I consider myself a new, inexperienced blogger who attempted to blog since January, 2010. You are probably wondering what useful information I have to share if I call myself “inexperienced.“ Please, bare with me just for another minute and you will see.
Majority of guest posts on a lot of popular and professional blogs feature mostly successful and experienced bloggers who share their blogging experience and advice. But what about us, young, inexperienced but enthusiastic bloggers? We also have something to say. Sometime we wish that someone, who just has started blogging, would share his/her experience. Blogging is not an easy craft. Especially in the beginning.
I decided to share my early blogging experience for one reason only. I hope that new, young, inexperienced and somewhat lost bloggers will read it and say “Hey, we are not alone. We are in this together.” I also hope that experienced and professional bloggers will read it, smile, nod and remember their early days in the blogosphere.
Blogging can be a long and lonely process that requires a lot of commitment and patience. Not everyone is a blogger. Not everyone should blog just because someone told them they write well, have great ideas and can make money blogging.
I have opened and closed three blogs within a period of three months. My first blog turned very fast from being fun into a huge overwhelming responsibility. For God Sake, I was writing a novel on a blog! I didn’t give myself any chance to explore any other subjects. Within three weeks I got writer’s block and closed the blog.
Lesson Learned: don’t jump into blogging because today you have something to say to the world. Will you have something to say tomorrow? In a week? How about in a month? Think, research, evaluate. In other words, plan before you jump this rope. Give yourself time and flexibility. Leave a few doors open, especially in the beginning. If you do choose a very specific narrow subject, you might and you will write yourself out.
My next blog was a book review blog. It survived about two weeks and had a total of five reviews. No one ever commented on my blog. But neither did I. Soon it got very lonely. I was blogging by myself with myself.
Lesson learned: blogging can be a lonely business unless you create a collaborative working partnership with your readers. Build open communication. Put yourself out into the blog world, go visit other blogs and write meaningful and sincere comments. Let other bloggers know that you exist, read and like their blogs.
Next time I was very careful choosing a blog niche. I gave myself time. I left a few doors open. I brainstormed and carefully planned my re-entrance into the blog world. This time the idea was to open a literary magazine that would feature new and/or already known talent in writing, poetry, photography and art.
It was a great idea for someone who did not want to write. I dove into the work and started posting other people’s stuff. It was easy. It was fun. People were submitting their poems, short stories, memoirs, photography and etc. A waiting list of bloggers wanting to post on my blog was growing day by day.
The problem was that I wanted to write, express my opinion and share my own work. I needed to be a part of my blog because the blog was already a part of me. Unfortunately, I did not have time to do any of my own writing because all I did was read, edit, schedule and post other people’s work.
I have yet to issue an official apology to the subscribers and guest bloggers for closing this blog down. I am very sorry I let you all down. Please forgive me.
Lesson Learned: a blog is an extension of you. It is a part of who you are. It represents your personality, knowledge and creativity. Embrace this fact and express yourself freely. Learn to share your ideas, insecurities and confidences with your readers. Don’t be afraid of what you have to say and how it will be understood by others. Trust your readers. Be yourself and feel safe about it.
Very honest post! Blogging is a lot harder than it looks, and it is definitely not the path to quick riches.
I think your blog is off to a great start, and I bet you stick with this one. The Yakezie is a great group of people that help keep each other going!
Thank you! It is a true story. I wanted to share it with everyone. I hope poeple will understand.
Great post. I struggled a little bit with this in the beginning, but as my theme was broad from the beginning, I quickly found my own voice and learned to go with the flow. I sometimes do feel the pressure to write on certain topics due to my niche, but I try to let my passion guide me, rather than writing anything simply because I think I need to.
I think all bloggers struggle in the beginning. Now, my niche is broad enough for me not to stumble. I hope!
great advice for beginners! I had to learn the same lessons, you are on the right track.
I hope I am on the right track. Would be really embarrassing not to be! LOL
Wish I read this in January! This is good advice, and I think that people with experience can benefit from this as well.
Thank you! I wanted to share with my readers how I started and where my desicions took me.
It took me more than 2 weeks for my first comment but I did get visitors by commenting regularly on other blogs in the niche.
It’s good to let others know the reality. Growing my blog has been slow but steady. It’s given me the time/space to learn as I go.
Traffic can be very frustrating. But I learned that I need patience and time. Good things are worth waiting for.
I like this post. You’re really sharing some lessons learned here, which can help others in getting started the right way. Also, you’re showing resilience by moving forward despite past efforts that were well-intentioned but not quite right for you on some level.
It took me a little while to get my first comments, and I appreciated them because of the growing pains.
Thank you! Blogging is not as easy as people think. It can be very emotional. It can be very lonely. But at the end it also can be very rewarding.
I’ve written the odd blog post before – on Bebo and Facebook – before starting this blog. And i’ve stuck with it for two years! It’s evolved over that time and I’m STILL finding my feet.
I am finding my feet too. But this time it is much easier as my niche is quite broad which helps.
Absolutely.
And you know what’s the best part of your course? You did not give up. Of course you did close a couple blogs, but so what? You kept seeking what you really wanted to have, and I hope you’ve found it in the current blog
I think I finally found myself. It took a while but at the end it was worth it!
Insightful post! The blog as an extension of you is a huge key. If you’re not passionate about a topic or post, your voice will not come thru and it will read like text book.
Best of luck in your future posts – write more posts like these and you’ll get people commenting and really “feeling” what you’re saying.
Thank you Jason! Freedom of expression is everything.
Blogging can be extremely lonely since you sit in silence typing away at a computer and you’re never really sure how many people appreciate what you have to say. I blogged for a year and a half before comments began rolling in, but what I realized was that I had to be consistent. People have short attention spans so I have to make my stories long enough to be engaging, entertaining and also (when I feel like it) educational, but short enough to not lose people, and I had to do it on a regular basis. The advice I give others wanting to start a blog is – don’t. Not unless you want it to consume you and you can nurse the baby for at least a year.
Blogging does require a lot of patience. I am not that patient. I cannot imagine myself blogging for 1.5 with no one to talk to. You did so great! A lot of people do not realize that blogging is VERY time consuming. It is like having a second job, or nursing a baby like you said, or building a business from a scratch. It can be really tough.
I think my blogging career started back in high school with LiveJournal.com, haha. I was always starting blogs, but never stuck with any until I started writing AccountingElf.com when I was interning. All of a sudden I had a lot to say about one subject. After a year, I started to run out of steam – now that I’m working again, I seem to have more to say to the world! I changed my domain though, to AccountantByDay.com, because AccountingElf.com was just too silly for me, haha.
That was a funny name. Not silly. Elf and accounting doesn’t seem to go together. But you never know, right?
Aloysa, it seems experience has taken you to the point where you know what you want and, let me tell you, you’re doing great. I really like your writting and I find it inspirational. I’m also a new, young blogger, trying to get more involved with what other people are doing and to connect with my audience.
Yesterday I was reflecting on a couple of things about my blog, that has just about 5 months, and I’ve resolved to make it more personal, sharing my experiences and trying to help others by really touching them, rather than just sharing cold information and facts.
This resolution has been reinforced by what I just read.
Again, thank you for sharing your insights.
Thank you so much for your words! I am indeed at the point where I finally know what I want and where I am going with my blog. It wasn’t easy to get to this place. I do agree that blogs with personality are much more interesting to read than the ones that present only cold hard facts. Seems to me that you are doing just great!