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Dec
07
The “Don’t Worry Post” For New Bloggers
Blogging can be quite stressful at times. If you just started your blog and can’t find a way to gain readers or visitors the feeling is nothing but frustrating. We have all been there at some point in time.
Blogging Stress is one of the main reason many bloggers stop blogging within couple months or couple weeks for that matter. Here are some tips to save yourself the stress that comes with blogging.
Don’t Worry About Writing Killer Content
Yes! Content is the king when it comes to the success of any ( most ) blog. But at the beginning of your blogging career you need to focus more on creating content rather than killer content. It takes time for everything. Some people are really good at expressing things verbally but are not that good when it comes to expressing it in writing.
Practice makes you perfect. Don’t worry about writing killer content. Just create content and go with the flow. As you keep writing and reading other blogs you will see, gradually the quality of your content rises. And without even noticing you will start creating content that will be the talk of the town ( blogosphere ).
Don’t Worry About Updating Everyday
Quantity might not be as important as quality but it still is one of the major driving force for the success of any blog. It is a well known fact that you need to update your blog often but often doesn’t mean every single day. Write when you feel like, when you have something worth to share.
When I started blogging there were times when I used to post almost 2-3 posts everyday and you can imagine the stress it can create. I was constantly trying to find something to write. Even when I wasn’t on the computer my mind was always on the hunt for something to write about. Take it easy. Update your blog often but it sure doesn’t have to be everyday. Instead if you have something to write about, write it down and keep tweaking it until you are satisfied with what you have written. If you are going to publish something today, wait, edit it, show it to your friends and ask them what they think. And publish it the next day or the day after.
Don’t Worry About Traffic
The importance of traffic on any blog cannot be overlooked. You can create great content but if the traffic isn’t there what’s the point right? Well, start networking and knowing other people. Comment and guest post on other blogs. Start stumbling pages using Stumble Upon. For bloggers today it is much easier to gain traffic because of all the social media sites.
Just take it easy. Everything takes time and so will traffic. If you think you have written one of your best posts, instead of posting it on your blog, offer it as a guest post on some popular blogs. Traffic will flow as you grow. As much time you are wasting moping on why your blog isn’t getting any traffic can be utilized on networking and knowing others. So get out there and network instead of worrying about traffic. Don’t run after traffic, you are a blogger so just keep on blogging. Become a reader and comment on other blogs. You will gain traffic slow and steady. Not everything has to be the way you want the very next day.
Don’t Worry About Subscribers
You started your blog 10 days ago and you only have 5 subscribers. You, your girlfriend, mom, dad and your best friend. You have five subscribers so you are already out there.
Most blogs have a niche and target a set group of readers. My blog doesn’t have a niche. It certainly isn’t a personal blog because I don’t write what I ate yesterday or what I will be doing tomorrow. My blog isn’t targeted but the posts are. Someday I will write about blogging , someday about money making and some day about web services ( lately I find myself writing about blogging more ). My readers are targeted through each individual posts. They like it, they will come back hoping there might be more.
Keep writing and networking. Like I wrote above, create content and go market yourself. People will come and visit and if they like it they will subscribe. If not, go back to point number 1 and keep creating content until you become the “ killer content creator “
Don’t Worry About Stats
For god’s sake take your eyes off the stats. Not that you shouldn’t check your stats but do it with moderation. Once a day is more than enough. Looking at your stats every 10-15 minutes while you are on the computer won’t help you boost it. You will see exactly what you saw 5 minutes ago, may be couple more.
Stats are meant to give you a general idea and help you target your readers, not make you miserable. Forget the pie charts, bar graphs and all that. It won’t help by looking at them every minute. Once or twice a day is more than enough.
Don’t Worry About Blogging
This might sound weird but don’t worry about blogging. If you started your blog to make money right away from it, it won’t happen. It’s a blog, it’s your blog. If you don’t feel like posting for 2-3 days, go ahead and relax. May be you will come up with that killer content when you come back to blog after that period. Blogging should be something that you enjoy not something that becomes one more thing to add stress to your already stressful life.
Enjoy blogging, take it easy. If you do it with relaxed mind you will see you can achieve a lot more. Stop worrying! Do you know anybody who has achieved anything by worrying? If you were thinking about writing a post right now and can’t come up with the idea, get off that chair and go for a walk. Spend some quality time with your boyfriend/girlfriend, family, whoever you want to. Blogging should be on your priority list but it shouldn’t keep you away from your other priorities. If it is, there is something you are not doing right.
Hopefully this post will help you get rid of some of your blogging worries.
Share your thoughts on how we can worry less and enjoy blogging.
Yes! Content is the king to the success of any blog. Create blog with great content to generate best targeted traffic. I found some other tactics to generate traffic to websites while browsing. Those tactics are helped me to get best targeted traffic to my blogs.
