12 Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE I Started Blogging
I started blogging 7+ years ago and to say that I started this journey knowing nothing about blogging is an understantement. I just knew that I liked writing, I liked learning about building websites, and I wanted to somehow bring these two interests together.
I’ve come a logn way in my blogging journey since those early days where I did A LOT that I would now consider to be so wrong. But that’s the point, I was on a blogging journey and I learned as I progressed on this journey.
So, after being in the blogging world for a number of years, here’s some things I with I knew when I first got started.
1. You Can Have a Beautiful Blog That No-One Reads
I know, I know.
Everyone wants that beautiful blog that has the perfect combination of gorgeous colour-schemes, fonts that are easy on the eye, and a layout that screams ‘I’m a blogger and I know exactly what I’m doing.
But what you need to remember is that people come to your blog not for what it looks like, but for the information they can get from you.
Because that’s all readers want at the end of the day; whatever you can give them to fulfil a need.
I’ll give you an example:
I read a blog that gives updates on the lives of people who used to (and maybe still are) on MTV reality TV shows.
(Don’t judge me; it’s a guilty pleasure).
In my opinion, the blog itself isn’t overly amazing in terms of layout. It’s colour scheme is pretty basic; there’s no sliders on the home screen or anything that really screams ‘fancy’ or ‘professional.’
But it doesn’t matter.
I read the blog because it makes me laugh and so serves as light-entertainment for me. I’m not interested in the layout, widgets, sidebar information, images, etc.
What I care about is that I get what I want from the blog: giggles and distraction from everyday life. And thousands of people clearly agree with me judging by the post comments this blogger gets and the fact that she replaced her full-time job with her blog.
2. Blogging is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
When you get started with your blog, it’s so easy to try and do everything at once and try and achieve in a your first month what others have spent years building.
And that’s sort of a side-point here too. Seeing someone’s gorgeous blog filled with amazing content now, doesn’t mean you saw it last week, last month, last year, or whenever they started it. You didn’t see them agonising over something on their blog for hours into the late night when it didn’t work correctly.
As I said, blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. Enjoy learning as you go, learn from your mistakes, and remember that what you see on someone’s blog is an end product that they’ve worked super hard to create. You don’t need to go comparing your month old blog to one that’s been in action for 5+ years.
3. You Will Learn As You Go
Similar to the previous point, as a blogger, you will learn to blog as you go.
Setting up WordPress, how to write a blog post that gets picked up in the Pinterest algorithm, writing for SEO, promoting your posts on social media, coding…
No, you don’t need to learn it all at the beginning of your blogging journey.
Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t. Because things move in the internet world pretty quickly.
So don’t stress that you don’t know everything on day one or that you’re a couple of months, or even years, into your blogging journey and still asking questions.
That’s fine; you’ll learn as you go and if you accept that there’s always something new to learn, you’ll start to enjoy blogging and see it as a journey as opposed to a destination.
4. No Every Recommendation Is Made With Genuine Intentions
It pains me to write this section, and I did consider not including it in this list for fear of sounding mean, but I thought it was an important point to include. Not every recommendation made by bloggers is made with genuine intentions.
What I mean by this is largely concerned with coaching services and affiliate links.
Let’s start with affiliate links.
Whilst the very vast majority of bloggers will disclose their affiliate links, some won’t. This isn’t just illegal in some cases, it’s downright dishonest and unethical to profit off of someone without them being aware of this.
Sticking with the use of affiliate links, some bloggers recommend products and services not because they’re good services, but because they receive a high commission if you use that affiliate link.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with affiliate links and making money from them. But I do think there’s something unethical about making money by recommending a product or service that you’ve never used/tested/tried/etc yourself and you’re recommending it with an affiliate link purely to make money.
I said what I said.
The other part of this point is around coaching services.
Whilst there are tonnes of amazing blog coaches out there, there are also ones who charge eye-watering amounts of money and their advice is poor/outdated/rehashed information that you could have got from anywhere.
And I think this is a shame, because there are so many blog coaches who are genuine and take so much time learning new things and really get into their client’s blogs to genuinely help.
What I would say is if you’re looking for a blog coach; do your research. Ask other bloggers of their opinion of that coach. Look at their content; is it in-date and relevant to your type of blogging questions and needs. You can also check out their reviews as an indication as to whether you want to work with that person.
5. No-One Knows Everything About Blogging
It’s true.
Even the people you see as ‘gurus’ in the blogging world don’t know everything there is to know about blogging.
They might know a lot. But not everything.
Every blogger, even those who blog about blogging, need to research their blog posts and learn new things.
