Blog Tips, Friday Five

Friday Five: 5 Things Every Blogger Struggles With

October 7, 2016
5 things bloggers struggle with 3

Believe it or not, blogging isn’t all sunshine, rainbows and fun events with free champagne. I know we always see the fun events and freebies all over Snapchat and Instagram, but what you don’t see are the struggles behind blogging. To be honest, that’s totally fine with me. Personally, I prefer to see more positive things on social media but just because we don’t see them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

I know you may find it hard to believe, but sometimes the struggles that come with blogging can be all too real. So for today’s Friday Five, in line with my goal to have one blogging tips related post a month, I’m sharing 5 struggles I’m pretty sure anyone who has ventured into the world blogging will be able to identify with and some easy ways to overcome them.

1. Comparing Yourself To Other Bloggers

Struggle number one has to be trying not to compare yourself to other bloggers. In a world where the number of followers you have and the number of likes and comments you get on a single picture are the prime measure of your ‘success’ as a blogger this can be virtually impossible. It’s definitely something I’m guilty of doing in the past but since my trip to Inbound last year, I’m actively trying to stop doing this.

‘Don’t compare your insides to someone else’s outsides’ was my biggest takeaway from the whole event. It’s so true! We only see the highlights of other bloggers lives on their social media channels, and not the hours of hard work, hustle and even unique opportunities they may have had that opened doors and got them to where they are today. You don’t know the full story and I honestly believe you’re so much happier when you focus on yourself and stop looking at what everyone else is doing. Remember too that when you focus on what everyone else’s business, it gives you less time to focus on your own.

5 things bloggers struggle with

2. Finding Time

Blogging takes time. Blogging takes A LOT of time. Think about something like an outfit post… You have to organise someone to take pictures of your outfit, put a look together, find time to shoot your look in a specific location, get the photos (maybe edit them), select the ones you want to use for the blog post, write the post, find links to the items, optimise the post for Google, publish and share on social (maybe more than once). You get my drift here. Blogging takes time and when you’re working full time, it can be hard to find the time you need to dedicate to growing your blog.

This is where preparation is key. I’ve found having set days to post new content on my blog (I try to post every Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday) has really helped me maximize my time and find a good blog/life balance. This leads me nicely on to my next struggle…

3. Work/Life Balance

When it comes to blogging, especially fashion and lifestyle blogging, it can be hard to strike a work/life balance because your life is essentially your blog. So as every aspect of your life can be part of your blog, you’re ‘always on.’

For me, I work full time as well as having my blog. So my blog is a side hustle I do in my spare time, and by spare time I mean my morning, evenings, lunch break and weekends. As you can imagine, it can be pretty hard to strike a balance between when I need to switch off and relax and wanting to keeping pushing through and do the million and one things I have going on in my head.

Full-time bloggers also have even more pressure to constantly be working on their blog. It’s their job and what pays the bills at the end of the day. This is where you need to have dedicated days or down time where there’s no blog work allowed. Trust me when I say it will pay off, keep you sane and stop you from burning out.

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4. Bloggers Block

Imagine writers block, but for bloggers. When it comes to blogging, you have to constantly keep creating and come up with new ideas. But it can be hard to stay inspired or to remember ideas you had on the go. Personally, my mind is constantly on and inspiration can come at anytime and in any form. This is why I always have a notepad with me to write down ideas as they pop into my head when I’m on the go. Then when the bloggers block hits, it’s a little easier to get some inspiration to get myself out of a rut.

5. Staying Motivated

There’s always going to be days when you struggle to find motivation to do anything blog related. Sometimes after after a long day or week at work the last thing I want to do is sit down on a Thursday night and spend a few hours working on a blog post. Heck, somedays I can’t even find the motivation to do an Instagram picture, but it’s normal (I think?). It’s ok to have an off day, just as long as you don’t let become a prolonged thing and can find the motivation to pick up where you left off.

So blogging isn’t quite the bed of roses you see on Instagram. The struggles are real, but as with everything there are ways to overcome them. Is there any struggles fellow bloggers would add to the list?

Have a great weekend,

Lorna x

Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Snapchat – lcscloset

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1 Comment

  • Reply molipop October 10, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    You hit the nail on the head with every single item! I have serious respect for anyone who blogs, no matter how many followers they have, or what their chosen content themes are. We are all incredibly committed and doing something that is entirely our own, and that is the only way our success should be measured! Great post. Molly x
    https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/mollipop-14692787

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