Eight Lessons I Learned My First Year As A Blogger

It's my blog's birthday. One year ago I started down the scary-but-exciting path of becoming a blogger, and I've survived to tell the tale (don't laugh; many bloggers quit in less than a year!). Here are 8 lessons I've learned - 4 that come speedily to mind, and 4 that are the consequent of deeper reflection. I'd love to hear what you've found in your first months or years of blogging.

The First 4 Things I've Learned

Graco

Blogging takes a lot of time. There's no getting away from this one. It does get easier as you found your voice, learn some workable approaches, and get into the "zen" of writing. But there's no denying the need to carve out time in your schedule to write. More time than I expected, in fact.

It's tough seeing new things to say. At least initially. There's already so much good article published by others, how can you maybe have anyone new to say? And yet, I find there's all the time new things happening in my niche, new problems or concerns I hear from my clients, new ideas I find it worthwhile to share and request seminar about - in short, life happens and is worth talking about. That's what the world of collective media - and blogs - is about, after all.

It takes time to gain followers. It does of course take time to build a blog following. But what's wrong with that? It takes time to do anyone worth doing. The key is to not give up, but to keep at it, write good article regularly, get out and promote it, share your ideas on collective media, and eventually others will take note and return for more.

It's not just about Me. In the early days of blogging, lots of citizen blogged to tell their own story, share their feelings, or just generate a soapbox for their personal views. It's less true today, as most bloggers understand the need to provide value in order to attract readers. The trick is to make it personal adequate to be interesting, but keep the reader's interests top of mind.

4 Less obvious Lessons

Write authentically, but not from your own perspective. It's tempting as a blogger to talk about what you contemplate and experience, from your unique vantage point. That does in fact help you to write with an authentic voice. But before doing that, you have to lift yourself up and place yourself back down in the shoes of your reader. Live your reader persona - then talk about what you contemplate and palpate with authenticity. I love these examples:

• Graco, maker of baby strollers and car seats, has the Graco Baby blog that speaks as a parent of young children, including stories about baby names, birthday parties, travel tips for infants, and other topics for first-time parents.
• Best Western, the hotel chain, has the You Must Be Trippin' travel blog, that gives great tips and ideas for travelers.
• Fiskars, which makes fun scissors, has the Fiskateers blog, authored by a group of scrapbookers, who are loyal users of their scissors.

You can learn to love it. Like many citizen mental about beginning a blog, I started on this road with a healthy dose of fear and dread. But as I've made blogging a regular part of my routine, the dread has lessened and I of course look forward to my blogging time. It's the rare time in my week when I can slow down, think straight through my ideas, and see straight through the eyes of my reader/customer.

You have to read a lot to write a lot. My early posts were shots-in-the-dark as I looked colse to for what to write about and made some educated guesses about what readers would want to read. Over the policy of the year, I've made a point of becoming more open -reading what others have to say, learning about topics I want to write on, listening to what clients need, and researching many a blog post idea. The clear episode is that writing a blog is not about pontificating - it's about entering an online, ongoing conversation.

Write lots when you're up....and don't when you're down. Many would-be bloggers are paralyzed by the fear of writer's block. I've learned to work colse to it. Some days I have lots of "writing energy" and I take advantage by writing manifold posts, then scheduling them forward. Other days I just don't feel like writing - too many other commitments, or my brain is not in the mood. Those days, I'm glad for the pre-scheduled posts, or I look for guest bloggers to help out.

So, join me in wishing my blog a Happy Birthday. I'd love to hear what You've found in your first months or years of blogging.

Eight Lessons I Learned My First Year As A Blogger