Last Updated on May 4, 2020 by ellduclos

What NOT to do When it Comes to Blogging

I am always talking about what you should do when it comes to blogging and social media but I never talk about what you SHOULDN’T do. So, for todays post I want to share with you some things that you shouldn’t do, and maybe these tips will be helpful for you! Without further or due let’s get into what not to do!

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THE SHOULD NOTS + DON’TS OF BLOGGING

DO NOT – COMPARE YOUR JOURNEY

I actually say this quite often. The fact of the matter is, no journey is the same. You may reach success before me OR I may reach success before you. Who’s to say? The way you reach success is by trial + error, and by also learning. You need to work consistently and put out content that wows all the time. The more you work on your blog, the quicker you’ll reach the success that you are trying to achieve. BUT there are factors that come into play. For example: I don’t have any children at the moment, so maybe that means I have more time to work on my blog than a mom would. OR I have a (part time job) but did have a (full time job) when I was blogging earlier on. This can make my journey a little delayed because I don’t have as much free time as someone with no job would have. My point is, your journey will be different than everyone else’s but that’s what makes it so special. SO PLEASE STOP comparing your journey to others’ journeys and just focus on your own. The more focus you have on yourself as opposed to others, the quicker you will reach your success.

DO NOT – IGNORE YOUR AUDIENCE

One of the most important things when it comes to blogging, in my opinion, is building connections. I don’t think of my audience as “strangers” I think of them as friends. You want to build connections with your audience, make them feel noticed. Reply back to their comments, have conversations, answer their questions, and make them feel supported too! If you have an audience that doesn’t feel connected, they won’t trust you as much. If you want to be a successful blogger you need your audiences’ trust!

DO NOT – BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ

For real. Not everything is the truth and we all should know this by now. FAKE NEWS (right?!). But really, there are many bloggers out there who LIE. LIE. LIE. They will lie to try and sell you their courses, they LIE to make a living (basically). So before you purchase an e-course or anything else, make sure you truly TRUST the person you are purchasing from. I just want to try and help save you money. Some e-courses are filled with bologna. DO YOUR RESEARCH PEOPLE!!!! 

DO NOT – FOCUS ON THE MONEY

I say this because if you focus on the money you will give up. Why? Well because money doesn’t come right away. AND to make the money it takes sleepless nights, dedication, multiple cups of coffee, and a tribe of people who support you! Can you make money? absolutely. But, your main focus should always be PUTTING OUT GOOD, QUALITY CONTENT! ALWAYS! If you get caught up in the money, you lose the passion you started your blog with.

DO NOT – HAVE A BUSY BLOG THEME

What I mean by this is, if your blog has multiple pop ups, ads everywhere + a LIKE my facebook page up all at the same time, (SEEE YAAAA). I will click right out, as well as many others I am sure. So please make sure you have a clean theme with little distractions. You don’t want it to look too “spammy”. Something easy on the eyes is what you should strive for. Also, make sure categories are in clear view. Having a site that is easy for your audience to navigate through is key.

DO NOT – WASTE YOUR MONEY UPGRADING ON WORDPRESS .COM

I fell into the wordpress .com trap in the beginning of my journey. I wish I knew before I upgraded! So of course, wordpress is THE BEST WAY TO GO (in my opinion) BUT it should be self hosted NOT the wordpress .com version. This is a little complicated so I will tell you my experience…

I started on wordpress .com and quickly realized the free version was getting me NO WHERE. I wanted to use all the cool plug ins, I wanted to grow my email list, and do all that other fun stuff! I wasn’t able to do this unless I upgraded. SO – I upgraded to premium in hopes that I would be able to use plugins but, was quickly proven wrong. In order to use the plug ins I would need to upgrade to the business plan which is 25$ a month! BILLED YEARLY! That’s crazy expensive!!!!