Nice tips. Sometimes we get too caught up in producing that “killer content” like you mentioned. A little bit of stress is good though, so that it keeps you sharp. Don’t worry too much, but remember to keep some pride in your work! Take it easy, but don’t take it TOO easy! Peace out Ritu. Another great post. Dugg!
Thanks for the tips…this was a soothing post
. I agree that there are some things that aren’t worth the worry and stress. I believe in worrying less, but keep on working hard.
Finding a balanced, yet steady pace might be a bit hard to figure out, but it’s essential for combating burnout.
Christopher,
Hmmm. May be you should share some of those tactics with the rest of us
turtie,
I agree with you. Can’t take it too easy that things start sliding by. Glad you liked the post.
jblu,
No problem! It is indeed very important to find a balance between blogging and everything else we do. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Awesome post. Great tips.
I liked what you said about subscribers.
Dugg
Thanks for posting this Ritu. Wish it was around when I first started blogging almost ten years ago.
It took me years to realize that the best way for my blog to be successful was if it was an extension of who I am.
I’ll be sharing this with some of my friends that are just entering the blogging world.
I do everything you suggest - YAY!
Damn..!! All your points are corrects..!! Straight to my nose..
I do have blog stress, i do check my stats every seconds, i do check who my subscribers are, i do worried about my traffics, and the most saddest part is, i still don’t have killer content..!!
I admit that i had taken away all my precious time with my family just because of blogging..Sad, isn’t it?
You are right, ritu.. Go with the flow..I should shut off my computer now.
Now I’m using Commentluv on my blog. Do check it out, will ya?
Thanks for this. It reminded me to stop obsessing. That never helps me write better! I suffered a drop in readership while I moved to WordPress, but my readers are coming back. I should not have worried about my stats drop. Good blogging will draw readers back, even if you stumble or take a little break.
Great post. I zoomed you.
I only realised that I enjoy writing in August this year even though my first blog was created in December 2005. I admit that I used to worry about most of the things outlined by Ritu up there. Now, I write because I enjoy writing, which I never realised before and only discovered recently.
I now have a group of people who regularly visit my blog. It is heartening, really, when I was asked whether there is a new post or not — mostly because they want to leave some funny remarks just to irk me
Blogging stress? I don’t think I feel that anymore. I just feel guilty if not being able write regularly.
Zach,
Thanks
Sameer,
Thanks for the comment. I am glad to know that you think your new blogger friends might enjoy this.
Jenna,
Congratulations!
Jeremy,
You are right about blogging taking time away from other priorities but we do need to balance everything.
By the way, I am going to go check your blog before I shut my computer off
Kathy,
No problem! I suffered quite a bit of drop when I moved my blog to WP and also cause I changed the whole theme as to what I was writing on this blog.
I have gained a lot of readers since then. The main thing is to stay motivated and do everything in moderation, when the time is right it will happen.
Awangku,
Happy to hear that you are past the blogging stress and yes blogging is fun. I enjoy it because it allows me to share my thoughts with others.
I don’t think it’s the frequency of posting that matters as much, it’s the quality. Don’t feel guilty, we all need to set priorities.
I always get hung up on my lack of posting, and I’m not even a new blogger. I’ve been doing this for 3 and a half years.
The irony is that if I would stress less, I would probably end up with more frequent posting.
Fiar,
I can understand what you mean. i usually post every other day. But lately it seems like its taking a toll on other things as well. Also besides writing, formatting and other aspects of blogging there is also networking which takes quite a bit of time and certainly adds stress.
[...] I Had Stress In Blogging.. Written by jeremy on December 18, 2007 – 12:30 pm - Thanks to Ritu for bringing this [...]
I need to read this when I feel flustered or stressed. Would be a good list to reflect on when I can’t find peace in blogging. Blogging suppose to be fun.
This post has really uplifted me. I’m a veteran blogger, but my latest effort is having trouble getting off the ground. Thank you so much for the uplifting post.
Daniel,
Blogging is supposed to be fun and it is fun but still at times it is stressful. The whole idea of this post came from my own past experience on blogging stress.
Stephanie,
You are very welcome.
Excellent advice. It needs to be fun and stressing out makes it not fun. thanks! thumbs-up!
I must admit I have a problem with RSS subscribers. My blog is almost a month old and I have 10-20 subscribers. This really pisses me off and I’m continuously “dreaming” new ways to increase that number. Haven’t improved until now, though - but I’ll keep trying
glblguy,
I agree
hts,
It will with time. Slow and steady wins the race. All we got to do is keep writing and providing value and the readership will build up slowly.
HTS,
I would consider 20-30 subscribers your first month to be quite good.
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