Adventures

6 blogging lessons I’ve learned

Shelley

When you woke up this morning were you thinking about a decision you made 6 years ago?

Some decisions make a HUGE impact, whereas other decisions make only tiny differences in our lives.  And you know what, contrary to what we’re told to believe, it is okay to embrace small changes/choices we make in our lives.

As the old saying goes, “Small changes over time make a big difference.”

6 years ago, I made the decision to start my first blog.  At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about blogging.  In fact, my youngest daughter talked me into doing it.  Ah, gotta love things we do as parents do to humor our children’s sense of discovery.

The decision to start a blog was a walk on the wild side of life.

Well, that’s what I thought at the time.  I was so scared to take a leap of faith out of my comfort zone into the blogosphere as a newbie blogger.  Yikes…!

“Who am I to blog about silly random thoughts, from my little ol’ life, in a small little town in the mid-west?”  It was awkward.  I was afraid strangers were going to find me and steal my dog after seeing how cute he was when I posted pictures of him.

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Worse yet, I worried my readers were going to judge me for what I wrote.  My fears unfounded after checking in with reality.

“Get real!” I told myself as I opened up my stats for my blog.  It was easy to do after the discovery I remained damn obscure.

How do I know that is true?  The first morning after posting, being all excited to check in on my blog stats, I found get-real status as I realized only two people had read my blog.  Yep, that’s right, only two people.  My two daughters.  I love how faithful they are, especially when they’ve made a suggestion to try something new.

There’s nothing wrong with trying new things.  “Try it, you’ll like it, it tastes like ice cream.”  “Go ahead, try it, take a risk, if you don’t you won’t discover things in life.”

Or the big one, “You won’t grow if you don’t try new things.”

Blogging for the first time was like that for me.  It was exciting to try something new.  I didn’t think about being famous or rich.  I just wanted to have fun and see where it took me.  I don’t regret starting a blog.  Doing so did help me grow.  I am still growing.  Back then, though, I didn’t know where blogging would take me.

An unknown destination is fun.  For a while.

Then there’s the point where you start to wonder more about it and you do more research to find out what the successful people are blogging about and how are they making money.  There must be some secret to it? When you can’t figure it out, it is easy to start doubting yourself and wonder, “What’s wrong with me?”

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The stats on my old blog that I never write on anymore…!

I imagine every blogger, at one point or another, has dreams to be discovered.  That’s the hard part.  Fighting off wanting to be discovered while remaining authentic and true to yourself is hard.  Along the way, you can forget to have fun blogging.  If you’re not careful, desires to become rich and famous take you off track and steal your creative juices.

But, other bloggers make it look so easy.

They’ll tell you, “To be a successful blogger, here’s how to do it.”  “Take a risk, you can do it.”  Hear the chanting voices in your head telling you to grow out of your comfort zone?

Rarely do they tell you how hard it is?  They know, people don’t pay for “how hard it is.”  We pay for advice on “how easy it is.”  We take the easy bait – hook, line, and sinker.  If you build it, they will come.

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Sure, you can set up a blog in 10 minutes or less.  Sure you can make money blogging.  Sure you can be famous when you blog…but…there are things you have to dig down deeper to discover before you get any genuine SUCCESS!

6 lessons to learn about blogging the pros don’t tell you:

  1. To be a successful blogger, realize it takes a long time to get “discovered”. Overnight successes are RARE.  Take a closer look at the cool bloggers, many of them have been writing for 10 years or more before becoming famous.
  2. Be consistent.  I guess they do tell you this one.  But it is important to repeat it. You can’t just blog when you feel like it.  You have to show up on a predictable or consistent basis.  People won’t take you seriously.  And you won’t take yourself seriously if you’re inconsistent.
  3. You are noticed way less than you hope for, especially if you know nothing about how blogging works, or how to comment on other people’s blogs, or how to write something interesting.  Don’t count on your close family and friends who might check in on you occasionally.
  4. Remind people to read your posts. You have to be willing to beg or put yourself out there beyond just writing a blog post.  Get comfortable with saying, “Hey, I just wrote a blog post, check it out.”  That bit of advice does seem to work.  And it is scary as hell to do.
  5. Don’t be suckered into thinking you’ll be rich and famous overnight as a blogger. Overnight success is for those who magically win the lottery without buying a ticket.  Thinking otherwise about success will lead you to feel defeated and frustrated.
  6. Bottom line blog for fun. That’s where the real success comes in.  Remember when you first started, it was fun, wasn’t it?  If you’re not having fun, you’re never going to be discovered.

At the right time in your journey, being discovered will happen.  That moment is like taking an awesome photo.  You don’t know what you did to get it, it just happened.

