Starting a blog or being a content creator isn’t easy. I will be honest with everyone that it is not a smooth road to take. I’ve been through ups and downs and even felt like giving up. 

Sad to say that some people base the success of their blog and content creation on their number of followers and readers. Well, guess what? It is being said that it is not and should not be all about the numbers. 

Do you want to know the secret in measuring success? To celebrate my 10 years of blogging and content creation, I would like to share with you some of the things I learned in those fruitful years:

1.It is about CONSISTENCY

You probably heard it many times that the most effective bloggers/content creators post regularly and routinely. When it comes to this, I make sure that I post 2-3 write-ups in a week or daily social media postings and even schedule my post ahead of time. It allows steady traffic throughout the week and generates good interactive discussion on most of my posts.

2.WRITING SKILLS

Well to be honest, when I started blogging, I was not that good at expressing myself and not even proofreading my post. It doesn’t mean that you need to be an expert or a journalist to be successful.

You need to be genuine from your heart and mind and write like an individual. To check my grammar, I always make sure to go to the app or site like www.grammarly.com  which helps me correct errors and grammar.

3.PATIENCE

It takes a lot of patience to see the result of a long journey. There are times that your blog has less traffic than the previous months or posts are not reaching enough people and get fewer likes and comments. Every journey starts with a step and gradually you’ll get to the peak. 

4. PASSION

I started blogging in 2013 but my first site was closed by Google and up until now, I still don’t know what happened to it. It didn’t stop me from doing what I love though. 

I created another blog and believed that it would grow and because I love what I am doing. It is funny nowadays that people advise you to find a niche that will generate income instead of something you are passionate about. Profit isn’t in passion, it’s in popularity.

5. PROMOTION

When you start a blog make sure that you also sign up for social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok and other popular apps. These platforms allow you to update your audience and engage with them. It is also a great way to promote your blog and share with them your content.

6. FOCUS

Choose a niche for your blog and content creation. Find one that you truly love, and you’ll find yourself in a great position. Ask yourself why you are starting a blog? Why do you want to be in the social media world? Do you want to help people, inspire people or to make money out of it? You can start a blog behind your passion and make money on it, but I found it is easier to make money on niches that people are passionate about.

7. HARD WORK

A blogger must work day and night to find new ideas and he/she needs to be active on all the social networking sites to promote his/her blog. It is like a 24/7 job that requires a lot of effort and time. I’m quite amazed by bloggers who have a full-time job and are also parents  taking care of their children but still manage to be consistent with producing content.

8. WILLING TO LEARN

Blogging and Content Creation are a continuous learning experience. It’s nice to read a lot of other blogs to gain more knowledge. Most bloggers share their experience so that others can learn from them. So, to be successful, one should spend time reading blogs so that you can increase your knowledge.

(1) TRUST THE BRAND/AGENCY

When a company/brand/agency reaches out to you and includes you their pool of influencers/bloggers/content creators, it just means that they trust your work, passion, and ability. Just like BRANDBUZZ PH, a PR agency with a heart which will be turning 2 years old this October 27, 2021. They commit and make sure that all deliverables are in favor of both parties. It will be a win-win situation wherein brands are able to promote their products/items in full swing and influencers/content creators are getting exposed and/or paid for their hard work. I am now almost 1 year with them and I can say that I am able to be exposed to different brands and gather a lot of learning and opportunity while staying with them.

To sum it up, it is not easy to be a blogger these days. Everyone thinks they can be one and that it’s easy to become one. The truth is, it takes a lot of passion to pursue blogging and sadly, not many people have the passion and resilience for it. It takes a special kind of person to pursue content creation and so I’m thankful that I have been one for more than a decade now.

XOXO, ZARRAH