer & holistic nutritionist focusing on building strong bodies in pregnancy, postpartum and beyond. She specializes in helping moms minimize and alleviate common but not normal postpartum issue like mummy tummy, leaky bladder and low back pain without extreme exercise, dieting or surgery. She’s the creator of Strong Mom fitness and mom of two kids.

Rosemary Richings is a Toronto-based web copywriter, editor, and content strategist. She works with a combination of E-Commerce and retail business owners who are actively improving the lives of their community with the products they sell. Rosemary’s work has been featured on sites such as Buffer and Search Engine Journal, and she has worked with clients such as Yellowpages and E-Bay.

My dad’s a professional actor, and the most important thing I’ve learned from what he does before a major performance is just how important practice really is.

If putting yourself out there feels terrifying, get someone who knows you well and loves you dearly to read what you wrote. Ideally, someone that’s not afraid to provide a brutally honest opinion. Then, get someone in your family that doesn’t work within your industry to read it as well. If the family member that doesn’t work within your industry thinks it makes sense, and the person who knows you well thinks it looks, feels, and sounds like you, you’re doing something right. And if they don’t, listen to their feedback and try again!

I think the fear that we as business owners often feel about putting ourselves out there is largely based on the pressure that we feel to be just like our peers. We feel inadequate and like we’re not pretty, loud, witty, accomplished, or smart enough. But if you’ve got this far in your career, and people are paying you for what you do, it’s safe to assume you have lots of things to say, which are worth listening to. Every time that fear hits you of “putting yourself out there”, remember how far you’ve come, and use all your memories of your accomplishments to keep the words flowing.

Start with the most basic advice. And I mean really basic – like “How to Store Your Essential Oils” or “5 Simple Steps to Pick the Best Shoe For Running”. We can forget that our audience and the community we want to help is often brand new to learning about what we have to offer. They don’t know even a quarter of what we know and they aren’t necessarily looking for complicated advice.

By stepping into the shoes of someone brand new on this path and asking what burning questions, deep desires, and stress-inducing fears they have, you’ll undoubtedly come up with mountains of ideas. And you’ll feel confident knowing that you know this stuff inside and out – this is beginner stuff for you so you’re not stressed about trying to solve a crazy complicated problem.

Jenna Dalton is a certified prenatal and postnatal fitness coach and toddler mom who specializes in helping moms feel like themselves again. You can grab her free 21 day postpartum core workout program right here.

Nikki Stadnyk is a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant and runs a successful nutrition practice. She owns Metabolic Reset Diet Inc. which provides health practitioners with an evidenced-based done for you diet and lifestyle change program. Nikki also works for Josh Gitalis as a Functional Nutrition Coach.

I do remember those icky feelings when putting content out into the world. My insecurities would always creep up, “what if someone says I’m wrong, what if I didn’t explain it enough, what if someone takes my advice and it hurts them, what if someone responds with a nasty comment?”

One way I overcame this was by learning more. The more I learned, the more confidence I got. I spend time doing extra research so I can provide the evidence to any statements I make. I provide warnings or disclaimers so that so one can get hurt and blame me.

The nasty comments? Well, they don’t really happen. That was just me standing in my own way and preventing myself from pressing enter. I suggest that you do the work and make your content bulletproof so that you can get out of your own way and feel proud to hit enter.

I remember the day I published my very first blog post, and I also remember how nervous I felt about hitting the “publish button.” Some of the thoughts that went through my mind included “Who am I to share this?” “Will people even like this?”

What I’ve come to realize is that almost everyone feels nervous and vulnerable when they publish their first blog post or send their first email. So, if you feel this way, just know that it’s totally normal.

The most helpful strategy I have found to help with this fear is to focus on giving short nibbles of easily-digestible information that you know your ideal clients will love – Everyone else is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is, not everyone will love your content, and that’s okay. Contrary to what most people think, your content shouldn’t be for everyone. Focus on writing blog posts that will speak to, and draw in your perfect, ideal client. These are the posts that will get shared the most and bring you the most qualified leads.

