The Challenges of Starting a Blog
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Earlier I wrote a post about why Blogging is Practically Perfect. It’s only natural that I tip the balance the other way and share with you the challenges of starting a blog. My hope is that by presenting both sides, the perfect and the not-so-perfect, I am able to help you decide whether or not you would like to start on your own blogging adventure.
I thought for a long time before starting my blog. I would dismiss the idea of writing a blog only because I didn’t know where to start or what to expect. Blogging was completely out of my wheelhouse.
When I did give blogging some serious thought, I began by researching online about everything from blog traffic, SEO, Pinterest strategies, hosting options, and a million other things. Ok, probably not a million, bit it felt that way. I had and still do have so much to learn.
What I didn’t read a lot about are the challenges of starting a blog. I knew the information was out there, I just didn’t want to read it. I wanted to believe everything was going to be rainbows and unicorns.
Although a lot of blogging is rainbows and unicorns (yes, I said it), some of it is just plain hard. I have made my share of mistakes and experienced more than a few set-backs. The learning curve was and still is huge. If it weren’t for YouTube, Google, and Pinterest, I never would have gotten past the domain name.
I had to research everything. Sometimes I didn’t understand the terminology I was reading and I had to research THAT. Believe me when I say I felt as if I was running around in circles chasing my own tail.
Sometimes it’s just understanding that your blogging journey is going to challenge you in ways you have never been challenged before and it’s going to be okay. Everyone’s blogging journey is different and everyone has their own story to tell. Some bloggers experience success right away and others take some time.
The important thing to remember is that your success has to be measured by your own standards. Perhaps not in traffic or your ability to monetize, but rather something personal to you that keeps you motivated. Staying the course is key. One of the reasons blogs don’t succeed is people stop trying. They burn out. They lose their drive. They quit.
Know what to expect on your blogging journey so your blog can become successful. Stay the course. Keep going. Never give up.
Not Being Able to “Read” my Audience
One of the challenges I face with blogging is not being able to “read” my audience. Some of you know already that I’m a teacher. My audience on a weekly basis are four and five-year-olds who for the most part are easily entertained. I can easily adapt a lesson based on the feedback I’m receiving from my students. Content too high? Not engaging enough? Too easy? All of this I can tell by simply observing their behavior and watching their reactions. I can easily change what I’m doing to make a lesson more meaningful and engaging.
However, writing for an audience I can’t see is a very different and often difficult task. My perception of what readers want may be all wrong because I’m only looking at numbers when I’m using Google or Pinterest Analytics. No faces. No emotions. No voice. Nothing more than statistics, graphs, charts, and percentages. For me and how I process information, this will always be a challenge.
Patiently Waiting for Results
You will often read that blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. These my friends are very true words. Blogging is a process that requires time and patience to understand.
Everyone says it, you hit the publish button on your first post after spending days (or weeks or even months) on developing your blog and you expect immediate results. I read this time and time again and would think to myself that I would never expect that…and then I did. I totally anticipated hundreds of visitors the first week. I knew it didn’t work that way, but I didn’t care. I thought my blog would be different.
The reality is that yes, sometimes someone is fortunate enough to drive tons of traffic to their blog overnight. Most likely though, your traffic will start slow and gain momentum with time, consistency, and lots and lots of patience.
Working Consistently
Another challenging aspect of being a blogger is keeping a consistent schedule. It was easy in the beginning because I was on summer break and I could write into the wee hours of the night while my family slept. Once summer was over and I returned to the classroom, I had to really work hard to maintain the momentum I had built up.
This means losing sleep and giving up any free time at home to relax. I feel the need to work on my blog any chance I get. If I walk away from it for more than a day or two, I can see a difference in my traffic.
In order to stay consistent and work on my blog, I have learned to find pockets of time within my day I didn’t realize I had. These small pockets of time eventually add up to getting things done. I naturally don’t like to start something I can’t finish but I’ve had to make exceptions with my blog. Sitting in the car while my kids go to soccer practice, waiting for dinner to cook, or even waiting for a doctor’s appointment are all opportunities to work.
Keeping Track of Progress
How do you maintain momentum when you start to see growth with your blog? How do you know what’s working? How do you know what isn’t?
These questions are always on my mind. When I first started my blog, I wrote down notes about everything. I would go back and read my notes to ensure I was doing everything I needed to do to before going live. When my school year started a few weeks after I launched this blog, I suddenly stopped writing things down and simply did what I thought needed to be done without having a plan.
Big mistake. I was busy trying to write posts and create pins but otherwise accomplished very little.
I got myself back on track by using a planner. Each day I write down what tasks I complete and what tasks I still need to work on (either that day or by a deadline). Keeping track of my daily blog tasks has helped me to understand the impact that these tasks are having on my overall blog growth.
Some tasks that have helped to grow my traffic would have been forgotten if not written down. Understanding the correlation between what I did and the effect it had on my blog (either positive or negative) would be lost. Being able to go back and identify what I did or did not do keeps my goal of increasing blog traffic in sight and the tools I used to help me reach that goal.
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
There are aspects to every job that are more challenging than others. Blogging is no exception. There will be times where you will need to do something that you aren’t comfortable with. It may be requesting to guest post on a blog. It may be asking to join a Pinterest Group Board or a Tailwind Tribe. It may be applying to become an affiliate for a product you want to promote or promoting your own product.
Whatever it is, forcing yourself to step out of your comfort zone can be just what you need to take your blog to the next level. How big you become is totally up to you.
Take a chance to be something bigger than you ever dreamed of. Overcome the challenges of starting a blog and find your place within the blogosphere. Share your story with the world. We are waiting to hear from you.
