19 things I've learned about blogging
- becca
- Feb 7, 2020
- 10 min read
Blogging, social media, building a brand...what's it all about?
As I'm sure you know, I haven't been doing this whole thing very long, but I've been doing it long enough to know that it's a lot of work. If you're following any bloggers out there who seem to be killing it, know that they're putting a TON of time and effort into it. Bloggers who are successful, having 10K months, are literally working 24/7. There are no days off.
I entered into this having absolutely no clue where I wanted it to go; I tend to run before I walk. All I knew was that I needed an outlet to put my thoughts into words, onto "paper". And that I hoped that sharing those thoughts may help some women along the way; to know that they're not alone in their insecurities. To know that it's okay to be 100% themselves. To encourage them to NOT try to be something they're not just to please someone else.
I didn't really have a grasp on all of the ins and outs of what it takes to build a blog following or a social media following. Yes, you're likely to generate a slow growth over time just by putting your work out there, but that's not going to get you rapid growth. There are SO many other factors that come into play and I'm only beginning to touch the surface of what those are. What I do know, though, is that I want this to grow. I want to turn this into something incredible. I want to build a place where women can feel encouraged, inspired and at home. And I hope you all can help me do that; create a community here at Unapologetically Blog.
I want to share with you the things I've learned thus far so that, 1. if you're contemplating entering into this field or are wondering how it works, you can gain a little bit of insider knowledge, and, 2. so that (hopefully) you all can continue to help me grow this into something mind-blowingly AMAZING. :)
Let's do this together!!
Creating a pretty site is important, but it's not everything
Be consistent across all channels
Building an email list is ESSENTIAL
There are ways to build a social media following without being sketchy
DO NOT work with brands for nothing in return
Pick a filter and stick to it
Use apps to your advantage
Brands will not work with you until you have at least 1K followers
Get a tripod with a wireless remote
Build up content
Schedule content
Create a content calendar
If you're stuck, search Pinterest
Show up
Pick a niche
Use hashtags
Attract genuine followers within your niche
Get an IG business account
Connect Google Analytics to your site
Now, let's dive deep into some of these:
1. Creating a pretty site is important, but it's not everything
Yes, you want people to visit your site and be blown away by the design and creativity. BUT, the most important factor is that it's usable; that it's user-friendly. If a viewer has no idea how to find your blog and find it quickly, that's a problem. Ask for feedback from close friends and family. To you it may seem so simple, but maybe not to the following you're trying to attract. This is essential to get right upfront; don't put this on the back-burner. You can easily lose organic followers if your site isn't easy to follow.
2. Be consistent across all channels
Your Instagram should speak to your Facebook should speak to your blog should speak to...whatever else you have going on. Tell the same message across all channels. You also want to make sure you post consistently and on a regular basis on all channels. This is part of how you break those crazy algorithms of social media.
3. Building an email list is essential
While I haven't mastered how to get people to opt-in, getting them to opt-in is ESSENTIAL. :) I'll update you once I've mastered this. First, you have to get people to visit your site in the first place, right? That part comes with building a social media following, making sure everything is linked to one another and making sure your site is set up for SEO optimization with Google (we can get more in-depth on these topics at a later date). Once that is complete, make sure you give visitors the chance to opt-in through subscription boxes, contact lists or list sign-ups.
4. There are ways to build a social media following without being sketchy
If you've researched at all, I'm sure you've come across sites where you can literally BUY followers. They're pretty much fake accounts that are set up so that accounts can look more legit than they actually are. This isn't how I roll. I want to gain GENUINE followers who actually care about what I'm doing. One way to do that is through "follow for follow" loops in your niche. These are LEGIT accounts within your niche (aka lifestyle bloggers, girl bloggers, female empowerment bloggers, mommy bloggers, etc.) that create loops where you follow each other back. These are followers that have the potential to actually engage with you. And here's a tip: the more you engage with them, the more they'll engage with you back. Sharing is caring! :)
5. Do NOT work with brands for nothing in return
While I haven't done any collabs up until this point, I have learned that you should never accept working for nothing. There are a lot of brands out there looking for "ambassadors". But in order to be an "ambassador", you have to buy something from the brand. They'll usually give you a coupon for 30% off or something, but DON'T DO IT. This is NOT the proper way to monetize your blog. All it's doing is pulling money out of your pocket. If you're just starting out, you can absolutely trade content creation for FREE product, but NEVER trade content creation for a discount.
6. Pick a filter and stick to it
I'm 100% guilty of changing filters all the time. I always did what I thought looked best for that particular photo. But this doesn't create that beautiful feed or "grid" on Instagram. Depending on the lighting used in each photo, you're usually going to have to do some additional editing to get everything to look like they belong together, but picking one general filter to use is a must. There are a TON available to buy on sites like Etsy for pretty cheap. I finally found one that I like and I'm sticking to it. I found it on Etsy. All you have to do is download the filter to your phone, upload in the FREE Lightroom app and you're good to go. So easy to use.
7. Use apps to your advantage
As I just mentioned, I use the Lightroom app to edit and adjust all my photos. I then save them to my photos on my phone and upload into the Preview app. Preview lets you visualize what your IG "grid" is going to look like before you post a photo. Super helpful so that you don't have several photos of the same kind of look right next to each other. I then use the Hootsuite app to schedule my IG posts. Hootsuite is free for up to three social media accounts and I highly recommend you use it to your advantage. Another great one is the Mojo app. This app lets you create some pretty incredible visual content for IG stories. The free options are kind of limited, but you can still do quite a bit. Canva is another great one for visual content creation. Many free options are available and you can always customize the templates to fit within your brand image.