Kathleen LeGrys is the founder of Health Coach Solutions and co-host of The Wellness Business Podcast. She has helped thousands of health and fitness professionals around the world transform their business, get out of overwhelm and generate more revenue.

Camilla Kristiansen is a stylist, mentor, author of 33 books and Editor in Chief For Spotlight Magazine. Camilla lives in Norway with her husband and 2 daughters, 5 and 11 years old, but she finds time to travel the world and work from cities like Oslo, London, Milan and Paris with her VIP days. Camilla’s big passion is to help other women follow their big dreams in life and in business and manifest a life beyond their wildest dreams.

They can start to take action and show up consistently.

The more you blog and share your message, the faster you will be seen as an expert. Don’t wait for things to be perfect, you have to start from where you are now.

Live from the end, meaning if you’ve already got the audience, the money in the bank, how would you then show up on an everyday basis? The answer to that is how you should be living TODAY.

When we look back at some of our early posts, we cringe. They were dry, impersonal and some were even quite judgemental. Ouch!

The truth is that blogging is a skill, and the more you practice the better you become. You develop a writing style; words flow more easily and you become more comfortable with sharing your story and the topics that your audience cares about. But, just because you may not have experience yet doesn’t mean that you need to wait until you’ve learned all there is to know about blogging. The important thing is to take action, and there will always be someone listening. Remember, it all starts with making a difference in one person’s life.

Your ideal audience likely relates to you and by putting yourself out there, by being real and being honest, you will attract your ideal tribe.

With that in mind, here are our 3 tips to build confidence with your blog:

1. Write your post in conversation style or as if you’re sharing a story with a friend. Your readers are your friends.
2. Be yourself. Don’t use language or a writing style that is not natural to you just because it’s hip or trendy.
3. Know your audience. Know their pains, their struggles and what they want to learn more about.

Like we said, it definitely takes time, but when you start learning the ropes and the connections begin to develop it becomes much easier to remain blogging and see the value that sticking to it can really have.

Hey there health seeker! We’re Jenni + Mirna, the founders of Naughty Nutrition.

We’re research-lovin’ nutrition mavens, and we’ve made it our mission to connect you with the most accurate, up-to date, science-based health resources. We like to show healthy brands plenty of love too! You’ll also find us dishing up simple, delicious & healthy recipes and meal planning ideas — all without any of the BS attached!

Naughty Nutrition is…90% nutrition + 10% chocolate + 0% BS

Vanessa Baron is a Success Coach for entrepreneurs who desire an online business filled with clients they adore and unforgettable adventures!

There are many factors that come into play when defining what a successful online health and wellness blog looks like. When it comes to the confidence of the blogger/professional behind it though, I find that there’s really just one main factor – staying within your zone of genius.

It’s exhausting trying to cater to the needs of the general public. That’s why I recommend sticking to a particular niche. I’ve been blogging for several years now and the quickest lesson I learned when it comes to building confidence in my blog, is simply write what I know. If you’re a sports nutrition junkie, stick within that zone of genius. If you’ve never been a fan of family nutrition, don’t feel obligated to write about it. Write about what lights you up – what you could literally talk about for hours.

As you set yourself apart as the go-to expert in YOUR niche, you’ll find that confidence of yours skyrocket and your audience, they’ll thrive off it.

Before I became a Wellness Business Coach, I was a nutrition professional with an online consulting business…and a blog.

I didn’t actually know what “blogging” really meant at the time, but I was being told by all the business gurus that in order to have a successful consulting practice, you had to have a blog!

I basically wrote articles when I was struck by a rather random topic idea. Needless to say, I wasn’t consistent and wasn’t even “speaking” to anyone in particular.

So, now those 2 things are my key pieces of advice to other health & nutrition pro’s getting started with their online businesses:

1. Just get started, and blog regularly, with consistency. Set an editorial schedule and stick to it. Weekly, biweekly – it doesn’t really matter so long as it’s consistent. Your people will come to expect it from you!

