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What they DON'T Tell You About Blogging
1/26/2015 02:39:00 AM
Hey lovelies,
So, you're thinking of starting a blog... and all you see are posts about what you should do and what helps and how fun blogging is (which it is) and that's all good but no one's tells you about the struggles and how much work it is. So today, I thought I'd tell you all!
Okay, so I know the introduction was a tad bit dramatic, but it has to be right?
1. Writing posts are hard and they do take a lot of time and effort. Okay, I have to put this out there. When I thought of starting my blog, I thought about all the great ideas I had and all the tips and tricks I wanted to share BUT I didn't think about how hard it is to translate all of it in words. If I were to meet you and we started talking about makeup, I could go on for days (I'm a Gemini so I'm pretty much a chatterbox!) but, telling me to sit down and write everything down is pretty much a daily struggle (literally). However, it does pay off. Checking your views and seeing people's comments really do make it worth it! Heck even getting feedback from your friends make it worth it! (And I consider all my readers to be my friends too)
2. You won't get to 100 views in a day or 1000 in a week. This takes me to my next point. Yes, feedback is amazing and honestly comments and tweets make my day! But this feedback won't arrive immediately once you publish your first post. Comments might start pouring in from your first post or might not even come till your 20th post. It's all about Quality and Socializing. If you're just posting to get a post out there, and the quality is meh then you can't expect people to want to comment and actually follow your blog. Honestly, when I hit 100 views I was over the moon, but you have to remember it takes time.
3. Your blog won't go places if no one knows about it. Okay, so as a lot of you may know, I got motivated to start my blog because of the Makeup Social App, however, the inconvenience of the app is that you can't post clickable links and not everyone is going to click on your profile to get to your blog. So I made a bloglovin' account (which to this day, I am pretty clueless about) and that didn't really work out... And I was so convinced that linking my blog to personal account would be enough. Well, it wasn't. I wasn't able to tweet freely and I felt like the majority (more like 99%) of my tweets were either in Arabic or completely not relating to my blog. You need at least one your two social media accounts. Creating my twitter account (@lineupthemakeup follow me if you haven't yet for updates!) was probably the best decision I made! I've had my blog for 6 months today (happy half a year birthday to my blog!) and I've only had my twitter for 5 days!! Since I made my Twitter account, my daily views has gone up over and extra 50 views each day! I've been introduced to new bloggers and I learn so much more! HOWEVER it will also take time to build your following on Twitter but honestly interacting is SO MUCH FUN!
4. Making quality posts aren't as easy as they seem. Having a great camera (although it helps A LOT) and having a great blog post are not all you need to create a excellent blog post. I don't have the greatest quality pictures or backdrop for that matter, but I try to get 10-15 shots to make sure I got a right angle. It also takes loads of editing and tweaking to make the picture look just right. I literally went back and read the whole manual that came with my camera to make sure I was taking the best pictures I could with what I had. Honestly these days you could start off with your phone camera and it will be as good as some professional cameras out there! Then you could invest in a better quality camera once your blog grows more. So you've got your amazing pictures but now you actually have to write something worth reading that will complement you images! If the work is sloppy, there's no point in having amazing photos!
5. You're stuck and you just want to quit. Don't. It's hard and I know it can seem unfair sometimes because some people have it easier because they were already well known. My biggest tip to you is to be consistent and keep going. If you don't set a schedule (yes I know I stopped following a blogging schedule but hey, I'm posting daily until I figure it out!) you won't feel motivated. Keep a schedule and stay social! If you actually interact with your readers, you'll feel motivated and obligated (in a good way!) to post! If you know your readers are expecting a post on a certain day, it'll also motivate you to post more! Just keep going and you will see results!
So, you're thinking of starting a blog... and all you see are posts about what you should do and what helps and how fun blogging is (which it is) and that's all good but no one's tells you about the struggles and how much work it is. So today, I thought I'd tell you all!
Okay, so I know the introduction was a tad bit dramatic, but it has to be right?
