Blogging is great, it really and truly is. You meet amazing people, have such a fab supportive community across social media, get to share your opinions with the world and have your own little corner of the internet. But, what happens when you start comparing your little corner of the internet to someone else's?
See that's what happened to me. I became too caught up in numbers, platforms, photo props, and everything else that goes along with blogging, that I fell out of love with something I was so passionate about. I'd analyse other people's blogs and see what they were doing, their style of writing, photo editing, how they took their photos, what props they used, what brands they were working with and it was RIDICULOUS.
Within a month I was miserable, by the next month I'd stopped writing blog posts and taking photos altogether. And for the month following, I tried to make out on social media that everything was fine. A blog post was coming soon, that's all I seemed to be saying, when in reality, there was no blog post. There wasn't even a first draft, not even an idea.
I just felt lost. Completely and utterly lost and the worst part of the whole thing is that I did it to myself. My own obsession was my downfall.
I've had two blogs in the past before this one. Were they the most successful blogs in the world? No, but they made me happy. And for the past few months, this one has been doing the complete opposite and led me to stop posting completely. Sometimes it's hard to admit that the reason you're failing at something you so desperately want to work is because of your own actions. But the moment you do, everything starts to fall into place.
This blog post is for anyone who has lost their passion, who compares themselves to other bloggers, and/or feels they're getting nowhere.
- Choose whatever platform you want
In the blogging community there seems to be two main platforms that people tend to go for; Blogger and Wordpress. Both are good, however Blogger is a lot more straight forward and beginner friendly, and is the platform I currently use. Wordpress is a bit more difficult to use, albeit it seems to be the more popular platform among bloggers.
All I seem to read about is how good Wordpress is, and I'm in no way saying it isn't a good platform, but when you read blog posts that constantly say things such as "if you really want to take your blog serious, switch to Wordpress" it gets to you. My mind was swarmed with thoughts. I did take this blogging thing seriously? I did want to make my blog a success. Can I not do that with Blogger?
So I made the switch. Just to the free Wordpress to start off and eventually I download Wordpress.org to see if I could design a website before going self hosted. I bought my domain on the free Wordpress.com and off I went. That's when I really started to lack in my blogging. I didn't like it, I preferred the simplicity of Blogger. But every successful blogger seemed to use Wordpress, every time I went on Twitter someone had made the switch.
I just couldn't get into it. I wasn't willing to put the effort in to make my blog look good, because I didn't want to. It took me three months to realize that I can still make my blog a success by using Blogger.
I was so obsessed with what platforms other bloggers were using, that my own blog suffered.
If you use Blogger and you're happy, great. If you use Wordpress and you're happy, even better. Don't allow yourself to obsess so much over what platform others are using, because I've found so many successful bloggers in the last two weeks who started out using Blogger and still do to this day, and they take blogging seriously.
- Your photos don't have to look like everyone else's
Photography has never been a strong suit of mine. Probably never will. Back when I first started blogging, I'd take my (crappy) photos, no editing, upload them and that was it. And I couldn't have been happier.
When I started this blog and began to take it more seriously, I started watching videos and reading blog posts on how to take blog photographs. I bought blog props and also dabbled in editing. My photos improved, definitely improved but once again, I started comparing.
That persons editing was better, this person had nicer props, this person had better angles, this person has amazing flat lays. I started trying to almost mimic other bloggers photographs, people I aspired to be like. And by doing that, I lost my own personal touch to my photos.
I mean, let's be honest, it's pretty hard to take blog photos that don't look like another blog photo. There's only so many ways you can make a photo of foundation look different. But it's you're own personal touch that make your photos yours.
It's fine to take inspiration from someone else, but don't get so caught up in the worry that your photos aren't as good as someone else's. The worst part of my comparing, is that these bloggers had been doing this years. Of course their pictures would look better, they've had years of practice.
If your photos aren't what you want them to be, don't be discouraged and don't copy someone else's because all you need is practice. Not the exact same photo taking by two different people.
- Don't worry about numbers too much
When I first started blogging, I found another blogger who had just started too. I read all her blog posts, and still do this day and she's pretty cool. Soon though, I started noticing that her posts seemed to be getting a lot more attention than mine. She had more comments, more shares on social media and I couldn't help but feel jealous.
I mean, we'd both started at the same time so why weren't my posts doing as well as hers?
It's all well and good for people to say don't worry about numbers, but when someone is doing so much better than you, it gets to you. Everything started to be about numbers for me, and I'd feel so crappy if my posts weren't getting a certain amount of views.
But that was so stupid. I'd just started blogging, and I know this other girl had too but the views come to everyone at their own time. At least that's what I believe. I think if you put in the work, and the time that the numbers you desire will eventually happen.
It happens for everyone, so if there is a blogger that seems to be doing better than you or you're just feeling down about numbers in general, just stop. Feel good about the numbers you do have and what you've already accomplished. It's just the beginning.
- You don't need to post everyday
I see bloggers who post everyday, and well done to them because I certainly can't do it. I've tried and I failed. There's no written rules on how to blog. No rules on how many times a week or month you should post.
But me being me, I'd get so upset and disappointed in myself that I couldn't post every day. I thought that with all these other bloggers posting everyday, or every two days that my blog would fall behind.
No one would notice my blog if there's all these other blogs that are posting so much more than me.
And I know there's others out there that feel like this too, because I've spoke to some of them. But you don't need to feel like that.
People run on different schedules, lead different lives. Some people have time to post everyday and others don't and that's fine. Your blog isn't going to fall behind, you'll still get to where you want to be. Don't push yourself to post more than you're able to. Believe me, I did, and it was those around me who were suffering because I was so stressed all the time.
Post everyday, post every two days, once a week, once a month, it doesn't matter. We'll all get there eventually.
Blogging should be fun, or shouldn't seem like a task. And for so long, that's what my blog was to me. I was too busy trying to be like everyone else, because what they were doing seemed to work. But it didn't work for me.
From now on, I'm focusing on my blog, no one else's. I've switched back to blogger, got myself a nice new template and I'm finally started to love blogging again.
There's no race to the finish line, there isn't even a finish line. So wherever you are in your blogging journey, if you've just started or have been doing it a year, just slow down, take your time. Don't compare yourself to someone else because you'll never been that person. You're you, own it. Make your own path, follow your own journey and just have fun.
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