7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging

Before I start anything, I do my research. When I was thinking of writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month, I read their companion book + every article I could find, and I listened to SO many podcasts. Before I accepted my internships, I looked up success stories of students who’d had two at a time. And of course, before I started blogging, I bookmarked/screenshotted/saved every post I could find where my favorite bloggers gave their tips! After all of my research and about four years of blogging, I thought I’d share 7 things I wish I knew before I started blogging!

1. To create a consistent feed, you’ll want to use a preset.

I’m sure this is common knowledge by now, but when I started blogging, I had no idea how people had such aesthetically pleasing feeds! Presets are different edits through Lightroom that you can apply to each photo you take so they all have a similar vibe. Obviously, you can pay someone for their preset, but I’m gonna be honest – I don’t love that option. I had so much fun playing around with presets on my own and creating one that was uniquely mine. I know that when people see warm, sunny images, they’ll know it’s me!

2. Focus on your content, not on landing collaborations.

Whether you’re a blogger or you just read them – or if you’re somewhere in the middle and you want to blog – you’ve probably seen a lot of collaborations on Instagram and in blogs. It’s so easy to compare yourself to others, especially in the social media world, and be upset if you don’t land a collaboration you want. Instead of getting in a funk about those misses, use them as an opportunity to dive headfirst into creating content without thinking of collaborations. Brands will see that you’re building a consistent page, and the right brands will reach out.

3. You don’t have to (and you shouldn’t) say yes to every collaboration opportunity.

The first time a brand reached out to me, I was so excited – and if a brand reaches out to you, you should be excited! It’s a great affirmation that what you’re doing is working. You’re building an audience that trusts you. However, I turned down that collaboration because I realized that it wasn’t necessarily an even trade-off. They’d be sending me a product I wasn’t interested in and I’d have to create multiple forms of content for them. I declined, and at the time I wondered if that was my only opportunity. A few months later, a brand reached out to me that I was actually excited about working with!

Your audience will trust you if you share the brands you love, but it’ll be really obvious if you aren’t excited about collaborations. By only saying yes to the collaborations that you and your audience will enjoy, you’re showing your audience that you are trustworthy.

4. Some people will grow their following incredibly quickly, and some won’t. That’s okay!

Honestly, I SO wish someone had said this in one of the articles I read when I started blogging. Some bloggers did, but they were usually bloggers with more than 50K followers, so I know how hard it is to hear someone who’s already grown talk about slow growth. Right now, I’m sitting at just above 2,000 followers, and I’ve seen bloggers who started after me pass me. Spoiler alert: that doesn’t matter! For me, the most important thing is in having integrity and honesty. If that means I’ll stay at 2,000 followers forever, that’s fine by me.

5. You can make time for it if it’s a priority.

People have asked me how I make time for blogging, so I wanted to mention this! Blogging is one of my priorities. In some ways, it’s a (very very) small side hustle that sometimes leads to awesome collaborations and partnerships. But for the most part, I do this for me. I love blogging, and I prioritize it, so it’s possible to make time for it on a busy schedule. Right now, I’m typing this post at McDonald’s while sipping my coffee before Adoration. Blogging is a priority for me, so I can use these pockets of time and love it!

6. If you want people to show up for you, first show up for them.

THIS. For about the first three years of blogging, I saw so many bloggers with their “blogging communities” and I was so jealous because I wanted to create those relationships. In the past year, I changed the way I was looking at it. Instead of wanting to create seemingly superficial relationships that are just based on following people, I reached out to those bloggers I love. We started having actual conversations. I’m so excited because I recently created a lil group message for Auburn bloggers on Instagram! Community is why I wanted to blog, but sometimes to have a community, you have to be the one to create it.

7. Find your why (but don’t worry if it changes).

This is probably the most important “tip” and honestly, bloggers did say this and I didn’t really get it. The reason you start your blog may be different than the reason you keep your blog – I know mine is. As a senior in high school, I started blogging because I enjoyed reading them and I wanted to be a blogger! It was as simple as that. But in the past year, I’ve refined the real reason I keep showing up. I blog for the girls who are going through their first breakup, who are stressed that they can’t get everything done, who wonder why their friends are suddenly being mean. Life isn’t always easy, and I know that. But we can always find the sunny side of life and choose joy in those tough situations. That’s my why – I know how important reading blogs was for me in high school and college (and will be from now on) because I could see that other women went through the painful things I was going through, and they survived. My hope is that anyone who stumbles across this blog knows that they ARE loved, even when they don’t feel like it.