And this is frustrating, I agree.
You might have just got your head around SEO, for example, and then Google release an algorithm change or update and you feel that you’re back at square one.
But it’s not just you needing to learn these new changes; everyone does. As I said previously, blogging is a journey and not a destination.
6. You Don’t NEED to Spend $$$$ To Make Your Blog Successful
Especially in the early days of blogging, it can be easy to assume that you need to spend $$$$ on themes, plugins, designers…pretty much anything you can find with a price tag on it that claims to help your blog.
But you don’t.
It is your blog and you can spend as much or as little as you want to on it.
But it’s also true that you don’t need to spend hundreds or even thousands to make your blog successful.
7. Success Looks Different to Every Blogger
On the note of not needing to spend a tonne of money to make your blog successful, you also need to remember that success looks different to every blogger.
When I first started blogging, it seemed that the only way of measuring success in terms of my blog was:
- If it made any money
- How quickly it made money
It took me far too long to realise that a successful blog doesn’t have to have anything to do with any income it makes.
For me, blogging is a creative outlet. I enjoy tech and improving my IT skills and I love writting.
So for me, a successful blog is one where I am putting out regular content and learning new tech skills.
For me, blogging is a hobby and one that I enjoy. Yes, I’ve started several blogs over the years, but the constant thread has been that I have blogged. And for me, having a hobby that I enjoy and contributes to my personal growth means that I have a successful blog.
8. There’s No Single ‘Right’ Way to Promote Your Blog
One blogger will tell you that Pinterest is the only way to promote your blog whilst another blogger will swear that Twitter/X works best for them. Someone else will tell you to focus only on SEO and someone else might tell you to get on as many social media platforms as possible and promote your blog post’s on every single one.
The truth is this: There’s no prescribed way to promote your blog and no one way the will instantly make your blog blow up.
You need to pick the growth strategy that works best for you. This might involve trying a few different platforms to see what resonates with you and your audience. And it might take some time to figure out which promotion strategy works best for you, your audience, and your content.
Because however you do choose to promote your blog, you need to enjoy that promotion process.
In my opinion, there’s no point spending hours on a platform promoting your blog if you hate being on that platform. Because it’ll come across in your content.
9. Blogging Teaches You a Lot of Skills That You Can Stick on Your CV
You might not immediately think it, but blogging teaches you so many skills that can transfer over into the workplace.
And ok, you might not immediately want to tell your co-workers that you have a blog, but you could add a range of skills to your CV from blogging, such as:
- Coding
- Web design
- Copy writing
- Copy editing
- Project management
- Social media
Just watch how you write these skills on your CV. For example, there’s a big difference between basic HTML coding and being fluent in Python. But as long as you’re honest with your skillset, your blogging skills could be a brilliant addition to your CV.
10. Blogging Can Be a Hobby, And You Are Allowed to Spend Money on Your Hobby
The average person is Britain spends approximately £280 per year on a hobby. In America, this figure is around $1,000 per person.
Whilst these statistics are hard to quantify (a golf hobby could cost very differently to a reading hobby, for example), the point is that people spend money on their hobbies.
And you’re allowed to spend money on your blog as well.
Yes, you may be filled with doubts such as ‘What if I give up on my blog?’ or ‘What if I don’t like blogging?’
But if you started running as a hobby, would you be thinking the same thing when you purchase your first pair of running shoes? Or if you took up knitting, would you think the same thing when you bought your first set of knitting needles and wool?
Perhaps. But the point is that if you want to spend money on your hobby, and your hobby is blogging, you’re allowed to do that.
On saying all of that, though, sometimes you don’t have to spend money on a product. Sometimes, free plugins or themes are just as good, if not better, then ones that cost you a tonne of money. Do your research, be frugal where you can (and if you want to), but if you want to spend money on your blog, you can.
11. You Don’t Have to Work Towards Replacing Your Income
It might seem like everyone and their cat in the blogging world is trying to encourage you to make money and replace your income with one that comes from your blog.
And if you want to do that, then that’s a great goal.
But if you are happy in your job and blogging is a side-hustle or hobby, then it’s ok to keep it there. Not everyone wants to quit their day job in favour of blogging and there’s nothing wrong with that.
12. The Blogging Community is Very Supportive
Finally, I need to mention the blogging community.
Of all of the communities out there, I generally find the blogging community incredibly supportive and genuinely wanting to help other people.
Whether you tap into this community via Twitter/X, a Facebook group, an Instagram or TikTok community, you’re going to find lovely people who (on the whole) don’t gatekeep information and just want to help other bloggers to succeed in their blogging journey.
