If you’re a newbie blogger or someone who’s been doing it for years now, I think you can still recall that precise time when you decided you wanted to give blogging a go. Can you? Mine was when I realized I was talking a mile a minute about my passion for finding the right table linen for particular parties, and all the suppliers and resources I’ve come to know in my years as an amateur organizer of events. Not only was I becoming an expert at a “niche” subject, but I was also becoming a good resource myself for that niche!
I’ve had a personal blog for some time now which I plan to eventually monetize fully for a living, but it’s not specialized yet. I’m mostly doing WAHM entries, with experiences and tips that can hopefully help other WAHMs (some of them you may see here as forum posts). However, what I am sure of is that I want to keep at it along with other creative personal projects that are mostly home-based.
Do you think blogging is for you? Check out these five signs and see if you can relate to one or a couple, or even to all of them!
1) You’re expressive, and you can write lengthy comments, captions, or status posts.
Do you find yourself writing kilometric status posts on Facebook, or adding captions to your photos on Instagram or other photo-sharing sites that detail every minute thing, plus how you felt at the time, and the music you were listening to, etc.? If so, then it’s time to put that “gift of gab” to work on a blog!
You can already actually start blogging if you have a Facebook account, with Facebook Notes, if you feel like you’ve already established a presence and following there. You can make your “notes” posts as lengthy or as short as you like, and choose what kind of audience following you want for each post (public, friends only, etc.)!
2) You have a passion for something so deep that you want to share it with others.
My aforementioned passion (among about a dozen actually) is party planning and all that it entails. I’ve decided to put a special category in my Wordpress blog on party details and supplies, and give as-honest-as-I-can reviews on what worked, and what not, and what I would actually recommend to other party planners.
How about you? If you really like something - anything at all! - and can see yourself being a sort of ambassador for that passion, blogging is a good first step to making it known. So many of my friends thought that what they considered hobbies are just small things they do on their free time, not knowing that they’ve already accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience that would make them virtual experts, and therefore the perfect kind of bloggers for what they love.
3) You can actually see yourself making money from something you love doing.
Many people are inclined to say there’s no money in blogging, at least when you’re not a “pro” or an “influencer”. I am here to tell you that there is, though it admittedly takes some time, patience, and a whole lot of love for the things you want to blog about. In my case, I never considered it as something I would quit my other income-generating projects for, but as an outlet that nevertheless will allow me to earn on the side.
With the party products and venues, I review and recommend, I get a percentage from the Amazon Associate program whenever someone purchases or uses said recommendations. You can do this too, as a blogger. Any topic ranging from sports, fashion, toy collecting, crafting, and others that have corresponding merchandise and services can make you money while you write and talk at length about it! This is one of the reasons why affiliated blogging was born, after all.
4) You have enough discipline to schedule and compartmentalize tasks daily.
Blogging may seem like a casual, do-it-whenever-you-feel-like-it type of activity, but it does require discipline. In my case, having to juggle several home-based jobs and making sure my family is clean, well-fed, and happy, blogging initially had to be placed on the back burner of my hectic work-week. This did not fare well, though. The few early readers I had on my blog got tired of waiting for updates in-between that they stopped bookmarking and reading my blog, and the stuff I wanted to share while they were still fresh...well, of course, they went stale with time.
If you can see yourself setting aside time for blogging on a regular basis (not even daily if you really can’t make time for it), and it doesn’t encroach on your other appointments and tasks, then you’re good to go! Stick with it, and soon you will see the kind of great engagement that’s often the result of good blog maintenance.
5) You’re open to criticism and interaction.
Of course, opening up your thoughts, feelings, opinions, and other stuff from a personal point of view may also open you up to the kind of criticism that’s uncalled for, and could hurt your feelings. It might not happen, but it also unfortunately could. There are some people out there who are certified trolls who can deliberately twist your words just for the heck of it. If you think you can hold your own against them, or use tools that can block, ignore, or banish them from your comments section, then go ahead and start your blog fearlessly!
Trolling and attacks have never happened to me...yet. But if it does, I would like to think that the kind of good and supportive interaction I have gotten so far will outweigh those who don’t mean well. I still want to believe that the world - whether it’s IRL or online - still holds more good people than mean ones.
The verdict?
These blogging tips are of course, based on my own experiences, but I would like to think they hold universal truths, as well as resources and advice that could help others on their road to blogging. There are more professional advice and tips from other sources, but I hope these ones give you a gentle nudge in the right direction!
Your turn!
Do you have a personal or affiliated blog right now? When did you decide to give blogging a chance? Please share your experience because I would love to hear all about it!
