ΤΑ ΚΑΛΑ

1. Η Blogging Κοινότητα

2. Κάνεις αυτό που αγαπάς

3. Η υπομονή ανταμοίβεται

4. Μπορείς να δουλέψεις από παντού

5. Είσαι το αφεντικό του εαυτού σου

6. Αποτελείς έμπνευση για τους άλλους

ΤΑ ΚΑΚΑ

1. Δεν θα σε υποστηρίξουν όλοι

2. Θέλει δουλειά, πολύ δουλειά! 

3. Αργά και σταθερά

4. Κακία

5. Μοναξιά

I know that bloggers on their blog anniversary usually are sharing all positives and everything that they've learned but today I wanted to do something a little different. I have been blogging for 3 years and throughout my journey, I have gone through trial and error, have learned a lot about blogging and about myself. Today I want to be truthful and share the good, bad and ugly sides of blogging. Because we all know that blogging isn't all rainbows and butterflies, there's an ugly side to it, just like in everything else in life. 

I’ll start off with the good side because I am a positive person! There are so many positive parts to blogging!

Never would I have thought that the blogging community would be so supportive, welcoming, and helpful! I have met so many amazing ladies thanks to blogging. And yes, the blogging community will welcome new bloggers with open arms. The best part is that you have the chance to talk with people from all around the world.

There is nothing more true than finding happiness through your passion. If you are doing what you love, then, of course, you will be happy! Blogging has really shown me that if I follow my passion and pursue it, I will be overall, happier! 

It’s no secret that when it comes to blogging, patience is necessary. Unfortunately, page views don’t come overnight. It takes serious strategy and promoting to get those page views up. 

One of my favorite things about blogging is that I can do it from anywhere. If you want to spend the day blogging in bed, you can! If you are traveling, it’s not an issue because you can blog on the go! Super convenient!

For anyone who doesn't like being controlled, this is the best part. Being able to be your own boss is the best part. You can decide your schedule, do whatever you want, write whatever you want.

I think one of my favorite parts of doing what I do is receiving messages from others telling me that I inspire them. Blogging is so rewarding! I have always wanted to inspire others, and to know that I am makes blogging worth it. That’s motivation in itself.

As I've told you before, not everything is rainbows and butterflies. There are some bad and ugly sides of blogging. I am going to be honest with you. I’m not going to sugar coat a thing! Just know that NONE of this is meant to be offensive. It’s just what I have seen, learned, and experienced throughout my journey so far.

It’s unfortunate but it might happen…I have had family members that didn’t really show any support and same with some friends. And they probably never will and that’s okay. To them, I may come off as weird…materialistic…addicted to social media…etc. It’s a different world and while blogging is much bigger than what it was a few years ago, some people won’t ever understand why I do it. That’s why the blogging community is so important to me because we can all relate and support one another when those close to us don’t.

Imagine being a web designer, writer, brand consultant, social media manager, photographer, editor all in one?! And guess what…I learn it all myself and do it all myself most of time. Oh and not get me started on all those sleepless nights. If you are trying to turn your blog into a successful career, then you know this struggle all too well. I stay up late trying to get my newest blog post ready or sometimes instead of sleeping I'm worrying about what I'm going to write next! That’s because we are obsessed with our passion. 

It’s actually extremely difficult to grow your social media and blog subscribers! It’s so easy to get discouraged because you may be constantly comparing your growth to other bloggers and the following comes so slowly, but if you continue to put out quality content, the followers will come!

You will definitely encounter some jerks at some point during your blogging career. Whether it just be someone who is jealous of your success and wants to make you feel like crap or someone who accuses you of something that’s not true. Whatever the case may be, you will have someone negative trying to stop you from continuing your journey. Don't let it happen. Ignore the hateful comments, the rude opinions, and the discouraging words. You have to have thick skin for this, people feel really comfortable trashing you behind a screen. You know your worth!!!! If you have to, block the negative people!

