Last month, I posted about the start of my journey into the blogosphere (here). Since then, I’ve learned even more. A lot of time went into research before I even decided to put myself out there, but the truth be told, it wouldn’t have mattered if I did years of research. Y’all this Blogger/Influencer business is unpredictable, fickle and dare I say it, cut-throat! In the last post on Becoming A Blogger, I promised that as I progressed thru this journey, I’d tell you what I picked up along the way. So, to honor my word, let me give you the 4-1-1.
Buckle up Buttercup!
When I decided to start a blog, I just wanted to create content that brought joy into the world and inspired people to be better versions of themselves. That was my “why” in my decision to blog. One of the key lessons I learned early on was to understand my “why”. My reason for blogging permeates throughout all of my posts. There’s so much written out there on ‘how to create a successful blog’, and a lot of it is good information; however, some of it feels kinda shady. What has felt right and true to me is this one thing – Find your ‘Why’. There are times when I’m writing about something mundane and presto – I get an inspirational thought that I wanted to relay or I remember something funny that I thought would make you laugh. I then have to figure out a way to make it work with the original subject. That’s how my “why” infiltrates my posts. I learned quickly that when you understand your ‘why’ it makes the writing flow and your fingers begin to dance all over the keyboard. My fingers are doing the Electric Slide right now.
After researching and understanding my why, I had to figure out how to get people to read what I’d written on the blog. I thought my stories were inspirational, funny and would bring joy to people’s lives; Who wouldn’t want that, right? I thought it would be like the quote from the movie, Field of Dreams, “Build it and they will come” – “Write it and they will Read it”! Friends, your experience may be different, but this did not happen for me.
It is not happening for me -YET!
I studied Psychology and understand human nature, but it doesn’t make it feel any better when your friends and family don’t support your blog. I’m being transparent and honest when I tell you that only a handful of my closest relatives read my blog or even comment on my blog’s Facebook page. I wish I could tell you that my Facebook friends were better, but I can’t. Less than a handful of them subscribed to The Unperfected Sojourner and to top that off – I was even was unfollowed by a few “friends” who said I posted too much.
If you’re like me and can’t rely on your current social media following to transition to your blog readers/followers, what do you do? Once again, I AM NOT THE EXPERT, but I choose to take the turtle approach. I’ve been blogging for 2 months now and have roughly 30 E-mail subscribers, 1500 page-views and 112 Instagram followers (on a good day). No Ma’am, Google Analytics is not my favorite site right now. If you don’t know, you will soon find out, these are some really poor stats. It’s a good thing that I’m secure enough to know that these stats may one day affect my financial worth, but they don’t and will never, ever, ever effect my self-worth.
To get readers, I joined different bloggers’ Facebook groups. There are a ton of them out there, so BUYER BEWARE! The first group I joined was affiliated with a 5-Day Blogging class that I originally took in the beginning. This was helpful because we are all new bloggers and the moderators readily assist with questions on niches, themes, etc. Remember when I told you last month about the blogger who motivated me to push the launch button? This is their family blog and they offer classes for different levels. They also host a monthly challenge to increase new blogger’s readership and followers. It is through them, that I’m also a member of a WordPress FB Group. This group helps with issues with WP. It was helpful in the very beginning, but as you learn more, your questions become too complex to explain in a FB post. If you would like to join in the fun with blogging, I suggest joining Its A Lovely Life.
I joined another FB group of bloggers that are more my age and we have fun celebrating wins, exchanging posts and increasing our knowledge of the Influencer community. Ironically, the group is called the Midlife Bloggers, but from some of the introductions, midlife is used very loosely.
I’m also a member of a FB group – Style Collective, that has a paid membership. Yeah, I’m paying to be a member of a FB group, actually they have their own site. I never thought I’d be doing this for sure; however, this group, although highly centered on fashion and beauty, has an awesome educational and resources component. From my limited experience, it seems like many of the bloggers in this group are seasoned (experience-wise) and willing to share useful information on everything blogger/influencer related. I don’t post too much in this group because my post (which are non-fashion/beauty related) rarely receives any love, but I’m cool with that (not really, but it is what it is).
I’ve been dabbling in FB groups that has the IG likes/comments reciprocator component. These groups are time-consuming and feels (to be honest) like lying. It’s amazing how many people who have over 50k followers are doing this. It’s not buying followers, but it’s probably the baby brother of that family.
It’s instant gratification for newbies like myself, but you know what they say about instant gratification……. I probably won’t continue with these groups, because I know the value of a firm foundation. I equate this practice to smoking weed – Some people are ok with it, some people aren’t. It just depends on the person! Nothing against weed-smokers at all – I love y’all!
My turtle approach strategy means to keep creating awesome (In my humble opinion) content based on my why, keep receiving feedback from seasoned bloggers and to learn as much as possible. While I’m doing this, hopefully I’m increasing my IG followers organically (as they say). This may or may not work for you. Except for affiliations, I intend to monetize my blog later, because it’s probably important to learn to crawl before I walk. Monetizing is walking in my book.
Another thing that I want to share with you is that the blogosphere is highly, highly saturated. Is it over-saturated? That’s not for me to say, but I will say is that if you plan to monetize (most of us do), you have to treat it as a business. This means that you are competing with a zillion business woman vying for the same customer (The Paid-Sponsor). Along with writing top notch content, you must think about marketing & advertising, networking & legalese; not to mention Influencer/Blogger espionage (for real)! Are you ready for that!
