For anyone wondering whether or not to start that blog you’ve been thinking about, just know its not as easy and glamorous as it seems. For me it was a lot of standing on chairs, something burning or getting cold because I was taking to long to get a good angle. A lot of times when I would tell my boyfriend I was making something for the blog he would stop and get a snack before hand to hold him over because he knew he’d be waiting an hour for a meal that would normally take 25-30 minutes. Running a blog has always been something I had thought about doing but never made the move to do it because I didn’t think I’d have the time. When I decided to take a class that was centered on running a blog I was ecstatic; I finally had an excuse to start one. I began forming ideas and picking recipes to make; I knew right away that I was going to do a food blog.
Although I enjoy it so much, there are a lot of things that go into writing and running a blog that I had no idea would turn out to be so important. Being able to write something that people enjoy reading is one thing but getting people to actually see it and take the time to read it is a whole different story. I found it really frustrating when I would spend so much time and effort into a post and have little to no one read it. I would post things on twitter and tell people about it but I just wasn’t getting the views I had expected; I mean who wouldn’t want free and easy recipes for delicious food? I wasn’t expecting booming reviews or hundreds of views but I was definitely expecting more than 3-4 on average; that was really frustrating at first.
If there was one thing I had to change I would have been more focused and concerned with the promotion of my posts. I learned that one simple tweet wasn’t going to bring in the viewers that I wanted. I needed to promote on not only twitter but Instagram and Pinterest too, and when doing so I also wish I would have been more inviting with my promotions instead of just using one sentence or just simply having it automatically post to twitter. My most popular week was probably the week I posted the recipe for Momma Tammy’s Homemade Chili. This was the first post I promoted on Pinterest and I think that may have been a good reason for it! On Oct. 3rd I got 17 views and on Oct. 4th I got 7 visitors. However, to be honest, I feel like I myself could possibly be most of those views but still, I was excited to see that my page was at least getting some attention.
Something I found to come in handy a few time were the twitter widget and the icon buttons that I added. For those who don’t follow me on twitter but have accessed my blog in some other way like perhaps the link in my Instagram bio, or a recipe I promoted on Pinterest, they have the option to see and follow my twitter account right from the homepage of my blog itself. If they did access my blog from a twitter promotion then they have the option to follow my other social media accounts, which are equally as important through the Social media icon buttons. Self-promoting yourself all the time, any chance you get, is a huge part in gaining visitors and building a consistent audience. I gained a few new followers because of the widgets so I found them to be super helpful.
I had a friend that would retweet every single twitter promotion and on several occasions he would tell me how much he enjoys my blog and actually looks forward to reading them. That was the best compliment that anyone could give me because even though I wasn’t getting rave reviews, at least one person regularly acknowledges it so that’s a start! I feel like running this blog and promoting it to people who I know, with opinions I genuinely care about has helped me become more confident and competent in my writing and my way of delivering it. As someone who wants to pursue a career in writing, I used to be so nervous and timid about letting others read what I wrote but because of this blog I have had multiple people commend me and compliment me on my writing. It’s such an amazing feeling to know that not only am I writing about food, which is something I’m super passionate about, but people actually like my writing; and not to mention, it’s a great creative outlet and way to practice for anyone trying to better their writing skills. I think it has helped me find my voice as a writer in some ways, and has also given me a deeper knowledge about how to attract the attention of an audience. It’s also a great addition to a portfolio if you are like me and want to pursue writing in the future.
All in all, what I’m trying to say is, running a blog may not always be sunshine and rainbows or glamorous photo shoots of glamorous things that are done with ease but it’s an amazing experience that for some have turned into full on careers that pay for their lifestyle. For some it’s done in secret as a creative outlet about something they enjoy and for some it’s done merely for an A in a college course. Whatever your reason for blogging is, do it well and have fun with it. Don’t take it to seriously and expect lots of hilarious behind the scenes moments. It’s a roller coaster but its one that you want to keep riding over and over again.
Totally Tay 