This wasn’t supposed to be a rant post but soon turned into one. I’m sorry in advance! I’ve been actively blogging for the last 8 months. I understand some aspects of blogging, I’ve made my peace with some aspects of it but there are some things that I just don’t get.
- SPAM comments – I didn’t even know these existed till a 2-3 months back but apparently based on some algorithm (too much daily activity or something?), WP flags some comments off as SPAM and they end up in your SPAM folder till you don’t go approve them. While I like the intent behind having this option, more often I find well meaning comments just waiting in SPAM for me to approve.
- How do people with full time jobs maintain a blogging schedule? – I convinced myself to stick to a blogging schedule in 2021 – one week in and I’m already behind. I write when I find some inspiration and I have this weird urge to post as soon as I’ve written. I also like to check-in every few hours to reply to comments or read people’s posts – blogging is A LOT of work! With my work taking up more time in 2021, I really want to understand how people with full time jobs/in full time courses in university manage blogging and work.
- Finding one niche to write about – I’ve been trying to find that one topic that I want to focus on but I just love writing about so many things that I just can’t seem to limit myself to just one thing. I had started this blog to share my travel stories – but I love sharing about my life, mental health, sustainability journey, travel(when I do), recipes as well as books. I wish I could downsize this list but that would mean skipping on topics that actually inspire me to write.
- Promoting your blog on social media- I get its a great way to share your blog with a wider audience but I wish there was an easier way to do it – I am so awkward about sharing my blog on my existing social media and too lazy to create a whole new social media presence for my blog – argh!
- Why do bloggers recycle similar content/topics – I understand that some content gets more views than other but OMG, it bugs me to go to my reader and see THE same kind of posts. Eg: 5 ways to improve your blog, 5 ways to get more engagement, 5 ways to get your life in order etc. I’m not throwing shade on any blogger – I know how hard it can be to come up with content and obviously some topics are an easy way to get views if you’re a new blogger but it just is boring after a point.
- Mindless commenting/likes – Bro, I get ya – engaging with hundreds of bloggers can be hard! But boy does it bug me when someone mindlessly likes or comments on posts. (Damn, I’m going to lose a lot of followers after posting this)
- Why are brands not approaching me? Hey, Estee Lauder- I’m waiting! Haha! 😛
Honestly these are just some very different things about blogging that I’m still trying to understand and some that I feel like I will never understand! 😛 What are some things that you don’t get about this world of blogging?
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Happy Panda 
Blogging is sure time consuming if you want followers to go through your post and give their feedback. Or if blogging is just a platform to satisfy your own creative ideas, then anything else doesn’t matter at all 🙂
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I enjoyed reading your post/“rant.” You make some very valid points. Blogging is time consuming and even though I don’t have a full time job I have to schedule my time for working on my blog. Since my blog is part of my business, working on it everyday is necessary. Don’t get me started on Social Media. 😀
Take care. Scott
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Valid points 🐼, totally agree with your point of views. Loved the post.
I can’t think of writing anything new off my busy work schedule and reading other blog posts.
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Oh man, this rant post really resonated with me haha! It’s nice to see someone just finally say out loud all these little things that also frustrate me about the blogging world.
On the topic of having a niche… I’m the same. I remember reading all these blog posts when I was first starting out about how a successful blogger should have a niche. But why limit yourself? Sure having a niche is what some people actually want to do, and that’s perfectly valid. But I don’t know how people focus on one specific topic because there are so many things that I am interested in and want to write about on my blog. Personally, I love it when blogs are more than just one topic. You get to know more about the blogger that way so it feels more personal, and in a way more friendly. If you enjoy writing about a variety of different topics, then I say go for it! One of the reasons I followed your blog in the first place is because you don’t restrict yourself in what you write about, and I love that ❤
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I love that you write about so many different things. I used to think since I am a book blogger I need to only talk about books but I have so many different interests like manga, webtoons, light novels, anime etc and I want to write about them but I get conscious that people might find me weird. But I have realised that this is my blog and I started this because I want to talk about the things that I love. So don’t worry about other people. This is blog is your baby and you should raise your baby in a way you think is right ☺
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This is so relatable!!! I also don’t understand how anyone has the time with a full time job to post content daily. I just about find time to write one post a week!!! Also hate using social media to promote my blog and, like you cba to create a new platform just for my blog.
Stick to what you love writing about, rather than finding a niche. It shows how diversive you are, and also that you are able to adapt to different styles of content. ❤
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I can soo relate! The spam comment option though, I am glad I have it, at the beginning it used to flag down meaningful comments, but the more it ages it only picks out the weird looking ones and honestly, the amount of spam comments I get has increased soo much, like at least 8 a month it’s alarming! Blogging schedules are hard to maintain 100%, especially with schooling and examinations, no matter how many posts I try to schedule, I always end up lagging. One thing I really dislike about blogging is the fact that you can have 600 followers and get an average of 50 views per post, like how? Oof it is a LOT of work, I must agree!💖
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You nailed these points. I totally get it with the mindless liking, especially liking people’s comments in the comments section; and yet some of these people never actually contribute to the conversation. That drives me nuts. I think people do it so that we notice them, but seeing that “so-and-so liked my comment on blogger A’s blog” is a huge pet peeve, especially when this person did not leave a comment of their own or contribute anything worthwhile. Liking is a shallow form of saying, “look at my blog!”
