Today marks my blog’s 12th birthday! When I started this little space on the internet all those years ago, I never knew what I had planned for it or how long it would be going for. So for me to still be blogging all this point is pretty amazing.
I have found that over the years blogging has changed so much and I have learnt so much from it, more than I probably would have ever imagined I would have done. It has almost opened up a whole new door for me to walk through and I can see why so many bloggers choose to go full-time or into a career around it.
Rather than write a post about blogging and what I have gained over the last year, I thought I would do a post on 12 things I have learnt from blogging over the years, to share just a little insight into what blogging is really like.
1 – Blogging is hard work
I thought I would start with the myth that blogging is easy, it is easy money and easy freebies and trust me when I say it is not! There is a lot that goes on in the background that you might not see or know about when you are reading a blog post. The blogger would have spent a lot of time not only on the post but on the SEO, images, keywords etc.
2 – Your biggest competition is you
When you are blogging, it is a fierce market to get the gigs that come up, especially the ones with some of the bigger brands. I won’t lie, I am sure there are some little battles going on somewhere in the internet, that I try to avoid, as that is just life.
However, your biggest competition in blogging is you.
If you want to improve and rise through the ranks in the blogging world, look at what you know, and what areas you can improve on and just worry about making your space the best space you can.
3 – You are never too old to learn
I think some people get a little put off by blogging and all that comes with it, as it can be quite technical. Please don’t be, I really believe that anyone can start a blog if they are passionate about it and learn as they go along.
What I know, might not be enough to teach people but I try and pick up new snippets every day to improve what I have. As blogging sits in the world of tech, it is ever-changing, the basis of writing a blog post remains but the things in the background will always be moving.
4 – There will be times when you don’t want to write
One of the traps I always fall into is feeling that I need to write a post every few days and when you push a post, it just does not come out in your tone of voice and the passion for writing it is not there. I have sat in the past at my PC for a few hours to write just 1 post, simply because I needed to write it but had no passion for writing it.
If you are going to start a blog, write when you feel like writing, even if it sits in draft for a while. Posts that are written with a passion for writing will always be your best posts.
When you feel like not writing, simply don’t.
5 – Blogging can be so rewarding
With many bloggers and influencers out there, it feels as though there are not enough ops to go around but there are. Over the years I have been able to do so much that I may not have had the chance to do and for those I will always be grateful.
Currently, I tend to not work on reviews as I have limited time, but if this is something you would be looking to do once you have established your blog then do it!
6 – You can make money from blogging
When I first started blogging, it was all about our journey with 2 children and sharing things we have or have done. It was never on the plan to get things that we could review and making money was never even on the cards yet over time, so much has changed.
It is possible to make money on a blog and how much that could be varies massively. This year has been quiet on the blogging front for me where I have taken my foot off the gas a little but I am working hard in the background learning to grow my blogs in other ways.
If your full intention is to create a blog to make money, it is possible to do and some people will do it quicker than others. It is just about being focused on getting to that goals.
7 – Blogging income comes from a variety of sources
Following on from the point above, if you are looking to make money from blogging it is worth knowing that there are many sources for this income. I won’t go into the details of how to do each of them on this post but I will give you a little breakdown below.
- Guest posts – Lots of companies will provide you with a pre-written post to publish. This will usually contain a link to the site they are promoting.
- Sponsored post – This is a post where you will be given the topic and a link and need to write your post around this.
- Advertisement – Usually in the footer or sidebar but paid on a monthly basis.
- Affiliate income – If you are promoting a product, you may find they have an affiliate scheme where you can earn a % per sale from the click-through on your link.
- Social media ads – For those with a good interactive social following, there are options to work with brands on an advert on these channels to promote their products.
- On-site ads (Adsense/Mediavine) – There are two main schemes for making money this way, they are Adsense and Mediavine. Both pop adverts on your site (similar to when you go to a big site) and then you get paid by the views on the site. If you can get onto Mediavine, this is your best way for passive income but you need to have a high number of views per month to get accepted.
8 – You can write about your passion
The beauty of blogging is it is your space on the internet. Even if you did not start a blog to share with people and it starts to gather momentum, continue to write about what you are passionate about.
The internet is a huge place and traffic can come in from around the world, it may surprise you in fact when you see where some of this traffic is coming from. Let your passion drive your blog, it will become so much easier to grow it should you want to.
9 – Blog traffic can be unpredictable
There is nothing worse than when you write a post that you love and it doesn’t get any views. Now this could be for a number of reasons around the SEO and keywords in the post or just the time of the year you have written it.
However, don’t be put off. Blogging traffic can be so unpredictable at times and can swing massively some days. If you are lucky enough to get your post to go viral, you can see your views shoot up overnight and then dip again.
Nailing down your SEO and social promotions will help your blog with the traffic it gains but try not to get too obsessed by watching the stats, which can be hard I know.
10 – Don’t be put off by other blogs
It can be hard to not feel a little disheartened when you see a blog doing amazing whilst you are plodding along despite working all the hours you can or maybe they have the chance to work with a brand that you love and have already written about.
Whatever it may be, try to not look at other blogs and let their success dull yours. Instead, use it to inspire you to push your blog on if that is where you want to be. It doesn’t mean that their blog is better than yours, it just means the brand felt that their blog was a better fit for the campaign.
11 – Be other bloggers’ cheerleaders!
You may feel as though you are in competition with other bloggers and their blogs for social following, views and brand collaborations but I’ve learnt over the years that as I said above, the only competition is yourself.
If you get time, give their social posts a like or comment and share anything they may have posted that is relevant for your followers. I am a huge fan of karma and celebrating others and what goes around, will come around. For example, if a blogger is working on a collaboration that you would love, the brand would more likely notice you if you share a nice comment or post.
12 – Don’t change your passion for views
This is my last tip and one I have learnt over the years.
I have tried so many things to make the blogs big enough for me to be able to quit work and I have never quite made it there. It took me years to work out that what might work for other bloggers, does not mean it will work for me.
When you have a passion for a topic or topics, the posts and the information shared in those will be so much better than those in a post where you have no passion. It is that which will bring in the readers and the posts will do so much better. Changing your topic or style of voice to match that of someone who you feel is more successful, does not mean you will become instantly successful.
Stick to doing what you love and it will get there.
I don’t know what the future holds for me in the world of blogging and whether I will be lucky to still be blogging 12 years down the line but I know that I am working in the background to work on my skills in areas that I have not nailed over the years to make things more sustainable over the years. In my ideal world, I would love to be my own boss and blog for a living full-time, but who knows what may happen.
For now, I am very grateful to be at the 12-year mark and to have achieved everything I have over the years.
