Today is my Blogaversary! I can’t believe I have been at this four years. Crazy. If you would have told me I would still be this small blogger after four years, I would have laughed. I knew I was going to BLOW UP! LOL. I didn’t and I haven’t YET. But I’ve learned a lot along the way and I’m sharing that today.
Just twirling because it’s my blogaversary. FOUR YEARS!!
This list is not in order of importance…except for the first bullet point:
· Have a plan, outline, idea, something before you start. Do not do what I did. Check out my post here on how I began.
• Set REALISTIC expectations when you are going to post on your blog and social media.
· Patience.
· It is not going to happen overnight.
· You need some blogger friends.
· Consistency is SO important.
· Quality Content.
· Photos are important.
· Videos, IG Stories, IG TV is a thing. Get on board.
· You NEED a blog. Instagram will shut you down in a minute and/or stop working.
· A newsletter is important…I’m working on that.
· Remember your WHY.
· Be honest. Be YOU! People are more invested if they feel like they know you.
· Don’t compare yourself…I work on this daily.
· It’s A LOT of work. Did I say A LOT?
· Don’t take it so serious…think will you die if you don’t hit 10k followers? I mean yes, if you want to make it profitable you should take it seriously, but not to the point that you lose yourself and/or your purpose.
· Be supportive of others, especially bloggers. Comment and/or like their post. Share when you can. Everything doesn’t go with your feed I get that, but find other ways to support. I have recently started shouting out 10 bloggers a week in my IG story.
· Even large bloggers have struggles. People say that numbers aren’t everything, and I’m beginning to see that. Y’all hear about the girl with 2.6 million followers and couldn’t sell 36 shirts? Numbers aren’t everything. Although I’m still shooting for 2k followers.
· This ish is hard, real hard.
· Be able to take constructive criticism.
· Network.
· Listen. If you are around a lot of bloggers, listen. Gems are always being dropped.
· Take notes.
· Ask questions. Well to bloggers who seem open.
· Not everybody is going to like you and/or your blog that’s okay. You are not doing it for them.
· Post for the followers you have now not the ones you are hoping for.
· Attend conferences and workshops when you can.
· Pitch, Pitch, Pitch
· Don’t jump on every offer when a brand reaches out to you. A lot of them are with that bull. Be careful. We all want to work with brands but not all brands are good for you and your brand.
This is a snap shot of all I have learned so far, and I am sure there will be more as my blogging career continues. If you follow me then you know I “quit” blogging all the time but overall I enjoy it. I am not close to where I want to be but I’m also not close to where I use to be.
I am sure I will not be quitting for real any time soon because I am not a quitter and plus I have come far enough now to keep pushing to see where I can go. So, Happy Four Year Blogaversary to me and here’s to many more.
Signed,
CC