Meet Anjali Kay: The Blogging Coach Helping You Skyrocket Your Visibility (Without the Overwhelm)
In 2009, Anjali Kay was encouraged by a friend to start writing and sharing her photography online. By 2010 She’d launched This Splendid Shambles- a space where she shared her love of travel, crafting, writing and photography.
When Anjali started seeing her traffic grow, she leant into blogging more and more and doors started to open for her. She began to meet other bloggers, writing book reviews for publishing companies, guest blog posting and even secured a 3 month writing contract that extended for several years.
Her blog allowed her travel whilst bringing a constant stream of traffic and readers to her website, and she knew she was on to something. So she dove into the intricacies of blogging- learning everything she could about topics like SEO, traffic and pinterest for blogging. And now, she teaches bloggers and business owners how to use this still powerful resource to attract new, aligned customers to your world.
Below, Anjali share’s a little about her journey in business with us, and we were excited to hold a free Live Training with our community this week, where Anjali shared the ‘How to’ of starting or kickstarting your blog, and answered all your burning questions about how to make it happen 👇
LIVE Q & A REPLAY
Thank you to everyone who joined us live for our Q & A with Blogging Coach Anjali Kay. We explored the power of blogging for 2025, what you should be blogging about for your business and what you need to know to get started or kickstart your blogging journey.
This replay will be available until Monday 18th Nov 2024 and thereafter inside the Membership Resource Library
What sparked the idea behind your business? Was there a specific moment or experience?
I suspect like many newish business owners, the spark to start my blogging business happened during lockdowns in 2020. I remember seeing a woman online talking about how she was creating new digital resources for her customers and I remember ‘wait. You can do that? I could do that?!’
It was this sort of ‘ah-ha’ moment which I hadn’t thought of before - taking my years of blogging experience and actually using that to help other bloggers and business owners with their own online long-form content.
Who is your ideal customer? What are some common challenges they face, and how are you great at helping them overcome them? What sets you apart?
I love working with women, whether they be hobby bloggers, bloggers who are working on making an income with their blogs, or business owners who want to grow their online reach and presence. Pretty broad - but basically if you’ve got a blog, I want to help you out.
Common challenges I see for businesses, especially when it comes to having a blog on their website, are time to write, consistency, accountability, and not really knowing what to write about that’s going to:
A) Be helpful for their clients or customers and
B) Bring those readers into their world and hopefully work with them
One of the things I love to do is help people see that they have content ready to go; the ideas are all there, they just need to pull them out and make them happen.
There’s no point trying to come up with brand new content for blog posts when you already have a bucket-load of content from your socials, email marketing, or even the FAQ section of your website - you already have the bulk done, you just need the finishing touches.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you've faced so far as a business owner? How have you overcome them?
I think my biggest challenge so far has been simply getting myself out there a bit more. It’s figuring out how to put forward what I do in a way that people can see the benefits for their own websites or blogs.
I’ve learnt that finding a few people who are really good at messaging and learning from them is the best way for me to get even a little bit better as the months go by.
What support systems or resources have you found essential in tough times?
Community is honestly one of the best resources I’ve had. Back when I was in my early days of blogging (I started in 2009), yes there were bloggers out there to look up to, but I didn’t really have anyone I could go to for help. I had to figure it all out by myself, and it took me YEARS to get my blog to a place where I was actually happy with what I was creating and people were actually reading what I was putting out there. Literal years.
I know that if I had had the kind of communities that I am now a part of, and the kind of community that I’ve created in my own business, that would have made a world of difference to what I was doing, how I was doing it, and where I was headed as a blogger.
Simply a base to bounce ideas off people a little further along the business journey has been paramount to getting my own biz off the ground, and it’s been super essential when I’ve been going through those inevitable tricky times.
What's worked best for you to build brand awareness and get customers?
Blogging haha. My blog brings in a lot of people who then see that I can help them further with the blogs.
