Start Blogging!
Blogging to me, is a strong source of therapy and self-discovery. Have you ever thought of starting a personal blog? Well it’s never a bad time to start!
- Don’t start a blog solely to make money if it’s your first. Try starting a casual/personal blog first to see how you’ll like it first because it can only be successful if you really enjoy writing and not treat it just as another “job.”
- Write for your readers AND yourself but don’t feel like you have to hold yourself back from what you want to say because it is your blog.
- We all know bloggers are narcissistic to some degree but don’t try to be funny if your not. And please don’t classify yourself as a “humor blogger” because the best humor bloggers are the ones who are natural witty writers and don’t need to tell the world they are funny (eg. Dooce).
- Don’t pretend to be all nice and sweet if your not because that’s boring! We all hate arrogant people but I think it spices up a blog (just don’t overdo it). Some people’s blogs get popular because of their cocky personalities but I shall leave them unnamed (even though I enjoy reading them too).
I’m not saying you should be arrogant but don’t be afraid to show your true personality. - It’s okay to be bi-polar once in a while. It makes things interesting.
- I mentioned this before, but it’s worth another: blog in conversational tone!! It would avoid your entries being skipped through out of hundreds of other blogs we subscribe to because it’s quick and easy to read.
- Reply to your commentators! You don’t have to reply to ALL of them because time is a luxury but if he/she repeatedly comments on your entries, it’s courtesy to say a little thank you.
KATY:
jen (1)
Kathy (1)
AMEN to this list!
As for blogging, I’ve been blogging since I was in middles school (since early 2000s). I have yet to discover what type of blogger I really am and I have yet to find my niche.
Sometimes, I run out of ideas of what to blog about. And I don’t like talking about life all the time, I don’t wanna scare the readers away. :-/
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Katy
August 24th, 2009 |
I haven’t found my niche yet either and I don’t think I will. I diagnosed myself with blogging A.D.D. because I can’t stick with one topic!
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I can’t stand bloggers who just want is money
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Katy
August 24th, 2009 |
Me too! I’ve seen so many blogs I use to love go downhill because it started getting filled with paid posts and advertisements. Makes me so sad.
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I have to say, you make blogging sound so useful and sweet! But every time I’ve ever tried to maintain a blog, I’ve failed. Mainly because I feel like I’m writing to nobody – and I understand nobody has readers in the beginning, but what is the point of writing an entry to an audience when there is none, right? So I always end up just calling up my friend to talk about my day and bitch and moan and whine, and the blog just falls off the face of the earth, lol. I think blogging would be worth it if there was interaction – if I had readers to reply to, and that’s why I comment on blogs instead of running my own.
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Katy
August 24th, 2009 |
I guess that’s the real test of how passionate you are about blogging. When I first started no one read my blog but I kept on blogging anyway because I did it mainly for myself (eg. memories, keeping track of things, etc) and it brought me to where I am today. I’m happy with the size of my blog audience… I don’t think I want a bigger one though because I’d have to be careful of what I say. I already have to be careful because some people read my blog whom I’d rather they not but it’s not like I’m going to make my blog private just for them.
But anyway, to get an audience for your blog, the biggest thing you have to do is connect with other bloggers, build relationships, etc. It’s not hard and it pays off because you get to meet some super awesome people around the world, it motivates you to blog more and it’s fun.
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I started blogging just to have a central location to put crap up so I can just point to it rather than sending the same mess to multiple people. Never really cared about readers, making money, or how much it sucks (which is probably rather obvious to anyone who has ever read me). That’s probably why I have kept at it as long as I have though — just got to be a habit. And of course getting to meet great people is the wonderful side effect.
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Katy
August 24th, 2009 |
Same here… making money is just a bonus but blogging in itself is good enough for me.
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This is a good pick-me-up because the people I am around always look down upon blogging! I’m also pretty nervous about writing some personal stuff in my blog as a source of venting, so I might just start that then… with a password of course, haha.
Blogging really is a great medium to clear your mind and to just channel your energy elsewhere from your crazy life!
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Katy
August 24th, 2009 |
I use to but don’t write as much personal stuff on here anymore because I have nothing personal to write about and I don’t feel comfortable with some people reading it as my blog grows. It’s all good though because there are tons of other things to write about.
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I loved this post! I started blogging because I was inspired by all of the beauty blogging ladies out there. I never even once thought of my blog making me money, in fact, this damn thing costs me more money lol.
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“It’s okay to be bi-polar once in a while. It makes things interesting.”
lol, as long as people are not emo .. it’s all good in the hood
but i agree with you that you need to be yourself and then people will appreciate you more!!
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haha cute comic at the end!! Agree to all! I started blogging even before I knew you could earn. Earning is just the perks and being bipolar is a bit good. I hate rants though. Really. urgh. hehe
nice post!
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“•It’s okay to be bi-polar once in a while. It makes things interesting.”
I agree. The most interesting blogs oscillate from normalcy to insanity. Haha
The comic is too hilarious! My friend and I hung out recently and I’m sure I bored her reading some of my blog posts to her…
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Great list with a lot of fantastic points. I started blogging more as an outlet for myself than for anything else. People who begin blogging with the expectation of making big money or having hordes flock to them for their profound navel-gazing thoughts are setting themselves up for disappointment.
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Great advice! I can’t believe you’ve been blogging for 10 years! Does that mean you started when you were like, 11? haha Blogging has become such a huge creative outlet for me and such a large part of my life I can’t imagine not doing it in some form or another. I wonder what it is about bloggers that makes us want to share out thoughts to the world?
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Katy!! Were Tien and I some inspiration to this post?!?! LOL
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Katy
September 3rd, 2009 |
LOL no I actually wrote like post months ago… I just didn’t publish it until now.
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