Ever think about starting a blog? These days, it seems like everyone’s got one. But just how difficult is it to create and manage a successful blog? Well, it takes a lot more than just sitting around in your PJ’s writing down whatever comes to mind. Blogging creates a lot of challenges. Some of which we anticipated and some of which we didn’t. But we can say that blogging for the past six months has been an amazingly fun experience. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but rewarding nonetheless. For any would-be bloggers out there, or anyone interested in the process, here’s a few things we’ve learned along the way:
1) It’s A LOT of work
If you read any article out there explaining how to start a blog, the author will most likely give warning about how it is WAY more work than you think. We read this countless times and thought “okay, we get it! Maintaining a blog is very time consuming, blah blah blah.” Deep down I knew it was true, but secretly hoped all the top bloggers were just saying that to deter others from starting their own. Then they were left to sip margaritas on the beach, laughing manically while big bucks rolled in. This is not how it works. Starting a blog is a lot of work. Maintaining a blog is a lot of work. Hell, I’m sure even shutting down a blog is a lot of work.
{ if only life was always this easy }
2) There’s a lot more to it than just writing stuff down
If blogging were as easy as just writing down your thoughts, then every 15 year old with a Xanga (does that still exist?) would blog forever. But unless you want your audience to be limited to your mom and your tech savvy grandma, then you need to put in a lot more work. I’d say half of our time spent working on the blog is spent writing. The other half is drawing in new readers, promoting our articles, working on moving our posts higher up Google search results, answering questions on travel forums, connecting with other bloggers, updating social media, etc. It takes a lot of time, but it’s super gratifying to see our stats build up.
3) People can be mean
This is almost a life lesson. Whenever you put your work out in the public sphere, you have to be ready for negative feedback. Not everyone is going to like your work and you have to accept that. The great thing about the Internet is that your writing can reach a mass amount of people instantly. The terrible thing about the Internet is that readers can bash your work while hiding behind the protection of their computer screen. Some bloggers embrace it and publicly mock the ridiculousness of cruel comments. Still, no matter how many positive things readers say about your blog, it’s the negative ones that stick with you. We’ve learned the best way is to just ignore it and continue with a thicker skin.
4) It takes a long time to build up
It’s no secret that every blogger wants more readers. That’s why we choose to put our writing on the internet instead of scrawled in our journals.
But gaining readership is not going to happen over night. It’s a slow process and sometimes we bang our heads against the wall, wondering why we should even post if no one is reading? But with consistent work, our numbers are growing. And there’s nothing more thrilling than knowing that someone, somewhere in the world is reading our article. And that just maybe it will inspire them to travel.
5) Brush up on your photography skills
You can be the best writer in the world, but people are visual creatures. We want to see pretty places, mouth-watering food, adorable puppy photos! No? Just me? Just because you bought your first DSLR, doesn’t mean you’re a photographer. Having quality photos, especially on a travel blog, is super important. To work on our photo skills, we’ve both done a lot of reading, as well as studied the work of other travel photographers that we like. But the most important thing? Take thousands of photos! Of everything! Especially the mundane, seemingly unimportant things. We took a TON of photos, but still look back on our trip and wish we had photographed every meal, hostel room and grungy local bus. Those are the things we end up writing about, so having a photo to go along with them is essential.
6) It’s all about who you know
Just like pretty much anything in life- it’s all about contacts. Sometimes while checking out other travel blogs, a bit of instinctual competition kicks in. Are we better writers? Why is their lay-out so awesome? How did they do that Facebook like box pop?? But we’ve learned that these aren’t necessarily our competition, they are our colleagues. And they can be damn helpful. From suggesting helpful blogging tips to exchanging guest articles, networking with other bloggers is HUGE.
There you have it. A sneak behind the scenes peek at the world of blogging.
Are you a blogger? What have you learned in the process that was surprising to you? Thinking of starting a blog? Does this list seem daunting or exciting? We want to hear from you!
