Here I am doing a post I thought I’d never do. But in all seriousness, I still feel like a beginner in the blogging world, so when people ask me for MY advice on blogging, I was extremely confused. When I look to advice I read posts from Olivia Blake or Pooja. I feel like I don’t deserve to make a post like this. You asked for it though & I’m here to serve. So here’s some advice from a beginner blogger.
If you are new to my page, Hi! Welcome to Mind.Beauty.Simplicity where we talk about all things minimalism, saving that coin & learning to live with less. I also dabble in other lifestyle topics such as makeup, fashion, home decor & apparently self help & advice. Hope you enjoy my perspective on things.
The reason I call myself a beginner blogger is because I’ve only been in the game since the end of July. Granted I’ve had the idea in my head for years (but that’s another story). But in this short amount of time, I’ve definitely learned a lot so far. So I want to make this post a discussion. Comment your blogging stories & your advice & let’s support our fellow bloggers. Let’s get started.
Find Your Niche
What is it you want to write about & share with other people? What are YOU interested in? Figure out your initial direction of your blog. You can always tweak it & try other avenues later. But determining what you want to write about will help lead you to the audience you want & fuel your passion even more. And when you are figuring out the topics you want to cover, always listen to yourself & not what others think you should do. It’s your blog anyway. You are the writer, editor & business person to this platform so what you say goes.
Brand Yourself
Now, I’m no marketing guru. But I do know one thing. Whether it’s creating a unique name for your blog, making thumbnails for your posts or logos for your social media platforms, you MUST design it in a way that fits your personality & what you want to portray on your site. This allows people to spot you out of the crowd of other blogs & place an aesthetic to a face & name.
Take Advice With a Grain of Salt
I’m not talking about constructive criticism. This type of advice is helpful. I’m talking about when people give you topic suggestions or directions that are different from your purpose. Never feel obligated to write about a topic you were requested. If it doesn’t interest you, you shouldn’t waste your precious time writing it. It’s so easy to get in the habits of pleasing your entire audience. And you never will. So write what you want to write about & the loyal audience will keep coming back.
Gain Traffic Through Multiple Platforms
I started off merely focusing on WordPress & other pages. After about a month, I realized I needed to expand to other social media if I wanted to reach a bigger audience. So, I joined Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest to share my writing. My main focus is Instagram though as I love adding visual effects to my blog posts. Pinterest is something I am still figuring out. And Twitter is so useful as you can tweet numerous times a day with hashtags such as #writerslift & #selfpromo(day of the week).
Network With Other Bloggers & Brands
Blogging is a two way street. If you want other people to read your stuff, you should really return the favor. Supporting other bloggers & engaging in genuine conversation is the reason I have the following I do. You want to have a circle of bloggers who have your back, can give you advice & cheer you on. And you should do the same for them. I love shouting out different bloggers & showing my support. This shouldn’t be a competition.
Don’t Spam Comment
In the beginning of my blogging journey, I was guilty of this. I thought the only way to get people to read my page was to link my posts on numerous comments. It wasn’t until I read some blogging advice posts when I got really embarrassed & realized what I was doing was annoying. Now, I don’t see harm in linking your information in comments if you do it in the right way. If you genuinely read someone’s post & comment something nice & relevant, you can easily end your comment with your links. But never force people to click your links. That won’t really work for the long haul.
Guest Post & Collaborate
I did this early in the game & it honestly really helped me become one with this community quickly. I think it’s a great way to support multiple writers & expand your audience. Choose people with the same interests / niche as you as well. This will help you build solid networking relationships.
Be Authentic
Never try to be like anyone else. There’s a difference between inspiration & completely copying someone. I think the reason I am successful (& I say that loosely because defining success is arbitrary) is for my authenticity & realness. Your audience follows for your writing & stays if they feel connected to the writer behind the blog.
Don’t Worry About Follower Count
These milestones are accomplishments for sure & setting goals are important. But never base your talent & self worth on number of followers. It can be easy to get down on yourself about this, but I’ve learned if you stay true to yourself, the following will come. You just can’t let it rule your life.
Be Consistent
I don’t care if it’s once a week, once a month or once every hour (ok…maybe not the last one) but having a schedule to my blogs has created structure for myself. I personally post MWF but at any point I need to cutback, I will. It all depends on my stress levels & my other obligations. When you have a schedule, your audience will learn when to look forward to your posts. I hate when I read a blog post & they haven’t written anything new for 6 months. It’s like, “hellooo I love your work, I need more from you!”
Have Fun With It
The sole reason I created this blog was for my own entertainment. Everything else is just bonus. I needed a creative outlet for myself & love writing THAT much. And for those who don’t think blogging is a job…BOY ARE YOU WRONG. There is so much work that goes into a single post. It’s the aftermath of posting that really is the kicker. SEO [ search engine optimization ], I still don’t understand you! But never get yourself so stressed out over the blogging world. Keep working hard, be creative & be patient.
I hope what I shared here was helpful to you. In the comments, share your blogging story & a few tips you’d like to share.
-B
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