2. Don’t just write about whatever random health or nutrition topic comes to mind. Do some work around what your niche is, who your target audience is, and what topics do your people want to read about from you – the expert.

Brainstorm a list of topic ideas, and then schedule out the ones that made the cut – before you’ve even written anything. Then, get to writing 🙂

Krista Goncalves is a former Holistic Nutritionist turned Wellness Business Mentor, Brand Strategist & Copywriter who lives in Kelowna, BC with her husband and two young kids. When she’s not writing, she’s outdoors hiking, paddle boarding or doing beach bootcamp!

Karen Pattock is an International Business Coach and Educator specializing in Email List Building and Online Client Conversion Systems designed specifically for the Wellness Business Owner. She’s also the co-host of The Wellness Business Podcast. Karen is known as the “In The Trenches” Coach because she not only teaches her clients the ‘what’ of online marketing, she also dives into the ‘how’ that it takes to accomplish their revenue goals. Karen openly shares her marketing knowledge and expertise with her clients so they too can build successful online wellness businesses.

Blogging is a very important piece of an online business model because it is so important to your customer’s journey with you. Even though it can feel vulnerable in the beginning, you should get comfortable putting your expert knowledge out into the world in the form of a blog, even when it opens up the possibility that someone will challenge your knowledge base.

To help you get started feeling more comfortable in the world of blogging, here are 3 tips to build blogging confidence over the next 30 days.

1) Start with widely acceptable and agreed upon health information like drink more water or the benefits of Vitamin D for initial blog posts. Save niche-specific, more controversial topics until after you’ve built blogging confidence.

2) Acknowledge that your ideal clients, those reading your blog posts, are not as far along in their health journey as you are and they are craving the information you are sharing. Imagine helping even one person improve their health through one blog post. That makes it all worth it. They will be so appreciative that you did.

3) Write blogs on topics that are specifically designed to move your ideal clients through the customer journey with you. Help them get to know you and use your blog to inform them about how you can help them get the transformation they desire. Remember, this is your area of expertise so it’s an area that you can really shine.

Following these 3 tips over the next 30 days will substantially increase your blogging confidence. Just be consistent and remember that your ideal clients need you and this is the perfect way to reach them.

Blogging gets easier when you realize you matter. Your opinion matters and your experience matters because you are unique.

Sure, you may not be the only health professional in your community but your viewpoint and personal take on issues that affect or impact upon your clients’ lives will help you stand apart. Don’t be afraid to add your voice to the conversation.

Start with short blog posts because a) they’re easier to write and b) you’ll build your confidence muscle. Then as you get used to offering value in your own voice create longer posts. Be consistent and be bold in your approach

Yolanda McAdam works with passionate solopreneurs and business owners who are aching to find and connect with the people who need their services and products.

She is a social media and marketing strategist who helps small business owners attract quality clients and increase sales with BS-FREE strategies, tools and processes that work.

Sabrina Sarabella is a clinical nutritionist, personal trainer and business coach that helps busy, ambitious women gain more energy by looking at every aspect of their life; nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, mindset, and spirit so that they can become more productive, make more money and live the more vibrant, fulfilled life that they desire.

The best way to build your blogging confidence is to actually blog!

The more often you do it the more confident and comfortable you will be with it. Start blogging about things that you are comfortable with talking about, topics that you feel like you have a passion for and a good understanding about.

When you talk and blog about things that you truly believe in and you are comfortable with then you will be able to build your confidence as a blogger.

It took me a long time to hit that first publish button and go live with my website. Because I knew as soon as I did, I was putting myself out there, even knowing that initially, I would maybe have two readers. I have been blogging for a bit now, and without a doubt, you become more confident with experience. There is power in just doing, improving your skills, delivering even when imperfect. I have noticed that readers are very forgiving. Let’s face it we are our own worst critic.