1. Writing posts are hard and they do take a lot of time and effort. Okay, I have to put this out there. When I thought of starting my blog, I thought about all the great ideas I had and all the tips and tricks I wanted to share BUT I didn't think about how hard it is to translate all of it in words. If I were to meet you and we started talking about makeup, I could go on for days (I'm a Gemini so I'm pretty much a chatterbox!) but, telling me to sit down and write everything down is pretty much a daily struggle (literally). However, it does pay off. Checking your views and seeing people's comments really do make it worth it! Heck even getting feedback from your friends make it worth it! (And I consider all my readers to be my friends too)
2. You won't get to 100 views in a day or 1000 in a week. This takes me to my next point. Yes, feedback is amazing and honestly comments and tweets make my day! But this feedback won't arrive immediately once you publish your first post. Comments might start pouring in from your first post or might not even come till your 20th post. It's all about Quality and Socializing. If you're just posting to get a post out there, and the quality is meh then you can't expect people to want to comment and actually follow your blog. Honestly, when I hit 100 views I was over the moon, but you have to remember it takes time.
3. Your blog won't go places if no one knows about it. Okay, so as a lot of you may know, I got motivated to start my blog because of the Makeup Social App, however, the inconvenience of the app is that you can't post clickable links and not everyone is going to click on your profile to get to your blog. So I made a bloglovin' account (which to this day, I am pretty clueless about) and that didn't really work out... And I was so convinced that linking my blog to personal account would be enough. Well, it wasn't. I wasn't able to tweet freely and I felt like the majority (more like 99%) of my tweets were either in Arabic or completely not relating to my blog. You need at least one your two social media accounts. Creating my twitter account (@lineupthemakeup follow me if you haven't yet for updates!) was probably the best decision I made! I've had my blog for 6 months today (happy half a year birthday to my blog!) and I've only had my twitter for 5 days!! Since I made my Twitter account, my daily views has gone up over and extra 50 views each day! I've been introduced to new bloggers and I learn so much more! HOWEVER it will also take time to build your following on Twitter but honestly interacting is SO MUCH FUN!
4. Making quality posts aren't as easy as they seem. Having a great camera (although it helps A LOT) and having a great blog post are not all you need to create a excellent blog post. I don't have the greatest quality pictures or backdrop for that matter, but I try to get 10-15 shots to make sure I got a right angle. It also takes loads of editing and tweaking to make the picture look just right. I literally went back and read the whole manual that came with my camera to make sure I was taking the best pictures I could with what I had. Honestly these days you could start off with your phone camera and it will be as good as some professional cameras out there! Then you could invest in a better quality camera once your blog grows more. So you've got your amazing pictures but now you actually have to write something worth reading that will complement you images! If the work is sloppy, there's no point in having amazing photos!
5. You're stuck and you just want to quit. Don't. It's hard and I know it can seem unfair sometimes because some people have it easier because they were already well known. My biggest tip to you is to be consistent and keep going. If you don't set a schedule (yes I know I stopped following a blogging schedule but hey, I'm posting daily until I figure it out!) you won't feel motivated. Keep a schedule and stay social! If you actually interact with your readers, you'll feel motivated and obligated (in a good way!) to post! If you know your readers are expecting a post on a certain day, it'll also motivate you to post more! Just keep going and you will see results!
It will all pay off. Honestly, blogging has been one of the best things I've done in my life! It will make you happy and your blog will grow! Just be patient and consistent.
If you still feel like creating a blog after this, keep a look out for my tips on blogging tomorrow!
Don't forget to follow me on twitter (@lineupthemakeup) to be the first to learn about new posts, updates and to stay connected with me!
Until Next Time,
2 comments
It took me forever to start getting readers on my blog, I didn't realise how important networking and social media played a roll on your blog. Thanks for sharing this post :)
ReplyDeleteIt'sMyLife
honestly, everyone was saying it but I didn't think it was that important! My viewings have gone up at least 2x since I joined Twitter and it's only been 6 days! And you're welcome :) I hope you're enjoying blogging week :)
DeleteAnd I've just noticed we have the same name haha! x