Though I do think it’s also conversations. I do post quite a bit on social media - Instagram is my main platform for my business, but I have been loving Threads ever since it was launched, and I also have a Facebook group - but I’ve found that the best way for me to build that brand awareness and bring people into my world to become potential clients or membership members is literally conversations. Even if they’ve found me via my blog posts, they usually come and check out my socials, too.
It’s building those relationships, sometimes for months and years, not to get them to work with me, but for the joy of hearing their stories, of seeing what they’re struggling with, of celebrating their wins and offering up guidance where I can. And by building those relationships, that’s when people have said ‘you know what? I’d actually love to work with you on my blog’ or ‘I sent someone your way recently because they’re struggling with XYZ and I know you can help them out’.
What do you do to help maintain your energy, focus and mindset? Do you have a daily routine that keeps you grounded and productive? Habits or tools that help you stay focused and organized?
I’m actually terrible at habits. And having a daily routine. As someone who works a day job 20ish hours a week, and as a communications and design contractor for a few companies on top of that, and running my own blog coaching business, I need to be organised and productive when I allocate time for certain tasks. Otherwise, all the plates will fall.
It does mean that every day is different, and every day I have different priorities. For me, routines and habits don’t really help me out, and neither do things like mindset activities or practises. Different folks, different strokes and all that, right?
I think the biggest thing for me is the pure love of blogging. It’s the joy that I see when blogging membership women hit their goals or get that traffic up or make the connections they wanted to make. It’s seeing the ‘ah-ha’ moments like I had, and helping them take the next steps.
That’s why I do what I do. That’s what keeps me focused and energised for the next week, month, year.
What’s a piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you first started?
Advice to me before I even started: Grab those ‘I wonder’ moments and run with them:
👉 The ‘I wonder what it could look like if I started selling my jewellery?’ moments.
👉 The ‘I wonder if I could do something similar with my own skill set’ moments.
👉 The ‘I wonder if people are having the same struggles as I did; maybe I can help them’ moments.
👉 The ‘I wonder if I could help people with my own blogging experience and expertise? What would that look like?’
Don’t let them escape. And once you have a hold of them, play. Play around with it. Get out the whiteboard and simply dream and wonder and play.
Advice to me after I decided to go for: Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You’re just starting out, you’re learning, you’re growing, you don’t need to have everything figured out. Find someone or some people who you can learn from, bounce ideas off, seek advice from … And go at your own pace.
What's next for you and your biz?
Next for me and the blog coaching business is to continue to grow my membership. I’m also looking at running in-person workshops for business owners in Auckland, so we’ll see what the next 6 months brings!
As a Member of She Owns It, how have you found it valuable on your business journey?
I have loved being in the She Owns It community. It’s been brilliant to see other people’s journeys, while also being supported and resourced in my own. I love hearing about what other women are getting up to, and so often find encouragmenet and inspiration from their stories and businessness. I know that if I ever need a bit of support or I have something I'd like to run by people who are a few steps ahead of me, I can do that in a safe space.
Fast Five
1. One thing you’d tell your younger self starting out?
You don’t have to have all the answers, you just need to be willing to learn.
2. Your favourite biz or personal development books or podcasts?
As a musician, and a book reviewer, most of my input is music or fiction, so the non-fiction and podcast route is rarely for me. 🙈
3. How many tabs do you have open right now?
Three. Email, the Google Doc I’m writing this in at the moment, and Facebook. Give me another 20mins and it’ll creep up in number, but I hate not being able to read the name of the tab, so it’s usually no more than 10.
4. What's your go-to power song?
Taking recommendations!
5. A quote you love and why?
“There is a defiance in being a dreamer.” - The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, by VE Schwab
Not a business note, not a blogging quote. But a line from one of my favourite fictional authors, which I think fits business really well. A reminder that if you have a dream, fight for it. Not enough people have dreams, and when us dreamers defy those who think we can’t make it, wonderful things can happen.
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