1. It takes a while to find your voice--and that's okay.
When I first started blogging four years ago, I naturally felt like I didn't know much about writing this way. I researched, read, and peeked at others who were doing it successfully and imitated their style. That was fine at first, but eventually I started to feel more comfortable listening to my own inner voice and expressing it.
I never would have believed it if someone would have told me, but it's only in the past year that I really have felt like I know and own my writing voice.
2. Be willing to experiment.
Over these four years at Steady Mom, I have tried a ton of experiments--having contributors, not having contributors, hosting a link up, starting a whole new blog (which flopped by the way). I've also implemented a ton of different posting schedules: five times a week, three, two, or at random.
One by one, as I saw what worked and what didn't, what felt right and what felt wrong, I found the pace and style that fits best for me--and for this space.
3. Be willing to be different.
For a long while I believed Steady Mom was supposed to be about my family and my life's journey, but I didn't have the courage to write that way.
The reason? I wanted to grow my blog and my writing platform, and traditional blogging advice says that writing in a personal style isn't the best way to do that. In the past year I have written this way, and it hasn't hurt my business or my brand at all.
Similarly, one of the best blogging decisions I've ever made on Steady Mom was to remove comments one year ago. I agonized over this decision, both before and after making it. Blogging experts strongly advise against doing so in most cases.
For me, removing comments freed my mind from constantly thinking about my posts and what kind of "reaction" they were--or were not--getting. It has also blissfully allowed me to write what's on my heart without feeling like I must censor myself. It was the right decision--for me.
4. Success comes in all shapes--and sizes.
When I attended the Allume blogging conference a couple of months ago, I loved hearing Darren Rowse from ProBlogger say in one of his talks, when referring to blog size, that "small may be big enough." He went on to cite examples of bloggers who didn't have a huge platform, yet were still reaching readers and making money from their efforts.
Steady Mom has opened massive doors for me--has led me into a growing writing career. It has done all of this even though I don't have hundreds of thousands of pageviews or fifty thousand readers here.
This space is cozy and I hope, inviting. Thank you to all of you who spend a bit of your days here--I am so grateful.
Want a bit of a laugh--and encouragement for those of you just getting started with a blog? Check out my first posts from December 2008--four years ago!
