Ahhh…The world of blogging. Starting a blog seemed so magical and easy. Everyone lives a perfect life where they have endless hours to write the perfect blog post complete with the perfect pictures. That is what I thought it would be like when I first started my blog. The lessons I have learned in my first 6 months have been rather eye opening. If I could sum up my experience into 3 lessons they would be:
- No pain, no gain.
- Do what you love.
- Love what you do.
No Pain, No Gain
Blogging looked so easy. You just pick a template, change up the colors and go, right? Oh so wrong. I have learned more than I ever thought possible. I have searched google, YouTube, and Pinterest for so many different tiny little things. My blog still isn’t where I would LOVE for it to be, but it will happen a little at a time. I didn’t realize how many different kinds of blogging there were. Some people do it for the money, some people do it because they love it, and some people have found the formula to combine both.
If you are looking to start your own blog, let me pass on the best advice that I found: Put yourself out there. Don’t worry about the mistakes you may make at the beginning. Chances are you have barely anyone reading the blog to see your mistakes anyway!
Do What You Love
When I started doing more in-depth researching on the money aspect of blogging, I quickly realized that it could become a trap that anyone could get sucked into. I could spend my time getting paid to review products, write content for the blog that people pay for, or network to gain followers. I could spend my entire day staring at a glowing screen. BUT, I was a Mom first, and I will remain a Mom first. That’s what this blog is all about anyway. I read an article recently that gave the advice that to gain followers you needed to focus first on quantity over quality. Wow. Just look at my recent track record and you will see that I am not always able to be consistent on the frequency of my blog posts. I don’t want a schedule to be more important than the quality of the content. Just know if there isn’t a recent update, we are either having fun because of a school vacation, or I have been taking care of sick kids round the clock for a week. (ugh)
If you have the desire to share what you love, don’t let what you don’t know or don’t have time for hold you back. Some blogs are only updated once a week, some sporadically. Don’t let time, money, or know-how keep you from trying.
Love What You Do
I never knew that I loved writing. That’s what blogging is: writing. Yet somehow I hated the writing part of any school classes. I think of blogging more as typing what I would say out loud to a friend. Then it doesn’t seem like an arduous task. I have honestly LOVED blogging. It has helped me not only finish projects, but has helped me realize many of the strengths that I possess as a woman and mother. Having the ability to say things that could potentially help someone is pretty empowering.
If you think you would love blogging, try it! Everyone’s story is different. There is no one out there exactly like me, or you. Your story, perspective, advice, experiences are needed!
Hopefully this will help anyone waiting for that extra push to start a blog. Know that it can be hard, but your genuine story of your life experience is waiting to be shared!
What will you blog about?
