Blogging for the First Time: 5 Things I’ve Learnt in My Second Month of Blogging
Blogging for the First Time: Month #2
Before I begin I want to say thank you! Yet again thousands of you entered my website to read my content this month. (Along with many nice blog comments and a few private emails). This is so validating, especially with me blogging for the first time, so thank you to the moon and back!
Okay, so today marks the 2 month anniversary of my blog to the day. A new month has brought with it a brand new learning curve. I can’t honestly believe it’s only been 2 months, it feels like forever. I need to keep reminding myself this is why I’m not making tons of money yet (lol – I wish).
Here are 5 things I’ve learnt in my second month (and here’s the link to my previous article on what I learnt in my first month), also on why bloggers keep their blogs secret:
1. Life Gets Busy and You Lose Your Routine
I was so incredibly strict with myself in the first month, somehow managing to get brand new articles out and promoted 3 times per week, on the specified days and not a day late. Then Christmas came and I had to go home. I tried my hardest to write articles beforehand to post when I was at home. However, Christmas was so hectic anyway and with cleaning and packing and a long journey home, I just didn’t have enough time. Then I fell ill for a couple of weeks and that completely threw me off course.
It suddenly hit me how quickly Tomorrowland festival sales had come around too. I had to make sure to get a load of articles out there beforehand. This meant my scheduling (along with my social media and promotion) has been shocking. Thankfully from today, everything is back to normal and I’ll be posting 2 times per week. It’s so easy to be thrown from the wagon though and out of a routine.
2. The Timing When Releasing Articles Is Key
I’ve been mega stressed because the middle of January has come so fast. With only a couple of weeks to go until Tomorrowland festival ticket sales, I was writing like a madman to get lots of articles out in time. I’m a self-confessed Tomorrowland addict (since I was basically 15) and considering it’s one of the most Googled festivals in the world, I had to get something out there. Sure there are a few things out there, but most are 600-word articles that aren’t that in-depth for a newbie. I saw the gap and wanted to fill it and seeing as I know and love the festival so much, I had to get it out there.
Knowing your niche inside and out and knowing where the gaps are is really important. Getting stuff out there in time for promotion is really important or you’ll miss the boat.
When blogging for the first time, schedule your important articles!
3. Some People Won’t Appreciate the Effort
Some people hate bloggers and I mean, hate. With so many out there, people can find them a nuisance. Just look at all the groups out there: no self-promotion. I can understand this in some cases, nobody wants someone spamming things with their own sh*t all the time, but I’ve rarely come across a post that I haven’t found useful (if someone manages to get their article approved that is). If it’s your niche, it’s generally beneficial to the community, you’re not trying to flog stuff for money and you know your stuff, then it should be allowed.
I was part of a group that I had been helping people in since I started. I’d only posted something once before (at least a month before). I’d asked an admin to post, who allowed it and another admin who said it was good. I got a lot of traffic, comments and even private comments but within a couple of hours, it was deleted by another admin, despite all of that. That was probably the most dickish move ever, as it was already approved and a lot of the group found it helpful. Not to mention I’d spent hours and hours writing it (it was almost 10k words!!) and it was generally answering the questions that so many others keep asking in that group every day.
Some people can’t stand that and I haven’t a clue why. Ego? I don’t know. But the world doesn’t owe you anything when you blog, no matter the good intentions or effort, so keep that in mind.
4. There’s an Art to Getting the Most out of Paid Advertisements
I started my first proper Facebook advert on Wednesday night and although I knew how to do it, finding the right audience was difficult. In all honesty, my audience was worldwide. Good, I thought. Nope – you get results from finding the niche. I had to edit the audience 3-4 times within 24 hours to find where it would be most useful. No doubt I’ll be editing it for the next 3 weeks as times goes on with it.
I’m funding my ads completely off money me nor my partner have made from working – this way it won’t feel like a loss. My website and social media ads are currently fully funded by betting on the football (and winning of course), Google AdSense and being research participants for EEG. Yup, electroencephalography to fund a blog. Not something you hear of every day.
Blogging for the first time: An accurate representation of me trying to go to work, get 8 hours sleep per night, blog, learn Dutch, go to the gym, eat well, relax, travel, party, promote my blog, pay for ads and make money on the side – #adultingishard…
5. Even If You Love Writing About Something It Can Still Wear You Down
I thought I could write Tomorrowland guides all day every day and never get bored. But when you’re writing for a job anyway and you’re super busy with a ridiculously close deadline, I found it exhausting and I’m so glad I’m done with them. It’s no use writing about festival tickets once they’ve all sold out. It’s also no use releasing a guide the day before. So, when you’re working with tight deadlines, I’ve learnt that no matter how much you may love what you’re writing about – it’s still awful at times.
Blogging for the first time is hard and it’s now time for round 3. Hopefully, it will keep building and building. So, stay tuned for the month #3 article! 😉
Are you also blogging for the first time? What have you learnt? Drop it in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe too.
Join the Conversation
As a new blogger myself, it was fun to read about your journey so far. Love Tomorrowland! Enjoy!
Thank you so much! I’m a Tomorrowland addict haha. Thank you for reading 🙂
I totally agree, especially with the scheduling part. And it sometimes gets harder when I’ve been working on the road for a couple of days straight and can’t find the time to get back on track. I’m working on getting my articles out there and to receive comments on them. I find this to be hard as well.
Yes, exactly! I’m the same. All of it is just so time-consuming, especially when you have a million other things to do outside of blogging. Good luck and thank you so much for reading!
Great points! I have learned that finding the time to write anything has been extremely challenging with a baby and I totally wasted my days before having a kid?. Netflix is my worst enemy.
I like that you set a schedule, maybe I’ll try and work on having set blogging times!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Hahaha, wow, if I’m struggling, I can only imagine what it’s like with a child! Kudos to you, keep it going. And hahaha, Netflix documentaries are my downfall. A blog plan has worked so well for me, it motivates me and stops me being so overwhelmed (or lazy). So deffo try it if you can (yet annoyingly even that takes time). Thank you so much for reading!
You hit the nail on the head. I couldn’t agree more. Great post! <3
Thank you so much for reading! <3
This is totally relatable. I’m currently starting my fourth month and this is proving to be a lot harder than anticipated! Good luck and thanks for sharing.
Congrats on your 4th month (time is going sooo slow for me)! I know, it seems to be harder as time goes on, especially time management. Thank you so much, you too!
I really enjoy reading about what new bloggers have learnt, especially since I’m new to it too. I appreciate your posts because they are honest! Even if you didn’t learn “the secret to making 23247221 views a day by using this method” you post ACTUAL struggles and it’s interesting to me because it’s real and relatable. Keep going!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! Yeah, I’m trying my hardest to keep it real – I’m struggling that’s for sure haha. I’m sure we will all be fine in the end. So pleased to hear that it is relatable (I honestly wasn’t that sure when I first posted it). Thanks so much for reading!
I’m about to celebrate my first month of blogging as well! Love hearing from others who are new to the journey, too 🙂
Congratulations! It’s certainly not as easy as I first thought, it’s a lot of work. Thanks so much for reading and good luck with your new blog!
I’m totally with you on the struggle bus as a new blogger and I love your perspective! Life can get so busy and it’s so much of work, but it’s so worth it.
It’s not as easy as you think, that’s for sure! It definitely is so worth it though. Thanks so much for reading!