Are you considering starting a blog? Well, first question, how would you define a blog? If you’re taking a second to form a definition you’re not alone. Despite the fact that social media has been around for close to two decades many people still don’t quite understand that blogging for an impact is more complicated than it seems. There’s more to it than writing down your opinions on a topic and finding like-minded people to agree with you, that might work for personal blogging, but blogging for a reason, — to make a change, to help people understand something — is different and way mo/re work than you would think. There are aspects no one tells you about blogging, things you learn as you work on your blog and brand.
Blogging is a way to share your knowledge on a particular topic with people who read the content. I started this blog because I wanted to share the hacks and tips that I learned when it comes to fashion and style as a woman with a disability, but why talk about blogging? If you been reading the Sitting Beauty Diaries for a while, you know that I never thought about blogging for purpose until a few years ago — though the number of blogs I started about different topics should have been a clue — I was getting tired of how society treated people like me and wanted to do something about, share information for the perspective of a wheelchair girl and I didn’t see many blogs out there that spoke about living with a disability. Life happens, people pivot and if pivoting takes you the technological or blogging route then you’ll have the tips from one blogger with a disability to another.
Still want to learn more and decide if blogging with a purpose is what you want to do? Keep reading
Blogging Is A Relatively New Platform Many Still Don’t Understand
As I said before, blogging is still relatively new, not many people understand that blogging can be for a purpose or have a huge impact. Blogging can be something you do for fun or as part of a side hustle but be prepared for not everyone around you to understand it. This is one of the reasons I love, love Facebook Groups because there you can find like-minded people who understand that you want your blog to mean something, people who will give you have been where you are in your blogging journey and can help you move forward, something that you will be able to do for others someday.
It’s Multifaceted and Challenges You To Learn As You Go
Although I’m writing this, I’ll be the first to say blogging is not as easy as you think it’s going to be, it challenges you to learn about different aspects of social media, SEO, content creation among many other things depending on the niche that you’ve chosen for your blog. It’s hard, and there will be days when you wonder if you still want to be blogging, some people do and others don’t. The challenges can be fun for a time, but there will come a time when the thrill of solving a challenge has long gone, on those days, the reason why you started blogging will be what keeps your focus on tasks instead of throwing in the towel. Running this blog has taught me so much, built on skills I had in addition to teaching me some new ones in the process. Creating a continuously successful blog means continuously learning and willing to do something different than the norm. My thoughts on the latter? My disability has made me do things differently from the norm for most of my life, why stop now?
The Options Are Limitless, But You Should Choose A Path
Write what you know. It’s a cliche I know, but the saying exists for a reason. You should blog about something you know, something you’re passionate about, a topic that inspires you so much that you could talk about it for hours. It is easy to get drawn into a topic that doesn’t really fit for you because you see it working on another blog or you need content for a self-imposed deadline. Writing a blog post that doesn’t fit with your niche — even if you run a lifestyle blog — because it doesn’t fit with the other content on your blog. Lifestyle blogs are more than fine, but you’ll notice that lifestyle blogs focus on lifestyle in a specific way, for example this is a disability lifestyle blog. The options for a blog topic are really limitless, by combining some things you are passionate about, you can create something unique and trust me if you like it, whatever it is you’re not the only one.
Don’t Be Afraid To Invest In Your Blog And Or Yourself
One of the reasons I struggled some much with blogging early on was that I was trying to do everything on my own, research everything, the only problem with that was that I didn’t know what I didn’t know so I couldn’t necessarily research it. When I decided to rebrand my blog and blog to make a change for other people with disabilities, I also made the decision to invest in my blog and myself, it was an investment in what I knew my blog could be. Have I gotten there yet? No, but I’m well on my way to building the brand that will be a part of that change thanks to doing my research and investing in programs that would help me. You can start out by checking out free resources of course but be on the lookout for sales on programs or books that will help you with your blog or teach you more about your blog’s subject.
Inspiration Strikes Everywhere
Inspiration can truly come from anywhere, be prepared to write stuff down because you will not remember all of it, take it from the girl who has had the “oh I’ll remember it” thought dozens of times an guess what I’ve lost ideas for Blog posts, email marketing content, and social media posts. My point, write it down, especially blog post ideas because those will come in handy for the days you’re dealing with writers’ block or you just don’t feel creative. Carry a notebook with you so that you can write your ideas, inspiration can strike anywhere and can come from anything, from something you see while hanging out with friends, to watching tv or a conversation. When inspiration strikes, be prepared.
Blogging is much more than writing down your thoughts if you want to do it for a purpose. As I said before I never saw myself as a blogger, but that’s the path that I’m on now and I’m enjoying everything that comes with it even the hard and challenging parts. If you are considering starting your own blog, I hope these tips helped sway you to do it and write what you’re passionate about in a way that others can connect to, good luck and as always, have fun with the process.
~Kimberly
