TIPS AND TRICKS: Five Things I Wish I’d Known About Blogging

New blogs seem to be springing up every day and there’s always new faces in the blogger chats. It’s nice to see people giving advice and being helpful to those who are just starting, as I wish I had of got the same when I first started out. I didn’t even know these things existed! So, I’m putting together this little post all about things I wish I had of known when I started blogging.

One: How Much Work It Would Take | Blogging takes a lot of effort. From coming up with ideas, to taking photos, editing, putting everything into a post, writing it, sourcing links and doing all the social media and promotion to go with it. For every. single. post. As someone who blogs daily, and is more than happy doing so, I think people honestly underestimate how many hours go into it (30+hrs a week, folks) and how much dedication you’ve gotta have.

Two: It’s Not A Race | It’s so easy to look at those with millions of followers and wonder why yours isn’t progressing as quickly as you want it to. I’ve said before that there really is no defined end game in blogging, you don’t reach a certain point and that’s the peak. It’s whatever you make of it, really. So comparing your start to someone else’s middle is pointless. Just stick at it!

Three: Stick To Social Media | Twitter is always in my top two referring URLs and sites and I can’t believe how long it took me to get grips with it. I wish I’d been involved in blogger chats from the beginning, interacted with other bloggers and brands and promoted my posts too, like I do now. The schedule of doing that is entirely up to you, but hitting commuting time (early morning and after work, plus lunch time) is a good place to start. Oh and include brands and photos in your tweets too, as a) you may get some RT’s and b) people are more likely to click if there’s a picture.

Four: There Are No Rules | A blogger chat recently was about ‘rules’ and it made me sigh, as surely something so personal and creative shouldn’t have any rules? Especially as new readers will be taking all of it in and assuming you have to blog in a certain way. One thing I wish I had of learned sooner is that it’s ok to blog how you like. You can post as often as you like, about what you like and don’t be worried what people think. Blogging is such a huge learning curve but enjoying it is the main thing, I think. Whether you do it for yourself, to make a bit of extra cash or to further your career, either way, it’s your space to do what you want with it and no one can take that away from you or tell you how it should be done.

Five: Blogging is a Community | Obviously all of your readers aren’t just other bloggers, but a lot may be and it’s where you’ll see most of your interaction. Blogging is a quite a lovely (often bitchy, but ignore that side) community and a really great one to be involved in, but you have to keep it up. You can’t expect to get comments if you’re not willing to put the effort in and comment on other blogs, so go and show fellow bloggers some love and you never know, you may gain a loyal reader.

Let me know what you wish you’d known from the beginning!
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Helen x
Check out these blogs: LeLore, A Dash Of Ginger, Agent Smyth, Abracadabra Girl and Gyudy’s Notes of Beauty!  

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