How to Not Suck at Blogging

You’re already asking yourself “Kimi, do you really think you can help me not suck at blogging? What makes you so qualified?”

Simple. I am the expert on the subject and I’m going to share with you the little tricks I have learned in my decade of blogging (seriously you guys… where did that time go?) so that like me, you can stop sucking at blogging too!

 

1. Get Serious

Stop telling yourself that your blog is “just a hobby” or that it’s “something you do in your spare time”. While those things may be true, you have to stop treating your blog like that really ugly afghan you started 3 years ago and swear you’ll finish in time for Christmas, but never do. No! It’s time to buckle down and get real about it. No one will take you seriously if you aren’t taking yourself seriously first.

[Tweet “No one will take you seriously if you aren’t taking yourself seriously first! #bloggingtips”]

 

2. Write About Topics People Care About

Don’t get me wrong – I want to know about your Grandmother’s hernia as much as the next reader, but I’m really there to get insight to YOU, your life, what you enjoy, what products you like and why, what clothes are totally on point for you, etc. Readers love your personal posts where you don’t try to sell them on anything, but what they love even more are posts about what you’re doing and what you’re using to do it. Tell people about you while you’re showing them something they just have to have so they can be cool, like you!

 

3. Promote Yourself

Seems logical, right? Well it isn’t for some people. Most bloggers get frustrated and their blogs fail – and it’s not because they don’t have interesting and unique content. Nope. Most fail because they lack an audience! Put yourself out there. Trust me when I say that in the beginning, no one is going to do it for you. They are all too busy promoting their own blogs and making their money to worry about getting you up to speed. Do you!

 

4. Narrow Your Focus

Logic says that in order to gain the widest and best audience you must blog about lots of different types of topics, right? Wrong! The best way to gain readers and be a better blogger is to really stick to certain topics and only those topics – 3 to 4 at max. Do you love talking about beauty products and trying on makeup? Then that’s what you should be doing. But if you really hate the task of painting your nails, you shouldn’t bother posting about it. Narrow the focus to what you are most passionate about, and your readers will be passionate about you.

[Tweet “Narrow the focus to what you are passionate about, and your readers will be passionate about you. #blogging”]

 

5. Engage Your Readers

It’s not enough to just throw a blog post out there and expect readers to comment. Engage them by providing a question at the end of each post. What do YOU want them to take away from the post? What sort of discussion do you want to cultivate? You can curate a community just by taking the time to ask for the reader’s opinion. For more on that, see the end of this post!

 

6. Respond to Comments

Remember that your audience took their precious time to not only read your blog, but to leave a comment on it. Have the courtesy to respond to their comments and foster a desire to continue the conversation. By responding to comments left on your blog in a timely manner, your audience will feel cared about, cherished and therefor interested in returning.

 

7. Be Consistent

Give your readers a blogging schedule that they can depend on. You don’t have to blog every day because ain’t nobody got time for that. But you should be posting regularly and generally with the same frequency. Most bloggers even schedule specific types of posts for certain days of the week, like Angie’s Monthly Coffee Linkup or my own Funko Fridays!

 
What have you learned that has helped you not suck at blogging? Are there any tips you would add to this list? Leave a comment and let’s stop sucking at blogging together!