But those thoughts or feelings that bring down my self-confidence, well up from time to time. I have given myself some tools that help me work through them whether that is to tackle my first podcast interview, my first interview with a supporting brand, join my first contest or just hit that publish button on an article. Here are some of the tips that work for me and hopefully can work for you too:

Remind yourself why you blog. Health and wellness bloggers are very passionate about sharing their knowledge and helping people in their journey to a healthier, fitter and a more balanced lifestyle. Your content will not always be perfect or speak to everyone, and that is fine. Just let that passion guide you to keep going, keep sharing and improve yourself along the way.

When that voice of self-doubt seeps in, don’t fight it or push it away. Because you only strengthen it. I always take a moment for myself and allow these thoughts or feelings to enter. But not for too long. I take stock of it telling myself that this is not a bad thing. I am having these feeling mostly because I am challenging myself, doing something for the first time or having a bad day. I immediately replace these thoughts with gratefulness (for the opportunity, for my readers, for being able to help others, for the relationships I have created, etc.). Then I imagine a backdoor where I gently show these feelings/thoughts the way out and let these feelings of gratefulness linger instead. Small 10-minute meditation exercises can immediately turn your day around.

Let’s face it we are sometimes tempted by comparing ourselves with fellow bloggers who seem to have better content, a more beautiful website, more followers, etc. For some bloggers that can create feelings of self-doubt. They question their intuitions regarding their content or for where they want to take their blog. Be grateful for finding a fellow blogger that inspires you or who is successful. I love studying their content, actions, and passions, but I still follow my journey. Never let that move away from your voice. You can only succeed by being true to yourself. I have created great relationships with bloggers who taught me a lot even though they do things quite differently. In turn, I am happy to give back. I will always help a fellow blogger with questions. By sharing, I often discover more about my skills and blogging path.

Find that one person that understands what you do. A lot of people—unless they blog or have owned one—don’t know the business side of it. It is a lot of hard work, and at times overwhelming. You share something you are passionate about, but behind the scenes, you are running a business that always comes with new challenges and doubts. For most of us, we also wear a lot of different heads until we can hire that first assistant. Being able to sometimes talk to a fellow blogger, supporting and listening to each other can sometimes keep your sanity.

Remember that everyone deals with feelings of self-doubt from time to time—bloggers who start out and seasoned bloggers. What matters is not to let these feelings or thoughts overtake you. You are a health and wellness blogger with your unique talents and a passion. Let that inspire you instead.

My name is Mariska Ramondino, mother, health nut, fitness enthusiast, and creator behind mychefsapron.com. A health and wellness website where I share food, fitness and lifestyle inspiration for women to get into the healthy, happy habit of taking care of yourself and feeling energetic and beautiful at any age!

Tracie Kendziora is a copywriter for wellness professionals who hate writing (and like a heaping dose of personality alongside their morning matcha latte). She helps her clients create clear, compelling, and clean copy so they can spend more time doing what they love and less time stressing over Oxford commas and jargon.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Maybe you don’t think you’re good enough or smart enough or educated enough or insert some other “enough” here to be blogging. Maybe you’re rocking some serious imposter syndrome. But I assure you just about every other person on the face of the earth is dealing with SOMETHING. And that means they are much less likely to be scrutinizing your blog post, especially down to the gnat’s ass detail that a lot of us imagine (and fear) they are.

Maybe you’re afraid people are going to disagree with you or leave mean-spirited comments. You know what? That’s actually good. I know it might not feel like it in the moment, but having haters means you’re taking a stance and creating a name for yourself in the industry. Always remember that the detractors are much more vocal than your fans. For every naysayer out there, there are five, ten, fifteen more people loving every single word you write and thinking you’re writing it just for them.

You can’t please everyone, and you shouldn’t want to. Be yourself, know what you stand for, and be unapologetically you – no matter what. The world needs you and what you have to say. Keep on putting yourself out there, and you’ll be glad you did.

