Here on TBM, we sometimes go against the grain. We like to tell people nice things like have fun with blogging and experiment and don’t follow some formula just because other people say to. Sometimes doing things your own way is a bit harder, but we believe it’s also more fulfilling. When one is simply employing a strategy rather than sincerely trying to connect with others, blogs come off as robotic and sometimes even pushy. While increasing traffic and subscribers requires strategy and skill, I don’t think it should be prioritized over establishing true connection. In my mind, it’s all about balance!
Feeling low in inspiration? Too focused on competition? Here are a few ways you might notice yourself blogging for other bloggers—who are, in the end, your competition rather than your customers—instead of true fans and followers:
1. You scroll through bloglovin’, Pinterest, etc., instead of your own blog + social media accounts’ comments for post inspiration. – While it’s totally okay to get inspiration from the first sources (we. love. pinterest.), your readers will be the first to tell you about the success of your blog. (For more of our thoughts on the subject, read this post.)
2. You find yourself comparing. When you see a similar post on the internet (and believe us we do, blogging is a hot topic to blog about right now), you find yourself ranking them. It doesn’t matter whether you feel your work is better or more worthy of attention, what matters is that when you compare, you’re not considering the readers of your blog, but the competition. Market research is one thing, but picking apart individual posts? Not so helpful!
3. You’re more about tactics than long term growth. I think we’ve all seen websites that feel like they’re just in it for a click or a sale. Often that content isn’t quite so fulfilling to read. When you start to worry about pageviews without looking at whether people are actually reading the whole post, or likes rather than engagement, you run the risk of ignoring your audience and heading straight for a perceived success. But you really can’t have success online without a loyal following!
4. You veer from your mission. Similar to my last point, it’s always nice to have a mission (even if it’s not public) to refer to when things go askew. If you look back on your blog’s purpose and realize you’re no longer fulfilling that, it’s worth digging a little deeper to see if it’s because you’ve gotten caught up with those trends and tactics, competition, or comparison.
And if you realize things aren’t meshing with your audience or the content you love most, it may be time to switch directions entirely.
Have you gotten caught up in any of the above? How do you refocus?
Brooklyn W. says
I wish I could follow #1 and scroll through my likes and comments on my blog and Instagram! But that I can’t really cuz I don’t get any. I’d love to get people’s opinions on my blog but no one comments answers to my questions (yes I am engaging!) on my posts or Instagram photos. :( Any tips to get readers more engaged other than just adding a question at the end of a post?
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