Imprintalish has had my heart for just over 2 years, has gone through many changes and has grown in more ways then I ever imagined. I’ve learned so many things in the last year especially, and experienced lots of good and some bad. Today I wanted to share with you 3 things I wish I had known before I started blogging.
1.
To get followers, you must reach out.
I had no idea that this 'world of bloggers’ exsisted. Sure, I knew that other blogs were out there. But I never knew the magnitude of support that would come from other fellow bloggers. I had no idea what ‘following’ was. If someone followed me, should I follow back? If someone commented on my blog, should I comment back? So many things to think about! It’s really a full circle kind of deal. What you put out, you get back. Maybe, back in the wee days of Imprintalish if I had concentrated a little more time on reading and commenting on my favourite blogs, I’d be a little more ahead. Who knows?! It is definetly a time thing though and you should do whatever fits into your schedule and time frame. Honestly, I could sit for hours browsing through blogs, but in reality, not feasible at all! Final thought on this, I
do feel as though the genuine thoughtful commenting bloggers are the ones that grow.
2.
Blogging is not easy money.
Ah yes, the dreaded money talk. When I first started blogging, my main reason was to document things that made an impression on me but I secretly had the thought of blogging as an income tucked away in my head for a rainy day. It wasn’t until last fall (a year and a half into it) that I actually started making efforts to see those dreams come true. Of course, the money didn't start flowing in just because I wished for it, and to be honest, it still doesn’t flow in, LOL. From my experience, to make money blogging, you have to have a heck of a lot of time to pour into your blog; design, posts, interacting with other bloggers, sponsorships and advertising. Meaning, maybe a mom of two boys under 3, with a part time job, a house to run, a husband and lots of creative ideas/projects, doesn’t exactly have time to dedicate full time hours to making money blogging….?! Unless sleep is not that important to you {and it is for me!}But then again, sometimes people are just lucky and get to have it all :)
2. You will constantly compare yourselves to others.
Everyone paints a pretty picture on their blog, why? Beacuse it's easy to do that, it's easy to focus on the pretty things and not the reael things. You will see the popular, bigger, better bloggers and you will want a piece of it. You'll go crazy trying to post 3 times a day, linking up to every single stinkin' linky party, pinning everyday, having lots of giveaways, trying to respond to all your comments and signing up for tons of guest posts...it’s hard to keep up with the Jones’…Doing all that stuff will suck the life out of you. I've learned this from my own mistakes. Obviously, you are free to take any of this advice with a grain of salt and do with it as you please. But if someone had told me that it is ok to only post when I felt like it, to not overwhelm myself with what everyone else was doing…things would’ve been so much easier and I probably wouldn't have been so hard on myself! I’ve learned to keep a ‘light’ schedule of posts and have cut back tremendously on things, like the amount of sponsors I have, as a result of burnout.
So there you have it! My 3 little things I wish I had of known before I started blogging. I hope that they come in handy for some of you, or at least make you think twice about what it is that you want from your blog. Blogging is truly a fabulous experience! The best advice I can give is to just be yourself and of course have fun...and when you feel uninspired, take a break!!!
Happy Wednesday!
