MY LIFE,  WELLNESS

What Starting A Blog Is Really Like

Starting a blog is such a fun, yet slightly intimidating experience.

It’s such a cool way to create a little creative universe of whatever you f*cking want. It’s your universe. You can share your thoughts, your fashion-passion, your obsession for dogs, photography, traveling, pancakes – the sky is the limit.

But what is having a blog really like? Like actually?

Let me share 14 things with you that comes into my blogging experience.

1. Shameless self promotion

We can dedicate an entire post to this topic one day, since the fear of self promotion is so real when you’re just getting started. Many wonder why they don’t see progress when it comes to their business, yet they don’t promote it because of the classic of fear of judgement.

“Promoting” is not only what you post on the internet, but also how you talk about your product (and can I add “yourself”) in real life. Are you telling your friends and family about what you do and want to do with excitement, or do you get embarrassed?

Do I love self promotion? F*CK NO. Is it necessary? Absolutely. I used to never ever tell anyone that I’m blogging, and I’m the uncrowned Queen-Of-Blocking-People-I’m-scared-Will-Judge-Me from my IG stories (once I blocked 256 people manually. TWO-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY-SIX PEOPLE, was I okay?!). If that’s not a clear sign to go read a self help book or 50, I don’t know what is. It made zero sense. How do you expect people to buy a product they don’t know exist?

Noone will ever judge you as much as you judge yourself.

(Overthinking? This post is for you!)

2. The camera part

For blogging, photos are so important. We love a good visual, don’t we. I admire people who naturally have an eye for photography. I really don’t! So it’s a fun new learning process.

I bought a nice camera a couple of months ago and have finally started to dive into the magical world of YouTube tutorials to learn more.

3. The taking pictures part

Do you ever look at IG-influencers and think to yourself: Sooo… do they just like.. ask people to take pictures of them? Yes, they do.

I still think it’s a little awkward, but with time it’s getting more and more fun too! I definitely had to get over myself.

4. The building the site part

OH. MY. GOD!

Looking back, I’m literally laughing at myself. WHO did I think I was when I thought I could build an entire webpage on my own in a couple of days.

Just because you know how to use the Google Search Engine (and I applaud you), it absolutely doesn’t mean you’ll dominate the process of building a WordPress page. Yes Ghandi, if you can dream it you can do it, but HOLY…

There’s a reason people go to school for these things.

On a positive note you don’t have to be Elon Musk or Stephen Hawking to figure it out, but I definitely spent 2.5 months on getting it somehow together. Shout out to YouTube tutorials once again.

If you’re impatient and stubborn like me, I wish you all the best on your webpage journey.

5. The writing part

My favorite part. I really enjoy creating little universe of whatever I want it to be. Obviously, it’s nice when the pageviews go up and people enjoy reading your stuff, but you enjoying the process is crucial to succeed with anything, I think.

I’d say writing is only 10% of having a blog, but it’s definitely the reason I started it in the first place.

6. The writing in another language part

I actually started blogging in Danish, but after a couple of years I deleted the page and started all over. In English.

Obviously it’s easier to write in your first language, so this is definitely more challenging! We all know that words just don’t flow the same way in your second language so to improve this I’m planning on reading way more English books. Don’t you think that would help?

Sometimes I find myself going back to writing a couple of pages in my notebook in Danish, just for me. Lots of poetry, lots of fairy tales.

7. The Social Media part

…is a fun, creative yet stresfull jungle!

Everyone I know is saying that you should focus on two SoMe platforms to promote your work, when you have a blog. It could either be TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkdIn or YouTube.

I spent most of my SoMe-time on Instagram (@mathilde.veje) and share the new posts in my Facebook Group here. I started a YouTube channel a couple of months ago where I have a lot of fun filming vlogs when I’m out and about, but I’m not sure where to go with it yet. You can check it out here!

If you have any ideas, let me know!

8. The Pinterest part

You probably know Pinterest, but if you don’t, it’s a visual search engine and works a little bit like Google, but in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

When you discover a “Pin” you like you save it to your “board”. It’s such a great way to spark some inspiration and to get traffic to your blog! This is where most of my traffic come from actually!

9. The consistency part

Freelancing is appealing to people who want to be their own boss and work “whenever they want”. I’ve been freelancing since I was 19 and it’s so fun! Running a blog is like being the editor on a magazine, you’re the boss and you decide the deadlines.

But remember that you’re also the writer, the photographer, the social media manager, the digital editor, the art director etc. etc.

It’s so easy to let the overwhelm take over and get discouraged (hiii, me), but it’s like the gym. Consistency is everything. Personally I try to post a blog post 4 times a month.

10. The “Networking” Part

The fastest way to gain more followers and more content on any platform is by collaborating with people who already have big platforms. Being a guest blogger, having guest bloggers, getting on a podcast etc. etc.

I don’t love the word “networking” since it sounds very cold and just.. not cute or personal at all! Therefore I try to look at it as building relationships and finding a supportive community instead. It feels better on the inside.

I’m a part of a blogging community called “The Thrive Tribe”, where lots of bloggers inspire each other, and where coaches help you with aaaall your blogging struggles! It’s super fun!

11. The Niche part

If you want to start a blog, but honestly don’t know what you wanna write about, here are some prompts that might help!

  1. What am I passionate about?
  2. What am I good at?
  3. What can I help others with?

You don’t have to be an expert in a specific field, but it’s so important that you are passionate about what you write about. You can easily tell when people aren’t being authentic and true to themselves!

12. The SEO part

I didn’t even know this was an f-ing thing until months ago.

“Search Enginge Optimization” is a necessary thing to learn, to make sure you can be found on Google.

It’s kinda technical, but it’s all about making sure that your posts links to other blog posts and webpages, you choose a keyword that you have to mention about 9 times throughout your post, your headlines need to be in a certain way, your photos need to be saved and named in a certain way.

I understand why people have this as a job now, let me put it like that.

13. The making money part

*SWIPE UP GUYS*

You’ve heard it before, and it’s all a part of marketing and making money. There are several ways to make money from blogging. Either by having a certain amount of pageviews, by having ads on your page, by collaborations with brands etc. etc.

14. It’s not that scary

We are all unique, we all have a unique story, a unique voice, and even if your brain convinced you that your voice doesn’t matter, it does.

Ask yourself why you clicked on this blog post in the first place – it might be because you deep down want to express yourself more online.

This is your sign to go for it.

Have so much fun!

xoxo

Instagram right here! and Facebook Group

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