Blogging is extremely rewarding but there will be some tough things you’ll go through as a blogger. As someone who approached their one-year blogging anniversary not too long ago, I’ve had my fair share of blogging challenges. Today, I’m going to cover some of those.
1) Consistency (this one is very tough!)
When it comes to blogging, starting a blog isn’t that hard but it’s the process afterward. There’s a lot of work you have to do consistently. A perfect example is writing top-quality blog posts.
Some bloggers might choose to post on their blogs once a week. When you first set this goal, it doesn’t seem hard. Schedule a post per week? I can do that. Seems easy enough. There’s tons of time in one week for me to whip up something and it is true for a little while.
But then months pass and things in your life will take precedence before your blog. Your best friend might be coming to town for a few days so you spend a lot of time together. You’re sick so it’s hard to write when your brain is foggy. You’re swamped with work. You cannot stay motivated. So many things can happen and when it does, it gets extremely hard to work on your blog consistently.
I had a period where I neglected my blog for several months in 2020. It was hard to get back on track once I fell off. I could fully understand why people stop blogging. Because it’s tough work. It takes effort and discipline to get yourself going especially when you’re not seeing the results you want. I had to push myself to keep going and kept reminded myself how I wanted to blog for such a long time. So what if I have a temporary setback? Do I let it bring me down or do I keep going?
Commit to your blog and stick to whatever schedule you promised yourself. It’s tough when you feel overwhelmed in other parts of your life but if you take blogging seriously, you must be consistent.
2) Writing
When I started out blogging, I didn’t realize exactly how much I have to write. I mean, I knew I had to write but I see other successful bloggers and they make it seem so easy. They can do it? Oh, I can do it too. I love to write but like everything else you do too much of, it takes a toll on you.
You can love writing but there will be moments where you’ll find writing tough. We, bloggers, spend hours on one post although it might not seem like it. I write at least 5 days a week (Mondays to Fridays). As much as I love writing and spending time on my blog, I can’t do it 7 days a week. I need short breaks.
There were times where I forced myself to write every day and all I got was writer’s block. As a writer and a blogger, you will encounter this. I hate it when that happens because it can be tough to overcome. You feel stuck and don’t know what to do. That’s why I started taking writing breaks on the weekend. It gives me time to recharge and it worked too.
I created a writing schedule that fits me and my lifestyle. It’s realistic and more importantly, I’m not forcing myself to do write every day. Figure out your writing schedule. Do you prefer to write every other day? Every day? Only on weekdays? Find a realistic writing schedule that works for you and make sure to give yourself a break to produce your best work. You know yourself the best so fit in writing in your schedule wherever you think is appropriate.
Spend a bit of time away from your work and come back to it again the next day or so. When you’re working on something for too long, it’s hard to catch silly mistakes. It’s only when you edit with a fresh pair of eyes that you’ll catch these easily fixable mistakes.
On the bright side, writing all the time will help you improve your writing skills. It’s one of the skills I have gotten better at after blogging consistently.
3) Thinking of Ideas
Blog post ideas are the start of everything. How can you even start writing when the idea isn’t even there?
If you’re lucky, inspiration will come to you naturally but that’s not always the case. Then, you have to be on the active lookout. There are many ways to look for inspiration and I talk more about it in this post.
Ideally, you should put all your blog post ideas in one place whether that’s your phone, journal, or laptop. You can then go back to that same place when you have no clue what to write about. If you’re like me, your ideas are probably all over the place and are written down in several places.
Most of my blog post ideas come to me at random times. I grab whatever device that is available to me at the moment (usually my phone) and write it down before I forget. I also have blog post ideas written down on my laptop and random pieces of paper. Using paper to write down ideas is my least favourite way because I’ll likely lose it but sometimes, it’s all I’ve got at the moment.
When it comes to ideas, you’re not going to LOVE every single one. You can have dozens or even hundreds of ideas but it’s just brainstorming. That’s why it’s important to jot the idea down as soon as it comes to you. Trust me, you will forget a lot of them.
Writing it down ASAP means you have more to choose from. Not all are going to make the final cut. There will be some that stick to you more than others. It could be because you’re more interested in that topic or it’s because it’s what your audience wants from you.
Always scan your list for ideas and it’s always good to have something to refer back to when you have no idea what to write about for the week.
4) Promoting Your Blog
If you don’t love promoting yourself and your blog, it can be really tough. You might feel a bit shameless. Been there, done that. I felt that I was shoving my blog down people’s throats when no one was really interested.
You might have these thoughts and doubts about your blog but be confident in your work. You’re creating fantastic content and people out there need to see it! I wish that I can wave my magic wand and have a lot of people discover my website instantly but it doesn’t work like that. You will have to put yourself out there to get traffic. After all, isn’t that one of the reasons you created your blog? So that people can read it?
I found a pretty helpful article on Medium that talks about how 20% is content creation, 80% is marketing. People know bloggers write but you’re supposed to be spending even more time promoting your content.
So how will you market your blog? You’ve probably heard bloggers talking about Pinterest many times. Pinterest is a wonderful platform, don’t get me wrong but it’s not the only way.
Did you know Facebook groups are another way of promoting your blog? I even see bloggers encouraging each other when one is about to give up. Not only promoting your blog but you can meet other bloggers, discover new blogs, and get your questions answered. There are going to be things that you will need help with and there are experienced bloggers that are members of these groups who can help. They’ve certainly helped me solve numerous problems that I would not be able to fix myself.
Joining Facebook groups are 100% free and it’s a resource that has so many benefits. The more active you are, the more eyeballs you will attract as well so go out there and spend a lot of time promoting your blog.
What do you think is tough as a blogger? Which one do you relate to the most?
Xoxo,
Nicole