First of all, I want to say thank you for the reaction to my last truths post (92 comments, 323 hearts on bloglovin, whaaat). As I was writing it, I thought of some more which I couldn’t fit in so jotted them down in this extra post!
One: People Will Hate The Posts You Love And Love The Posts You Hate | This has happened to me so many times now. I’ll not feel very confident about a post and it’ll get an amazing response. Yet, sometimes I’ll put my heart and soul into something and get a mediocre reply. It’s just one of those things, don’t let it get you down!
Two: Follow For Followers Are a Common Thing | Ever received one of those comments that just say ‘great post, wanna follow my blog? I’ll follow straight back’ – yet say absolutely nothing relevant about your post? Yup. Follow for follows are a common thing in blog world and as much as some may use them to boost their follower numbers, they’ll rarely gain actual readers. I personally think it’s a pointless venture and quite frustrating, so I always mark them as spam!
Three: First Impressions Do Count | I’ve talked about this before (see tip three here) but as sad as it is, first impressions do count. You could write the most wonderful post, but if it’s in writing that no one can read, on a background that’s harsh then very few people will make the effort to read it. Make sure your blog is easily accessible; that your social media is clickable, your font is readable and your colours don’t hurt people’s eyes. As always, I’d recommend pipdig for affordable blog designs if you can’t be bothered with the HTML yourself!
Four: Someone Will Probably Dislike You | It’s a sad thing, but it’s life I guess. Even some of the most lovely bloggers have people who dislike them and try to troll them on social media etc. You can’t please everyone and that’s fine. People will always be jealous or nasty and that reflects on them more than it’ll ever reflect on you. I wrote more about it in tip two here, but the most important thing is that’s it’s ok, take it in and let it go.
Five: Social Media is Key | I wrote about this in my latest blog tips post (point two) but it took me over a year to realise how important social media is in blogging. If I had realised earlier, who knows where my blog would be now. Networking, joining in chats, tagging brands in tweets and sharing your posts are all key ways to further promote your blog and get to know fellow bloggers in the process.
Six: You Won’t Use It All Though | When I started blogging properly, I signed up to everything (which you should totally do, just to register your username, see more about that here) but only actually use a few select forms of social media. My main ones are definitely Twitter and Instagram, but my Google+, Facebook and Pinterest have sort of fell to the side… I should probably use them more, but I’m just writing this little point to say you’re not alone if you’ve done the same!
Seven: Things Won’t Turn Out As Planned | This occurs a lot. Sometimes I have an awesome (well, I think so) idea but no idea how to execute it or my photos will turn out rubbish or I’ll just have lost the ability to type coherently that day. It’s happens and it’s ok. Take a step back and start again.
Eight: You’ll Get SEO Emails Asking For Something For Nothing | This happens on a daily basis for me. You’ll get an emailing asking you to post content on your blog for (when you get through the clever wording) nothing in return. No monetary compensation, no gifted items, no social media shoutouts. Nada. I avoid these like the plague unless it’s a company I genuinely love. Don’t let people take the mick as they’ll keep doing it to other bloggers, especially those just starting out. We didn’t create our blogs to offer free advertising, guys.
Nine: People Buy Followers | This has been quite a hot topic on social media recently. A lot of people try to get ahead by buying followers, instead of earning them or letting them happen organically. This can be on Twitter, Instagram and apparently you can even get paid for Bloglovin followers now. It’s infuriating for those of us who work hard (30+ hours a week people!) to build up a readership and someone swans in with 20k+ bought followers. Luckily, the majority of fellow bloggers and PR’s can see through these people, so it’s 100% not worth your time. When found out, all your credibility and reputation will go swiftly down the drain.
Ten: You’ll Get Behind With Things | I always say I’ll do my emails every day, or take an hour out to read blogs or plan posts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Blogging is constantly developing thing where we produce different content in every single post, which can take a varying amount of time. Plus jobs, social lives and general day to day drama also come into play. So if you get behind with things it’s alright. Just try and find an hour to have some admin time and you’ll be right back on schedule.
So there’s 10 more little truths which I’ve found during my 2+ years of blogging. I’d love to know yours or if you agree or disagree about the ones above! Let me know in the comments.
helen x | twitter | instagram | bloglovin
Check out these blogs: Jordan Alice, Alexandra Elizabeth, Lelore and Beauty With Charm.