One of my strongest tips for building confidence blogging is to form partnerships as early as you can in your business.

If you build your business relationships right, influencers in your niche will help connect you with their audience by recommending you to them, and building that type of organic authority is a gigantic confidence boost. Let’s be real, would you rather toot your own horn or let somebody else tell people how awesome you are? (Personally, I prefer the latter!)

Whether it’s to guest post on their blog, co-host an online event, mastermind together, share your work with their audience, or something more formal like a podcast interview or webinar, making those connections will be an amazing confidence boost and build an authentic community at the same time.

To be honest, when I first started my business in 2016, I was just spinning my wheels with my marketing until I formed my first partnerships, and that was when things really started to take off for me and my revenue started to grow. Even if you feel like you’re “nobody” and there’s no reason a successful business owner would want to partner with you, remember that we all started from zero with our businesses and people are often happy to lend you a hand if you make it easy to say yes. You don’t need to wait until you have more experience, a bigger following, or more monthly page views to start forming these connections—you can start today! You could start small, with individual connections and guest blog posts, or go all-in and create a round-up post like this one that Leesa is doing (she is great at forming these natural connections, learn from her!).

Whatever you do, make sure you connect in a genuine way, offer value, and have a clear vision for where the collaboration could take you both in the future.

Margo Carroll helps passionate Self-Employed Wellness Pros blossom into confident marketers with copywriting tools.

Michelle Guillemard has been blogging about health writing since 2013. She also teaches health writing courses and runs workshops on effective healthcare communication. Outside of Health Writer Hub, Michelle serves as President of the Australasian Medical Writers Association and works as a freelance health writer. Michelle is passionate about creating better health outcomes and changing lives through high-quality health writing.

Everyone lacks a bit of confidence and courage from time to time.

It’s important to understand that striving to be confident and brave one hundred percent of the time is unrealistic.
Nerves and uncertainty are, to an extent, a necessary part of your journey – still, they shouldn’t dominate your career.
And, confidence and self-belief are two mindset attributes you need to develop if you want to thrive, not just survive online.

I always prattle on about reading, practice, and feedback being the three most important strategies to help you become a confident writer.

So, if you need a boost – now, or in future – check out these science-backed methods.

1 – Find out where your confidence went

At some point, you probably felt good about your skills, career or client relationships. What’s happened recently? Can you identify the specific incident that impacted your resilience?
Perhaps someone said something that shook you to the core or rubbed you the wrong way. If you can recognise the probable cause of your lost mojo, the next step is to develop strategies to overcome it. 

A key factor promoting courageous action is the ability to feel fear and yet respond productively, according to researchers from California’s Pepperdine University. The research team argue: If you want to build courage and confidence, you need to understand your fears and limitations so that you can deal with them.

2 – Praise your effort, not your result

Back in 1998, Carol Dweck, a prominent researcher in the growth mindset field, pioneered the notion that praising ability undermines performance. Since then, research in this area has continued to demonstrate the value of rewarding effort as opposed to outcomes. Try shifting your focus and celebrating your hard work, research and writing/recording. Don’t concentrate on the result – especially if it makes you feel disappointed – but, don’t praise work you were indifferent, uncommitted or unenthused about, either. 

You’re focusing on the journey, not the destination, in other words. When you’re less focused on results and outcomes, you’ll be less likely to compare your successes to those of others – and, as we all know, the dreaded comparisonitis is a key confidence-killer.

3 – Rituals build confidence

In 2013, researchers Gino and Norton argued that rituals have the power to alleviate grief and loss, curb anxiety, improve performance, cope in high-pressure situations, and increase confidence. Writing for Scientific American, the duo concluded that performing rituals with the intention of producing a certain result appears to be sufficient for that result to come true.

Do you have a ritual? Your routine could be as simple as making coffee before you sit at your desk, not checking email until 10 am, cleaning your desk before you start working or not writing until you have your Ugg boots on (my personal favourite).

