10 Things I’ve Learned About Blogging- A Newbie’s Perspective!

As a new blogger, I always laugh when people ask me to share what I’ve learned.

One thing I will say is: Life truly is about learning. 

As a homeschool mom, this brings me comfort. Now I don’t have to worry about all those “learning gaps” people stress out about. You truly can’t teach them everything while they are in school. Trust me, we had floppy disks! 

I thought I’d have some fun and share what I’ve personally learned so far.  As a new blogger, the learning curve can be nasty especially when you know next to nothing.

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Alright fine, really nothing. But I have learned some things along the way. Want to not make these mistakes? Or maybe you need a laugh to brighten your day? Keep reading!

10 Things I’ve Learned About Blogging:

1. I really like blogging.

I was really worried when I started. I was worried I wouldn’t find the words, I wouldn’t know what to say.

That the grammar police would show up in the comments and rant and rave. That’s not an invitation, just saying… So far the words have come, and keep coming.

A blog I was reading talked about how some need to blog, they need to write. I have discovered the truth in that, I have left dishes in the sink, floors half swept to stop and jot down an idea, or a whole rough draft because the words are there.

My advice: When the words come, just write. When they don’t, then clean. 😉

2. The scariest moment:

The hardest thing about blogging so far is telling my mom, friends and family members I was writing a blog.

Not because they wouldn’t approve, I assumed (hope!) they would! It’s that they know me, the real me, the offline totally messy, disorganized, flawed me.  Someday you’ll know this too but until then…

It is different when someone you know, is reading your words.

Strangers don’t really have expectations, I was terrified those that know me would have high expectations and I would never reach them. That was intimidating, and yet…freeing. Telling my mom meant I knew she would be honest, that any suggestions good or bad would be heartfelt and because she wanted me to succeed. /Hi mom!

Yes, she still reads and comments. She often makes me laugh and points out mistakes. This support is vital for a new blogger.

3. How very little I knew:

I know really nothing about blogging. I mean I thought I knew nothing before I started, but boy oh boy do I really know nothing. Blogging truly has its own unique language and to the absolute beginner, let’s just say Google and I are becoming really good friends.

As a new blogger, it is easy to get distracted by the shiny things. It is okay to grow slow. It is okay to make mistakes.

4. Photos matter:

Pictures might be worth 1000 words, and there is a reason to that. They are important to a blog and break up the wall of texts.

However, they take forever to edit if you have no clue (see above) what you are doing. I had never used photoshop, photo-editing anything before. My son and daughter are amazing at these things.

In the beginning, I emailed them the photos and they emailed them back edited, watermarked and sized. Kids rock! Then they got bored…so now you are stuck with my extreme amateur attempts at this photo stuff. Sorry!!

Find tools to help you do your job better that are easy to use such as PicMonkey or Canva.

If you are in need of great places to get photos for free, read my list here.

5. You can get buried in information:

I have learned that researching is great and really hard. I, personally, have found it hard to weed through what is relevant to what I am looking for. Information is plenty, abundant and overwhelming. Finding that key piece is difficult and brings to life the saying, needle in a haystack.

Also, everyone has an opinion. Sometimes I just want someone to say, “Hey this is what you do!” What is worse? You finally find exactly what you need, and close the websites…UGH! Don’t do that.

6. You might talk to yourself more:

I talk to myself…more. I mean as a wife I talk to myself. As a wife and mom I talk to myself more, someone has to listen. As a wife and mom and blogger, I not only have complete conversations but arguments, blog posts, newsletters and more all in my head.

Well. Not always, as I see some people giving me strange looks, I am guessing I might be saying some out loud-Ooops! At least this way, I always win 😉

7. Your readers are important!

Comments are important! I never realized as a reader of blogs how important it is to leave a comment if you have something to say.

Now, if I read a blog post and it moves me to want to leave a message if I don’t have to jump through too many hoops I leave one.

Being on the other side of blogging has made me appreciate the sheer amount of time, effort and work it takes to get readers involved.

However, when you receive that genuine comment, it is so worth it! So thanks to those that comment =)

8. Rules are made for…

There are rules: Rules that you should follow, rules you need to follow and rules I just don’t plain like! HA!

For example, One “rule” of Instagram is to make sure all your photos have the same shape and you should stagger your quotes with images etc. I get this, really I do.

But honestly, I want to share something with my readers-I want the focus to be the item/reason I am sharing. If it’s a quote to move or a quote to inspire or an update, or even just a topic of conversation, I post it to share, not just because of its pretty.

Same with Pinterest, one “rule” I read was to post recipes and food that are extremely eye-catching and pretty but you will never really make. Sorry, but that doesn’t really work for me. No, I might not get time to try them all, but I want to. I guess this is where the “rules are made to be broken” fits in. What do you think?

9. Your profile photo matters. Just do it.

I hate getting my photo taken.

I also hate video. Seriously.

So much so I started with my feet as my profile photo. FEET!! My thought process was, “Eh here is my feet. Close enough right?”

Ha, however as I bounced around on blogs I visited I understood why this might be important. It really did make me feel more connected to the writer, and they felt more “real”.

Now I have a Youtube channel, live videos on Facebook and Instagram. I am everywhere, being real. Being me. 😉

10: At some time you will break something.

Sometimes, you shouldn’t touch the button! If you follow me on Instagram you might have been with me when I broke my blog 🙁

I was playing around and decided to clean out the Media files, I selected pretty much every picture I had currently on my blog. Then selected delete. “Permanently”

My thinking was, “I’ve used them already. So no I don’t need to keep them.” Not realizing, this is where your photo’s live so you can have them on your site. I then visited my site to my horror, all photos were gone! GASP!! And FYI, permanent means gone baby!

Thankfully I had most saved on my computer but two. Whew! So if you don’t know what that does, don’t do it! Research first. Don’t be like me!

Bonus: Spell check/auto correct hates me! And so does my font sometimes!

So that’s it, my top 10 things I’ve learned about blogging thus far in this incredible journey…I would love to hear from you what you have learned in your journey. Please let me know in the comments below…

Lastly, Thank you for reading! It means the world to me 🙂

Take care, 

Jen!

📌Don’t let this post get lost in the internet abyss – pin it to your Pinterest board now!

Linked to: Mom’s Small Victory Sunday Link-ups!/ #KCACOLS