I have learnt so much through blogging and sometimes it does feel like I don't have a clue what I am doing but I preserve because I enjoy so much and it's always good to challenge yourself once in a while. I don't think I fully understood what I was getting myself into when I decided to start up a blog and how much hard work it would actually be. For this post I have put together 5 things I wish I knew about blogging before I started.
1. I wouldn't have never guessed how time blogging takes up. would take up. I knew that I would have to give up some of my free time to work on my blog but boy was I wrong. Blogging has become like a full time job for me, I am constantly working on my blog it has taken over my life to be honest. On most weekends I try to take photos for upcoming posts and then type them up if I can (which doesn't always go to plan because of 1. my laziness and 2. lightening which is a problem when you have to take photos). On most week day I am still working on blog posts and thinking up ideas for future posts and organising posts. A large chunk of my time is spent on promoting my blog through social media, I am always on twitter these day either tweeting about new posts or participating in blogger chats.
2. Designing and putting together the layout of my blog, I found this to be one of the hardest and confusing aspect of blogging. I am so glad that I am sort of happy with my layout because it is a headache especially when you are not tech savvy. If I decide to change up my layout again, I would seriously consider a professional to help because it's too much html is like an alien language to me. Even though it's absolutely hard, there is so much help online, on other blogs and step by step guides. Google is definitely your new best friend, if I don't know anything or if I have a problem the first thing I turn to is Google and I usually find an answer no matter no difficult it may be.
3. How challenging it is to constantly to be thinking of new content to keep your blog fresh. This must sound so silly but in my head I thought that new content and post ideas would just come to me because I didn't even for one second think about where I would be getting ideas from. I have had 'blogger block' ( this is a real thing) where I couldn't think of any new ideas and everything I came up with didn't seem good enough. I found that reading old magazines and other blogs helps to inspire you and I usually do that when find myself in that state. However sometimes I find that I get inspiration just randomly when I am watching the TV or just on my way to work or even shopping for beauty products.
4. I didn't realise how big blogging community actually is, there must around millions of blogs and someone starting a blog everyday (ok maybe every other day). If something is worth writing about, someone is blogging about it I have seen a blog for just about every topic there is. Most of the other established bloggers have already formed friendships with other bloggers and it seems as if everyone knows each other already it is like starting a new school it can be slightly daunting. Don't worry though all the other bloggers I have spoken to have been really friendly and there is some many ways to get know other bloggers. The best way I have found is through blogger chats on twitter, you get to talk to other bloggers, that are interested in the same things as you which really nice.
5. I found that with blogging it can be a case of trial and error. I don't know about you but I am not one of those lucky people that get everything right on their first attempt and it hasn't been the case with blogging. I found it quite difficult in the beginning especially with the designing process and running a blog alongside my life but I have got the hang of it now and found a way to make it work for me. Even with the writing style, photography and blogging schedule I have found something that works for me through trial and error.
I don't want to scare anyone off blogging but I don't think people actually realise how much work and effort you have to put into it, I certainly didn't. Despite all the hard work it has been so worth it and I don't see myself giving it up anytime soon (fingers crossed). My blog is my little space on the internet and it represents things I am passionate about and I get to express this in a creative way and I am really proud of it.
Zeynab x
