If anyone had told me how hard blogging was going to be… I probably would have run for the hills. Haha, okay maybe not run… probably walk pretty quickly to the nearest exit. Blogging to me is a full-time job and most of the times it is often underrated. I have had a couple of friends laugh at me for getting “overwhelmed” with “mere writing”. There are so many misconceptions about being a creative and/or a blogger and I hope this new blog series can clear up some of these misconceptions and help you in your blogger journey or just in creating in general. In this post, I am confessing five things I wish I knew about blogging and what I have learned from them since. 

It Is Overwhelming: 

When I first started blogging, I had no idea how much I needed to learn in such a short period of time. I researched day and night on when I needed to post, how to format my blog posts and even what type of posts I would have to learn to write for my niche. I spent countless hours at my laptop watching webinars, pinning Pinterest images and following Instagram bloggers who seemed to have everything together. Sometimes, I got overwhelmed and I thought to quit. I felt like I was never good enough and I was always one step behind in trying to achieve some level of sanity but I always persevered. When it became overwhelming I took a step back and called a friend to cry. When it became overwhelming, I turned off my laptop and went for a walk in the park. When it became overwhelming, I sent a quick email to TheIntrocreative, and when it became overwhelming I just prayed for things to get better. I quickly learned that being a blogger/creative is no easy task and learning to truly balance work and passion would go a long way. So, I learned to take a break once in awhile and whenever I got back to my laptop, my creative juices flowed like I never left. 

You Need A Support System:

I cannot say this loud enough… wait maybe I can… YOU NEED A SUPPORT SYSTEM. Yes! I yelled at you… no, I am not sorry. When my first post went live, I figured that somehow, it would fly out into peoples faces without me needing to share it a billion times. Well… nope! I needed people/friends to help share and get the word out. Those people are your support system. The people who share all your blog posts and like and comment on every single thing you post! These people are the ones who you need in your corner and they are the people who make everything you write to get to the people who need to hear it. Along the way, you will loose friends a bunch of them… but you would also gain much more so don’t worry! Find that support system and go be great! 

You Need To Be Consistent:

I cannot stress how important being consistent is to anything you put your mind to, be it blogging or being a creative in general. Consistency makes or breaks your drive and this was something new to me. I had to get used to planning out my content and making sure I had several ideas that I could pull out of my butt if something does not fall through. Learning that I needed to be consistent is very symbolic in how much I have grown as a blogger! So when you hear people yell consistency a lot, they are not just yelling! CONSISTENCY IS KEY! 

There Is A Blogger Community For Every Niche:

I don’t think I would have survived as a blogger if not for the several blogging communities I found on Instagram! These pages were fundamental in how I found out about several other bloggers in my niche and they also helped my reach tremendously. Being a part of these communities helped me spread my wings and learn from people who had been in the business longer than I have! Most of these also cater to us, Melanin Queens so they are a plus! Pages like @blackgirlswhoblog, @nigerianfashionbloggers, @browngirlblogs e.t.c are amazing and you should definitely check them out! 

It Is A Slow Rise To The Top: 

When I first started blogging, I had this insane goal to reach 3000 views in a week- yeah, I know crazy right! I worked really hard for that goal and when I reached 300 in one week I cried because I felt like I had failed. PLEASE DO NOT FEEL LIKE THAT! Success as a creative, I have learned, takes a lot of time and energy! You have to be ready to fall several times and still be able to get back up. I quickly learned to push for reasonable goals and sometimes pretty big goals and even if I failed, I did it anyway. It’s a slow rise to the top but that journey is worth it every step of the way! 

That’s all I have for you guys today! I hope you liked this post and are excited about the series! I am excited to bring you some more so let me know in the comments what you want me to write about next! 

Make sure to SHARE this with a friend/creative who might be interested in learning some tips and tricks! 

Till next time,

Love Sofi 🙂