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This post was too relatable! I get number 3. I started my blog for crafts projects, but I also like to share cooking, or anything else that I’m enjoying at the moment. I was afraid that my blog would be too random, but then I decided that as long as the content is “good” it shouldn’t be a problem. That’s actually one of the things I liked about your blog! I have many interests, and I get to read about so many of them in one blog! 🙂 🙂 ❤
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I don’t claim to be a blogging expert, I can only share what I do!
BTW, writing about a whole list of things which speaks to you isn’t being unable to pin down one subject only! You are sharing what lights you up, what speaks to you! That’s okay! It’s okay to share joy with a world where we have so much negativity! Please give yourself permission to just follow your joy and share with us what speaks to you!!
My personal area is to share what inspires me and what speaks to me. I keep a folder on my laptop of different memes I’ve saved, which speak to me. I write each evening, choosing a meme from the folder to write about, and then let my spirit take me where it will. When I’m done I schedule it to post the next morning at 6:22 am, a time which spoke to me. I’ve set up my blog to automatically share my posts to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Lately I’ve chosen to copy paste the post into a LinkedIn article which gets published immediately, so that my profile has articles I’ve published directly there for folks who don’t want to click in outside links.
I found my area of blogging to be an extension of my books. My writing was described as sitting down with me to have a cup of tea, so my blogs are written in a supportive and encouraging voice! Even so, until I started saving memes on my laptop to use for inspiration, I previously struggled to come up with inspiration for new posts! I wanted to write long, meaty articles, not yet realizing that most people don’t have the mental energy to read and absorb a long complex message. I realized that people need a little shot in the arm daily just to keep going!
I too would love to have many many followers and get corporate sponsorship opportunities, but first and foremost in my mind is knowing who I’m writing for! My readers are sometimes too tired and worn out to leave a comment but I see by the number of views that I’m reaching people who need encouragement and support.
I hope my responses here are helpful to you!
Blessings,
Tamara
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Pls send me the link of your blog you gave a nice piece of advice.
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😉 my pleasure! https://tamarakulish.com
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I totally understand your frustration especially with spam comments- that annoys me SO much!! I find actual comments stuck in my spam every day and WP lets so many actual spam comments through which is so frustrating.
As for the similar posts- in my opinion it’s because certain titles are better for SEO purposes. So if your title starts with 5 blah blah blah or How To blah blah blah it’s better for your SEO.
If you would like to work with brands I would highly recommend reaching out to them instead of waiting for them to reach out to you. A lot of brands would genuinely be interested in working with someone like you but they just don’t know you yet since there are literally thousands of blogs, influencers etc out there.
Great post by the way!
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I used to have the Akismet anti-spam plugin on my site, and it sent regular comments to spam all the time. I’ve never actually had a real spam comment (knock on wood). Got rid of that plugin a while back. Also, I have a full-time job and manage to post once a week. It’s helpful to batch write posts to save time, and have drafts ready. Currently, I have 79 drafts started. I write them down anytime I get an idea, and add to them as I think of something else to add.
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Oh Bro I get ya!! Sorry, I really do understand and agree with your comments. I’m awful at self promotion on social media. I also just discovered the spam folder a week or so ago, I checked out the first few comments and they were spam so I left them all there. If you say there are real people’s comments, maybe I should have another look.
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Restricting yourself to one topic can be hard and it is not something Im good at. Consistency is also something Im working on and it can be frustrating so I understand you completely. Im no expert, but I think that sticking to a niche is better in terms of branding and sponsorships so it might be helpful to research a bit on that topic. I really believe that if you don’t like what you are doing you are going to end up not doing it or hating every minute you spend on it. Write what you like and what inspires you and figure things out as you go. =)
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When I started blogging in my holidays I started to write the most and now I have scheduled them and them automatically get posted but nobody views so I get very angry. Whenever I try to popularise my blog I will get views but then then go down again. I understand you 🐼.
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Hahaha you read my mind… Some true points… Blogging is hard… Trying to find the new niche or topic to write on. God keeping with your personal and blogging platform can be overwhelming…
Thanks for writing this… More strength to you… Good day and all the best
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This is so true 😂🤣
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I can totally relate with each and every point of yours. 😅😂
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I hear you. Blogging is a lot of work. We also write when we feel inspired, and have not really gone i to social media or any other platform to promote our blog. Maybe we are just not getting it. Haha.
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I feel you! This is darn relatable.. I don’t get it when people put up posts that are like a hundred words long.. like, what value does that offer me?
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The first thing I don’t understand about WP is the “SPAM” comments. The other day I looked at my comments and it said 5 SPAM. As a result, I checked and what I found was not SPAM this is so weird! They were normal comments 🙂 I don’t get it
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Ahhh the social media one! 😂 I have tried it but I’m struggling. I’m so awkward and it just makes me anxious. I probably feel shy too
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Spam, right? UGH. It’s one of the first things I do every day, clean out the ol spam box and I don’t even bother to look at anything else, just get rid of it. So disturbing.
