Catching Up: What I’ve Learned in 8 Months Blogging

Hi guys! Elly here. How are things going?

Since you seem to be very interested in finding out more about blogging, I decided to write a little catch up post to share what I’ve learned in these first 8 months. To simplify the structure, I will be responding to many of the questions I am often asked about blogging both online and in real life. I hope this post will answer your questions, but if you feel like you want to know more, please feel free to ask me in the comments below, or to send me a DM on Instagram.

What inspired me to start Elly’s Diary?

I’ve been wanting to start a blog for almost a decade now. I’ve always loved writing and I’ve always found a creative outlet in it. Elly’s Diary is actually not my first attempt at trying to blog. I believe I started at least 3 other blogs before this, but until now I didn’t have the awareness or the tools necessary to understand what it really means to blog at a certain level. Elly’s Diary wants to be a shared journal of learning experiences, whilst trying to discover what it really means to try to be your healthiest and happiest self.

What are common misconceptions about blogging?

1. That it’s an easy way to make money. Blogging can be a hobby or a job. If you strive to make money out of it, then you have to treat it as a job from day one and put all the time and effort that you can into it.
2. That you get everything you blog about for free. Potentially it could be possible, but in my opinion it is not ‘ideal’ when you’re first starting off. If there is one thing I’ve learned in these first 8 months blogging, it is that it is incredibly important to stay true and coherent to the ‘brand’ you are trying to build. When you start posting regularly quality content, companies will reach out to you for different forms of collaborations. As tempting as they might sound, I advise you not to accept everything that comes your way, if it is not empowering to your own personal brand. Readers will come back to you for very specific reasons relative to your blogging niche. If your blog seems like an incoherent ad board, people will soon stop coming your way.
3. That you can buy followers and ‘cheat the system’. This is probably the most common misconception of many newbie bloggers and influencers. Paying for fake readers and followers is of course ‘possible’, but it will honestly bring you nothing and nowhere. You can’t cheat brands, collaborators and companies by paying ghost followers. The online marketing business has become nowadays so relevant that it is naive to believe that you are not interacting with incredibly savvy, professional and knowledgable people.

How much work goes into maintaining my blog?

I treat my blog as a potential future career, so there is a lot of work that goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of Elly’s Diary. I work 8 hours a day as a professional dancer, so I do have to specifically find some special time each day to dedicate to my blog. I am currently aiming to push 5 blog posts a month, an Instagram post each week, and daily IG stories. That means hours and hours spent planning, researching, writing, reading, shooting and editing pictures and posts. I  work on average two to three hours a day on my blog, unless I have performances or I am on tour with my company, then I can only manage to squeeze in an hour a day. That doesn’t even involve all the time I spend answering emails and comments, and the management work involved in collaborating with companies and brands. If one thing is sure… fear not to get bored when working on growing a blog.

How do I organically grow my Instagram following?

There is no cheat sheet when trying to grow an engaged Instagram audience, you work hard and you stay consistent. It is paramount to post regularly relevant quality content, to respond to your followers’ questions, and to engage on the platform as much as you possibly can. Don’t just hope that people will magically find their way to you, because that is simply not going to happen. Be active on your niche’s hashtags and on all those feeds where you know your potential audience is most likely to hang out.

How do I decide what I want to blog about?

Elly’s Diary covers many of the topics that I am passionate about: Yoga, Fitness, Blogging, Travels, Recipes, Beauty, Lifestyle, Books… I honestly write about what is talking to me at a specific moment in time. Elly’s Diary is a ‘journaling journey’ of self discovery, where I share all my learning experiences whilst trying to find always new ways to live more mindfully.

Did you enjoy this little catching up post? Would you like me to do more of them?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Love,

Elly, XO