7 Lasting Lessons I learned from Blogging

Sometime back while talking to a friend, she told me “only three months into blogging? You have to go a long way, I think. You have to learn a lot.” And I thought even if it is a very small time-frame, 3 months to be exact, there are plenty of things I learned along the way. So here are some lessons I learned from blogging.

Some of these tasks were daunting, some were exhausting, and still, some were there which kept me going.

7 lasting lessons I learned from blogging

1. We are learners: No matter how many years we are into blogging, at the end of the day, we are all learners. Some of us started the journey long back, and have learnt a lot along the way. True. But they have not learned everything.
   Every day new concepts, new technologies, new applications are getting added and that leads to research and writing. It is a cycle. It is a never-ending process.
   

2. Writing is a Skill: I learned that good technologists do not make good writers. Someone may be very good at handling a tool, an expert in web technology, but he may not be very good at writing or explaining the process.
Writing is an art, a skill to be acquired. And to master it, you have to pay attention to it all the time. The more you write, the more you will sharpen your skill.
I learned to write at least 300-400 words every day. One of the lessons I learned from blogging is to be a skilled writer, you need to write something on a daily basis and it need not always be a blog post.

Write about something that you found interesting or a review of the book you read and liked. You may write about visiting a friend after a long gap or trying out a new recipe.

And I wrote this blog post over three days. Initially, I used to write the blog post in a day, come what may. But I found that I can write better if I break it into parts and write a part on a day.

3. I stopped comparing myself: When I started, I had this bad habit of comparing myself with others. But I learned that comparison does not lead me anywhere, on the other hand, it left me dejected and defeated.
I am sure, many of my friends who are reading this post must have gone through this feeling.
One important lesson I learned from blogging is to never compare yourself with anyone.

It is good to follow certain advice or observe some fellow bloggers about how they write and develop a blog post, how they make it interesting, what freebies they offer, all that is good.
And as a newbie blogger, there are difficulties you face too!

But, we all have our own learning curve and we are unique in our own ways.
Each one of us is endowed with a talent that makes her stand apart.
Lean on that talent and nurture it. Teach others about it.

4. I mastered new tools: Blogging itself can be an amazing teacher. In order to make my blogger’s life a bit easy, I researched new tools and applications.
I am sure you too must have learned something new during your journey.
I discovered some amazing tools on my way. Do you know there is a chrome extension called Crio which checks your

a. Grammar
b. Spelling
c. Syntax
And there is Writefull, another Chrome extension which checks your writing against a database of correct language.As a blogger, you are forever a learner. For you, learning never stops. #blogger #blogginglessons #bloggingtips Click To Tweet
I learned about social media, a bit about SEO (though it still beats me J 🙂 website design, what is going on in your niche, there is so much happening out there that you will never get bored!
See here what other blogging tools I learned.
One of the lessons I learned from blogging is you are forever a student and learning are never over.

5. One Thing at a Time: When I started out, I was eager to get things done quickly. So I started reading everything and started implementing these as well. After a few days, it becomes overwhelming.

Sounds familiar? It should.
If you are an enthusiastic newbie blogger you would like to do everything at a break-neck speed. And if you are doing that, it is likely that you will make a lot of mistakes. This was one of the important lessons I learned from blogging: never to rush things.
Take it easy. Do one thing at a time. Over a period of time (Ideally in two months) you should:

 a. Learn Social Media Management: You know that it is important to get your blog and the posts that you write should be noticed by others. In the beginning, it is not easy to feature in Google page ranking.
So how do you get noticed? Create social media accounts. There are plenty of free tools available to schedule your posts on different platforms.

b. Join Facebook bloggers group: Actively participate in the groups’ discussion.
Promote your post only when you are asked to. Reciprocate. In general, be a blogger ready to help others with your views and suggestions.

c. Join Pinterest Group boards: A search on Pinterest will let you know what the group boards available for your niches are. Request the Board owner to be a collaborator. How to know who is the owner?
The first photo of the group is usually the owner of the board. Most group boards have the rules for applying and a contact email id.

d. Create a Facebook page for your blog: Share your blog posts and other interesting reading materials that you come across around the web.
Here is a link to my facebook page:
I share some information here which I would not include in my blog because of technical reasons.

e. Install Google Analytics: This is a very good tool to understand and monitor the traffic that comes to your blog. It gives you a detailed report.
Do not get overwhelmed by it.

This is my report and nearly 80% of my traffic is from Social Media!
Google analytics gives you an idea of how and where to promote your blog.

You can now plan ahead regarding your blog promotions.

And if all these things leave you overwhelmed, perhaps this piece will help you.

6. A To-Do list: I maintain a to-do list. But let me share a secret with you. I am terrible at it. I am not a very organized person and I get easily distracted.

But I maintain a to-do list because it helps me in so many ways. A To-Do list takes the stress out of you.
You do not have to remember everything and just put it in writing.
Break your bigger tasks into small, achievable ones and life suddenly becomes so much easier!

7. Have Your Own Voice: As a newbie blogger, it is easy to get influenced. When you read, you think it is the best way to write this topic. I used to be like that.
If you read my initial posts, you will know I used to write in a very formal way, like a know-all, as if I was teaching you something.
I got that style because of a famous blogger I used to read at the beginning.
That was not my style. That is not the way I used to write. I made a forced change so that I become a part of the community.
Again one of the lasting lessons I learned from blogging is that your style is your own. It is your brand.
It is your recognition.
Stick to it and you will find the right kind of readers.

Your Say

 So these are the lessons I learned from blogging. Now it is your turn. During your journey, what things have you learned? Have these made you a better blogger? This is a blog where I like to have active participation, so go ahead and share your thoughts and experiences.