Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging And Why You Should Blog Before You’re “Ready”

As promised in my round up about my first year blogging, I’m sharing tips I wish I had known from the beginning of my blogging journey. Be assured, this post isn’t to dissuade you from starting your blog. In fact, I think you should start a blog before you’re “ready,” and I’ll explain why.

On my Facebook page, I asked if anyone had questions about my first year blogging. One of the questions was: “What was your reason for starting a blog?” Answering this question is the perfect background for why I think you should start blogging before you’re totally sure what you’re doing.

One of the topics I blog about is dealing with chronic illnesses. I have several, and they’ve become progressively worse the last several years. The first one to get diagnosed was thyroid cancer. These illnesses have threatened to squash my dreams of being a published author. I think the first time I said I wanted to write books, I was in kindergarten (and then I promptly wrote a book for a friend and a play that my friend and I acted out while my dad taped us on the camcorder.) It’s been one of my dreams ever since.

Despite becoming more sick, I was (and am) determined to keep writing. As you might have guessed, it’s kind of hard to finish writing a book when you struggle just to function during the day! And while I’ve published a handful of poems, I’ve not yet gotten a book out into the world. I started to feel frustrated. Even when I pushed myself to write, my words just stayed stuck on my computer. I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing anything. No one was reading a single word I wrote, unless it was a kind friend or family member offering to look over a story.

 

 

For me, blogging was a way to break out of the restraints my chronic illness has put on me. I’d had the idea that “some day” I wanted to start a blog several years ago (after watching Julie & Julia in fact.) And the idea became more persistent starting about two years ago. Yep, I thought about it for a good year. I started jotting down ideas to see if I could even come up with enough things to write about.

And I ended up jotting down a LOT of ideas. I realized I had plenty of material, if I could get enough energy to get my ideas written down and coherent. And you know what? Writing a blog post is, thankfully, easier than writing a book.

 

For me, blogging was a way to break out of the restraints my chronic illness has put on me. It’s been so meaningful and brought back a sense of purpose to my life that had gone missing when I became so sick.

 

The idea that I could start getting my writing into the world to encourage people was deeply encouraging to me. I have FOUGHT this last year to have the energy to sit at my computer, to have my brain cooperate when I need to find the right words—or any words! (Brain fog sucks big time!)

And I’ve paid for it, flopping onto my bed after sitting upright too long sends my dysautonomia into a tizzy fit of dropping blood pressure and pounding tachycardia. I’ve stood up to find my fibromyalgia is making my muscles ache and throb and stab from nothing other than sitting in a desk chair for “too long,” a timeframe that varies widely depending on the whims of fibro. And my body has made me pay in myriad other ways.

But the reward of getting my words out into the world, and having people respond to them, to say they made a difference to them? It’s been so meaningful and brought back a sense of purpose to my life that had gone missing when I became so sick.

I wasn’t READY for blogging. But it turned out to be one of the best things I could do.

 

WHY YOU SHOULD BLOG BEFORE YOU’RE “READY”

 

Blogging can be a great source of freedom and purpose.

I needed this blog as an outlet. This blog helped me to feel like I can have a positive impact on the world again at a time when I was feeling very isolated and limited by illness. I highly recommend blogging if you need a creative outlet, especially if you have a chronic illness.

Whether its chronic illness, self-doubt, or something else, just starting is a great way to show yourself that you can overcome any obstacles. If you have something to say that you think could help others, then go for it!

You’ll never have all the answers.

Believe me, there is such a thing as doing too much research. After seriously thinking about blogging for about a year, reading articles about blogging, pinning a bunch of tips, reading about other bloggers’ experiences, it was time to dive in. There were things I was still pretty clueless about, and the time commitment had me worried. But I realized that I’d never start if I needed to know EVERYTHING first. It was time to launch.

You’ll benefit from the community.

Blogging has brought me into contact with wonderful, supportive people that I never would have met in real life. I’m a part of a few chronic illness bloggers’ groups, and it’s been a source of connection when I’m physically separated from other people. And the blogging community can help you learn on your feet. Everyone I’ve talked to online has been so helpful and encouraging. Find a group where you can feel free to ask questions, and even if you don’t have all the answers when you start blogging, you’ll have friends to turn to when you need a helping hand.

 

If you have something to say that you think could help others, then go for it!

 

And in the spirit of bloggers helping other bloggers, here are some things I really wish I knew before I started blogging:

 

THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED BLOGGING

 

This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list of everything you need to know as a new blogger. These are the things that made me go, “Huh, I wish someone had told me….”

Prep digital materials

As I mentioned above, I had started jotting down ideas well ahead of starting my blog. I kind of wish I had started with a few posts completely written, but again, I’m glad I started when I did. I did make sure to have some main pages completely written and edited before my blog went live: most importantly, my About Me page.

