Lessons I've Learned in 3 Years of Blogging

It's exactly 3 years since my first ever (and long since converted to draft...) blog post! When I started this blog I spent a loooong time fumbling around trying to find my way and little did I think I'd be where I am now in terms of readership and the quality of my posts in comparison with my early days. Today I'm sharing what I've learnt in this time and what I'd tell my 3-years-younger self, in the hopes it'll be useful for you!


Know who you are

I'm not sure if all bloggers feel this way but the longer you do this for, the more you gain a sense of yourself. You develop a writing style, your photography and layout will have a certain aesthetic and you'll know the kind of content you want on your blog and the sort of thing that just doesn't interest you. Knowing who you are not only helps you create content that you love, but also content that appeals to your readers and it's much easier to see which opportunities that come along are or aren't for you. I also think this is why I am not as bothered by being copied or blogs that are nothing like mine suddenly becoming huge as other people might be; because I know what my blog is and who I am and outside factors don't change that. At the end of the day, I'm not going to change who I am for some extra followers!

Don't be a slave to social media

I often see people going on social media detoxes but I've never felt the need to myself. I think if you have quite a healthy attitude towards it then it's not something you ever worry too much over. Likes and followers are nice and it's always great to have people interacting with your content but it really isn't everything and there will always be someone 'bigger' than you. Sometimes an impromptu quick upload taken on my phone gets a load of likes, whereas an image I'm really proud of won't! People only share the edited highlights on social media and whilst some accounts I follow purely for the aesthetic, I don't aspire to be like those people. (As a side note: does anyone else wonder if their mates get sick of them having to take some elaborate aerial shot every time they go for dinner together or stopping every three paces to take a super-posed outfit shot or only ever going to 'Instagrammable' places?!) At the end of the day you can only be yourself and who cares about the rest?

You have to love what you're doing

Blogging takes time, effort, money and a hell of a lot of planning and organisation. People who think it's easy to get a load of followers or it's a quick way to rinse brands for free products are going to be sorely disappointed. If your heart isn't in it; it shows. for me, your passion for what you're writing about needs to jump off the page for me to keep reading. It's a long, hard slog and you won't immediately see the 'pay off' beyond having had the guts and determination to create something and put it out there for people to consume. 

Know when to step back and don't take too much on

At the end of the day; this is supposed to be fun, not stressful! If you're lucky enough to have readers who want to read your content and brands who want to work with you, then the expectations suddenly get raised and it feels like you have a lot more responsibility all of a sudden. There are people who might notice if you miss a post next Tuesday from your usual schedule. There are people chasing you and 50 unread emails in your inbox. Personally, I've gone from posting at least once a day when I was a university to just about being able to juggle three times a week. I'd kind of rather do less and maintain the regularity of my posting than try to do too much and end up failing (either in terms of my schedule or the quality of my posts). To me, there's no shame in realising you aren't coping and need to scale things back, or even take a break from the blogging world.

Sometimes things happen overnight, most of the time they don't...

Sure, there's always the story of the one in a million person who becomes huge overnight, however most of the time it's an uphill struggle; some will get big, some won't. Success to any degree is always a combination of hard work, being good at what you do and a dose of luck and good timing. I'm pretty happy with where my blog is right now but for the first 6 months of blogging I didn't get a single comment, it took me about a year to reach 1000 followers on any platform and it wasn't until around then that any brands were interested in working with me. I've also heard a lot of the big bloggers and YouTubers having varying timescales on their success; some were ready-made stars, others worked for ages before anyone took notice. As they say; Rome wasn't built in a day!

Integrity is everything

I guess this links back to knowing who you are but for 'micro-bloggers' like me, and probably many of you reading this, there are a lot of us out there! There are people who are willing to shill almost anything because it was free or they were given a couple of hundred quid, and to be honest they are the bloggers who probably aren't going to be active in a few years. You'll know in your heard of hearts when you're compromising your integrity and your readers will know. Just don't do it. You'll regret it!

Never take things for granted

I particularly notice a real disregard and lack of gratitude from some of the 'big' bloggers/vloggers, which I find incredibly off-putting. I guess it's hard to appreciate the value of things when you're constantly sent expensive products for free but when you're carelessly throwing aside a boxful of products that cost more than what most people wouldn't be able to afford to spend on beauty over a 6-month period, it doesn't endear you to anyone! No matter how big or small you are, it's easy to look at other people and wonder why you don't have what they do, however always remember there's probably someone thinking the exact same about you! I'm not saying you shouldn't be ambitious, but always appreciate what you have.

What words of wisdom do you have from your experiences of blogging?

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P.S. There'll be a giveaway to celebrate my blog's 3rd birthday and to say a massive THANK YOU to you guys coming in the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!