I haven’t been on my blogging journey for long, so my answers to this statement are not going to be prophetic by any means. Regardless, it doesn’t mean that your journey isn’t one where you’re always learning and I dare say that at different points in your blogging life, you’ll have learnt different lessons.
But to start with, let’s consider this in a personal way. What have I learnt by blogging? Well, let’s have a look:
- I’ve learnt that self-expression is really important and finding the right medium can be hit or miss. You don’t have to use every type of social media – social media platforms I think are tailored for different types of communication and I also don’t think you need to use every single one if you don’t want to. Whilst I boycotted Facebook for my own personal reasons and my personal profile, I did keep my page for the blog active because I want to use blogger network groups to learn and network.
- I’ve learnt that having a good foundation makes blogging easier. Sometimes it’s hard to have an idea of what you want though which is where many blogs and bloggers give up. Like anything though, I think if you’re at a moment in your life where you are thinking that you want to blog for expression or to develop something as a side hustle, you already have an innate, internal context of where you want to go. The discovery part, is what is exciting.
- Speak in your own voice and in your own language. If you try to imitate people whose prose is eloquent or poetic, when you’re not that type of writer, you will not only waste time trying to replicate that, but you’ll develop a set of standards for yourself you don’t actually want to achieve. By all means, if improving or changing your writing style is a goal, there are other avenues to take, and maybe blogging is an outlet for that, but I don’t think you should try and imitate someone for the sake of imitation if it’s not something you want. It makes sticking to that new style of doing something that much more difficult.
- Keep writing. Even when you don’t feel like it. As a backup, when you’re in the mood to write, have a word document with things written about your main categories so you have some go to posts ready for when you’re not in the mood. Alternatively, if you have some time to spare, an extra day off or whatever, do some scheduling and pre-post some content so that you’re a few weeks in advance. Especially if you’re planning a themed week or on doing something slightly different, like more research or an editorial style post. It also frees up more time to develop that product or downloadable or ebook or whatever other tasks you have going on the side.
- It’s important to get involved in new blogger groups, boards and forums. When I decided to reinstate Facebook for my page only, I made sure to join groups where you could share posts about your blog, and ask for assistance in something in particular. Other bloggers could then give you tips, tricks and advice for improving. Within two days of doing this, I changed the layout of my blog and have increased page views. For one, I introduced categories as themes to my menus, added a sidebar about me description and outlined the days I post. These three changes alone have now given a better message to new readers about what they’re going to get when reading my blog. It’s so easy to miss these simple things and learning this just by reading other people’s blogs and blog posts encouraged me to make those changes.
- Look at the post themes other bloggers within your niche discuss and make notes about their personal branding. It helps to get some tips about how they’re presenting information, in order to see how you could make it your own.
- Get feedback, often.
- It takes time and love to nurture a blog. It needs scheduling, apps, content, pictures, and understanding basic marketing, social media posting and branding to really launch…especially if you’re offering a product.
- It’s ok to change tack midway through. If you are doing an editorial post for example and not getting many views, try a week or two of more regular posting. If this increases your views, then your readers prefer this content. It’s ok to experiment.
- Get involved with guest posting.
- Don’t use overly bold colors for the backgrounds of your blog. Pick neutral colors, but use vibrant pictures. Try to use as much original content.
- Link appropriately and give credit where credit is due.
- Stand by your opinion.
- Write well. Use spell and grammar check, and read over your draft with fresh eyes often to ensure your writing is as professional as possible.
- Your blog is about your life. It doesn’t have to necessarily be about things in trend because it’s your story, and your space.
- Have a nice place to write in. Whether its a nice space in your study, a beautiful app on your iPad, or a nice journal you jot notes in. Make sure that your writing space is innately yours.
- And lastly, get involved in online communities. Like other people’s posts and comment on things important to you. If you want to develop a positive brand, you must be proactive.
What about you? What lessons have you discovered on your blogging journey so far?
That Fitology Life 