Blogging Do’s and Don’ts: A Candid Guide to Navigating the Blogging Journey

Five months into blogging and I already have a lot of stories to share. It’s been an awesome journey generally. To be honest nothing was or is easy about blogging. From organizing your time to clicking pictures and putting together a whole content is a lot of hard work.

I do not want to talk sweet nothings about blogging and say that it is very easy, it is fun and light etc. because I feel I might mislead new comers. Blogging has to be something you are passionate about, it has to be something you love doing and you love it unconditionally. You shouldn’t “want” to do it because of the extra income you get or the freebies or popularity. (eventually you can always think of earning through it) You blog once you feel the need to do it because you have something to share about.

Yes, sharing is very important. You are putting out posts there for people to read, what you write is what you share. You can’t write if you do not have a genuine topic to talk about because at the back of your mind you just want to post as many as you can to build a certain portfolio. Then in this case you end up having a post with just mechanical words put together. The write-up has to have something that can connect the reader to the author and that can only be achieved if you are serious about it. Of course, one day ,you will enjoy receiving free products from companies for reviewing.

Now let’s talk fun. With all the above being said, I’d say blogging is really fun but with it comes a whole lot of things and it is a whole package. The package includes many things such as honesty, sincerity, creativity and time. If you love what you do, this package will be very easy in the long run. The following are the rules I have for myself as a blogger. We need to follow certain rules to be in a certain organization so you do not find yourself isolated. Isolation is what you do not want if you are blogging. ( remember our magic word “traffic” ?) So you cannot just write and post, you need a lot of socializing, that’s where all our social media platforms do their entry. 🙂 This will be a huge topic but for today, let me share my thoughts on what a blogger should and shouldn’t do. So if you are a blogger, I think these should be your …….

Do’s :

1. Be organized- Have a notebook all the time with you and jot down topics of your next posts. Pen down ideas and keep a record of dates you need to post on your blog, Facebook , Instagram , Twitter etc.
2. Click very good quality pictures- Do not torture you readers with blurry pictures. It is not cool. I know it all depends on what camera you are using, which phone you are using but to be honest I find all of these, lame excuse. Everyone has a phone, if resolution is not good ,wait for daylight and click pictures in front of windows or outdoors.(even china mobiles can click awesome pics during the day) If you have a camera, learn how to use it for good pictures. Find a way!
3. Meaningful content– I do understand the fact that not all bloggers are writers and I think one shouldn’t mix these two. I believe everyone has their own way of writing and penning down their ideas. English is not my language, but I try my very best to write a post with minimal mistakes by proofreading before I publish. Write your heart out and it will be unique, just make sure to check for mistakes , seek your friends’ and family’s help, read out to them before you publish because trust me no one will be interested in reading an article they cannot understand.
4. Share- Here comes the main part, share your posts in all of your social media platform. There are many ways to do that. Be resourceful. Make use of YouTube and watch videos on how to add widgets to your blog. The more you share the more chances people will know about you.
5. Visit other blogs- This is the most important part for me. Make sure to include this in your blogging schedule, read posts by others. My blog visit day is Thursday, where I visit my followers’ blogs,like and comment wherever I can. My followers are my priority in this matter, because I have been blessed with really good following beauties who are regular in my blog. The least I can do is return the favor. Of course I can’t visit all in one day so I make a list of blogs I visited already so I have record of whom to skip the next Thursday. But once in a while, visit new non-following blogs too, this way you can discover new bloggers to interact with and add to your circle. By visiting blogs, you have high chances of getting new “follows” because you are getting noticed.
6.  Follow back- The feeling of getting that magical notification of another additional follower is amazing. Do not forget to return the follow. What I do is, click the name of the person who followed me as soon as I get the notification and “follow” them. If I am free , I go through their blog and read some posts and interact with them by commenting otherwise I always go back to them on Thursdays.
7. Respond to emails- I admit ,at times it is annoying when you get a lot of emails and messages on Facebook, Like what cream to use for such type of skin, which is the best drugstore eyeliner etc, it is actually your followers’ love and trust that make them do that. So do not ignore their emails or messages because it will be really rude. Whatever the email may be, not unless it is a spam, you should respond. Companies of unknowns brands might email asking if you can review their products, if you are not interested ,still you have to respond and excuse yourself. Show professionalism everywhere. P.S Check your emails regularly. Install the app and turn on notifications, it shouldn’t be that hard.

Don’ts:

1. Do not be a copy cat- I request you all not to copy and then paste contents posted by others. It is just not acceptable. Come up with your own article and be original.
2. Do not be selfish- If someone is coming to you with a question on blogging(newbies probably), always help. You will loose nothing. What is theirs is theirs and what is yours, no one can take. So be helpful to new fellow bloggers as much as you can.
3. Do not spam- While I mentioned earlier that commenting on others’ blogs is very good, it doesn’t at all mean that you go and start dropping all your links under their posts. Drop them a genuine comment instead of “Great post! check out my blog , twitter ,instagram etc and link link links. No, don’t do that. It’s rude and trust me no one likes that and you will most likely loose a potential reader. No one likes a spammer. However, once you are done with your natural comment, you can simply write down below your comment a link to your blog and that’s it.
4. Do not back out from commitment- If you are part of a bloggers’ group where everyone needs to follow eachother, it is actually a commitment. You are following because either you want to be followed back or you are returning someone’s favor. So how can you even think of un-following later? don’t do that that’s not fair. No any fan/followers of yours will be bothered with the number of following you have nor any PR’s ,so don’t be obsessed with that.
5. Do not bully- Do not bully fellow bloggers, do not message the established bloggers with questions such as “how do you get free products, how do get invited to events, how do you have such huge followers etc” . While there is no harm in asking, I believe there is a right time and place for such questions. e.g You can’t just drop queries to bloggers on their personal accounts on Facebook, you cannot bombard them with several emails of such nature , it is just not right. First of all, you need to be a blogger first and blog for at least a year before you even think of getting  freebies from Sephora. If you get anything earlier, you are lucky.  You need to build your network first, interact with fellow bloggers and find that Star Blogger whom you look up to and think might be able to help and then approach them through emails or any other way you guys are already familiar with.(in my case, I’d like to do a special mention to Cat of Mylipaddiction Karen of Confettiandcurves, they are my Star Bloggers) Not all bloggers will entertain and help you. Yes, it’s a reality not everyone is comfortable sharing their “knowledge” with everyone , so if yo do anything like that you are actually being a bully.
6. Do not be jealous- Jealousy is a very ruining but is also a reality and is very common. Seeing a new comer doing a good job and is moving ahead with success faster than you do, can cause jealousy but use this as motivation & inspiration to do a better job. Do not let jealousy take you down instead be constructive and work harder.
7. Do not ignore your family <3– Last but not the least do not ignore your personal life. While blogging can be too demanding, it is not that overwhelming if you are organized. Set a time for your blog work and stick to that routine. Make use of your time the best way you can , post pictures on Instagram while peeing. LOL(kidding) Be organized so none of your loved ones is neglected.

Hope this post helped. If it did, don’t forget to tweet this post and share with your followers. 🙂