I’ve been blogging here for almost two years now. And a lot has changed in that time period, both how I approached blogging to the topics I write about to the community surrounding blogging. And it’s tempting to follow the trends of what everyone else is doing. From similar layouts to topics you write about. But staying true to yourself seems like one of the most difficult things to do in the even changing blogging community, especially when it’s really tempting to get caught up in all the ways to drive traffic and get views/followers.
Ignore the Numbers
As hard as it seems when you’re blogging, the biggest thing you can do to help stay:
- Humble
- Yourself
Is to ignore the numbers from how many page views or site visits you get to how many followers/subscribers you’re gaining or losing. I had a hard time with this. I was so caught up in reading every blog’s tips on “HOW TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG” that I lost my passion and voice in blogging. From the topics I was writing about to how I approached everything I was doing for the blog. In the end, I realized I was no longer blogging for myself and wasn’t interesting in the things I was posting anymore. So I had to switch it up. I took the blog stat application off of my phone so I would stop looking at it and I honestly don’t look at the analytic tab anymore. And it’s made me so much happy with blogging and helped me be more myself again.
Don’t Copy Anyone Else
When I first started blogging and setting up my blog, I had my own layout using a template from SquareSpace (a thing I still do to this day) but I didn’t try copying the look of anyone else’s blog. Then about a few months later when I started reading other blogs I started slowly turning my blog layout to look more like theirs thinking that would help make my blog better. If anything, I hated it. It wasn’t a template or layout that fit my personality. Then I changed my layout to be my own and didn’t base it off of anyone else’s, and I felt refreshed. But at the time, I still tried to match the photography aesthetic of every other blogger in the community. And though it was pleasing, it’s not what I prefer. The washed out colors and minimalist look. Yes, it looks nice but it’s not me. So I had to say to myself, no. Just because everyone else does that, doesn’t mean I have to. As I love bold photos with lots of colors. And I’m still trying to get all my photos to have more personal touches but it’s a process.
Write About What You Love
When I first started this blog, I didn’t have a set topic that I wrote about. It was a mixture of things from video games to fitness to mental health to beauty to fashion to you name it. Over the years I’ve adjusted that. The video games and “nerdy” stuff is now over on Rose & Mae. I also don’t really talk about fashion like how to style outfits or discussing celebrity fashion as
- I was not good at it.
- I didn’t like writing about it.
- I couldn’t care less about fashion though I do find history of trends interesting but that’s about it.
Fitness was along similar lines, I am not sporty or into fitness. So why was I trying to write passionately about it. It just doesn’t work so that topic got dropped. And my love for beauty and lifestyle took off, I really double-downed on them. If anything I maybe wore makeup once a month to begin with now I wear it daily with an ever growing beauty collection. And I find blogging so much easier when I love the topics I write about. Some days, I come up with a million ideas and end up scrapping most of them as they turn into things I really don’t want to write about in the end.
Don’t Accept Every Sponsored Post
At a certain point after your blog gains momentum, companies start noticing you and offering you the chance to write sponsored post. And though tempting as some of these are paid sponsored posts, while others offer just free products in return for a post. In the beginning, I fell in that bucket. I took on anything that was in my inbox as I wanted to get connected and thought it was great. I was still honest about it, but they probably weren’t the best posts for me to write about. Since then, I’ve turned down many sponsor posts because they weren’t things I wanted to try or things I didn’t think my readers would want to read about. I’m always honest in my reviews and I make sure that those companies know that I’m going to do that.
Remember Why You Blog
I love blogging, more so I love writing which is why it was such a natural transition. When I was in junior high school I wanted to be an author, but I can never finish writing any book I start as I get bored of the topic by the time I’m half way through or change the direction and don’t want to go back to re-adjust everything. I have a really good idea for a book but I don’t want to start it as I know it will never get finished or I’ll start to hate it. And I don’t want that bubble to break. But blogging is so much easier, I’m not writing huge novels so I have no problem getting the end of a post and not losing my interest in the topic.
And that’s mainly why I blog, it’s just something I really enjoy doing. It’s just a passion of mine to write. I don’t care if I become some big successful blogger or can work full time blogging. I’m just going to keep blogging regardless of if my blog gets tons of views or if there’s no traffic. It’s something I enjoy and makes me happy. So that’s enough for me.
What are some of your best tips for staying true to yourself as a blogger? Let me know in the comments below!
