What I wish I knew when I started blogging

April 30, 2018

Happy Monday! I recently had a girl reach out on Instagram and ask how I started my blog. While I was flattered, I was a little shocked because I don't really blog about blogging. There are a ton of people who do and make a killing, but its not really my vibe. We DM'ed back and forth a little bit and I thought, hey, how about a quick post to help you start.

Back story. I technically started blogging in college (2008!), meaning all my emo-blog posts are still on the archives here. But I really started blogging in August, 2014. That's when The Everyday Grace came to be. I've been blogging while doing the full time job thing since and it's hard but its the best.


These are some of the things I wish I knew when I started blogging.

You will meet the best group of blog support. Sometimes my best blog support comes from people I've never actually met. Take my friend Chelsea. I have never met her in person, but she constantly comments on my blog, my instagram, likes my pictures, picks me up when its a bad day and celebrates the good. I literally love this girl. Ps. go follow her. Sometimes your real life friends don't get how to support you as a blogger or don't want too and thats okay. Find your blog tribe, love them hard.

Social Media is a full time job.  As much as I hate being glued to my phone, social media is what brings me the most business. Yes, I love writing and I love this blog, but my instagram numbers usually mean more to advertisers. People like numbers on a photo rather than comments on a post. Engaging with other bloggers, sharing your own content and managing it in between is a lot of damn work. I need an assistant/

Quality over quantity. Shoot, I still post stuff where I second guess myself. Write stuff you love. Even if you think you NEED to post, your readers will understand a day off for great content instead of reading crap.

Learn HTML or at least the basics. If you want to make this work, learn the basics. Watch the YouTube videos, take the classes. Don't rest on templates to carry you through. And don't ask for advice if you aren't willing to pay for it. I didn't take 50 hours of HTML classes online over the last 4 years to give you the cliff-notes.

Numbers matter. But they don't. But they do. Are you loving what you're doing? Then great! Yes, numbers matter to advertisers and brands. But so does passion, quality and engagement. Keep working, keep creating and the numbers will come, swear.

You will burn out. Maybe not all the way. Maybe not for a long time. But its okay to take a break. Its only to only put out a post twice a week and call it a success. Burn out is real, it happens to the best of us. Learn from it, take a break and pick back up.

You will compare yourself to others, it's natural, but don't let it control you. It will only hurt you. It's super easy to see someones growth and instantly feel jealous. But you don't know how hard that blogger is working, what they're doing behind the scenes or how they're growing. Supporting others doesn't lessen your own value.


Join Facebook groups in your niche. This is not only a great place to learn tips, but it's a great place to share your blogs and meet amazing woman. There are tons and tons of facebook groups dedicated to all kinds of blogs.

Find your passion. I'm not saying niche per se, but your passion. Mom blogging isn't for us all, neither is fashion. But if you love it, your readers will see it, the advertisers will see it and you will see it in the success of your blog. I don't believe in the whole niche thing, but if you write what you love, it will be the perfect niche for you.

Blogging takes a shit ton of time. I think people look at blogs and think, Oh I could do that. I'm sure you could, but are you aware that most posts take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours to draft. And that pictures are a day long event. An Instagram pic and caption is 10 minutes per, at least. I love blogging, but it totally takes its time.

When did you start your blog? What advice would you give newbies out there?

Ps. If you want some more tips, these are my 10 blogging commandments. See a theme here?


9 comments

  1. I agree with literally everything you said! lol. I didn't realize how much TIME blogging takes. It's A LOT of freggin time. I always say - if your starting a blog for passion that's great but if you're starting a blog and want to turn it into a biz - be prepared to make a lot of sacrafices!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are so true, seriously I could have written them myself! I preach constantly about my love of the blogging community. As a whole, everyone is so supportive and helpful of each other. It really helps so much when you do feel that burn out at times!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My sister-in-law wants to get into blogging, and she just told me tonight, "yeah, I really want to blog about vintage fashion, but I feel like I should do something about travel." And I was like no, no, do the vintage fashion because that's what you love and if you don't blog about what you love you will grow to hate it. Anyway, I can't say what my advice to newbies would be since I'm a newbie myself. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I definitely agree with everything you said! Blogging has its challenges but its so much fun.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can relate to every single one of these! I really enjoyed reading this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I absolutely agree to all of your tips, ESPECIALLY about blogging your passion! My current blog I've had since 2016 (it was a project for class) but I only recently really started working on it back in March. I've been reviewing Disney movies with a focus on the story lines because it matches my passion for stories. I'm more consistent now than I've ever been and even though it gets hard (frequently haha), I'm still able to keep it up because I'm writing about what I enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi i think you should add some plugin details also
    I have read your article, i think people should use some seo tool as available onAppsumo Black Friday

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll just add the following: Wish I knew I had to work hard for more than a year and even after that I'd earn just coffee money...or maybe at least enough to pay my monthly phone bill!! I have to be honest that It's been so discouraging...but nevertheless I keep blogging...I guess because I want to prove to myself that I can be different than 99% of people who would have quit by now. Anyways thanks for sharing your opinion on this painful topic!

    Cheers

    Baba Vanga

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from all of you and greatly appreciate all your feedback and comments! xx Kristen