10 Things I’ve Learned After Two Years of Blogging

Today marks the official two-year anniversary of Laura’s Books and Blogs! I started my blog thinking that I had the hang of blogging from other sites I’d blogged for and could maneuver through WordPress thanks to a few internships that had taught me the basics. But it turns out I had a lot to learn. And last year, I wrote a piece titled “10 Things I’ve Learned After One Year of Blogging.” Writing it was an eye-opening account of how far I’d come, and this year was no different. Below are 10 things I’ve learned after two years of blogging.

1. I really did need to find a niche.

The most successful bloggers tend to blog about blogging. That’s because the rest of us are always looking for a life boat to save us from the vast ocean of the blogging world. So we latch on to any help and advice we can find.

But most of us start our blog as an outlet to pursue some sort of passion. And for me, that passion was writing. So, this year, my blog really began to take shape as a writing and book blog rather than a place to throw different topics at the wall and see what sticks.

And though my non-writing posts remain my most viewed, such as my Fall Cleaning tips, a lot of my writing posts began to take off as well. I still welcome guest posts on almost any topic, but I’ve definitely found my niche. This focus has helped me to better define my blog and has made it more manageable to run.

To figure out where best to advertise your blogs, check out my post: Blog Promotion Social Media Experiment: Which Platform Works Best For Blog Promotions?

 2. I had to learn how to say no.

Putting out a call for book reviews and listing my blog on two indie reviewer sites drew in traffic from fellow authors who are desperate for reviews. I try to be specific in announcing what I like to read while still being open to all genres, but I have to turn a lot away, especially because I only like to give positive reviews.

Blogging is essentially a part time gig for me on top of my full-time job and other side projects. However, I don’t struggle with time management or productivity. I have a process, and that process has become a well-oiled machine after two years.

The biggest factor in that process is to not overwhelm myself. So, I have to be selective with the books that I choose to review and the projects that I say yes to. There are so many authors trying to market their books throughout the writing community, and my instinct is to attempt to read and review them all. But there’s no way I could keep up with demand. So, I choose to read only the books that I’m most interested in and offer an author interview to the rest.

As a result, my author interview series is booked up until June 2021. Many of those authors are hosting book giveaways which have been successful in growing my social media presence and newsletter subscribers on top of creating exposure for indie authors. So, saying no has been a win-win situation for us all.

3. I now schedule in advance and in pieces.

Because a big chunk of my posts are interviews or book reviews, I’m never lacking in content. As a result, I’ve really managed to plan my posts out ahead of time and schedule on the next available Monday or Friday.

This has been immensely helpful during those days and weeks when I can’t devote as much time to my blog. Currently, I can run on autopilot for the next few months. Without heavy promotion, my views would suffer, but the content would continue to post like clockwork. So, I have the time to promote and experiment.

It can take several hours to schedule a blog post including writing, creating graphics, scheduling, setting up Rafflecopter giveaways, etc. So, I’ve really learned to work on one piece of the puzzle at a time.

One day, I might draft two or three blog posts. Another day I might create graphics and pins for multiple posts in Canva. I might take a day to take and edit photos that I can use in a post. Another day might be devoted to formatting and scheduling some ready posts in WordPress.

I feel more productive working in pieces like this rather than devoting myself to building a post from scratch and spending an entire evening getting it scheduled. It keeps me motivated on days when I don’t feel like playing around with a particular step in the process and makes it easier down the road when some of the later steps are already taken care of.

4. I’m a little bit psychic.

A strange occurrence that has come up several times this year. Once I receive an interview or guest post back, I schedule them for my next available opening and let the blogger or author know what day it will post. A number have written back to me remark that the scheduled date is on or the day before their birthday. It’s like it was meant to be.

5. I can overcome major WordPress issues.

Technology has not been kind to me this year. I’m pretty good at figuring out issues and error messages, usually with the help of Google, but WordPress is a different breed. So, when I pulled up the screen to schedule a new post and found that a bunch of tools weren’t working, it took several weeks to get myself back on track.

Just one bad plugin set off a chain of events that required a ton of trial-and-error methods to come up with a fix. And when I thought I had it back up and running, it went down again, and I had to come up with a new fix.

These days, I’m not afraid to reach out for help, and I did. From JetPack to WPBeginner, I chatted with every bot and begged for direct help from multiple sources with no luck. Ultimately, it was up to me to figure it out, and I’m glad that I did. But if you asked me to fix it again, I’d be back to square one. So, I’ve learned to have patience and work the problem, and eventually, I will resolve it.