8. Brands will not work with you until you have at least 1000 followers
This is pretty self-explanatory. Build that following and then start creating your brand proposals.
9. Get a tripod with a wireless remote
Again, pretty self-explanatory, but this makes it SO much easier to take photos when you have no photographer budget. There are pretty cheap ones that work with iPhones on Amazon. I think mine was about $30. LMK if you would like the link. :)
10. Build up content
This is something I'm still struggling with but I 100% realize its importance. You're always going to have things pop up in your life that you cannot control. Weekend plans will change. You'll have all of these things scheduled to get done on a particular day and literally get none of it accomplished. That's why it's important to build your arsenal of content. This means both photography and blog post ideas. When you do get a day to knock some things out, take advantage of it. Always try to have at least two weeks worth of content ready to go.
11. Schedule content
I touched on this briefly with the Hootsuite app, but having all of your posts scheduled in a system that does it for you takes the stress out of it. Everything becomes more streamlined, making your work as a blogger...less work. Usually blogging sites will also have the ability to schedule your posts. I use Wix and it includes that feature. So I can say, I want X blog post to go live at 4:15pm on Tuesday the 10th of February, and through the Hootsuite app I can do the same with my IG and Facebook posts that correspond with that blog post.
12. Create a content calendar
There are a lot of bloggers out there who will try to sell you their content calendars. Don't bite. It's pretty simple to do through Excel or Google Docs. I'd be happy to share mine with you if you're curious. Content calendars do just that...plan out your content for a specified period of time. Once again, helping you to become more streamlined.
13. If you're stuck, search Pinterest
I do this a lot for photography ideas. I'm not very creative in this department and need some assistance. You can usually find some inspiration for quick shoots you can do at home, which is exactly what I need. I haven't built up the confidence to take my IG modeling to the streets yet (LOL) so I need all the inspiration help I can get for at-home shoots.
14. Show up
This ties back to consistency. While you need to consistently post content that relates to one another on each platform you use, you also need to make sure that you're posting regularly. Most articles I've read say that you need to post on IG once a day and you need to be live on IG stories at least 10 times a day. This is how you overcome the crazy IG algorithm. To be honest, it's a lot for me to be on social media THAT much, but it's important that you do if you want to be successful. I'm still working through how to get to a place where I actually have enough content TO post once a day. Plus, some days I feel like my life is pretty boring...like no one cares enough to see 10 IG stories posts about my life each and every day. LOL. BUT, you gotta do it if you want to be successful in this industry.
15. Pick a niche
This is something that is particularly hard for me because I want to touch on a lot of different topics. But it's very difficult to build a following if you're trying to be too many different things. To be honest, it's much harder to make money being a lifestyle blogger than it is to make money being something more specific, like a fitness blogger or travel blogger. There's just not a good way to narrow down your focus if you're a lifestyle blogger. So, the best way I can think to do it is to pick 4-5 topics that you want to discuss or touch on regularly and stick to those.
16. Use hashtags
Most articles I've read say to use the maximum (30) hashtags in every post. Use a variety of hashtags with a variety of number of posts within that hashtag. For example, you're less likely to get featured on a page for #lifestyleblogger which has 18.2M posts on it than you are to get featured on one that has 100K posts. However, the #lifestyleblogger has a lot of followers, so there's a balance you have to strike. Bottom line, though, use hashtags.
17. Attract genuine followers within your niche
You're probably like, duh, Becca...that's what I'm trying to do. But what I mean by this is to find similar accounts and look for people who consistently engage with them. Then begin following and engaging with those who engage with your like-accounts. Does that make sense? These are people who are likely to follow you and CONTINUE to follow you because you're speaking on topics that they already enjoy. Plus you're reaching out to them and creating a genuine connection.
18. Get an IG business account
This probably should've been #1 on my list because it's that important. It's completely free and lets you see all kinds of data behind what's happening on your account. How many followers you gained from a particular post, its reach, its engagement, its impressions, etc. This way you can start to track what kind of posts work for your audience as well as what hashtags bring your post in front of the most people. Super helpful. Start tracking these statistics as you grow so you can quickly go back and reference what worked.
19. Connect Google Analytics to your site
Once again, this is free and it allows you to see all kinds of insights into your viewers and subscribers. Where are they from? How old are they? When are they reading your posts? How much time are they spending on your site? Etc. TONS of information that will be essential to your growth.
And there you have it! 19 things I've learned thus far in my blogging venture. I'm sure there's more that I'm just spacing out on and I KNOW there's more to come as I continue to grow. I'm sure you picked up on the fact that...it's a lot. I've barely gotten started in this and I'm constantly finding new ways and avenues to potential growth. And it can be a lot to manage all of those. But as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I want to grow this BABY. :) I want to continue to provide a place where women can feel encouraged, inspired and at home. And ya'll could be a GIANT part of that growth. Sharing is caring. Each time you share something that you enjoy or find helpful, the more you're likely helping someone else out. Not just me, but the people who view what you're sharing.
You never know who you're going to touch or who you're going to impact. All you can do is put the message out there and keep doing your best to spread the word. I'm hoping you all will join me in spreading the word.
Thank you all SO much for your support thus far. It means the world to me.
A place to be #unapologeticallyme.
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