The real secret is…don’t try so hard that you forget to have fun!

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Post Inspiration – I’m reusing a blog post that no one ever read (according to the stats).  I posted it originally on July 30, 2017.  Not a soul read it.  I re-read it today, tweaked it and am resharing because I can and I still love the photos.  Some data never gets old to me.  #AugustBreak2019 – Numbers.

PS – For those of you who have followed me for a while – THANK YOU, I appreciate you!  Did you notice the feature picture – it’s a sunrise shot of the before the neighbor’s shed appeared there!?! What hobby have you tried that you’ve stuck to for years and find you’re still growing with it and not ready to give it up yet?   

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

41 thoughts on “6 blogging lessons I’ve learned”

  1. Yep, you said it all. The people who last the longest in blogging are the ones who figure out your 6 points and then remember them. Consistency and sincerity help make a blog a success, even if very few people read it.

  3. You make many excellent points! I especially can relate to Lesson #3 about not counting on family and friends to read your blog. So true. That has been the biggest surprise in many ways. But I try not to take it personally.
    The privacy part is difficult to navigate – I understand the initial worry about your dog, etc. I have so many initial posts that nobody read but me, but it was still fun.
    Beautiful pre-shed photo 🙂

    1. Thank you, glad you liked the points. I was surprised too by #3. I often think it relates to the fact that what we write about isn’t new news to them. If they’re close, they already know the stuff, or they’re secretly scared you’ll write about them or that you’ll ask them what they think? I dunno – I’ve given up trying to figure it out. It is what it is. Privacy – yeah…we all still want to know your name, so we can greet you on a first name basis ;-)!
      Thanks – that was a beautiful view – I miss it so. 🙂

  4. Great thoughts and most of all… have fun. My original purpose for starting long went by the wayside as this is such a fun place to be, to share and to say Hi.

  5. Good points. I have a hard time with No4, promoting your blog. When I initially shared my blog and would mention it, none of my friends read it, even those who had signed up as followers never said anything ever, so I just gave up on them all…..and now my blog is basically anonymous. They have all forgotten about it, and I never bring it up. You’re lucky your daughters encouraged you.

    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Joni. I try to remember that we’re all different and find joy in different ways – my friends may do things that their excited about and I would never do – doesn’t mean they don’t like me for doing what I find joy in, just means it isn’t their thing. That’s okay – and as long as I’m having fun, that’s why I’ll keep on keeping on. PS – neither one of my kids reads my blog on a regular basis – they will when I send them a link. Forced reading, just like when they were little and didn’t want to do their homework. LOL

      1. HA! I guess I’m just not good at self-promotion. But the thing is, if a friend of mine did something new she was excited about, I would at least try to whip up some enthusiasm and encouragement, as I would consider being supportive as part of being a friend. Mostly what I encountered was apathy, which is hurtful in some ways, but it is what it is. I think some people are not into writing or reading, they just don’t bother. Think of all the people in the work who never ever pick up a book!

        1. You’re not off track in feeling the apathy. All of us enjoy enthusiasm, encouragement and even empathy much more. I’m astonished at the number of people who don’t bother to read. Thank goodness for those who do continue to write and read! I do hope you find joy in those who do stop to read and share their thoughts on your blog. Keep on keeping on – and have fun! xx

  6. Great points, Shelley. My family never reads my blog either (except my niece) unless I tell them they are mentioned. Then I think they read just to make sure I’m not saying anything they don’t want “out there.” Eventually I would like to make some money blogging but I’d like to make money doing a lot of things (crafting, YouTubing, etc.) so I’m willing to keep plugging along. I really do it because of #6.

    1. Thanks Janet! LOL – yeah, there’s that worry that there’s stuff out there. I used to worry about that more, then I realized, if there’s a will to find stuff about someone, it’s pretty darn easy to do so.
      I’m happy you and I crossed paths here – together we can keep plugging along to find what works for us! If you find any shortcuts – do share! 😉

  8. My main advice is do it for yourself. Yes, it’s a rush when people leave comments, but there have been days when I’ve posted stuff that gets no comments or likes, and I’ve realized that’s OK.

  9. Hi Shelly! Excellent post. Loved it.You covered nearly everything. I completed years in blogging. Knowing my limitations I restricted myself to small posts and for fun only. I made lots of encouraging friends here.

    1. Hi Indira – thank you, I appreciate hearing your thoughts. I’ve been pondering the ‘small posts’ idea this month. You’re right – the encouraging friends is an enjoyable part of the experience.

