Last week, we started with 10 tips for starting your blog. Since the post was so long, I decided it was best to break it up into two parts. Now that you’ve started your blog and are starting to publish content, what’s next?
When you first start out (for the most part) your only
readers will be your family and friends. We’ve all been there, and this is
honestly how everyone gets their start. Word of mouth is the
best way to get your feet on the ground. Friends and family are the people who
will always support you and be your most loyal blog readers in the beginning.
I think my mom still tells anyone she knows about my blog.
But I’m not complaining because every little bit helps and it’s always nice to
have a support system. Their friends will tell their
friends, the telephone game begins and just keeps going down the line.
7. Promote On Social
Media
Along with sharing your content with family and friends,
share it with your social media followers. They chose to follow your life so
why not take advantage of a following that’s already built? One of my most
asked questions from people starting a new blog and sharing content socially is
if they should make separate social accounts for their blog. I don’t believe there is a
hard and fast rule on this topic but I can help better explain some pros and
cons for each.
Pros/Cons for creating
separate accounts:
Pros: You’ll have
more engaged followers because the people following you know that the only
thing they’ll get out of it is blog content. You also won’t lose as many followers over time since they chose to follow you for your content.
Cons:
You’re now overseeing a lot of different accounts and it can get
overwhelming! It’s hard to remember to put content out on each of
the accounts you manage.
Pros/Cons for keeping
your old account & promoting the blog:
Pros: You already
have a following. In all reality, the hardest part is getting people to
your page. Why not leverage the friends you already have to start spreading the
word? You just keep doing what you’re doing and sprinkle in some blog content
so it’s not very overwhelming.
Cons: There
will come a time when either your blog or your personal life takes over and you’ll
start a separate account for your work friends (guilty). Blog followers don’t want
to see your drunk photos at night and your friends don’t want to see your 10th
selfie that day. You’ll create a second account but never really use it (at
least that’s how I am).
Now of course all of the above talk is mainly focused on
Twitter and Instagram. For Facebook you’ll obviously create a new business page, and for Pinterest it won’t truly matter. We’ll talk more about how to promote
your blog on different social accounts in the coming weeks!
8. Stay True To Yourself
I feel like a lot of people struggle with this online. They
see someone with great success and they copy them thinking they’ll also be successful. It's the “if it works for one person it must work for me” kind of mentality. But this is
so far from the truth it hurts!
Remember last week the first tip talked about standing
apart from the rest? Why would someone want to just see another carbon copy
blogger? You need to stay true to yourself online – what you like, what you
wear, how you feel, how you write – everything! Staying true to yourself is what
keeps the followers coming back for more.
9. Power Through Hard Times
Not going to lie, blogging can be really rough sometimes.
Between online negativity and comparing yourself to others, blogging can really
get to you. I still catch myself making comparisons to others and that’s when you get down in the dumps. Blogging also doesn’t ever really have an end date. But my key to
getting through all of this is to focus on yourself and keep doing what you’re
doing.
Also be sure to remember that success does NOT come overnight. You’re not going to start a blog and instantly start making money or
working with brands. You’re going to have to fight and really put everything
you have into making this blog a success. You’re going to have to power through
hard times. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
10. Don’t Try To Do Too Much
My last tip for starting a blog is to go slow. There are so
many things you can do to really make your blog great, but when you do them all
at once you can get stressed and eventually burn yourself out. Take it step by
step, day by day and really set time aside to focus on one thing at a time.
You should be thinking of doing one or two things really
well and then doing 10 things just "ok." Set your sights and goals high, but
know it takes dedication and focus to complete each step.
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Check
back next week for part two of Blogging Better: How To Take the Perfect Blog Photo. If you have any
questions or topics you'd like covered in this series, please let me
know down below!
