Happy Blogaversary to me!!!! Happy Blogaversary to me!!!!

I can hardly believe that I’ve been doing this for a whole year now. I’ve so enjoyed getting to know you all and have loved building my little corner of the internet. It hasn’t exactly been a smooth year though, and I’ve definitely learned some lessons from my first year at MintedRogue that I’m going to share with everyone of you today.

1. Why Are You Doing It

It’s pretty crucial when starting a blog to think about why you are starting it. Mine is about bringing a tiny bit of creativity to my life. Even if all I’m writing is list posts, I’m mostly doing it to exercise a part of my brain that doesn’t get a look in during my working life. If you go into blogging with the thought of fame and fortune, you might be being a little unrealistic. Blog because you have something to say, because it feels good to get your words out in the world – but don’t just do it for the cash.

2. Just Do It!

Stop fiddling with fonts and layouts and start writing already! My blogaversary would have been a month earlier, but for some reason I decided that I needed to get my layout and social media icons absolutely perfect before I worked on any content. Don’t make my mistakes. Content is the most important thing there is – it’s the reason people read your blog!

3. Quality Over Quantity

Pretty much every blog that tells you it has the secret to successful blogging will tell you its all about the content. And it is, but really it’s about being consistent. Look at your time. Really look at it and figure out how much you have to devote to this. If you can only commit to one post a week, then that’s great! Make it the best post you possibly can. People will respond to that more than if you are just churning out 5 a week with no passion.

4. Find Your Groove

Let your own personality shine through. Don’t try and emulate other people’s writing style just because they are more successful. It’s okay to read other people’s blogs and use ideas to improve yours, but still let your own self come through on the page. It’s way more fun to write as yourself than it is to constantly second guess whether your style will be popular or not.

5. Don’t Give Up

I think we can all agree that being blocked kind of sucks but you shouldn’t give up. Being blocked sometimes just means you need a different point of view, so do something else to get some inspiration. It’s not a reason to quit.

6. Cut Yourself Some Slack

These two points might seem kind of conflicting, but part of cutting yourself some slack is knowing whether you are just blocked or whether your life is getting in the way. I had some surgery this year, and a sick child so I let blogging slide for a little while. It’s important to know when something has to give in life. Tell people you are taking a break and take one.

7. With A Little Help From My Friends

I’ve made some amazing online friends through the blogging groups, and learnt so much, but sadly I didn’t discover them until I’d already been blogging for about 6 months. So my advice for a newbie blogger would definitely be to seek out blogging groups via Facebook early. They are super helpful with generating ideas, fixing website problems, and really anything else you need help with.

8. Enjoy The Journey

If you are doing this as a fun hobby then let it be fun. It doesn’t matter how many people are reading what you are saying. Just enjoy the creativity of writing and learning a new skill.

 

Do you have any writing tips for a newbie? What did you learn from your first blogaversary? Share your wisdom in the comments.