I recently received an email from a fellow blogger complimenting my writing and asking for my advice. In the past I’ve had a lot of people contact me asking several questions about blogging. It seems many of us wish to share our lives and opinions, and sort through our own feelings via a writing outlet. With that in mind I decided to share a few things I’ve discovered.
When I decided I wanted to start a blog I had no clue where to start. So I googled it. Seriously. The web is packed full of a plethora of information on blogging and how-to’s. I followed strangers’ blog posts to point me in the right (write) direction.
At the end of November 2015 it will be three years that I’ve been blogging. When I started I realized I had forgotten a lot from my Writing Composition and English class days, and my first year was a struggle with grammar and getting in the swing of things. From the get-go I made a deal with myself to not give up as I felt a strong urging to share through writing, and in my perseverance made a personal goal to write something daily. Not daily for a month. I challenged myself to write a blog post every day for a full year. And I did!
Even when I thought I had nothing to say, or as I struggled through life with a toddler and newborn, I still kept my promise to myself. I wrote something and published it every day. I discovered that on the days where I was sure I had nothing to say, I actually wrote the pieces that were most heartfelt and thought-provoking.
That first year taught me a few things. For one, I learned dedication and perseverance. Many times that first year I would write and promote a piece, sometimes twice a day on social media, and be discouraged when only 14 people read my words. But I kept writing.
Somewhere along the way I discovered how much I really enjoyed writing, and I got better at it. Although I still have a horrid affair with the overuse of the comma, I’ve come a long way in my style and writing ability. I can recall receiving comments from strangers regarding my grammatical errors, and while it stung, I tucked it away in my future repertoire. Over time I became a self-taught author, developing my own style, but also taking advantage of the Internet to help with wording and grammar rules.
Within that first year I discovered what drew people in, the topics they enjoyed, and the titles that encouraged them to hit my link. In that I also struggled and came to a place where I had to decide not to trample on my own personal beliefs in favor of statistical numbers. I learned the hard way that I had to write what I enjoyed to truly prosper in my writing. And I don’t mean prosper in a monetary sense, but rather in my spirit.
I learned that people will misunderstand you, disagree with you, and be downright cruel in their opinion of what you’ve poured out from your heart onto the page. I had to come to a place where that didn’t matter, but rather being honest with myself and honoring God did.
After that first year I really did become more comfortable with blogging, and I experienced my first viral blog post. It was amazing! I had written a few pieces before that were read by a little over a thousand people, but when the numbers for that first popular post climbed over 500K I was in shock.
Then the numbers fell back down, and so did I. Oprah didn’t call, and I was back to work and not on a blogger’s world tour.
A couple of months later it happened again. Well over 1.5 million views. Elation! Followed by deflation.
More viral posts would happen.
That second year I discovered that going viral, while really cool, didn’t do anything dramatic for my blog. I didn’t gain a ton of followers, regular readers, or email subscribers. Some, but not a lot.
But I kept writing.
Over the past three years I’ve increased consistent readership from half a dozen friends to a couple of thousand, but honestly, sometimes I write stuff and hear crickets.
When I first started blogging I heard that to grow a blog you needed to connect with other bloggers, join blogging networks, comment on other’s posts and such. So I did, but I’m also a bit of an introvert so I found all that networking utterly exhausting. And while I suppose it’s helpful, for me personally I saw no growth of my blog through it.
My actual growth of my blog audience over time seems to rely specifically on consistent writing of quality content. I write about what I love and enjoy. I write about things that give me passion and the topics I care about. I pray consistently over my blog and the content, and I tend to talk to my audience like we’re sitting down together for a cup of coffee. I hide nothing, and I honestly share my struggles, shortcomings, and failures. I think people like to know they’re not alone.
In my third year I’ve become more comfortable with my writing. I still get my feelings hurt, and occasionally feel awful when I spend time on a subject and very few people take the time to read it. That’s something I’m still working on. I’ve always been too sensitive, and frequently must remind myself that I feel called by God to write this blog. Statistical numbers don’t change that.
I’ve had the opportunity to share my writing on many different platforms. I recently was discovered by a Huffington Post editor when she came across one of my viral, nursing blog posts, and I felt honored to join their blogging team by no real efforts of my own. I’ve also enjoyed having one of my posts about my husband become discovered by IJ Lift, and from there go insanely viral. It received mostly positive feedback, and a few ugly trollers, but overall I was content to share on such a large platform my love for my husband and Jesus Christ.
For me building a consistent reader base for my blog has rested on writing, writing, and writing some more. I consistently write quality content, in my humble opinion, and I love doing it. I consider myself to be a successful blogger, but not because of the numbers on my stats screen or the fact that I get to make money off my blog now.
I consider myself blessed to be a successful blogger when strangers stop me in the supermarket to tell me how much they enjoy reading what I write; which happens a lot more frequently now. To realize that my words may touch even one life makes it all worthwhile for me. So even though I enjoy the likes, shares, comments, and generous statistical data, I write what I do to help others, and that’s success to me.
Plus at this point I don’t think I could stop if I tried.
So happy blogging to those considering your own. There’s a lot of us out there, and you may never be a Jen Hatmaker, Matt Walsh, or Scary Mommy, but if you enjoy it then that’s all that matters. And that makes you a successful blogger.
Barbara Allen says
Love this message, as well as everything you write. You are truly a blessing. Keep writing & sending us those precious words. Love to u & your little family. Barbara Allen
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you so much!