Survival Guide for Disorganised Bloggers!

Hello! So, in case this is the first time you have stumbled across this blog, my name is Victoria and I am 19 (it was literally my Birthday yesterday haha). While I have been blogging for about two years. However recently I have taken a longer than anticipated break from it. Mainly because revising for A levels turned in to working too many hours over the summer, which turned into “university work” (or rather just “uni” if you get what I mean). But here I am now, and before I begin, I just want to thank everyone who has supported this page, whether that has been by following me, liking, and commenting on my posts, or encouraging me to keep on with this blog.  

What Inspired me to Write this Post

I remember when I first started out, there were a lot of blog posts coming from bloggers who were more experienced, giving advice as to how to successfully run a blog. And while I acknowledge that there were a lot of bloggers clearly doing this as a way of making money (advertising many plug ins and the like which most of us cannot afford), there were many bloggers who did give very helpful advice, and I could tell that it was coming from their heart. However, each of these bloggers would give slightly different advice, according to what works best for them. Therefore, as someone who struggles a lot with organisation and sometimes with sustaining motivation, I thought I would do a post especially tailored to likeminded people, yet I would hope that this can be helpful for any new bloggers! So here we go… 

 

Write about a Topic that Interests you

If you want to be able to stick to blogging, then there is no point in starting a blog about a topic that you do not know much about, or have much interest in. That is because, depending on the type of blog you have, often posts do need to be well researched, not to mention the time it takes to write and proofread, therefore you would soon tire of writing a blog about a topic that you have no interest in. 

Be Relatable

Yes, you could produce brilliant pieces of writing, which are authoritative, very persuading, and fascinating to read. Yet, what I have found by blogging, is that readers will often want to know your thoughts and experiences. Therefore, if you were to write a post, say for example about cake decorating (which I know is not my niche, and I cannot decorate a cake to save a life, but I love looking at pretty cakes and I love eating them even more), then of course provide a comprehensive guide so that readers can establish trust in your post. But I would say also, it is good to include some of your own personal experiences. Even something as random as “I once used baking sodar rather than sugar.” Because while you may not deem this relevant, readers would be interested, and they would therefore want to find out more about you as a person, and thus be more willing to subscribe. I mean, I certainly would be! And do not worry, this story is made up, but there are many far more humiliating stories about me which are true. In an equivalent way, if you were writing a blog post that is like the ones I usually do, then as an example, you could include your own experiences of growing up as a young woman if you were writing about feminism. 

Engage With Other Bloggers

When you first start out, how is anyone meant to find your blog if you do not start engaging with other bloggers? Instead, by liking and commenting on other people’s posts, bloggers may take an interest in your blog, which is where you will begin to grow from. Aside from how it benefits you as a blogger, I found that during lockdown, engaging with other bloggers helped me when I was not able to meet with other people. And even now, it is always nice to engage with, and occasionally get to know new bloggers, even if the only interaction is on WordPress. Furthermore, reading content posted by other bloggers enables you to learn more about topics you may have had little knowledge of before, and it all helps in enabling your own writing skills to improve! 

Be Curious About where the Blog May Take you

I know that a lot of content creators do have extremely specific goals to achieve under a limited period. Now if you are the sort of person to have a to do list at the start of each day, a morning routine, and you usually manage to get each of these items ticked off at the end of each day, then having specific blogging goals may well work for you. But be it for the better or the worse, I am certainly not this type of person, and I know that not everyone is. This way, more so if we have a lot going on in our lives, having specific goals may not be the best way to motivate us. Because over time, we may find that we are not able to commit to working on the blog for a certain number of hours. As an example, if you have exams coming up, then you may find that you cannot allocate as much time to your blog as previously speculated, and in this case, exams may need to take priority.  

Do Not Hyper-Focus on Money

If you have been blogging for a little bit, then you will be aware that there are several ways in which you can make money through blogging. It is understandable as to why anyone would not mind earning some extra cash through blogging, nonetheless, to earn substantial amounts from blogging, a lot of time and effort would need to go into the blog first, while it would need significant numbers of viewers and subscribers. It was only the other day when I finally monitized my blog, and again I doubt that I will get anything, at least in the coming few months. And even if I get something, then it is likely to be peanuts (plus it costs to have an upgrade allowing you to do this). This is not me suggesting that it is impossible to make good money from blogging, but it would take a lot of hard work and commitment, in the long run. 

Do not Over Work Yourself

There is nothing worse than gazing at a computer screen, having completely run out of ideas. You feel terrible about the fact that you are not really achieving anything, yet you would feel extremely guilty for taking a break! If you have found yourself in these kinds of situations, then chances are, you do need a break! And whilst blogging is not easy, it is to the benefit of yourself and for the blog to allow yourself to rest when needed. This does not only apply to blogging, but anything and everything else. For instance, I remember back in 2020, I think partly due to the covid situation, I did not allow myself enough time for myself, therefore I spent too long working on this blog, on sixth form work and some paid work. Ironically, when I did allow myself more time to rest, my grades went up! Moral of the story! 

Check your Spellings!

This is a word of advice to my younger self, apart from anyone else. Because to be brutally honest, I could not give a shit. All throughout primary school, secondary and sixth form and even on this blog. But if you are here thinking, like I did, that spellings do not matter, considering you are only writing for a very amateur blog, then think again. Because if you were searching for information about a certain topic, then you clicked on a post which was full of spelling mistakes, chances are, you would not have much regard for the post and you certainly would not consider putting in your email address to subscribe to them. Even if apart from that, the content was excellent. But of course, in time, you yourself may get readers who are interested in reading about your topic, outside of the blogging community. Oh, and a word of advice if you are in education, PROOFREAD your work! Unbelievably, it could make the difference of a grade. 

Switch Between Tasks When Blogging

Doing anything for a prolonged period can become tiresome. This way, if you are dedicating a morning or so to your blog, then unless you are on a roll with a particular task, switch between tasks. Otherwise, at least with me, it is easy to lose focus and motivation trying to stick to doing the same thing for a prolonged period. 

Numbers do not Matter

You will hear most people who have been blogging for a while say the same thing, in that the number of views that you get, and the number of followers, does not really matter. However, it is so easy to get bogged down by all of this, which can be exhausting and quite upsetting, considering that inevitably there will be days where your blog will receive less attention compared to other days.  

If you Think of Something Good, then Make a Note of It!

If you are anything like me, disorganised, disordered and sometimes a bit dim, then most of the time you are hating yourself for the fact that you cannot seem to ever be able to focus on one thing at a time. If you are trying to do work, you are thinking about what is for tea, if you are eating tea you are thinking about what you will wear on friday night; and if you are out on a Friday night, then you will be frantically panicking about what work you need to get done, and wondering what to eat when you finally get to leave the club and go to the kebab shop! In other words, you can never focus on one thing at a time. Usually, this is a pain in the ass, but occasionally a load of bright ideas will all of a sudden spring to your mind. Which is wonderful, but only if you manage to make a note of them, and do something about it when you get home!

On a side note, you may have already managed to read this post. But for some strange reason, WordPress decided to delete this post, so here I am posting it again.