I knew I had to switch right away and try and get my money back from the premium I paid. Also note that on wordpress .com you aren’t allowed to use ads except for the WordAds. If you want the most flexibility and the most affordable option (go with self hosting wordpress)

So what’s a self host? It’s a server that “hosts” your blog for you. BASICALLY! I use Site Ground and really recommend them if you are looking for fast server speed, high security, fast responding help and a knowledgable support team! They transferred me from wordpress .com to .org at no additional cost. It was easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. JUST TRYNA SAVE YOU MONEY AND GIVE YOU ALL THE FREEDOM YOU DESERVE! Don’t let a site like wordpress .com or wix control your blog. Also, don’t wait till you have to make the transfer, just START on a self hosted wordpress. LESS headache.

Related: Why I Chose to Self Host My Blog

DO NOT – TALK ABOUT PRODUCTS YOU’VE NEVER USED

This is for my bloggers that work with brands. I know that you may want to accept EVERY brand collaboration that gets offered to you, but DO NOT. You need to only be working with brands that you love, have used, or have an interest in. AND if you talk about the product PLEASE make sure you know enough about the product first. Your audience will see right through you. You want to make them trust you, so by doing so you need to make sure you truly love the products that you are talking about. UNLESS its a review on why you don’t like a product. ALSO – make sure you find your voice. You want to separate yourself from sounding like a sales person. If you sound too salesy – it will turn your audience off.

Related: How to Work With Brands

DO NOT – MAKE EXCUSES

If you are wanting to be a successful blogger, i’m sorry to say, you need to STOP the excuses. I know you may want to binge watch your favorite show on netflix instead of write a new blog post, BUT that show will contribute to the reason why your journey is at a slower pace than you’d like it to be. The more excuses you make for youself, the more delayed your journey becomes. I promise if you stop with the excuses, you will see positive progress.

DO NOT – TAKE LONG BREAKS

Something that I find many bloggers doing is taking month or week breaks from blogging. NO! PLEASE DON’T. I know how important breaks are to your mental health, but a break THAT LONG will do harm to everything you’ve already worked so hard on. Even if you feel like you’ve made no progress, you actually have! Instead of taking week or month breaks, take a weekend off. Because YES breaks are important but if it’s too long, you will lose a lot of what you’ve built so far AND your audience will notice your inconsistent content. That can lead to loss of interest or not trusting you to keep putting out information that they love reading.

DO NOT – LET HATE GET YOU DOWN

It’s a fact that people hate on those who are loving life. You will most likely get at least one hater during your blogging journey BUT don’t let them stop you. They are hating for a reason, and the reason is probably jealousy. It’s sad but true that some people want to bring those who are doing great, down. OR maybe they have a difference of opinions and are stuck in their own ways. WHATEVER the case may be, you know who you are, stay true to you, and shake them off. (AS TSWIFT WOULD SAY)

DO NOT – LOSE YOUR WHY

We all start our blog for a reason. That reason is our WHY. You need to find your WHY and you need to hold onto that WHY throughout your entire journey! DO NOT lose your WHY ever!!! This will be your motivation, your drive, your reason behind WHY you will be successful.

DO NOT – BUY FOLLOWERS OF ANY KIND

I see too many who fall for the “buy followers” scam. This is money wasted! The followers you end up buying will most likely NEVER engage with your content & brands will catch on. It’s more important to have fewer followers that engage and love your content than 10,000 who are “fake” accounts that never engage with your content.

Related: How to Grow Your Instagram Following + Engagement 

DO NOT – DOUBT YOUR ABILITIES

There will be many times when you start to feel self-doubt. You’ll think, am I wasting my time? Does any one even care that I am blogging? No one is reading my content, why bother? All of these thoughts will begin to spin around in your mind. You need to do your best to stop these thoughts. You should also remember that, you aren’t just doing this for THEM you are doing this for YOU. If you love blogging, then who cares who’s reading? If you are having fun, that should drive you to success. The more you keep up with your content and put effort into your posts, and promote your posts, the more progress you’ll see! Don’t doubt your abilities! YOU CAN MAKE SH*T HAPPEN.

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That’s all I got for today’s post! I hope these will give you a steer down the right path. Don’t give up! I know blogging can get hard sometimes, but the more you work at it, the better you’ll become!

Until Next Time,

xx

Ell