4 – Phone a friend

Sometimes, all you need when you’re feeling a little uncertain about yourself is a boost from someone you know and trust. There are many reasons why friends build our self-confidence, and when you’re feeling down, nothing beats hearing a familiar, friendly voice.

Plus, there’s plenty of research and commentary examining how social support alleviates stress. If you’re feeling stuck with a particular project, phone a friend or colleague who will lift your spirits and remind you how fabulous you are. Sometimes, we just need to hear it from someone else to believe it.

First, finding your writing “voice” – your comfort zone and style – takes practice. Don’t try to sound “professional”, because that will only result in stuffy, boring writing that doesn’t get or keep people engaged.

To conquer this, simply write conversationally – as if you would speak to a friend over coffee.

And, don’t get discouraged! Remember, no one’s a “born writer”.

Which means that, like most things, the more you do it the easier it gets.

The other part to this is following the 2 “rules” of blogging…

1. Write about what you KNOW, and
2. Write about what your readers are interested in or want to know more about

When you write about what you know, your confidence level is much higher than trying to “fake it till you make it”. And that confidence comes through in writing just as much as it does in person or on video.

But, it doesn’t matter how well written your posts are or how knowledgeable you are about the topic if no one wants to read them.

So…write about topics you’re knowledgeable in, AND what your audience wants to read.

The first rule (I know, another rule…) of writing ANYTHING for the web is knowing your reader inside and out. Good news is, health and wellness tend to be more intimate topics, so you’ve already got an inside scoop on people’s problematic pain, shameful struggles, and deep, dark desires.

This is important because it allows you to join in on the conversation that’s already going on in your ideal client’s head, and produce content they’ll hungrily devour.

Lisa-May Huby is a veteran online marketing strategist and copywriter, who’s helped thousands of tiny online businesses and kitchen table entrepreneurs skyrocket their profits with simple, strategic marketing and seductive words.

You can stalk Lisa-May on Facebook and Twitter, or join her free online community, Tiny Biz Nation. Download her “From Unknown to Unforgettable” guide to creating the perfect Seductive Marketing Message for your business in 60 seconds or less.

My name is Helen Pinnock and I am the author of From Client to Clinic owner it is a guide for holistic therapists and wellbeing teachers, showing you how to create a heartfelt business from the inside out. Part personal journey, part business manual, this book shares the importance of knowing what our personal values are and how they help us to create an authentic, purpose driven wellbeing business.

Blogging for your wellbeing business has become an almost essential part of your marketing strategy.

However, it can bring up a lot of challenges and self-doubt; the biggest one often being “Who am I to write about what I do, I am not experienced enough, qualified enough?”. I am sure we can all think of a few more.

Although I have written a book and have blogs on my websites, my biggest personal challenge is that I am dyslexic and have, in the past, struggled with the confidence to write in case anyone criticizes my spelling or grammar. Fortunately, I have people in my life that will check it for me and challenge me when they think I have not expressed myself well enough.

The best advice I can give to anyone who would like to start a blog is that we all have a story about why we chose to work in wellbeing. Your story has the capacity to inspire. So, start here and don’t be afraid to reflect your personality in your blog. If you are a bubbly upbeat person let this come through in your writing if you prefer a more formal style that is ok as well; our vibe attracts our tribe, as they say.

Own who you are and who you serve with courage and confidence.

At the beginning of my career, I hid the fact that my intuition and spirituality is a part of my creative process and the work I do with anyone, believing that I had to be “professional”.

When I became comfortable sharing my deeper process and more of me and my why some people drew closer and others left which was a blessing for them and for me.

Sam Rafoss is known as a go-to “Health Coach – Coach”, trainer, speaker, author and Host of Love Brand You. She is also the Founder of the Health Coach Business Network dedicated to helping health and wellness entrepreneurs grow and thrive.

Lindsay Syrett is an elementary school teacher by day, meditation coach by night, and momma to a beautiful baby boy. When I’m not working, blogging, or hanging out at mom and baby groups, you can find me in the kitchen, on my yoga mat, or in front of my laptop searching for my next travel adventure.

