If you are like me you have probably asked yourself something like this.
“Why am I not more successful as a blogger?” or “What am I doing wrong with my blog?”
I have asked myself these questions and many more like them over the last 3+ years. The thing is I’m actually doing alright as a blogger and I’ve come along way on my journey. I still want more though and you probably do to. Right? It is then we need to figure out and ask ourselves what is holding you back in blogging and how do we get past it.
In this post I thought we would cover the most common ways I’ve held myself back as a blogger and the ways I’ve noticed other bloggers holding themselves back. I think that we all have the tendency to not put 100% of ourselves out there even though we know we should.
I know that for me I could be doing so much more and I want to be better and give more to my blog. It would only make things better for me as a blogger in the long run. It’s a matter of figuring out what is holding us back so that we can fix it and it won’t be an issue anymore.
check out some of the reasons I’ve found that might be holding you back in blogging.
1. you don’t feel qualified
I’ve found this to be true for the majority of bloggers. No matter the niche or type of blog it seems that so many of us, myself included don’t think we are really qualified to be blogging about whatever our topic is. you are scared to put yourself out there I bet that there has been a few times that you’ve questioned why anyone would care about what you have to blog about. You’ve wondered if you know enough about your niche or have the experience to even write about this topic.
Let me tell you every blogger I’ve talked to has felt this way. Even the really amazing super great bloggers who I feel know everything about their niche have had moments of feeling unqualified. If they had let those feelings hold them back from making great posts and growing their blogs it would be so disappointing and some fabulous posts might not have been written and shared.
2. You don’t have a plan
Once I started actually making a plan for my blog I realized how crazy I was being by not doing it before. I started doing an editorial calendar this year. I was just scheduling out 3 or 4 weeks at a time but recently I stretched that to 6 weeks. This gives me an idea of what posts I need to work on at a given time and what I need to work on next. I am now able to look back and see what I have been neglecting on the blog and I can plan an upcoming post on that topic.
You also want to try and have a business plan for the next year or so if you can. Some people are great at this and have great business plans for the upcoming year. I try doing that and it’s an area I struggle with. So I just have a real loose plan for the upcoming year and focus more of my effort on having an up do date editorial calendar. It’s a matter of finding out what works for you and your brand.
related post: How to use an editorial calendar
3. You aren’t willing to take any risks
If you want to see big results and gains in anything from your blog, to your business to your life you have to start being willing to take the necessary risks to get those rewards. This can be trying new things, putting yourself in new possibly uncomfortable to you situations.
Anything that takes you out of your typical box and gets you to try something new or different. The thing with this is that sometimes these risks pay off and sometimes they don’t. You have to be willing to take the risks sometimes to get the great reward though.
4. With all the great blogs out there you are so afraid you’ll never be as good as them
number four is such a common thing that can be holding you back in blogging. As bloggers we can become overwhelmed by all the other blogs out there. We can start seeing all these amazing blogs and bloggers and start feeling like we can never compare or compete with how great they are. I have felt this way many times before and I’m sure I will again. I bet you have as well.
Don’t let this comparison fear hold you back as a blogger. There is room for lots of amazing and great blogs out there in the internet though. So you’ve got two choices. Either let those great blogs and bloggers motivate you to make yours better or let them discourage you and hold you back from being great yourself. So don’t let this be what will be holding you back in blogging.
5. There isn’t any consistency to your blog or brand
This is such an important thing to consider because it holds too many bloggers and entrepreneurs back. There are a lot of areas where you need to have consistency with your blog and brand. You should have a consistent look to your blog and social media. Meaning use the same fonts and colors throughout everything. The point of doing this is so that on social media, especially Pinterest, people will begin to recognize your posts by the way that they look. Which means that if they have read your blog before and liked it they will be more likely to click on another post when they recognize your branding.
You also want to be consistent in how often you post so that your readers can start to get an idea of when to expect you. It doesn’t have to be an exact thing like Thursdays at 3pm more like 3 times or 5 times a week. This is so important because if someone comes to your blog and reads an amazing post and signs up for new post updates. Then you don’t post again for two weeks they might have totally forgot who you are and how great that post was by the time a new post comes out and not go check out your new one.
related post: How often should you post on your blog?