    1. Hi, Donna – thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. WOW – your recent post with Sue about ageing was a hot topic. Thank you for sharing your information, it is definitely important for us as we age. xx

  12. Hi Shelley, I am at my one year blogging anniversary and I have learned a great deal this year. I know this learning curve will continue. A common thread I read on blogs is “remaining authentic.” I like your 6 lessons. I appreciate your candor and vulnerability Shelley. I especially like your message on having “fun.”

    1. Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary. That’s a great accomplishment. Many people give up before that. Yes, remaining authentic is important too. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed my post, thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. Happy Blogging to you!

  13. Shelley – everything you say is true. I started my blog in February 2013 and a handful of people signed up, two regular commenters only though, and after Marge, the person who encouraged me to start the blog, passed away, I was down to one commenter, my good friend Ann Marie. I have written posts about friends who could not take the effort to read something written about them – I didn’t just e-mail the link and say “here” – no, I said I thought you might like to read about yourself or this event we shared in the past. In fact, one friend said about a post written just about her and a kitten she rescued and wrote about for days on her Facebook page: “oh, I’ll read later if I have time.” Please don’t act like you’re doing me a favor – I won’t bother you with my writing again, be assured of that.

    I’ve written posts that would resonate with one of the subscribers – nothing. Obviously they just delete the posts, or skim over them and missed my mention of them in the post. I started getting followers in November 2017 and was amazed and just passed 500 WP follower a week or so ago. I’m astounded over that, but I’m a realist too – I also know they are, for the most part, empty follows – in the beginning I followed back everyone – big mistake as I ran myself ragged trying to keep up. It doesn’t have to be quid pro quo for every single post but there has to be some balance to the situation too. I got a post in Reader from someone tonight – I’ll bet it is a year since she posted. I forgot about her. I unsubscribed – who posts once a year and I never see you at my blog. If you’re going to appear again and not mention your absence … what sense is that? If you’re likewise going to go off the grid, announce it and then announce your return. I was so tempted to take a blogging break in July/early August when things at work got so hectic but I persevered and reduced my amount of posts to keep up with others. Blogging is a lot of work and a friend of mine this week spoke of what I consider not just a hobby, but something that consumes a good part of every day. It’s my labor love – If I’m not writing or taking pictures for my blog, then I’m reading and interacting with fellow bloggers, most of whom who take their time to read/comment on my blog. And the rest of the time the gears in my brain are churning about my next post or how I’m going to use the last batch of pictures. It never ends. So a good friend remarked to me something to the effect that I don’t know how you put in all that time for that blog. “That blog,: I had no comment. Her interests and hobbies hold no appeal to me, but I’ll be d*mned if I’d say that. I was raised to be polite so I took the high road, but gritted my teeth. P.S. – I saw the unfinished “work in progress” building and thought “oh no, something new on Shelley’s horizon!” then read that you had recycled a 2017 post.

    1. You’ve hit on the highs and lows of blogging. I agree with all you’ve said. Blogging is a labor of love, and you should keep on doing what makes you happy. And I love that you notice little details, like me reusing a post from 2017. Why should I reinvent the wheel when no-one saw it in the first place, right?! It’s been kind of fun to see that maybe it wasn’t a horrible post after all?! Plus, it’s not plagiarism when I repost my own stuff. I’m not like those bloggers who steal other people’s blog posts as use them as their own. PS – the idea to reuse old posts came from Dan at NoFacilities. He’s so brilliant!

      1. Shelley, when I (finally) had someone follow me from within WordPress it was in November 2017. I was incredulous asking “how did you know to find me?” Before it was just word of month, or a few friends who never commented, despite the fact that my blog appears at the local newspaper’s blog roll. This blogger, Keith Watson, is a poet/photographer and his blog is “Uncle’s Tree’s House” – his persona is a tree and he had a cartoonist draw his likeness within a tree trunk. He said I was searching for “tree” in Reader and you wrote a post about trees. I was naive I guess. So Keith had a lot of followers, thousands at that time. I said “I’m so excited to have a follower from WP!” He said “I’m glad I’m your first, but it can be a curse or a blessing depending on how you look at it. There are days when I feel I just have to step away from it.” (Kind of like what Hugh said recently.) I always remembered him saying that when things got tough this Summer – I wanted to take a blogging break, but due to my blog being on the blog roll at the newspaper, I was not happy with the fact that I’d go off their grid either (thinking crime wise here – does it look like I’m on vacation – Saturday afternoon a house was broken into the middle of the day, two cars within 20 feet from the house, occupants home) … anyway, I persevered. Keith’s on a blogging break … about four posts this year … had some losses in his life, including his long-time companion who died in her sleep. I digressed. I have found during the time I could not keep up here every day as I did before (since I told my boss – I need to have my weekends to just get away – I’ll work every night to work on this big project). Well that was all good, but suddenly when I couldn’t keep up and comment daily, a few people stopped commenting on what few posts I generated. I read/commented but am still behind a day or two. I hated this experience to be “quid pro quo” as Ally wrote about in a post a month or two ago, but I sure had mixed feelings, but was a little surprised about a few people. And interestingly, others whom I regularly comment on and did not, quickly came over to my posts and left a comment. It is too much like a game sometimes. I agreed with Hugh saying that – I wrote that long post yesterday and someone presses “like” before a minute had passed.