Blogging can be very lonely. Especially if you don’t have any friends who are bloggers. Since blogging is usually a work from home job, it’s important to switch up your scenery as often as possible! Maybe one day take your blogging to a coffee shop or outside. Try and find other bloggers that are nearby and make some friends! Blogger friends are the best kind of friends! You will also feel stressed out especially in the beginning because blogging is A LOT of work. It’s more than just writing and posting. It’s hours upon hours of work! It’s tough, especially if you are a parent or have a full time/part time job too! Giving yourself breaks is important.

6. Even when you put in so much work, it feels like it's not enough 

I know you can probably relate…You put so much time and energy into your blog and feel like it’s going absolutely nowhere … Maybe you aren’t getting as many page views as you would like or maybe no one is engaging with your blog post. But guess what ... someone is out there reading your content, and you are inspiring someone! Even if it’s just one person… That’s still amazing that you are able to impact someone else’s life through your writing. Don’t ever think otherwise. It’s so easy to feel like a failure when you are trying to become a “successful” blogger, but just know that your stats don’t define you! You could have little to no blog views and have amazing content. It’s all about strategizing and getting people to notice your amazing content! 

7. No all the other bloggers are supportive 

As I said before the blogging community is really sweet and supportive for the most part, but a lot of it feels like competition rather than community. And I get it, we are all trying to grow our numbers, etc. So what do I notice? I notice that other bloggers are less likely to support and follow back on social media etc. unless they have something to gain out of it. A lot of bloggers will play the follow/unfollow game because they care a lot about their numbers and need to keep their followers/following ratio low. But it's so disheartening, especially when a blogger with a huge following follows me and then I go and follow them back to realize they unfollowed me right after. That is so lame. So what have I learned through this? I learned that not every blogger wants to help other bloggers succeed, it’s more of a competition opposed to community. I learned that engaging with those on social media who aren't bloggers helps to grow the following a bit more because they aren’t focused on the numbers game and they will actually want to read your content more than another blogger would. I also learned that I really don’t care as much about my numbers as I used to. Instead, I would rather focus on creating quality content. Of course, not all bloggers are like this, there are a ton of sincere, genuine, kind, and supportive bloggers out there who are willing to share their knowledge, contacts, even invite you to press events and be your mentor in general. 

8. Free Time is gone 

Whenever you aren’t working, you will be blogging. Your free time is basically gone. However, for me I don’t mind it too much. Why? Because I love blogging, so when I am working on a blog post it doesn’t feel as if my free time is “gone” but more like, I am spending my “free time” doing something I love. If you love to blog and write, then this won’t be much of an issue. But keep in mind that it's extremely hard to find time to blog especially if you have a full-time job or if you have children.

9. Comparing

It’s no doubt that when you are trying to become a successful blogger, there will be times you find yourself comparing your success to someone else’s. This is the worst thing you could do to yourself and your blogging journey but I'm guilty of doing it. You see that other bloggers are making money blogging, receive tons of free products or have tons of followers and their engagement is rocking. And just like that, you become upset (and jealous) because you have had your blog for a while now but you aren’t even close to their success. Guess what, it's fine! Everyone’s success comes at different times. Your journey may be longer or shorter than someone else’s. You have to stop comparing your success because if you do, you will just begin to become depressed and unmotivated thinking that you aren’t where you should be, when in fact you are exactly where you need to be at this moment. What works for one person might not work for the other. Just because you don’t have hundreds and thousands of subscribers, doesn’t mean that your content is bad! There are blogs out there who have thousands of subscribers and their content isn’t that great and blogs with amazing content but little subscribers! Just keep putting out your best content and worry about the audience you do have! The rest will follow.

All in all, I am so happy that I decided to start a blog. It’s been so much fun and very rewarding! Yes, there are bad days or days where I feel exhausted and I question myself if there's a point to continue blogging but doing what I love makes it all worth it! I wouldn’t change a thing! Even though the bad and the ugly, the good keeps me motivated.

Quote of the Day: Always go after your passion, live your dream life. If you have the courage to start you have the courage to finish!