So You Want To Blog…

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I can’t begin to tell you how many times friends, family, and acquaintances contact me to find out how to start a blog. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for supporting others in their endeavors, however, many times these requests carry with them an air of “If she can do it, I can do it.”

Just to be clear, I am not the guru of blogging nor do I presume to know everything that there is to know about it. Although I have learned a lot in the almost three years that I have been blogging, I am constantly learning new things and trying to implement them. What I can tell you is that blogging is not easy and it requires a lot of work if you are serious about it.

Let me begin by saying that I have been very fortunate to know many great bloggers who have shared best practices with me and have made themselves available to answer my questions throughout the years. Bloggers, overall, are still a fairly secretive bunch in many respects. There are many reasons for that including the fact that a lot of PR Companies and brands often undervalue what we do and create negative competition among bloggers for limited opportunities.

Now, let’s talk about the work that is involved in maintaining a successful blog. Sure, there are free blogging platforms where you can write to your heart’s content without a care as to how many people are actually taking the time out to read what you wrote. If you really want to get noticed, you have to at least own your own domain and that costs money. After that, if you want to take your blog to the next level, you will probably want to self-host and that costs money too. See, there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

Forget about making the time to write posts regularly while raising a family and juggling a full-time career like I do, that will require superhuman powers at times. Right now, I am typing this with exhausted and bloodshot eyes that I can hardly keep open long enough to get my thoughts down. Many nights I go to sleep well after midnight in order to meed a posting deadline for a campaign I’m working on or just because I feel obligated to post regularly for my loyal readers. It’s all very rewarding but it definitely tests one’s fortitude sometimes…

Then there is actually loving to write which, in my humble opinion, definitely is important when considering blogging. Now I didn’t say you have to be a good writer because there are definitely not so good writers who have successful blogs that make quite a bit of money. I personally think that it is the will and love to write and to express oneself in the written form that supercedes all of the other requirements. After all, what good is learning all of the other aspects of blogging if you don’t have a passion for writing in the first place? Again, just what I think.

So, the next time that you contact me asking how you can start a blog, try not to undermine what I do in the process. Comments telling me how easy and fun it looks or how you feel anybody can do it take away from what I do. They detract from the sacrifices I make to keep this blog going including losing sleep, fitting blogging expenses into my budget, and spending tremendous amounts of time trying to get the word out about my little corner of the blogosphere.

Now that you have a better idea of what goes into blogging, if you still want to blog, you know where to find me. I am here for you 100%…

Image credit: Kristina B

http://twitter.com/MyMamihood Sili, CEM

For realz! That’s all I gotta say about that! It is hard and takes a lot to build. Though I guess maybe some bloggers were able to make this happen in a few months, that has not been me. I’ve felt the same way you have at times. It’s difficult to explain to people what it is that I do. It’s annoying when they think I sit in front of the computer and play on FB and Twitter all day.

I’ve had to explain to some of them that Twitter is almost my office and it’s part of my job. But still, they think what they think. Unless you are in blogging shoes, the grass will always seem like gold on the other side .
Mary Beth

Good for you! I am a new blogger so I can’t speak to how much work you put into your site to get it to the point you are now (I’m so far from being where you are it’s laughable…but one can hope!) That being said, I DO understand fully how it feels to be undervalued in the work that you do. I’ve spent most of my career working as an education specialist in our state’s fish and wildlife agency. I’ve had to fight such an uphill battle to prove the value in the work that I do. Taking mountains of work home with me, working weekends, and missing out on holidays…all the while having others assume that I have an easier job than they do…simply because they don’t understand what I do. You have to stand up for yourself and put value in your own work. I’m very glad to see that you are doing just that. It looks like you have a lot to be proud of! Happy New Year!
http://twitter.com/detroitmommy detroitmommy

Preach it sister. Don’t know how many times I’ve been asked this question. Shoot, I’m still near the bottom & I’ve been doing it 4.5 years.. but I like to think I’m building the right audience, and as you know my “thing” has actually formed more into a FB page for moms.. and the blog is now 2nd. Now with 3 kids I barely find the time for anything, let alone blogging. My SIL, who has NEVER once asked me for any pointers or tips announced recently that she was going to start blogging for a living. Yep.. she’s going to be a freelancer. LOL. There’s the whole “If she can do it, so can I”… or actually I get more of the “IF she can do it, I can do it better” sort of vibes from people. Yeah ok. Have at it!!
Bicultural Mama

I’ve been asked a lot too about starting a blog and I’m glad to help. I’m realistic and let them know what I wish I had known before I had started. I let them know what’s involved if they really want to get their blog out there – it takes time and commitment. Sometimes I hear complaints about how I said you have to write often (from new bloggers who don’t write often). Yes – you should write regularly if you want pageviews, but I’m not forcing anyone to write so if you don’t want to write often then that’s fine. It’s like they’re blaming me which is kind of odd!