Hello all! Awhile back, I made a submission to Healthy Living Blogs about my first week of blogging. I have almost been blogging a year, and do NOT in any way consider myself an expert, but I do learn new things everyday. I know new blogs are popping up all the time, so I thought I would share some words about things I wish I would have known my first week of blogging. Here goes:
“What do you wish someone would have told you in your first week of blogging?”
This is a great topic! I thought about it for awhile, because there is a lot to say! Blogging can be overwhelming, and there is so much more to it than I first thought there would be, but, I love doing it!
1.) Don’t compare yourself to other Bloggers!
-This is SO important. When I first started blogging, I would look at other blogs and think their layout was better than mine, they had more readers than me, they had a more exciting life to blog about, and the biggie, they are more health and/or a faster runner than me. That last one was particularly hard for me because I am so competitive, and I thought something was wrong with me for not being able to post the same times as some of the girls on other blogs I read. I finally learned to chill out, and that everyone has different gifts and abilities, and the only person I need to be competitive with is me!
2.) Download Windows Live Writer!
-I feel so silly knowing how long I went blogging in wordpress, which I find very difficult to use, and how many hours I could have saved if I would have used live writer!!! Go, do it now…seriously, now.
3.) Read other blogs and comment on them. If you want to get traffic, you have got to have exposure. Go start reading blogs and comment!!! Other people will read them, click your link to your site, etc. Its a great way to get traffic and get to know the other great bloggers out there!
4.) Don’t be a slave to the computer. When I first started blogging, it was a very busy time of year, and I felt like if I didn’t blog everyday I was letting people down, that I would lose readers, etc. Well it was a great way to stress myself out! Why do it if it’s not fun and if you feel pressured to get out a post at a certain time? If your readers don’t understand, well, they will just have to get over it, and if that makes someone stop reading, then it’s ok, readers will come and go!
5.) Don’t make people have to type in a series of letters to post a comment. It will make it that much more unlikely that people will comment. I had this feature at first because honestly, I was scared of what people would say about my blog, but I have gotten over that and think it helps when it comes to frequency of comments. I post comments on my friends blogs that have this feature, but if I am a new reader and have to jump through hoops to comment, I probably won’t.
Now, I am by NO means a blogging expert. I do it for fun, and really do enjoy it! I make mistakes even still, and feel like I am always learning new things! I love that the healthy blogging community is so supportive of each other, it makes making mistakes that much easier to swallow! Happy blogging!
PS-we got our golf cart fixed finally, we have had a grand time running around the neighborhood in it!
QOTD: What do you wish someone would have told you your first week of blogging?
Thanks so much for the useful info! I just started blogging about my quest to run a half marathon some day and your tips are great. I really enjoy reading your blog 🙂
thanks so much! Glad they can help someone and thanks for reading!
#2 is a GREAT tip! I used to blog all of the time through the WordPress site – wow, what a hassle. Once I discovered Live Writer, I was in heaven. What a timesaver!
I KNOW. I also felt really stupid for blogging like that for months. inserting pictures was the worst, now it’s SO easy!
These are great tips! I too wish I Had known about live writer. It’s crazy to to think of all the time I may have wasted using word press. Oh well, u live and Learn right? I just wish I would have found my blog voice sooner. I think that is part of the jouney, but my blog has changed ALOT since i started a year ago.
I feel the same way about how my blog has evolved. I am very protective of it now!
I so completely agree with not comparing yourself to other bloggers. We are all unique and individual–it’s what makes our personalities! Shouldn’t our blogs reflect our differences as well? I think something that goes along with that is writing for you–in your own voice, about what you want. It gets to easy to start catering to an audience, but I feel like a lot of bloggers (and myself included on occasion) fall into this trap!
And oh my word. yes. Word verification is the bane of my existence. Sometimes, I will just close the window and not comment if there is a word verification. Not worth my time!
Yes it’s so hard sometimes to just do whatever just so people will read, I dont want to do that!
hmmm, i’ve never seen live writer, but i’m super interested now….do you need to use internet exporer? or does it work on firefox and/or chrome?
It’s a separate program you download, but you can publish posts right to your blog from Live Writer. Here’s the link if you want to check it out 🙂
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer?os=other
thanks!
I hope the link from the other poster helps! here it is again:
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer?os=other
I learned about live writer about a month after starting my running blog and I haven’t looked back! lol… it seriously makes blogging TONS easier! I also worried about just blogging for myself and if i would ever gain any readers… well now i have over 80! So dont stress… readers will come! 🙂
oh I know I love love live writer! Blogging takes a lot less time!
Great tips 🙂
I’d just add to #1. Don’t let anyone else dictate your content either. Just because your friends may blog about something, doesn’t mean you have to. Write about what you’re passionate about. It’ll be much more enjoyable that way!
good tip Jen!
Thanks for sharing! Great tips! I will fix #% asap! Promise!
thanks for reading!
great tips! i agree with them all. except i havent used windows live writer… guess i should go do that now??
oh, girl, it will make your life so much easier! GO download it, now!
This is great, thanks so much for posting! I just started blogging about 8 days ago, so your post came at a perfect time. I’m excited to be part of this blogging community and am trying not to let it stress me out on top of everything else going on!
Thanks for the post. Can’t wait to keep reading your blog!
hey thanks so much for stopping by and good luck with your blog!
Great tips! I started using Live Writer a few months ago, just after I switched my blog over to WordPress. It’s seriously the greatest thing ever!
I know! The people who came up with it are geniuses. I would like to write them a thank you note. haha!
Hi! I just found your blog through Skinny Runner. Thank you for the tips. I starting blogging about 3 weeks ago and I can really use the help! I wil be back to check on ya! By the way, I have windows live writer but have no clue how to use it.
hi thanks for stopping by! Just play around with it. at the top where it says “insert” thats where you go to put in pictures and links. hope that helps some! (the publish button is what publishes it to your blog)
Great tips! I have been hesitating on the Windows Live Writer, but I have been hearing so many good things that I might have to give it a try.
I also couldn’t agree more with not comparing yourself to other bloggers – it’s important just to be yourself 🙂
give it a try! if you dont like it, delete it…but I bet that won’t happen b/c you will love it!