Welcome to

Hedonistit blog

What is the next step toward turning your hobby into your full time job?

quiz
Taking Pleasure Seriously

The Great Fears of Every Beginner Blogger – And How to Deal with Them: Part One

 

״You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind. ״ / Dale Carnegie

{Author of How to Win Friends and Influence People}

 

As you have most probably understood from the title and opening quote of this post, today I am going to discuss fears and ways in which to deal with them. We all have fears, it’s no secret. We encounter them on a daily basis in all kinds of situations throughout our lives. Many times, our fears manage to paralyze us, cause us to give up on realizing our dreams, and steer us away from achieving our goals. Sometimes, we assume that if only we were able to make our fears disappear, our lives would be a lot better.

The truth is, fear can be as wonderful as it is destructful. If avoided, it may harm our confidence and creativity, and keep us from developing. But, if one is willing to cope with fear, it is then that the most wonderful things can occur…

Recently I have noticed, that many of the questions I get about blogging don’t have anything to do with managing a blog or technical issues, rather, they seem to be about the fears and concerns that accompany the exposure of a new, or already existing, blog. Since this is a very important topic, I decided to devote two special posts to the various worries experienced by most bloggers just starting out.

Blog tips for beginners - how to overcome your blogging fears and start your own blog

If you are reading this post, you are most likely thinking about starting a blog and dreaming of becoming a successful blogger, but in the moment of truth, you are held back by self doubt. You fear you are not good enough, you don’t have what it takes to be a talented blogger, and are afraid of being judged, or failing. It is totally common and normal to feel this way. After all, by exposing your creativity to the world, you reveal parts of yourself, and are afraid to be judged by others. You worry people will think that you are wasting your time, disconnected from reality, or think that what you are doing is stupid. Furthermore, it could be that self doubt has you worried about that *you* don’t even know what you are doing, and that you’re just going to make a fool of yourself.

Self doubt, that little bastard… It provides us with any and all excuses to prevent us from starting a blog – “I don’t have the time”, “I don’t know how to begin”, “It’s not for me”, “I’m not that interesting”. Sound familiar? If you are nodding inside your head right now, it’s time to say goodbye to self doubt and sit down for a cup of coffee with your fears.

Anyone who has ever started a blog, as good and successful as they may seem, has experienced such fears in one way or another. And let me share a little secret with you, even the greatest bloggers have their own blogging fears.

One of the most important lessons I have learned in life in general, and in particular in my personal blogging journey, is that fears cannot be eliminated, but they can be dealt with and channeled to our own advantage. I realized that fear can be a really good thing, if you decide to deal with it, because without it you can’t progress. Dealing with our fears causes us to leave our comfort zone, which is the only way to try new things and reach new distances.

So how can you overcome your initial fears as a beginner blogger? Read on 🙂

“I’M AFRAID TO BE EXPOSED”

 

A common blogging fear is fear of exposure, which is expressed in two ways:

  1. The idea – to tell the world you have a blog.
  2. The content – to tell your story and expose yourself to strangers {some might feel even stronger about revealing certain sides of their personality to those closest to them}.

Approaching and dealing with this fear is different for each of the above. Let’s begin with the idea. I know one of the scariest steps to a beginner blogger is to declare to the world that they have started a blog. This fear is of course completely understandable, I mean, you are revealing a new part of yourself and your personality, and you don’t know how people will react to it. It could very well be that some will raise an eyebrow – which is fine – not everyone has to love what you do. But, if you would only allow yourself the benefit of the doubt and decide to go for it, you will most likely discover that many people like what you do, share things in common with you, and will support your work.

I can’t promise everyone will be on your side and encourage you to continue this crazy journey you are doing for yourself, but as the saying goes – “A lion doesn't lose sleep over the opinions of sheep” – you must stay loyal to yourself.

Okay, so you’ve decided to start a blog and are ready to deal with the first level of the fear of exposure, the idea. What now? How will you deal with your exposure within the blog?

What distinguishes a personal blog from magazines or large content sites, is the personal story belonging to the person behind the blog. Whether you blog about fashion, beauty, food, or anything else, what makes your blog special is what you bring to the table – your personality. The beauty is that you get to decide which parts of yourself you are willing to reveal and which you prefer to keep completely private. You can also gradually cope with the issue, slowly revealing new parts of yourself, as you get more and more into it. Eventually, it is up to you. You will decide what will or will not be exposed.

