Something a little bit different for you all today. But I found myself very reflective recently, which isn't entirely unusual for me. But in recent weeks my attention has been around my blog. I've been blogging here for over a year and a half now and during that time I have had a lot of shocks and surprises! So here we are - the things nobody tells you when you first start out in the blogging industry:
- If you go to a blog event, everyone is awkward. It's just the way it is. You aren't the only one that feels all nervous and shy! But you can literally talk about anything. Instagram, cats, food, blogging, makeup, shoes - ANYTHING! And don't worry, none of the bloggers I've met (well the ones I've met anyway) turned out to be axe murders or catfish.
- You will never be completely happy with your blog. Whether its the amount of reads your latest posts get, your blog design or simply the number of followers you have. There will always be something you don't like or wish you could improve. In many cases there are things you can do to help. For example, if your blog isn't getting readership - share your posts on social media more. Plug yourself like crazy. It takes a lot of time and effort, but the results are worth it!
- You will get some strange PR requests. And I mean strange. Oh you want me to talk about mens underwear on a blog targeted at women? You want me to share an outfit idea for a stripper in Las Vegas? OK. I'll definitely reply to your email straight away. (NOT!) These are genuine requests I have been sent too!
- Coding is incredibly hard and you will probably end up paying someone to design your blog for you and maybe even install it for you. Even if you try googling how to do something, chances are you won't understand ANY of the results that come up.
- Every single time another blog with a similar amount of followers gets asked to go to an exclusive event or gets their hands on the latest beauty releases. You will get incredibly jealous. Like is my blog not good enough for you?
- Some free blogger samples are not worth the amount of effort it takes to get them. You've taken two months to send me the products but you want me to write a post about them and mention them on my social media 272678976 times in 24 hours? Goodbye.
- When you finally get to meet a blogger in real life who you have been talking to on pretty much a daily basis, you will be shocked when words come out of their mouths. And their voice sounds completely different from how you imagined.
- Buy a domain name from the start if you are wanting to buy one. Otherwise old followers or readers won't be able to find you if you spontaneously decide to purchase one at 4am on a Thursday morning.
- You'll run out of mobile data on a regular basis. Refreshing the Bloglovin' Popular page to see if you've 'made it', tweeting every blogger in the world, and uploading that Instagram of your latest buys or your delicious lunch will lead you to run out of data and will take away those precious pennies that could be better spent on something else.
And that's the end of my list! Anything I've missed? Share it below!
I can relate too so many things you've listed haha :) x
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