Tuesday 4 August 2015

6 Things I've Learnt While Blogging

After my recent post '6 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging' I decided it would make sense to have a '6 Things I've Learnt While Blogging' post. I've been blogging on and off for about five years now, I didn't really take it very seriously for the first three years and the past two years I've started to enjoy blogging more and more as the days pass by.

1. Past content can be embarrassing: When you've been around for a while you can often be embarrassed at how poor your content was when you first started. Admittedly this could be just me because I didn't start my blog for it to be a blog I started it as an online diary to vent my feelings so when I look back at past posts I often cringe and want to rewrite it.

2. Bloggers are influential: I think in the last 12 - 18 months bloggers have finally started to get taken seriously, brands understand bloggers worth and as such have started to respect us a little more. Sometimes brands and companies like to be cheeky and offer silly amounts for reviews but as you'll see in number 3, you're a business, don't just take money for the sake of it, you have bills to pay and you need to know your worth.

3. Blogging is a business: You need to see yourself as a business owner, what you write is your business and your blog is your brand. If you're getting paid in gifts, vouchers or cash it needs to be declared to HMRC, you're running a business here and if you don't declare yourself as self-employed you can land yourself in big ****! As I also said before, you need to know your worth and accept decent prices for your content, gifts and vouchers don't pay the bills and put food on the table.

4. You need a niche: I'm not saying you have to stick to a niche but it's best to have something solid throughout your blogs, it's great to have readers guessing what you'll post about next but if you have one main niche you'll get more loyal readers. I blog about everything from travel and beauty to fashion and lifestyle but I'd say the main theme throughout my blog is beauty. 

5. Social media is your best friend: You really can't live without it, I'd say 70% of my views come from social media and that is mainly Facebook and Twitter. I couldn't live without it. Sharing every post you write will help you gain new readers, I find having an automated tweet go out everytime I blog is a real help and using different hashtags on Twitter really does help. I always use #bbloggers, #fbloggers, #psbloggers, #lbloggers & #tbloggers. (Beauty, Fashion, Plus-Size, Lifestyle & Travel). These hashtags are used by so many bloggers to connect and meet new people.

6. You make friends for life: I've met so many amazing ladies while blogging and it makes me come out of my comfort zone and speak with new girls daily, via Twitter and Facebook. I often get starstruck at events when I see bloggers that I have bookmarked and been reading their blogs for a while. 


Have you learnt anything while blogging that you'd like to share?

20 comments:

  1. The first one is so true, I haven't blogged for long but when I schroll back to the beginning of my first blog in 2006 I can find all different embarassing content, like different pictures in different sizes, words written wrong or bad language, haha.

    Great post!

    Brand & Beauty | www.brandobeauty.uk

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  2. These are all so true, I got an 'opp' the other day, asking me to write a 1000 word article with a link for $3! x

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  3. A great list I recognize! :) When I switched from Blogger to WP I deleted the majority of my past content as it was that embarrassing!

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  4. Great tips. So true. Your blog is your business, your brand.

    www.fashionandstylepolice.com

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  5. (I don't know if my previous comment posted :()\

    I agree 1000% with the first one. I actively avoid reading old content because it does nothing but make me cringe every time! x

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  6. These are all so true!!
    hahaha...Some of my old posts are terrible. Especially the photos! At least they show how far we have come and how much we have learned!

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  7. Boy, can I relate to #1. I've been blogging since 2007 and back then added all my online jouranling ot my blog too (so it appears as thugh I've been blogging since 2002). That content was quite embarrassing. I just realized that on my current blog, I only have one post I truly regret having posted, but not for the personal secrets I revealed. It was a post about a game that I didn'thave a clue of whethe rit existed in the English-speaking world or what its English name was, so all the effort I put into it left readers basically going "whatever".

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  8. I am embarrassed by some of my old posts. They are there to stay though as I was obviously happy with them at the time. :)

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  9. I am embarrassed by some of my old posts. They are there to stay though as I obviously was happy with them at the time. :)

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  10. I am so embarrassed by my earlier posts. They really are cringe, but i can't bring myself to delete them!

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  11. Haha I'm so embarrassed by my first posts so cringy, actually I think im going to go and delete them haha! xx

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  12. Someone commented on a really old post the other day I was like no please don't say people still look at that!! lol x

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  13. I agree with your first point, my early posts are embarrassingly bad and I didn't seem able to put together a paragraph without a spelling mistake. But they also remind me that as I learn more and practise more I improve with every post.

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  15. Blogging is great isn't it - I love it and I love the fact that there is always something else to learn. And I totally agree with you, past content can be a bit embarrassing!

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  16. Ha ive been playing with my old content and changing things around x

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  17. I deleted my previous comment due to only part of the comment being published for some reason. This is a great post, blogging is a learning curve from the start and there is always something new to learn, posts like this just reinforce this. People think blogging is easy, it is not it is hard work, but also has the rewards and one of the biggest things is meeting new people as well.

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  18. This is a great follow on blog post and has some great points! I know what you mean about past posts being embarrassing but they also show your journey and progression and totally agree with working like a business

    Laura x

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  19. This post is so sweet and so true! I used to blog about two years ago, and even though it was a big deal back then it was nowhere near as serious and business minded as it is now. I really love the new seriousness and business style and appreciation bloggers are getting

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  20. I totally agree with your list and yes my first post is an embarrassment ! Blogging is so powerful !

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