Here’s a little example – you don’t like to have your picture taken but you’re dying to start a fashion blog? That shouldn’t stop you. You can provide inspiration and tips in other ways. Think outside of the box and try to bring something unique to the fashion bloggers’ scene. You may find, that with time you will feel more comfortable to present photos of yourself on your blog. If that isn’t the case – your personality will shine through other aspects.

The bottom line is, you have got to remember that your readers will not enter your blog to visit you, but to see what added value they can get from the blog. Once you understand they are focused on their own needs, and not on your mistakes, it will be easier to begin.

Blog tips for beginners - how to overcome your blogging fears and start your own blog

“I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN”

 

We are all human, and there is no one who, to some extent, doesn’t suffer from procrastination. All the more so when we would like to start something new but have no idea how to start. When you decide to start a blog it is hard not to be alarmed by the number of decisions that must be made during the first stages: Which blogging platform to use? How to choose a niche? What to call the blog? How to design it? Which social media to be active on? And the list goes on… Ooph!, no wonder you don’t know where to start! It’s so easy to feel as if one wrong choice can spoil it all.

The good news is, you can’t really screw it all up.

Starting and managing a blog is a continuous process of trial and error, and no wrong choice can be that disastrous. Uncomfortable with the platform you have chosen? Unhappy with the design or template? The name you chose suddenly doesn’t sound as right to you? Change it! True, these initial mistakes may cost you a bit of time and money, but they are absolutely reversible. And fortunately, the financial investment in a blog is very low, so even if you have to make some changes, the expenses will be relatively negligible. Another thing to keep in mind, is that in the first few months after your blog goes live, it will not have many readers – and you'll be surprised, that's a good thing! During this time it will be much easier for you to make changes without anyone noticing 😉

Before starting my blog, I tried to swallow every bit of information on the matter. The more I learned about blogging, the more I felt I had so much to learn, and that I was simply not ready enough to jump in and start my blog. If I had waited for the moment in which I would feel that I knew everything about blogging, I would probably never have started the blog. After all, even after almost 3 years under my belt in the blogging world, I still learn new things every day! What I am trying to say is that you most probably will never feel 100% ready. Start thinking about your blog as a work in progress rather than as a final product.

If you feel you need some guidance to “get things moving”, you’re more than welcome to sign up for my free e-course and learn the first steps to starting a new & successful blog.

Blog tips for beginners - how to overcome your blogging fears and start your own blog

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND COMPUTERS WELL ENOUGH”

 

Lots of people give up blogging because they think they have to know programing languages or other technical things, to operate a blog.

Let me tell you something, anyone can start a blog! Starting a blog is muuuuuccchh easier than what people think, and there is no need to know CSS, HTML or all sorts of things that sound like gibberish to you.

The days when you had to be a computer expert to set up a website, or at least hire somebody who is one, for thousands of dollars, are way behind us. I, like many other bloggers, chose to set up my blog using a platform called WordPress, which I’m really happy with! It’s a website and blog management system that allows for flexibility in personalized design, easy content feed, its user interface is very convenient, and it has thousands of Plugins. I am seldom met with technical problems, and even when I am, I almost always manage to solve them myself, either with helpful advice from other bloggers who have encountered the same problem, or with the lovely help of friends and online friends via facebook groups that discuss WordPress.

 Blog tips for beginners - how to overcome your blogging fears and start your own blog

That’s all for today 🙂 I really hope this post will help you deal with your initial fears of almost every beginner blogger.

 

Head over to part two here! ?

If you like this post, share it on Facebook and save to Pinterest ♡

 

leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 Responses

Tags

מתנה אישית ממני

הצטרפי לקהילה שלי וקבלי את אחד הקורסים המקצועיים שכתבתי
לכל מי שמתעניינת בהקמת בלוג ויצירת חומרים דיגיטליים לסושיאל

מהו הקורס שהכי מעניין אותך?

A personal gift from me

Join my community and receive one of the professional courses I created
especially for ambitious women with a passion for Lifestyle.