6. Blogging courses are helpful.

I finally got around to taking my first blogging course: “Pin to Profits: Affiliate Marketing” from Moms Make Sense. I’m still struggling to really make an impact through Pinterest, and this course really set me up with a game plan to not only improve my pin designs and know where, when, and what to pin, but it also showed me how I can legally and effectively create pins that send readers to my affiliate links so that I can really begin to generate an income from the site.

The money I do make from blogging does help the site to pay for itself, but it’s time that all of the work that I put into my blog begins to pay off. This course also came with eight pin templates, and they have reshaped the way that I design my pins and layout my text and graphics.

7. Bloggers and writers are unreliable.

I’m sorry, but it’s true. I’ve had many potential collaborations that have fallen by the wayside over the past two years. So many want to collaborate and then tell me that they’re moving or going on vacation. Then, I never hear from them again. This goes for bloggers and websites both big and small. I’ve written guest posts that were never published and waited for guest posts and interviews to arrive that never came. As a result, I’ve learned never to schedule a piece until after I receive all materials back from the writer.

Almost as frustrating is when I feature an author or blogger interview, and they don’t engage or share the post or even acknowledge that it’s up. I take my reputation for reliability seriously, and it’s frustrating when they don’t do much to help me get them the exposure that they are looking for.

Blogging social media groups have really become unreliable as well. Bloggers tend to drop their links and run without returning engagement or offering to engage only if you engage with them first. I’ve started a few Pinterest group boards which have been disappointing in the lack of repinning or the pinning of content that is spammy or not relevant to the board. If you’re going to join and engage in these groups or boards, do your part, regardless of the engagement that you expect to receive back, and eventually everyone wins.

I do want to point out that I’m immensely grateful to those who are reliable and who support their fellow bloggers. It shows that they came to play and understand how crucial it is to help each other out. You can find them featured in my guest posts and interviews sections of my site.

Join my Pinterest group boards!

If you are a team player, are good about engaging and supporting fellow bloggers, have relevant content to pin, and would like to join my Pinterest group boards, I’m happy to accept you. Just click on the links below, read my group rules, and click on the “request to join button,” and I’ll add you to the group! Links will open in a new tab.

Entertainment Blog Posts Group Board

Blogging, Reading, and Writing Group Board

8. Host giveaways.

One of the best parts about interviewing authors is that they’re willing to giveaway copies of their books. As a result, I’ve invested in a paid Rafflecopter account so that I can host these giveaways to draw in readers and build mine and the author’s social media audience as well as my newsletter subscribers. It’s a win-win situation that gives my blog something to offer and helps to support my fellow indie authors and readers.

9. Clean up, improve, and get rid of elements that aren’t working.

I have two pages on my blog devoted to resources: Writing Resources and Giveaways, Contests, and Promos. These are full of free printables, downloads, and links to outside sources for writers and bloggers.

Earlier this year, those pages were a mess. So, I took the time to really update these pages, organize them, and spruce up my printables so that they would be something you’d want to click on and download. If you’re going to do something, do it right. That became a motivating mantra that has propelled my blogging career over the past year.

These resources are just as valuable to me as they would be to others. So, I hope you take advantage of them if you’re looking for writing charts, tools, contests to submit to, or giveaways to enter.

I also did away with sidebar ads. They never received clicks and just slowed down and junked up my site. Instead, thanks to a tip from a fellow blogger, I became an affiliate for bookshop.org. This site allows me to post affiliate links to books for sale. So, I can help promote the books that I read, review, or are just relevant to the topic I am writing about. Their widgets are cleaner and give me the opportunity to earn from this site while helping to support local bookstores and authors.

10. Remind myself that I’d do it for free.

Writing is not a historically lucrative profession. I used to think that was because anyone could do it, but that’s not really true.

Still, it’s hard to get anyone to pay you for your writing. When it comes to blogging, you have to have the mindset that you’d do it for free because a lot of the time you are, especially as you work towards building your platform and skills.

So, until I hit something resembling success, I keep plugging away for the creative and therapeutic benefits that it gives me along with the headaches and discouragement. Because over the last year, my blog has really turned into something that I can be proud of, and as long as I keep at it, it can only grow from here.

Are you a blogger? What lessons have you learned in the time you have been blogging? If you’re thinking of starting a blog, what questions do you have? Leave your questions and answers in the comments below!

Buy it!

Buy a copy of How To Make a Living with Your Writing: Books, Blogging, and More by Joanna Penn here, and help support local bookstores. This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.

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