I’ve stopped promoting on social. I’m probably shooting myself in the foot, but it feels too icky. For me. I keep telling myself to put myself out there, but there’s something about nobody caring that makes me depressed. I mean, nobody reads anymore on social… I mean, nobody clicks over it feels like, just endless scroll.
As someone who has been blogging for over 10 yrs I can say, it’s a transient community but wonderful variety if you push yourself to write and find other folks too.
Happy blogging 😛
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#4 I’ve posted a link on my facebook and instagram to promote my blog and still don’t get any traffic. Am thinking blogging isn’t as popular or there some kind of stereotype about blogging. Maybe people think it more for people who want to complain about stuff or people just don’t want to read. Even among my friends who I grew up with don’t seem interested. For #2 and #3 I try not to stress about it. Blogging should be fun unless it your actual your full-time job and you are making money from it.
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I totally relate with you!! The type of person that annoys me is on Instagram where they will spam you with likes and expect you to follow them but they will not follow you? It makes no sense! I want people who like what I post to follow me. Pinterest and Facebook confuse me soooo much – I’ve practically given up on Facebook…going to stick with Pinterest but I get hardly any engagement. xx
Caroline | https://envirolineblog.com/
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I hear you!! I have been doing a deep dive on improving blog traffic and all I keep hearing is “find a niche, find a niche” but honestly that feels like I’d be limiting myself. I am a Writer and that’s just what I want to do, I want to write about everything under the sun that brings my joy, affects my life, or gets me stirred up! When I started my blog yearsss ago I basically looked at it as a hobby and hoped that inspiration would hit and I would be able to write constantly. The problem wasn’t that inspiration wasn’t happening, it was that I was afraid of sharing my voice and I didn’t want to be judged. I had such a wall up and it took a long time to just get over myself and just start somewhere. I told myself I’d post once a week. But with a kid and a f/t job I found it hard to produce a fully edited, thoughtful blog post one day a week so instead on changing that goal, I decided it would be easier to break up the post tasks through the week. I would allocate a day for research and point form notes, a day for laying a partial rough draft and then a day of the week that I’d just schedule it and edit the crap out of it until the deadline scheduled publish date- this last tip helped me stay on track and accountable to a timeline! Sorry for the long comment lol great post!! 🙂
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I know right! I can barely handle blogging and university; I can’t imagine how difficult it must be while working at a full time job.
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This😂🙌🏽🙌🏽
I can relate to so many it’s embarrassing and I have been blogging for years. x
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What I can definitely say is that blogging is not easy peasy. I do have a full time job too and I’ve struggled a lot to keep a blogging schedule. This year I’ve decided to take it easy and blog when I can and feel like doing it. In the end blogging is a hobby, if I stress too much about it would become a second job and I’ll go crazy ☺️
Spam messages are annoying and this thing that commenting too much is annoying too…but I guess is also useful, otherwise we’ll be full of spam…not everyone in the blogosphere are genuine bloggers 🥲
I guess in the end the secret of blogging is to love what you do and don’t stress yourself too much if is not your main job. ☺️
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The funniest thing about this post is that I can relate to every single thing you mentioned! Blogging with a full time job is insanely hard… I don’t know how I’m managing but I’m at the point where I think I need to take a blogging break and focus on my toddler or my job… the secret I’ve been using is to blog in bulk. Like right now I’m in a weird mood so I want to write about “fear of death”… id write like I’m writing in a journal, then on a day when I’m feeling more productive I could essentially turn it into two posts… one more creative and one more structured. Or I will write about “fear of death” and then immediately after, write about how I’ve been coping with loss. Then on a completely different day with fresh eyes, I’ll do a quick edit, schedule and go on with life. It’s u structured, but if it helps, you can schedule a bit of time each day for blogging? I know that doesn’t always work for me because I am not always feeling creative at the same time each day.
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Same! It was easier for me last year – since I had just switched jobs but now I’m finding it crazy to even find time to reply to comments. I’ve tried scheduling my blogs for every week on Sunday but funnily by the time the last blog is posted – I don’t even remember what I wrote! This month – I’ve just been very disconnected from blogging. Hopefully I’m able to better manage my time in a few weeks.
You amaze me with how beautifully structured your posts are and how regularly you post! Kudos! ❤
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Gosh you sound like me in the background! Don’t worry if life gets busy. Blogging should be fun, not a chore. Do it when you have time and skip the days you don’t. I know for sure that I’m going to have to cut back on how much I post. It’s unsustainable ~ but that’s ok!
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I have little trouble with 2 and 3 but 4 is one I empathize with. I tried to build audiences on FB and Twitter to direct them to the blog but can’t seem to get the hang of it. When I sit down with the intention of doing just that, I end up writing a post or blog hopping. Thanks!
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I can relate to having trouble finding the time to blog regularly. I guess you have to be pretty disciplined and have a variety of post ideas pre-prepared that you can pick from whenever you have time.
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