The blogging world is big and everyday you learn and explore new things. There are so many things I wish I had known before starting my blog, but it is never too late to learn them. In this post I will talk about the things I wish someone had told me before starting blogging, that’s why I thought I should share some tips for new bloggers.
It stills feels like yesterday when I wrote my first post and pressed the “publish” button. The 18th of July 2015 was the first day of blogging for me and now it has been 6 long months. I wasn’t even sure if I would make it that far and here I am writing this post. I wanted to start my own blog for so many years, but I never had the courage to do that. After finishing my Masters degree, I was jobless for over a year and it was really depressing. I wish I had started blogging back then. Blogging is something that helps me to clear my head. It also helps me to relax and I am happy that I took this step and started this little world of mine.
To be honest, I never thought blogging would be time consuming and it would require so much effort. However, if you are happy with what you are doing, just carry on doing it. You may have long sleepless nights, but in the end it is all worth for all the lovely feedback I get from my readers.
In the last 6 months of blogging, I’ve learn couple of things and I would definitely recommend these tips for new bloggers or even to bloggers that are doing it for a while. I wish I had known these earlier…
Tips for New Bloggers – Things you should do
- Don’t worry about the numbers in the beginning. Even if you only have a few followers, be happy about it. You are not in a competition and everyone is here for the same reason, it is to share their passion. Who cares if you have 10 followers and someone else has 1000, don’t let the numbers put you down. Relax, it takes time to grow your community…
- Engagement is important. The more engaged you are with other bloggers, the more you will learn about them and blogging will be even more fun. Blogging is a big world, and finding the people who share the same interest like you is really great. Even though you might not know them in person, you get connected to them somehow.
- Consistency is the key. Everyone says that, but it is the truth. Always have a schedule, and try to obey it. If you are inconsistent, you might lose your readers. You don’t have to post everyday, just decide what would be the best for you and arrange the best schedule for yourself and try to stick to that. Also, try to be present on other blogs and social media regularly, so people notice you.
- Being organised is a must. You better get yourself a notebook where you write down your ideas and plans for the blog, so you don’t leave anything to the last minute. If you’re well organised, you will already have couple of your posts ready and it will not put you under so much pressure. Taking photos or writing under pressure never turns out well, at least for me.
- Blogging requires time. Most of the people might not notice how time consuming it can be. Taking photos, writing posts, being active on social media, buying and testing new products, reading blogposts, commenting and so on, it does take a lot of time! So, if you’re travelling a lot, just use that time to do something about the blog. Social media is important, so why not do some tweeting or posting on Instagram. You get what you give, and you can’t get anything if you don’t give anything. Try to utilise your time and be active on your blog.
- Never lose hope. I think all bloggers came to a point where they just wanted to give up within the first 6 months, even the popular bloggers had these thoughts at some point. There are times where you write a great post and nobody is checking it, because something else happened in the world or the blogging world is just slow. You just have to accept that sometimes the blogging world is slow for no apparent reason. Don’t let it affect yourself, even tho it can be really tough at times. Hard work will pay off eventually!
There are a few things that I really don’t like, so if I were you, I wouldn’t do them and I am sure there are many that feel the same way…
Tips for New Bloggers – Things you shouldn’t do
- Read before commenting. Think that you spend so much time writing your post and all you get is a simple comment like “Great post or Cool”, then wouldn’t you wonder if that person really read the post? It is actually really good to get the impression that the person who comments actually reads your post. So, if you give others this feeling they will probably return the favour.
- Don’t copy paste. I came across so many people who just copy paste the same comments, so why would you want to visit their blog and actually read when they don’t do the same for you. Am I not right?
- Follow for follow. If someone really likes what you’re doing, they will be following you, so there’s no point to say follow for follow or keep insisting this person to follow you. Just work hard on what you’re doing to make people follow you instead of acting that way. It is more likely that you annoy people than actually making them following you.
- Do not nominate without contacting. If you’re not following a blog, just don’t say that you nominate them for some awards. Don’t you find it rude that you get a message from someone you haven’t heard or seen before and tells you that you should participate in whatever award they tag you for. First engagement, then nomination.
These are my tips for new bloggers. Is there any advice you could give? What are the things you don’t like about the blogging world? What are your tips for new bloggers?
To be continued…
