9 Things I’ve Learned After One Year of Blogging
I can’t believe the blog has officially been launched for a year! Blogging for the past year has been filled with a lot of ups and downs. However, through it all, I’m grateful for the experience.
Whether you’re also writing a blog, running a business, or exploring a passion, I believe you can apply the 9 things that I learned in my 1st year of blogging!
1. Make time
Balancing blogging, work, and other responsibilities are a lot! I quickly learned how important it is to carve out time in the week to plan. You have to make time for content, visuals, and building engagement, which takes a lot of discipline. You have to push yourself even at moments when you feel tired or super busy. Making time might mean having a personal calendar for when things need to get done or setting reminders for accomplishing a task.
2. Set Goals
Setting goals is so so so important. Even though I love blogging, in the moments when I’m not feeling it, I try to encourage myself to keep going by setting goals. Goals give you something to look forward to when things get tough. One of my goals was to write a guest post on a blog before the year ended. I’m happy to say that I was able to do this with my Dainty Jewell’s post! Maybe you have the goal to monetize your blog, reach a particular audience, make a specific profit, etc. Set goals and even if you don’t meet your goal in a specific time frame, keep working at it!
3. Sharing Is Caring
When I thought about how nice it felt to write a guest post, I thought it would be great to give others the same opportunity (hence my August guest posts lol). Whether you’re a blogger, business owner, artist, etc. always think about ways that you can share a resource or opportunity with someone else. No one can “take your spot” or “steal your shine.” What’s meant for you will never pass you by. Sharing is caring, and I truly believe that if you give it will come back to you!
4. Don’t compare, be patient
Before I started blogging, there were a couple of bloggers that I looked to for inspiration. However, once I started blogging I started to compare the success of my blog with theirs, not realizing that this was something they had been working at for years. I was a small fish comparing myself to big fish! As you pursue your passion, it’s important to dream big but also be realistic with your timeline. Good things take time!
5. Focus on your foundation
Social media can be a complex place. On one hand, it can be used as a tool to build your platform. On the other hand, (if you’re not careful) it can be used as a tool to distract you from your core foundation. In my experience, I’ve used social media to learn different ways I could grow my blog and partner with other writers. I have found this to be rewarding. However, I’ve also dealt with the frustration of trying to grow the blog’s social media presence and having to deal with people who rather “watch” what you do rather than engage with content, which can be discouraging.
I recently came across a blogger who mentioned that while it is important to build your blog’s social media presence it’s more important to focus on your foundation, the blog itself. One day the social media networks that we rely so heavily on may be gone, but your blog, your e-mail list, your product, your work, will still be there. Always focus on your foundation!
6. There is room for you
There are hundreds of hot sauce brands out there. There’s Franks, Tabasco, Cholula, and the list goes on. Even with all these different brands, I’m sure someone out there is still thinking of creating their hot sauce. The same can be said about blogging. I’ve learned that although there are millions of bloggers out there, no one has my voice or my experiences. The same can be said for you. Although it might be intimidating to break into a certain field or craft, it’s always important to remember that there is still room for you!
7. There is value in transparency
Having a blog has taught me that being transparent is tough, but it is truly rewarding. It can be really scary to put yourself out there (and it still is lol). However, with time, being transparent has helped to build my confidence in discussing certain topics and it’s also given me a sense of freedom. The feeling of having someone relate to a shared experience or to share their perspective is my favorite thing about blogging. I want this blog to feel like a place where people can be themselves and grow. Transparency builds trust and there is power in it!
8. Have a support team
Throughout my blogging journey, I’ve learned the importance of pushing myself. However, it’s also important to have a support team. My husband, sister, and friends have been my biggest cheerleaders when I’ve wanted to quit. In addition, they’ve also given me a lot of constructive criticism, which has not always been easy to hear, but in the end, it’s worth listening to. Even if you don’t have a support team of people you know, I believe God has a way of placing strangers in your life as your support team. Having a support team is key!
9. Follow God, not trends
On my blogging journey, I’ve been exposed to a lot of tips, trends, and strategies. No matter what people say, no one starts a project to fail. There have been a couple of times where I’ve thought about writing about certain topics because I knew they would be popular and get a lot of attention, however, I just didn’t feel peace about writing it.
The reality is that as a Christian blogger, you can’t follow trends, you have to follow God’s leading. There are a lot of times when I want to write a blog every week, but if I don’t have anything, I won’t say anything.
Whether you’re a blogger, Youtuber, podcaster, etc., if you are a Christian, following God’s leading should be your ultimate strategy. The work you put out may not be popular, but it should be edifying!
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