My Biggest Lessons In Blogging
When I first started blogging, there were no handrails; no advice articles, no counsellors, no webinars. It was just hardcore trial and error, which has made my progress so much slower than I liked.
However, I gained my biggest lessons through that struggle.
1.) QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Something I learned was that you can find as many different strategies possible to make your blog successful, but what good would they be if they're only half-effective as opposed to one key strategy that will ring true.
On the flip side, putting more time and energy into creating something that will evoke emotion or something unexpected versus creating an abundance of content for consistency's sake is just counterproductive.
Lastly, it's not about how many followers someone has that makes them a 'good' or 'popular' blogger. It's their engagement and the relationships that are developed with their followers through that.
Defining what
quality over quantity means to me has made my perspective so much healthier.
2.) WHAT YOU ARE NOT
I am not a bohemian-themed blogger. I am not a travel-oriented Instagrammer. I am not
just a fashion blogger or
just a life-style blogger.
By ruling out what you are not, really hones in on your focus and characterizing your overall aesthetic. Not only that, but you will go through
drafts of focus. What this means is that you will find your focus only to realize you have to continue narrowing it down. Your focus is never a final draft.
A huge obstacle I had to overcome was to quit the habit of looking in my peripherals at other 'competition'. I realized that I am not them. I am me. I have to stay focused on that. I also realized that their path to success does not equate to mine and therefore, their methods would not be successful in my own brand.
3.) BE YOURSELF
I used to spend countless nights tossing and turning trying to figure out what I can do to make myself stand out when everyone and their mothers is doing the same thing I am.
After months, maybe even a year, of struggling with this thought, I realized that my personality is what makes me different.
But it comes full circle.
Your brand is your personality, your image, it is
you. So it's not if I take pictures differently or better than the next blogger. It's not having more expensive or nicer clothes than someone else. It's my overall brand that sets me apart and that can only be done by
being myself.
Authenticity and honesty is so rare to find but by being true to who you are, as cliché as it may be, will resonate more with people. The top bloggers are up there because they are themselves and they are genuine.
Do you, boo boo.
Dress and scarf via Zara / Heels via Forever 21 / Bracelet via The Peach Box
Photography by Justin Quebral