Like most things in life, if you want to get better, you have to practice!

Commit to writing a blog post weekly. Eventually, it will get easier. And if writing doesn’t come naturally to you, I’d also suggest reading lots of other wellness blogs and taking notes about how they structure their posts, what topics they blog about, and their use of features like images and headings.

The best advice I can give to someone who feels nervous about putting their written work out there is, write like you are talking to a raving fan who is just as excited about your content as you.

Don’t try to sound ‘smart’ to impress your colleagues (or someone who you worry will criticize or question you). Writing to avoid disapproval is not client attractive, the only people it attracts is the attention of the people you wish wouldn’t read it – because you were holding them in mind while you wrote it!

And avoid writing ‘balanced’ content. Balance is boring. It just dims your light and waters down your message. It doesn’t stand out and rarely helps people. Speak your truth. Especially on topics that others are afraid to cover.

Be yourself and make your writing conversational so that it is consumable to your audience. I was lucky enough in my early days of blogging to team up with a woman who worked previously in the media. After reading the first article I wrote for our joint blog – which I had written with zero emotion and totally dry in style (the way that I had been taught to way back in my ‘academic writing for the sciences’ class), she enlightened me with excellent feedback that forever changed the way I blog. She explained that from her perspective as a reporter, we should write in a way that empowers people with a strong take-away that makes them want to share it with their friends – ‘news you can use’ she called it!

Sherry Rothwell helps woman let go of the weight, without giving up the rich, creamy, sweet comfort foods they love. Sherry is also a teacher at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. She helps holistic nutritionists and health coaches create profitable passion based programs and packages for their clients that are designed to get results.

Health writer – Blogging expert – Research nerd.

Leesa Klich, MSc, R.H.N. helps health & wellness professionals attract more email subscribers & clients using their blogs. She moves them from feeling stumped & overwhelmed to confidently & consistently showing off their expertise. She makes credible research-based blogging both strategic & easy, which saves them a ton of time so they can focus on what lights them up in their business & life.

Yep! The vulnerability is there, and it eventually fades but doesn’t ever really go away completely (at least for me). 🙂

It really helps to have a clear strategy as to whom you’re targeting and how you help them (e.g. your ideal client avatar and your unique selling proposition). Using your blog, you can get your voice out there, and by publishing and promoting your blog posts, it can also attract more ideal clients.

Another thing I love is that even after you hit the dreaded “publish” button, you can always go back and update your posts. Unlike using others’ platforms you have full control of your own blog. I’ve started updating old posts and re-publishing them as even better posts.

When I started blogging I was soooo worried to hit “publish” because the whole world was going to see it.

Right?

Totally wrong, LOL

Bloggers now are hustling hard to get traffic. There are so many posts published every day that you need to share and promote your posts to get traffic. Scheduling them on social media (several times for each post), learning SEO to rank on Google, sharing in your newsletter, etc. are all strategies that we use.

I personally use blogging as a foundation for my entire content strategy and editorial calendar (i.e. blog first, then share on social, newsletter, etc.) because I want to house all of my quality content on my site that I own. You never know when a platform will change its algorithm or even “block” you for some random reason.

One last tip: Maybe swapping reviews with another blogger can help? Give and get feedback.

Blogging is my fav. 🙂

Conclusion

Many thanks to the health & wellness industry experts who shared their expert advice, stories, and current fears about building blogging confidence.

And thank YOU for reading all the way to the bottom.  I hope this gives you inspiration and motivation to do what you need to do to get into your blogging groove. Whether that means for written or recorded content, the advice is the same.

If you have a favourite tweetable quote or found this post useful, then I’d love if you shared it. ?

Signing off and toasting: To building your blogging confidence.

Over to you

What do YOU think?

How can online health & wellness pros build blogging confidence?

I’d love to know (in the comments below)!