For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working mostly on behind the scenes stuff for my blog. I’ve been updating the graphics, changing fonts and switching up the layout a bit. Let me know what you think, because I could use some feedback (and maybe some help as I’m attempting to look like I’m a professional and know what I’m doing here!) I do hope that you like the changes that I’ve made though.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and as with anything else in life, there is definitely a learning curve when it comes to blogging. Blogging mistakes are just as relevant in everyday life as they are in blogging.
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Not following other blogs or connecting with other bloggers
In the first couple of attempts I made at blogging, I didn’t realize how necessary it is to be a part of a community and just how vital other bloggers are for support and success. I didn’t know any other bloggers and guess what? I think I had a grand total of three readers on those blogs. I never did any research on how blogging works. I didn’t know how to promote my blog so that readers could find me. And guess what? They didn’t.
This little blog of mine has been up and running (at times more sporadically than others) for two years now! And I’m happy to say that I have many more readers this time around.
2. Technical snafus, lack of research
But, I still make mistakes. Last month, I thought I’d be incredibly organized and delete all of the images in my WordPress media file that I wasn’t using anymore. Well, I deleted ALL of the images from EVERY single post, every single page of my blog. I have to admit, I freaked out just a little bit there. Luckily, I had all the of images saved on my computer still. But, I had to add them back in, one by one.
It wasn’t all bad though. Doing this gave me the opportunity to look at all of my posts and update some of the images so they would be more Pinterest-worthy. After I finally finished all of that, I decided to update my branding a little. I changed the fonts and created some graphic templates that I can use to make new images for my future posts more easily.
3. Comparing myself to others and second guessing my worth
The other thing that holds me back is fear. You can’t be afraid in blogging. Fear of not being good enough, fear that no one will care about anything that I have to share, fear that other bloggers are better at this than I am. All of these fears cause me to procrastinate over and over again. I second guess every idea and talk myself into not sharing so many things that someone might actually like to read or actually might even find helpful.
What I want you to get out of all of this, besides a laugh, is not to make the same mistakes that I have. I think that as human beings, we rarely learn from other people’s mistakes. We need to learn most lessons on our own. But trust me when I say, you should never, ever, ever delete the images in your blog’s media file unless you 100% do not want those images on your blog anymore.
Don’t second guess yourself. If you have an idea for something that even might be interesting or helpful to your readers, share it! I’m really going to try to follow my own advice on this from now on. I’ve even started putting some digital art up in my Etsy Store, so check that out too when you get a chance. This is another thing that I’ve thought about doing forever but was too scared. It’s time to let go of my fear and I hope you all do the same!
