17 Things about blogging I wish I knew before starting my blog
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Introduction to 17 things about blogging i wish I knew before starting my blog
I have been blogging for only a little while and there are already 17 things about blogging I wish I knew before starting my blog.
So to pave the way forward for all up-and-coming bloggers, I want to share with you 17 things about blogging I wish I knew before starting my blog.
1. Stop planning, start doing
You can plan until your blue in the face, that won’t help until you start doing it.
Just start. Because the planning stages rarely make a difference whereas you throw yourself in the deep end and learn to swim. It doesn’t matter how well you plan, there are still gonna be things that you don’t know.
Start a blog with 
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Things you will struggle with. The only way to know how to do them is to just do them. Stop your research and think about it too much and you start your blog. You will learn so much by doing instead of planning.
2. There is no such thing as overnight success
We see successful bloggers and assume that they are an overnight success. When in actual fact they have been working for months and years behind the scenes. And you only see their success now. Blogging is a lot of behind-the-scenes work and it takes a while to become successful.
Keep at it because there’s no such thing in blogging or in life as overnight success. People work hard for what they want. There’s a saying that people are rewarded in public for what they’ve been doing for years in private. You don’t know the hustle that goes on behind the scenes.
3. Haters gonna hate
Haters are gonna hate. That’s just the way it is. Some people are just miserable like that. You have to learn not to let it bother you. Pay no attention to them. It’s usually people with too much time on their hands that criticize others who are doing something with their lives.
Unless someone gives you constructive criticism that you can improve on and become a better blogger.
4. Switching off won’t be easy
It can be difficult to clock out for the day. Especially in the beginning stages where you work all the time to get your blog up and running.
You usually put so much time in, working so hard for so long, that you don’t know when or how to switch off. Your brain can’t switch off when you think about all the blogging tasks that you still have to complete.
Even mature bloggers sometimes struggle with this. It’s normal. But don’t let it consume you. You have to decompress and take time away from work to spend with your family and look after yourself. You will be much more productive.
5. It’s a lot more work than you think
Before starting my blog, I had done enough research to know it would be a lot of work. But, I didn’t think it would be this much work. It’s three times as much work as I thought.
I thought all I had to do was write a few posts, put them up on the internet and watch the traffic roll in. Silly me.
Turned out not to be the case. It’s a lot harder than that. Simply because it takes so long to do one simple task because you are still learning how to do it.
Some bloggers are so good at what they do that they just make it look effortlessly easy. Which it’s not. It’s a lot of hard work and some people aren’t cut out for it and that’s why they quit.
But if you are willing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears that it takes, you can be just as successful as the next blogger. You just have to want it as much and work hard to get it.
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6. Imposter syndrome anyone?
Another thing about blogging I wish I knew before starting my blog is that you will feel like an Imposter. Like you have no right to do what you are doing. Who would want to read what you have to say right? I mean who are you, nobody. That’s what your mind is telling you. Don’t listen to it.
You are gifted and have something to contribute to society. To make someone’s life better. Someone out there needs what you have to say. Get those thoughts of inferiority out of your head. You have something to offer and have just as much the right to do it as the next person.
7. Not everyone will get it
Not everyone will understand or support you, and that’s okay because not everybody is your champion. You will find your tribe. The people that need what you have to offer.
You don’t need anyone to validate you, your dreams, or whatever you want to do in life. All you need is to believe in yourself and your dreams.
8. Comparison zaps creativity
Don’t compare your chapter one to someone else’s chapter ten. We are all running our own race in this world. Never compare yourself to anyone in business or personal life because comparisons zap creativity.
All it does is make you feel bad about yourself. And that is not good for your creativity. No one can be creative when they feel down and insecure about themselves.
Don’t beat yourself up for not being good enough. Focus on your growth and be confident in what you do.
9. Focus on one thing at a time
Keep your focus on one thing at a time. Even when blogging seems overwhelming which it does because there are so many tasks that you have to complete. It’s Pinterest, SEO, your email list, writing content, creating and launching your own product. So overwhelming.
Makes you want to do everything at once. But focus on one thing at a time because that’s the only way you’ll see real growth. It can get super confusing and frustrating trying to do all the blogging tasks at once. Don’t be afraid to grow slow. Slow and steady still finishes the race.
10. Don’t let fear control you
Don’t be afraid to start a blog. To write a blog post, create a product, or start an email list. You should not be afraid to try anything in your business. You won’t succeed if you let fear get to you.
If you feel you’re not good enough you can always improve. But don’t stop following your dreams out of fear or what people might say. Or that you don’t know enough about the topic. You will get better at whatever you do when you do it enough times.
11. Be willing to adapt
If you are not willing to adapt your blog won’t succeed. Nothing in life is constant. Life is ever-changing and evolving into something new.
You have to be flexible to change into a direction that is the new normal in order to remain relevant, stay successful and grow.
12. Be consistent and stay persistent
Consistency is what makes you a winner. Blog consistently no matter. Whether there are algorithm changes, your traffic or income is down.
Be consistent and don’t talk yourself out of doing what you have to do in order to grow your blog. because it’s true consistency that you will become successful.
Be persistent no matter what. Don’t ever give up. There will be a lot of ups and downs but if you keep the end goal in mind you will prosper and succeed.
13. Failing is ok
I think the reason we are scared of failing is that we were taught that failing is bad. But in actual fact, failing is good. It means that we are trying something that we’ve never done before.
So we need to re-educate ourselves on the definition of failure and know that failure is ok. It is not fatal. And that it’s only through failure that we know what’s working and what’s not.
When we don’t try something we will never know if it would have worked out or not. Get accustomed to failure and fail as much as you need to in order to be successful in your blogging business.
14. Time management is everything
This one blogging thing I wish I knew before starting my blog changed my life. I was a serial procrastinator before I started my blog. But I had to change because managing your time will be super important. Blogging takes so much work that you have to be very intentional with your time spent.
Making use of every hour of your day will require you to learn how to best manage the time you have to dedicate to your blogging business.
15. Change is constant embrace it
Get ready for the roller coaster ride of your life. The ever-changing adventure that is blogging. You will be learning constantly while feeling like you never know enough.
Because as soon as you think you have something figured out, it will change and you have to learn a better way to stay relevant and on track.
16. Set actionable goals
Know what you want. Set goals to achieve and take consistent action. Don’t just set any goals, it should be smart goals. Goals that lead you towards an end result.
Being goal-oriented also helps with your productivity. You know where you want to go and are following all the steps to get there.
Versus not having a goal. Which leads you to procrastinate and become lazy because you don’t know what you want.
17. Be patient
Probably the most important thing about blogging I wish I knew before starting a blog. Having patience is key. No one knows how long it will take to grow your traffic or make money. We estimate but it can take a lot longer than we anticipate. You will feel like you are getting nowhere. Don’t worry too much, everybody started at zero. They just didn’t give up.
Don’t give up, even if it takes very long. You will not make a living blogging if you give up. Have patience and determination.
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Conclusion to 17 things about blogging I wish I knew before starting my blog
There are still so many things about blogging I wish I knew before I started that I could share with you but I don’t want to overwhelm you all at once.
Get out there and start your blog. You will learn many things about yourself and blogging that you don’t know now. That’s part of life but now that you know these things I wish I knew before I started blogging you can try to learn from them.
The important part of blogging is to just go for it. Get started. It’s a ton of work. And can get frustrating sometimes but it’s such a blessing, the best feeling in the world. I promise you won’t regret starting a blog.