Blogging Insecurities Unveiled….
I wanted to open up to you today about my day to day struggles as a blogger. As an aspiring creative, business women, and graduate student, I do my best to stay and share the positive things in my life. I tend to share the lessons I’ve learned AFTER some time has passed and I’ve reflected, process, and wrote about the experiences. So today I wanted to share something a little bit different. I want to share my biggest insecurities I face on a daily basis as a blogger.
3 Blogging Insecurities I face as a blogger:
Blogging Insecurities #1 Growth
Blogging has been an incredible journey for me that has stayed with me through various stages of my life. From senior year of college, to surviving my first year in the real world, through 3 other job changes, and grad school, blogging has ebb and flowed with the hectic and calm parts of my life.
As I’ve watched bloggers around me take their blogs or Instagrams from 0 to 10,000 or even 20,000 followers in a year, I’ve questioned my own growth. It took me 2 years to refocus, create content, and grow my Instagram account to 14,000 followers. And I’ve worked to grow and connect with my readers/followers organically.
I find myself questioning what I’m doing wrong. Is it my photos? Is it what I write about? Is the blogging advice or career tips I share not matter? Why am I not growing as quickly as them? These are the questions that race through my head when I question myself on my growth and experience my blogging insecurities in full force.
How I’m overcoming this insecurity:
One way I try to work through my doubts, challenges, and blogging insecurities about growth is to remind myself that everyone is on their own journey. The only race I’m in is the invisible race I place myself in. I have to take a step back and remind myself that my blogging journey is not race and no one is judging me on how fast or slow I grow.
Another way I work through this insecurity is I try to change my mindset. Instead of thinking about my lack or slow growth, I focus on my steady growth. I’ve actually noticed over this past year, my unique sessions and visits on Emma’s Edition is steadily growing. The last 30 days, I drove over 2500 unique sessions and 2000 unique users. That’s the most I’ve ever driven to the blog!
P.S. If you want to see your own stats, you can link your blog to Google Analytics. And remember page views is NOT the same as unique sessions)
If you’re also feeling insecure about your growth, I’m with you. But we can change our mindset and focus on our own journeys! Remember that no one is judging you on how quickly you get to 10,000 or 20,000 followers on Instagram.
Blogging Insecurities #2: Value
Aside from growth, I really do struggle to consistently see my value as a blogger, micro-influencer, a writer, and a creative. I’m getting better at recognizing that the content I create is valuable but I do have a confession for you today… I didn’t ask or be offered to be paid for a campaign until after I hit 10,000 followers on Instagram.
I didn’t feel confident enough to even ask a brand to see if they had budget to produce their campaigns because I consistently questioned my value as a blogger – especially since there were other girls around me rising to 20K in a matter of months. So when I finally hit over 10K, I turned to the blogging community and started asking about rates and compensation. At the time, I really didn’t get much guidance on where to start charging and I felt pretty discouraged and lost on what was too high to charge or what was to low. So up until last summer, I avoided compensation in the conversations with brands.
I confided in a blogger friend about this and she absolutely couldn’t believe that I didn’t start charging earlier. She told me that I’ve delivered, consistent content throughout my blogging/Instagram journey and that I should have asked way earlier (as early as 5,000 followers).
How I work through this insecurity:
At this point of my blogging career, I’ve worked with a laundry list of brands, developed my writing, and am always working to choose to be positive. Specifically I’ve accepted and acknowledge that I’m driving 2000 different people to Emma’s Edition on a monthly basis. Personally, that is an incredible accomplishment for me.
And even though my Instagram ebbs and flows, but I’m feeling more connected than ever to my readers/followers. If you’re in the same boat and struggle to see your value, you can join me and work through this insecurity by focusing on what you have done well and accomplished for blog or Instagram. I’m telling you right now that you do deliver value to your readers and followers.
Blogging Insecurities #3: Engagement
My blogging/Instagram friends can all probably relate… but engagement is one thing I’ve struggled with. As you grow your Instagram following, it becomes more difficult to maintain your engagement. I have periods where I look around and it seems like some bloggers/Instagram influencers aren’t having a problem with their engagement at all. And other times, it seems like everyone is struggling with engagement.
How I’m overcoming this insecurity:
Learning how to let go of the engagement rate is an ongoing process for me. Sometimes I’ll drive 1,000 likes a photo and other times I’ll drive 200 likes… and I have to remember that these swings on engagement are just swings. I have to remind myself to continue to write, brainstorm new content, and engage with you, my readers. I have to remind myself that I would blog without or without Instagram because I truly enjoy relating to the modern woman, talking about fashion, sharing career tips and life lessons.
If you’re also experiencing swinging engagement or even a dip, you aren’t alone. Remember that it isn’t you because Instagram continues to change everyday. I encourage you to focus on delivering quality content and connecting with your readers because at the end of the day the relationships you develop are the real engagements that matters.
The truth is I know I still have room to grow – in creating even more creative content, in connective with you – my readers, and developing who I am as Emma’s Edition. So I truly I appreciate you for coming along for the ride. For taking the time to click the link on Facebook or LinkedIn, or swipe up on Instagram stories, or even bookmark my page. Thank you so much for stopping by Emma’s Edition or on Instagram and letting me know you’ve taken the time to read my post. It honestly means so much to me! And I know each of us who face these social media/blogging insecurities as a creative or entrepreneur will overcome this together.
What are the things you struggle with as a blogger or creative?
Thank you for reading! And thank you to Entourage Clothing for the beautiful pleated velvet skirt and off the shoulder top.
Do you want more blogging tips?
Here are some of my favorite instagram/blogging tips posts I’ve shared so far:
10 Everyday Tips to Grow Your Instagram
How I Found the Courage to Start a Blog
Love,
Emma
Photos: Karya Schanilec
Thanks for sharing Emma. I’m with you on everything. I’ve watched other bloggers starting at the same time or even after me grow way faster than me. It does make you question whether you’re doing something wrong or whether you’re good enough. I just try to remember the reason why I started blogging in the first place, remember my “why”. I try not to focus on where I am at, but focus on the big picture, where I want to get. That helps me keep going and also the friendships you build with other bloggers or followers along the way.
Hi Audrey! I’m so glad you can relate! I’m totally with you on focusing on why we chose blogging in the first place. Those are great ways to overcome insecurities! Thank you for sharing them with me,
xo, emma
I really enjoyed your post! It is so relatable. Specially being a new blogger and not even having 1k followers yet. I tend to stress over my IG growing all the time and asking myself if my content is even good enough. I’m going to use your ways to deal with frustrations bc I need it! 🙂
Thank you for stopping by Janet! You got this girl! It took me forever to break 1K and remember it isn’t a race. What’s your blog name/IG handle btw?
xo, emma
I am a new blogger and I actually had to reevaluate my goals for the blog last month because I started my blog as a hobby but soon as I hit publish and got to Instagram I felt pressure – to grow, to compare, to do what other girls were doing – and that was a feeling I didn’t think of dealing with this early. But I am putting my foot down and ignoring these things because blogging brings about a sense of accomplishment and reward for all the hours I put in to do the work. I don’t want to give up because my numbers are low. I want to keep going not because my numbers are low but because I do find enjoyment in all of this. Thank you Emma for writing this post. I love your blog. You are doing amazing things! Keep up the great job!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com