4 Things About Blogging That Seem Scary, But Really Aren’t That Bad

Blogging can be scary sometimes, especially when you’re a new blogger.

I don’t know what it is, but I’m really in the mood to give some advice.

If you’ve ever been scared to post something on your blog, don’t worry! You’re not alone! Here is a list of 4 things I used to be afraid to do on my blog, but now I’ve learned to think otherwise.

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Talking to big bloggers. 

dramatic backstory

When I first started blogging, there was nothing scarier than *fake gasp* reaching out and commenting on other people’s posts. Did I really need to do this? No thank you.

But whenever I do something, I have to do it big. The first comments I ever made were on “big blogs”. I was so excited to see what my favorite bloggers would reply with! It was like I was talking to a celebrity, or something! I put my heart and soul into those comments. I spell-checked them, and I made sure that they were all interesting and made it clear that I had read and appreciated the post. 

And you know what happened? No one ever replied.

 In fact, most of those bloggers only chose to reply to their select few blogging friends in those posts.

Because this was very early in my blogging journey, I slowly began to grow sad about the book blogging community. If this was how the “big bloggers” treated their commenters, then I just… wouldn’t comment! That was the only apparent solution! 

I mean, right? 

why this shouldn’t be scary to you

Eventually, months and months passed, and I realized that most of those “big bloggers” who had never replied to me had been through some tough times when I made the comments. Some of them were on hiatuses and eventually did reply very late, and some of them were struggling with their mental health. And still, some of them never replied, but I now believe this was due to the overwhelming amount of comments on their blogs. 

It wasn’t until I started getting 20+ comments on my posts that I realized how exhausting it can be to reply, and how easy it can be to accidentally never approve a comment. I love reading all of your comments, and I love replying to the best of my ability, but sometimes it just takes forever!

Just the other day, I was one month (one whole month!) behind on replying to comments, and it took me nearly 3 hours to reply to half of them. *wipes brow just thinking about it*
That’s another lesson for you: don’t let your comments pile up like that! Just don’t do it. Eventually it’ll grow into a habit you can’t shake, and then one day you’ll look into the mirror and see me, a small, vicious, latina girl who hoards comments and pingbacks until they literally have nowhere else to go and they’re all moved to my storage cave for my audition on that strange hoarding show.

A few months ago, I reached out to one of the “big bloggers” who had never replied, and I realized that she probably missed my first comment because it went to spam or something like that. She replied quickly to my second comment on her blog, and now we’re becoming friends! 

the moral of the story

If you get anything out of this, I would like for you to never be afraid to comment! If you read a post, from any kind of blogger, just know that their eyes will probably light up with joy for every comment they get. Every blogger I know appreciates every single one of the comments they receive, and they will happily reply to as many as they can! 

Big bloggers are not scary – they are people like you and me, and they probably blog for fun and their love of books! Before big bloggers got to where they are now, they were small bloggers, too. And they were probably scared of commenting, as well, but eventually they didn’t let that stop them from growing their blog experience. 

Don’t be afraid to reach out to bloggers with more of a following than you! When I first started my blog, I was embarrassed about approaching just about anyone while I only had 5 followers. But now, I wish I had started talking to other bloggers sooner! It really helped me to engage with the community and meet all kinds of awesome bloggers. 

Of course, this is not something you should feel required to do. If you would rather talk to bloggers who have the same amount of experience as you, then that’s great as well!
But just don’t be like me, who only kept to myself and simultaneously thought the entire world would love me just because I posted WWW Wednesdays and Monthly Wrap-Ups 🙂

Writing posts out of your comfort zone.

I used to be scared of this all the time, but now I ask myself… “What else can I post that no one else has done recently and makes me anxious to post but I’ll do it anyway?” Like this post, right here! Wow, this is scary.

It can be hard to write a type of post you’ve never done before, but it can also be good for your blog. Writing posts out of your comfort zone can help you gain experience in the types of posts you want to write, and even if it’s not perfect the first time you write it, you still have many opportunities to try again!

For example, I once viewed discussion posts with great fear. What could I possibly discuss with others? What could others possibly say in response? Could other people even relate to my experiences? 

Sometimes people will relate to your posts, but it’s okay if they don’t. Not everyone can relate to your posts, but they can always find it interesting and appreciate your effort!

