5 Home Truths about Blogging.

Since the revolution of the Blog, many misconceptions have been made about not only Blogs themselves, but the people behind them. Blogging is a constant learning curve and there's always something new to know - at least for me.

I thought I'd share 5 things that I've discovered on my blogging journey...

It isn’t all plain sailing

It’s not just snapping a few pictures and writing a few words – blogging is hard work. There are so many different factors to consider when writing a post that it can become overwhelming pretty darn quickly. There’s product placement, lighting, clarity, editing…and that’s just the picture. Writing includes flow, accessibility, spelling/grammar checks, hyperlinks and making sure you’re even writing a read-worthy post to begin with. Half the time, you do all this work that can take half a day only to delete the entire thing because you hate it. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s easy.

Being a blogger doesn’t entitle you to bucketloads of freebies

Probably my biggest pet peeve when it comes to blogging. Freebies are nice, yes, and it’s rewarding when a PR company contact you but again, this takes a lot of hard work and dedication to your blog. Also it’s important to get yourself ‘out there’ and make yourself known before you can even think about getting freebies. My advice – don’t start a blog if it’s for the free products, it’ll only end in disappointment.

Blogging can be rewarding

Following on from the previous point, blogging can be rewarding and not just in the ‘receiving free stuff ‘ category. Looking back on how my blog looked when I first started, I’m amazed people actually read it. My camera-work was shoddy at best and the overall look wasn’t exactly eye-catching but I loved it and I’ve worked hard on it ever since. It’s rewarding for me to continuously develop my blog and watch more and more people read it. It’s beyond satisfying.

There will still be people who don’t ‘get you’

The amount of times someone’s asked me what I do with my spare time, or where I eventually see myself and I say ‘Oh, I’m a blogger’ they look at me like I’ve just asked their permission to set them on fire. To be fair, it’s usually adults older than me who aren’t familiar with the internet as such – my Mum had no idea what a blog even was before I showed her mine. Take it on the chin because no matter what anybody does in this world, someone somewhere will think it’s lame.

Be prepared for a whirlwind of Social Media

Not everyone enjoys social media – I get that. But if you want your blog to be successful, social media is key. On average, a blogger uses 5 different social media outlets and I’ll be honest and say they’re fundamental in getting readers to your blog – at least in my experience. Posting on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Bloglovin’ etc… will be more beneficial for your blog than just posting it and hoping someone, somewhere will read it. Not every form of social media is necessary – I don’t have a Facebook page for mine despite reading countless articles about how it’s needed – nothing is necessarily needed, it just helps towards building your blogging platform.

As hard as it's been to keep up with posting consistently and writing readable content, I've never regretted starting my blog. I've found it so gratifying and I take great pride in it. I've been blogging for a little over a year now and I still get excited when I see someone's commented on a post. 

As difficult as it may seem at times, it's all worth it in the end. 

Lauren

xo