Blog, website, online journal, whatever you choose to call your little space of the internet is up to you. The basic idea behind every blog is, you have something to say that you think the rest of the world, or maybe just a few friends, wants to hear.
Going into making this blog, I thought, who is even going to want to hear my caca? Chances are, it will only be family and friends. As it turns out, it's some friends and zero family that reads this space! That's okay, because the ladies that I have met and bonded with through blogging makes it all worth while. We are a community, of sorts, and it can be an amazing venue to meet great friends.
The questions are, how much of blogging is a labor of love? Is it what you thought it would be?
It's been almost a year of regular blogging for me, and I have to say, it's trying! I find that blog upkeep can take up your whole day if you allow it. I try to sit and write all posts for the week on Saturdays after cleaning up my home, and in between loads of laundry. Most of the time, I only manage to write out 2-3 days worth of content, but at least it's something!
The hardest part is the social aspect of it. Well, I shouldn't say hardest part, maybe the most time consuming part. Emailing back to people who comment, keeping sponsorships straight, following up on button swapping, reading your favorite blogs daily and making sure to leave some love on their page. It's not an easy task, this whole blogging world. The rewards of this community, however, you just can't put a price on that.
Recently, I have inspired a couple of ladies to make a blog. Although I have only blogged for a year, I did think of a few tips for them. I'll share it here as well. Here goes:
- Picmonkey is your new BFF, use it to watermark every picture to help gain exposure. Especially when you load them onto Pinterest. Almost half of all views for this site comes from Pinterest. Learn to use it and picmonkey, and you'll be golden.
- Find other bloggers with similar interests, email them, comment, really get to know them. New friends are always fantastic. Remember, no matter how "big" a blog is, or how many views they have, they are human. Don't be shy to approach one and say, "Hey! I like your style!"
- Set a writing schedule, and stick to it! Blogging will swallow your days and you can't live life and have content to write about if you're stuck at home writing all the time!
- Stay true to you. Write how you think, how you'd talk to your friends over coffee. Please don't change or say things in a way you wouldn't normally in real life. The reason people read your blog is to get to know YOU, so be YOU.
- Link-ups are great ways to meet new bloggers! And they are fun. Find some that you really like and participate!
- GET A PLANNER! I know most folks will say they write things on their phones, or whatever, but a paper planner is so helpful for you to plan your posts. I use it to make sure I'm not posting too many DIY's too close to each other, or to go over it and make sure that I have content evenly spaced out. It's also a way to make sure you have photos taken, edited, and linked to the specific blog post.
- Which leads me to my next tip, TAKE PHOTOS OF EVERYTHING! Well, maybe not everything, but most things. I see something pretty, or especially if something inspires a blog post, I whip out my phone like Lightening McQueen and snap away! You never know when you need a photo of some pine trees to really drive home a point in a post!
Basically, just remember, blogs should be about your life, not your life revolving around a blog.
How much upkeep do you do? Leave some tips for the new bloggers!