The thing I didn’t think about was gathering an image for my avatar, a cover image for my blog, a picture for my “About” page, etc. My blog looked a little bare for a few days while I sorted things out. I tried editing my own photos for each post in Photoshop, but ended up discovering Canva.com was much easier to use, especially since you can pick sizes for Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Start with Canva, you won’t regret it.

Hold off on Affiliate Marketing

My main tip is to wait until you get enough traffic. Some of the blog posts I was most eager to share would be perfect for affiliate marketing, so I signed right up for Amazon’s affiliate marketing program. I read that you could easily reapply if you didn’t get enough sales, but I don’t remember reading that if you did re-apply, you would not be able to keep your ID. When I didn’t get enough sales and reapplied, I had to go through my site and update all my affiliate links. This took up time I could have spent writing.

 

 

Make a pre-publish checklist

Every time you post something, there are certain steps you’ll need to take. So I don’t forget something, I’ve made a quick checklist I look over before I publish a post. My lists includes things like: add affiliate links, add “read more” tag, add Pinterest code, add tags. This has helped me to make sure my posts are ready before I hit publish, and I’m a lot more confident before I hit that button.

Join Facebook blogging groups where you can share links

I was kind of worried that joining groups would be too time consuming, but as soon as I found great groups, I really enjoyed being a part of them, and I saw great returns on the time I spent interacting with others’ blog posts. Not only did I find great information and pins for my Pinterest boards, this is where I get most of my comments/interactions/shares. Also, it really is helpful to feel like you have a community to turn to.

Create a Facebook page early on

I asked for tips on getting more engagement on my blog posts in one of the groups I’m in, and I quickly realized from the responses that I needed a Facebook page. Several bloggers told me that this was a great platform for getting interactions as people were more likely to comment on Facebook rather than directly on a blog. I’ve been so excited to see that my blog posts are actually starting conversations, and getting shared more often. Plus, I can interact with other bloggers easily from my Facebook page.

If you’re having photo issues, it may be because of your phone

I was using my smartphone to take pictures, and didn’t realize it was the reason my pictures showed up sideways when my website was viewed on certain devices. I wasted a lot of time thinking something was wrong with my site before finding this info. Apparently, your phone saves data that notes which side of the photo is the top. When you take a photo angled downwards—like when you take flat-lays of clothes on a bed or crafts on a table—the data incorrectly indentifies the “top.”

There was some long way I found online to fix this, but to be honest, I didn’t have the time or energy to learn it. Instead, I uploaded the photos to my computer, took screenshots, and saved them in Paint to get rid of the incorrect data. A few clicks—problem solved. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done and saves me a lot of time and brain-power. That’s kind of been my motto for when something goes haywire on my blog—find the simplest solution!

Let go of comparing your output to other bloggers’

A couple people asked on Facebook about the hardest/most challenging part of my first year blogging. I liked the follow up question: “What did you do to overcome it?” It turned out to be something I anticipated. I’ve struggled to have the physical energy and mental stamina to write and edit posts. I’ve learned to not put undue pressure on myself to churn out posts. Some bloggers post 4-5 times a week, if not daily. But I’m not like every other blogger, and I need to use my strengths, and not get bogged down by focusing on my weaknesses. I’ve needed to evaluate what I consider “success” with my blog, and it’s not meeting “x” number of posts. I’m more concerned with putting out quality posts that encourage others and that I feel are my best. I’m planning to talk about this a little more in an upcoming post.

If you’re looking for more tips about blogging, I’ve saved my favorite articles to this Pinterest board.

 

I’m not like every other blogger, and I need to use my strengths, and not get bogged down by focusing on my weaknesses. I’ve needed to evaluate what I consider “success” with my blog.

 

LOOKING AHEAD…

 

While reflecting on my first year blogging, I’m also setting some goals for this next year. One year in, I’m still learning about blogging as I go. Maybe diving in helped me to have an outlook that there’s always more to learn and room to grow. This year, I’m hoping to learn more about SEO, as I don’t fully understand it. (If anyone has tips or a helpful resource, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!)

I’m also hoping to try some new things on my blog this year. I’m excited to have more “crafty” posts coming up, and I’m working on learning about something new I want to try with printables. (Stay tuned!) I’d also like to try writing some guest posts and freelance posts this year, energy permitting.

Here’s to the next year! And I hope this post is helpful to you on your blogging journey!

 

Do you agree that you should start blogging before you’re ready? I’d love to hear if anyone has started a blog recently!

My fellow bloggers: What do you wish you had known before you started blogging? If you have a post with your tips, please feel free to link to it below!

 

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