Mar 23, 2016

Over the last couple of months I’ve been getting so many questions on how to start a blog.   I love this question because it means there is one more person I can talk blog with, and while the blog world is quite large, I do think anyone can breathe new life into the quickly growing field.

But there a few things I think every newbie blogger needs to keep in mind before they join.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

This is such a cliché… that is completely and totally true in the blog world.  Some blogs strike gold and become magically popular over night, but for the majority of us it’s a slow process.  Tediously slow some days.

I think it’s safe to say that everyone has succumbed to comparing their blog to another’s at one point in time.  Though I think this is probably one of the worst habits to get into.  To help me banish the paralyzing emotions of never measuring up, I always make sure to congratulate those that have achieved more.  

By simply acknowledging the success of others, it takes away all those “why not me” moments and pushes me to me to research, learn and grow more.

Don’t be afraid to be mess up.

I kick myself a lot for this.  When I first started I was terrified of taking bad photos.  Which is ridiculous! You are going to take bad photos.  You are going to forget to link your products.  You are going to mess up. 

But let me just say my best photos have come after I’ve taken some of my worst ones and my best ideas usually follow up some of my biggest flops.  Learning from what doesn’t work is essential in the blogging world.  And by not letting myself fail, I was essentially holding myself back from growing.

Not everything is a pretty picture.

I am pretty partial to pretty pictures, though I try to keep in mind… it’s just a picture.  A tiny little snapshot of someone’s life and more likely than not, what’s outside of the frame is not perfect.  

Also keep in mind, a stagnant zero people are going to stay up until the late hours of night perfecting your pretty pictures… but a limitless number could read through all your hard efforts the next day.  

Truth be told the #hustlelife can be quite lonely.  It is not a perfectly poised flat lay of all your friends out to brunch, but it is in  fact endless hours adjusting, double checking and sometimes crossing your fingers that everything you’ve worked tirelessly on will be worth it. 

Community is everything.

I was so incredibly shy when I started blogging.  As in, nervous writing on other blog posts nervous.  But I think one thing that’s safe to say, is the blogging community has incredibly open arms.  I have yet to see a blogger be ungrateful for those who take the time to comment on a post.

Most likely you aren’t going to be able to succeed on your own, so go ahead and take that first step of saying, “Hi I’m here!”  And doing so in a genuine matter and leaving only one link behind is probably your safest bet.

Also, when building that gorgeous and strong community of yours don’t be afraid to reach out of your “niche.” My little community is filled with beauty bloggers, blog bosses, photographers and creatives I’m always in complete awe of.   You’ll soon find out that you actually can learn the most from those that are most different than you. 

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Blogging really is such a fun world to be a part of.  But entering it under false ideals can quickly frustrate anyone.  To avoid giving up right away, simply do your research and recognize it’s far more than pretty pictures.

Are there any lessons I missed for all those blogging possible newbies?

xo Kelsey