I thought long and hard about if I was ready for it! As a faith-based person, I decided to stand on the Word. John 15:7 states, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” These and other encouraging words from the bible allow me to believe that anything is possible when you love the Lord.
Market saturation (No problem for God); Not enough followers (No problem for God); WordPress acting up (No problem for God); FB Friends unfollow you (No problem for God). Friends, what I’m saying is that, if you want to do this and be successful, I believe it’s possible for Kingdom people! I chose to stand on His word and believe in His possibilities.
Ain’t nothing too hard for God!
As you can tell, last month was an eye-opener! I will keep on striving because my goal is to have a successful blog as I sail into retirement in 5-7 years. We’ll talk about goals and much more next time. If this has been helpful to you or you want to know what I learn in the upcoming months, drop your email in that subscriber box located somewhere on this page.
I’ll send out a monthly email just to update subscribers on the published posts and anything else I think is inspiring or useful. You can handle a monthly email, right?
Be Blessed!
This post may contain affiliate links and I may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.
Enjoyed reading about your blogging experience. You are not alone in thinking ‘write it and they will read it’. They will. Stick to your dreams and your why. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for commenting.
This was so great! Keep at it and you’ll do amazing things, I just know it!
Thank you for the encouragement! I appreciate you!
Loved this post! So much goes into starting a blog!
Yes and I haven’t even scratched the surface.
As with all endeavours the beginning is always open to possibilities. I have always questioned my grammar, however your blogs are educational, informative, great content, and written very well. Keep moving forward, the only thing can stop you is if you stop
Thank you friend, for believing in me. I know this is not impossible, so I’m not giving up.
That’s great! I always love getting tips from other bloggers. I’ve been blogging for 6 years but really only making an income for 2 so it’s always a learning process 😉
Hey Lady, I need to be getting tips from you after 6 years! Congrats on your time in the biz, its a whole new ball game for me.
This is great advice and so true! It’s super annoying that friends and family aren’t supportive…..I feel ya there and struggle with the same thing!
Yes Friend! The struggle is real!
Welcome to the blogging world! I think you have a really great attitude about purpose and success. I really believe genuine engagement is more fulfilling than fake
Thank you for commenting. It’s been an amazing journey so far.
It’s tough to stay the course, but here I am two years in, and I’m still plugging along. Keep at it!
I think finding your why is so important because if you have that in mind it’ill be a lot easier to keep the focus
So many good advises here, blogging is definitely not as easy as some people think
No, it sure isn’t!
This is a very accurate summary of most people’s blogging journey. It can definitely be a slow crawl forward, but like you said, you know your why and you have the right approach to take your time and grow organically. It’s a lot of hard work, more than most people think, but you’re doing a great job!
Lisa, thank you for reading & your feedback!
I’ve been blogging for years and it’s not easy to grow organically. It takes a lot of time and work and can be frustrating when you just see other people buying followers or doing other fake/”shady” things to grow. Last year I had a couple low points where it all just felt so fake and not worth it and had to focus on why I blog and stop comparing myself (easier said than done). Good luck with your blogging journey!
Thanks for the feedback!
I’m with you on a lot here! I believe my WHY is driving me. At this point in life, it really has to…for me anyway. And, really for most things in life, taking it slow is probably best… I appreciate your openness and honesty! I can really relate. Thanks again Vanessa! All the best to you!!
Loved reading your experience with blogging so far! Your “why” is the foundation of your blog and honestly the most important! Keep staying true to you girl <3
xo Rachel | http://www.thesassroom.com
Hi Rachel, Thanks for the encouragement! It’s been a cool ride so far!
Great post Vanessa love how detailed it is
And keep on shining friend here to support you ❤
Hi Tanya, Thanks so much for the encouragement! I appreciate you!
This is helpful to anyone looking to break into blogging. This is my third year blogging, and this is the third overhaul that I have made to my blog. Once I truly figured out my why (this year), then I am able to follow that direction and grow my blog in a way that feels natural and successful (to me). I never advertise to family or friends, because I realized that they’re not always supportive. Additionally, I want to be able to grow without them feeling that they HAVE to support my efforts. Lately, I have been seeing the growth that I envisioned nearly three years ago, and I feel all-the-more accomplished. Comparing yourself to others only makes matters worse. Once I stopped, I became happy with what I have. Much success to you!
Hi AmberLynn, Congrats on the growth you’re experiencing right now. It’s always good for us Newbies to hear Veterans’ stories of triumph. Continued success to you as well!
yes love this post! Encouragement and keeping the course will always bring about abundance and growth. #scsister
Yes, Keeping the course is my goal. Thanks for commenting.
I loved reading this! Always interesting to hear about other people’s insights when starting a blog 🙂
Hi Cristina, thanks for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate you!
Hearing the lack of support and interest in your project of blog creation is what many creatives go through. It’s rarely the people closest to you that support you and your dreams, but continue to dream and create. Keep on keeping on!
I’ve been blogging for almost two years and still struggle with a small following, but I also believe that God wants me to share love and encouragement through my blog. Whether I’ve got 4 million subscribers or 40, God’s calling me to be faithful with what He calls me to do. I love what you say about “No problem for God.” Amen!
Good post. I loved the faith aspect that you so beautifully included. I’m a faith based blogger myself and really believe that unless God blesses our efforts, we labour in vain.
Thank you so much for reading. Yes, God does blesses our efforts and it is so important that we keep pressing on.