Starting a blog can be a fun passion project or it could eventually become a full-time job, depending on how much work you’re willing to put in. Whichever category you fall into, starting a blog is a fun way to get your voice and views out there, share your knowledge with the world, or even make a little extra money with ads and affiliate links!
Running a blog, however, is not always easy. While it can be fun and full of gratitude, it’s also really hard work that takes consistency and dedication. There are so many things that a new blogger should know that no one mentions until you’re already in the thick of it.
Today, we’re going to share six of the things that they don’t tell you about blogging.
Growth takes time
Posting your first blog is exhilarating. Hitting that “publish” button brings a sense of accomplishment and pride. You’ve poured so much time and effort into creating the perfect piece of content, and you can’t wait for the world to see it.
But then you only get three or four views. Maybe ten if you’re lucky. And the same rings true post after post. While this can be discouraging, don’t let it get to you! Growth is hard and takes time. Bloggers don’t gain thousands of readers and subscribers overnight, and they have to spend time optimizing their site for search engines, finding their niche audience, and slowly altering their content over time as they find out what works for them and what doesn’t.
Slowly but surely, you will gain more traction. It will take some work to get there, though. Sharing your blogs on Pinterest is a great way to gain exposure and have your site shared early on. Write consistently and for your audience. Use the right tags and search engine optimization to gain better rank within searches.
So if it’s a slow start, don’t stop. Keep going and writing and building an audience of dedicated readers, and slowly the growth will happen.
Selling your own products can make you the most money
Using affiliate links and ads is a simple way to make a little bit of money on your blog. But, if you’re looking to bring in an actual income, there’s a good chance that at some point, you will have to create and sell your own products.
This may sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! If you’re artsy, you can create downloadable prints or templates for your audience to use. If you’re an expert at something, you can create an ebook or an online course. Some bloggers even have a subscription where VIP members get extra content. Whatever your “thing” is, you can find a way to turn that into a consumable good to sell to your readers.
All of those “rules” are just made up.
Post every single day. Post once a week. Set up your email list first. Don’t worry about your email list until you have twenty blogs posted. The list of contradicting rules you’ll find online goes on and on and on.
Long story short, there are no rules. You do what feels best and works best for you and your blog. Work towards your own expectations and goals. If you have the time to post every day, go for it! But if you don’t, that doesn’t mean automatic failure. There are plenty of successful bloggers who post once a week.
As long as you create quality content and keep your audience into consideration, you will be just fine.
You have to make a lot of hard decisions
In the beginning, blogging may just seem like a fun way to share with the world. But you will realize quickly that there are often difficult choices to be made.
One of the biggest is just how personal do you get with your audience. Do you share the names and faces of your family members? Tell them where you live? Talk about weirdly gross things that have happened to you?
Another is whether or not also to run social media channels geared explicitly for your blog. It can help you get exposure, but can also be very time consuming and end up taking time away from growing your blog.
While the choices are entirely yours, they can be hard ones to make.
Switching servers is hard, and it’s better to start self-hosted than to have to change later
Many people go straight for WordPress.com or Wix when they’re first starting out. They’re easy to use and have free plans that are great for beginners. However, if you want to blog full time or earn money from your blog, it’s best to start out with something a little more robust.
Bluehost is a great place to start and works with WordPress.org software. Check out my Bluehost review here. You get access to ads and widgets that you can’t get on the WordPress.com free plan, and is cheaper than paying for the same features on WordPress.com!
If you choose to start on the free version of WordPress, Wix, or other platforms, be prepared to need to switch servers fairly soon. This can be a real pain, but is doable! There are tons of YouTube videos out there that can show you exactly how to do it. If you decide to switch later, Bluehost or HostGator is great at helping you navigate the change. If you can’t decide between Bluehost vs. HostGator, Bluehost offers free domains whereas HostGator offers endless disk space. Both offer 24/7 support and have different price points, which is helpful when you’re deciding which server is best for your business.
Find your voice
As a blogger, your voice is your brand. Many well-known bloggers have such a clear voice that their readers would know it was them even without their name attached to it.
Do you want to be funny and personable or professional and knowledgeable? Maybe a mix? There are infinite possibilities when it comes to finding your voice. Before you dive in, write a few practice posts and have a friend or family member read them. What tone are they perceiving that you may not have been intentionally putting into your writing?
Over the course of your blogging career, you’ll constantly be tweaking and changing your voice and tone. But having an overall style of writing is a good idea! Once you find what works for you, stick with that. If you force anything that isn’t natural to you, your readers may pick it up as being inauthentic.
There’s so much that goes into running a blog, but don’t let that scare you from jumping in! Take these tips into consideration as you get started and know that you will continuously be learning along the way. It’s safe to say that no one, not even the most well-known bloggers, has it all figured out. Technology and trends change every day, so of course, bloggers are also going with the flow and changing along with them.
We hope these tips are helpful and help you on your blogging journey!