        And like you, I find it difficult to keep up with social e-mails. I find myself looking at my e-mail inbox (which looks like yours – large, unopened and vendor e-mails etc. etc.) and just saying “maybe tomorrow” and I’m afraid to reach out to some friends on Facebook as it might begin a back-and-forth that cuts into writing/commenting/reading time. When I was finally free on weeknights I had a chance to read some e-mails. One friend I said “I’m reading, and will comment later.” (But still have not.)

        I’ve re-used portions of blog posts done years ago before. Yes, don’t reinvent the wheel. I reposted my Christmas Eve “Night Before Christmas” post and likely will do it again as I spent so much working on it.

        I was telling a friend about a post I wrote about the Fall colors. Rather than searching for it in my blog, I just Googled what I remembered was the title of the post (“Fall Comes a’ Calling to Council Point Park”). I knew it would come up for my blog at WP and also at Patch.com. But my post did not come up first – it was some online magazine and they used my title, my content but a different image. I was shocked – this was several years ago. I didn’t know about people stealing posts, etc. Yes, probably could have/should have gone after them. They have taken it down, but I didn’t intervene.

        I did notice the details of the picture – I looked ahead and saw the lumber, shell of a building and thought about your horizon.

        I’ve got a lot of photos to sort into posts – it seemed unthinkable to me before this Summer that I should not generate a post the same day as I walked or attended an event, but I’ve now done that and said “_______ weeks ago” and it worked fine. I spent 8 hours in three venues a week ago Saturday and not even looked at the photos yet! One thing blogging awhile has taught me is you can go out and sometimes seek out photos and walks to have variety in your blog and to try to keep it fresh and interesting. I wanted to get the post about the art event out – it was three weeks ago for goodness sake. I hope to post more regularly – the on-and-off storms yesterday got me behind in responding to comments – I try never to do that but that art post took a while to compile as I shut down several times due to the weather. As usual my comment was length. 🙂

        1. Linda – you’ve touched on such wonderful nuggets of blogging truths – you should use the comments you shared as a reflective post on your blog. I bet you have some awesome photos you could use for it too. I feel many of the same feelings often, and wonder what this whole thing is about. Like Ally said many times – if you think about it like chatting at the water cooler at work, it can be fun. Thank you, dear, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts – I’m thankful you put up with my scattered approach to getting back to reading and commenting on your blog. My limited time for this hobby of mine restricts my efforts, maybe that’s good, maybe it’s bad, but it is what it is!

          1. Perhaps I could touch on it for my 7th anniversary next February Shelley. I don’t want to be too vocal about it … I got ornery about a few people because I had been investing a lot of effort there and because I dropped off the map, did not mean it was permanent – but there are some bloggers who are retired and post 3-4 times a day. It contributed to my being behind. I’ve not been a good blogging pal this Summer, often lagging behind, often with your posts too. Look what I did to myself this last week – five posts in five days, four of them long. I did that to myself and thus made myself behind some more. I can’t have angst over it though just because I have yet to find my balance – perhaps I never will. We all catch up eventually.

          2. That’d be a good time to write those thoughts. I fret sometimes about my reciprocal or lack thereof efforts on blogging. I think, bottom-line, we all get it and we all understand you have to find what works for you, and go with it. And have fun…when it becomes frustrating, we’ve lost the ultimate goal. If you find a way to catch up – THAT would be a post to write about!

          3. Yes, we both have to remember not to take the fun out of blogging – that’s exactly what Hugh alluded to in some of his posts I’ve read since following him and not to be on a hamster wheel. One blogger has said to me that she’s retired and still can’t keep up and has remarked “I’m so glad I waited until I was retired to start a blog.” Anne does short posts maybe two-three times a week. Maybe we need to just rationalize that as long we we are working, we’ll never catch up with everything.

          4. Bingo! I often look at blogs that have been around a long time, for big bloggers – like Rowdy Kittens. Tammy had been blogging for 15 years – she still has a blog, but she finally said it took too much time, so she launched other things. I think it is important to find the balance that is right for you and your lifestyle. I don’t know that we’ll ever catch up. I’m okay with that.

  15. These are great bits of advice, Shelley. #6 is the best. If it isn’t fun, and it isn’t related to your job, you shouldn’t be doing it.

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