Even when a post is not relatable to everyone, the post can still be interesting because it represents your opinions and experience. Allow for your posts to be about you, and to be as personal as you want them to be, because then, it doesn’t matter if it’s highly relatable or not. If your viewers like your blog, they’ll like hearing about your perspective in a unique post. It doesn’t even have to be fancy or professional! It just has to be you.

And, when you write posts you’ve never done before, you’ll be trying new things and learning about your blogging style. If you write a discussion post and decide it’s not your thing – that’s totally fine! Do whatever makes you most comfortable, but also don’t be afraid to test your comfort zone every once in a while. 🙂

Tagging other people’s posts. 

For some reason, this concept really scared me because I can never really, truly know how a blogger is going to respond. Before I tagged anyone, I would ask myself, Will they like that I gave them a shout out? Will they be embarrassed because it’s not even their best post? Will they ever see the pingback? Wait, what if they’re something wrong with my pingbacks? Um, what if – 

Most likely, they will highly appreciate the shout out! Don’t worry about this too much, because if it really worries you, then just know that there is no handbook to book blogging that requires you to shout out or tag anyone. You don’t have to worry at all, or mention the post. If you want to tag them, then go ahead – give it a try, and see what happens. There’s no harm in trying. 

When I first tagged others on my blog, I think it was tagging them in a Book Tag. Some people responded, and some people didn’t. I was grateful that some responded to my tag, but for the ones who didn’t… I constantly wondered if I had offended them or something. Did they not like tags? Was there actually something wrong with my pingbacks, or was I just being paranoid? 

If you’re having trouble with pingbacks… 😉
📚 related: 8 Things I Should Have Known When I Started Blogging

Now that I am slightly more experienced, I realize that those bloggers who never responded most likely a) just forgot to respond, or b) the pingback got lost in a plethora of other pingbacks that they never saw because sometimes the pingbacks just pile up, y’know? 

As someone who hoards pingbacks like a tiny dragon who hoards her gold coins, I value every shout-out and tag, but… sometimes I just forget to approve them! Or sometimes they go to spam! Or, sometimes I’ll open an internet tab and read the tag but then I’ll have to make a sandwich or something, and the tab gets forgotten in a sea of other open tabs until I just delete them all at once.  

But either way… 

✨   ✨   ✨

this tiny book dragon (i.e. me) would like to issue an apology for never responding to some of your tags! 

the tags are greatly appreciated, and I promise I saw it! 😌 if I never responded to it, it’s either lost or just sitting somewhere in the pile of other pingbacks I should have responded to a long time ago.

✨   ✨   ✨

the moral of the story

Please don’t be afraid to mention other people in your posts! It’s a great way to show others that you read and appreciate their blogs.

Blog hopping on a blog for the first time. 

Sometimes I’m just scared of commenting on someone’s blog for the first time, but I have do idea why. 

Blog hopping can take a lot of effort, if you do it right. A good blog-hopper will 1) be kind in the comment 2) respond using points from the post to show that they read it 3) comment in 2 or more sentences.

But all of this can also take so much time, and if the original blogger never responds, or just says “thank you!!”… then what? Did you just waste your time on a long and thoughtful comment for nothing? 

Well, no, no you didn’t. And you know why? Because at least you tried! 💫 You tried to leave a thoughtful comment, and you can do it again on someone else’s blog, and maybe that someone else will be more responsive and thankful. It’s also possible that the original blogger we’re talking about here just didn’t have time to comment a lot, and maybe they’ll be more responsive next time you visit!

the moral of the story

Blog hopping can be scary sometimes, but what’s the worst that could happen?

I find blog hopping to be extremely helpful. When I first started blogging, I read the comments on my favorite blogs and found other blogs by clicking on their profiles! Eventually, I tried to comment on as many blogs as possible, to figure out what kinds of comments were acceptable for individual bloggers and which bloggers were more friendly than others.

Commenting on several blogs per day (aka blog hopping) is a good idea, because more people will see your comments and possibly gravitate towards your blog to check it out. Even if you’re not trying to build a massive following, this still increases your chances of finding blogging friends and improving your blogger voice!

I don’t know, this post kind of turned into me sharing some weird inner thoughts about blogging… 🙈 I kind of don’t want to post this anymore, but oh well, it’s here already.

Were you ever scared of any of these things? Have you overcome any other scary blogger milestones? Was this post even helpful?

Let me know, and chat with me about it!

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You can also be my friend on Goodreads!

Happy reading, everyone! 😊

 

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