With forever changing algorithms and the endless stream of new content on our news feed, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed or discouraged about blogging. I remember when I first decided to start taking blogging more seriously in the summer/fall of 2016. I was at 2,000 followers and barely driving 500 monthly views on my blog.
I remember looking around at the girls around me growing my
thousands of followers each month on Instagram. It seemed like some of the
girls I was following had it all figured out. It seemed like they were working
with all the amazing brands, traveling all over the world, and attending all
the music festivals. I felt so intimated and lost in my journey.
Almost 2 ½ years later, and there are still other girls
growing by thousands of followers each month on Instagram. But I’ve also grown too and I’ve learned how to shift my
perspective around blogging and social media.
So today I wanted to share 6 tips around overcoming your frustrations and discouragement around blogging. Thank you Kelly from @housekatdiaries to for sending this question in on Instagram Stories!
How to Overcome Discouragement around Blogging:
Don’t focus on the daily numbers
It’s so easy to look at how your Instagram post or blog post
is performing when you first publish it. And it’s so easy to freak out if an
Instagram post (especially a sponsored one) doesn’t drive the traffic you were
hoping to get within the first hour.
You CAN’T let daily metrics get to you. Instead, you can shift
your perspective and look at how your Instagram and blog are performing by the
week, month, and quarter. I personally only look at my blog metrics in a month view timeframe because it gives
me a better understanding of blog posts are performing well on my blog.
Additionally, Google Search and Pinterest are two platforms
that take some time to recognize and evaluate the quality/relevance of your
content. I typically don’t see my pins on Pinterest perform until after a week
or two after I share them. So if you aren’t seeing your pins re-pinned or your
blog posts show up on the Google Search, give it some time.
How to Overcome Discouragement around Blogging:
Outline your short term and long term goals
When you write down your short term and long term goals, you
define your success criteria and what
you’re working towards that month or year. Every time you achieve a short
term goal, share it with your audience, family, or friends. Small wins generate
excitement and motivation to keep going with your journey.
For instance, this past fall I shared with you that I finally
hit and generated 10,000 monthly views on Emma’s Edition! This was a goal I
wanted to achieve before the end of the year so I was absolutely excited when I
hit this milestone. I ended up sharing the lessons I learned with the blog
post: “How
do you increase traffic to your blog?” and announced this
achievement on Instagram.
Ask Yourself:
Do you want to publish one blog post a week? Do you want to reach out to a
fellow blogger in your city once a month? Whatever your goals are, make sure
you write them down!
How to Overcome Discouragement Blogging:
Don’t force yourself to create. Create when you feel inspired.
One major thing that changed for me a little over a year ago
is that I decided that I would write when I felt inspired or when I was in a
good mood. It’s way too difficult to try to write, take photos, and create
content when you’re feeling down, discouraged, or frustrated.
If you’re feeling stuck but you want to create new content,
take a step back and take a break. Do something fun, hang out with friends,
take your mind off your tasks. I personally will walk my dog Boone around the
block or I’ll grab a coffee at Starbucks to uplift my mood. Once I’m feeling
better, I’ll down to write and outline a blog post.
How to Overcome Discouragement around Blogging:
Find a friend who understands the blogging world.
Blogging can be a lonely journey and when you’re feeling
frustrated, it helps to have a friend who understands the blogging world to
talk to.
For instance, I was chatting with my friend/photographer
Karya and I was sharing with her that I felt like my blogging journey and growth was so slow compared to other girls. And
she reminded me that other girls have said that their blogging journey/growth
has been slow compared to me. This conversation helped me reset my perspective around
my growth because I had a friend who I could chat with and relate to my
journey.
Additionally, I’ve found that having blogging/photography
friends can help you climb out of creative ruts. Friends have also helped me
bounce off ideas as well as share words of encouragement when I’m feeling down.
How to Overcome Discouragement around Blogging:
Define your purpose
Why are you blogging in the first place? What are you
passionate about? Before asking yourself why people should care about your
voice, you should ask yourself: why should you care about what you do?
Personally, I love writing, shopping, styling, and taking
photos. If I wasn’t blogging, I would still be writing every single week
because I’ve always loved writing. If I wasn’t taking photos for my blog, I
would still be exploring new cities and sharing photos with my friends and
family.
I blog because I
love to create content, connect with others, and share my perspective with the
world. When I started writing and taking photos in 2014, I did it for
me. I maybe had 100 visitors a month on my blog but I loved putting my words on
paper and learning how to pose and take photos so much that I knew I found my creative outlet.
How to Overcome Discouragement around Blogging:
Remember growth takes time and everyone’s journey is different.
One of my the biggest things I’ve learned so far in my
blogging journey is that it takes time to refine your skills, build an
authentic following, and understanding the influencer industry. It took me up
until this point to figure out that my other blogger friends/followers respond
super well when I opened up about my blogging journey.
Additionally, if you’re balancing your blog with a full time
job or graduate school, you have less
time to focus on your blog. I can’t even imagine where my blog would be if
I didn’t have to work full time or if I didn’t sign up for full course load in
my graduate program.
But growth takes time and everyone’s journey is different. You can’t assume that just because one blogger grew in X amount of time means that you can also recreate that same growth rate. Everyone has a different set of variables, constraints, and resources to focus on their blog.
What are your tips to overcome discouragement around blogging?
For blogging tips and tricks, you can also check out:
How to turn gifted blogger collaborations into paid collaborations
5 Reasons Why I Filed as a Business as a Blogger – Emma’s Edition LLC
The Business of Blogging: Is your blog a business or hobby?
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Emma
Photos: Karya Schanilec
I honestly have waves of up and down with blogging!
Briana
https://beyoutifulbrunette.com/
Emma, thank you for writing this post. Just speaking for myself, I feel the waves of discouragement come and go. I try not to focus on my numbers also because this wasn’t why I started the blog in the first place. I do try to wear blinders on when I am on Instagram but even then it’s hard not to notice some of the things that go on in social media. What has been helping me has been to focus on my why. It keeps me grounded and helps to tell me to go at my own pace. And bottom line, like you said, even if I wasn’t blogging or taking pictures for the blog, I would still be writing and sharing photos with my family and friends. I hope you are having a fabulous week so far and happy Wednesday!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
This was so nice to hear. I just launched a blog two days ago and for whatever reason am beating myself up about it’s performance! Trying to have grace with myself. Thank you 🙂