The Fears Of Blogging And How To Overcome Your Demons

I’ve been afraid all my life. I’ve been afraid of earthquakes, of displeasing others, of the dark, and as oddly as it may sound, of cows. But the biggest fear I have ever had was the fear of failure. It’s been two years since I started to write, and since then, many ghosts have haunted my thoughts.

No matter how hard I tried, the voices in my head kept saying “You’re not good enough”, “Your article is boring”, “Nobody will ever want to read your posts”. It was only to late that I realized, that if you are afraid of the dark, you have turn of the lights, because the only way you can ever defeat your demons is by confronting them.

To all the grammar nazzis, expert bloggers and blogging gurus out there I have only one thing to say: Make way for me and my perfectly imperfect writing skills. I’ve grown tired of all the contrasting opinions I’ve found online.

Write this, write that, keep it short if you want to maintain reader’s interest, make it longer because no serious post can be explained in 500 words, make it personal, keep it objective, write for yourself, write for your readership and so on. These tips have done nothing but seriously mess with my head.

Every time I tried to start a new post, I became paralyzed with the fear of failure, but not anymore. I have learned that although blogging should be taken seriously, and research is imperative if you want to succeed, you have to write from the heart.

In the end, the way you write says a lot about your personality. You may not be the next Edgar Allan Poe, or a math genius, but you are your own unique person, and that is the recipe for creating content that counts.

It really doesn’t matter if you have 20 years of experience, or you are a newbie blogger who has never written anything in his life, because the fears I am talking about are experienced by each and every person who fancies this profession. Without further ado, let us talk about five of the most common fears, and ways to overcome them.

1. I Don’t Know What to Say

Writing is no easy task. It starts with you, sitting at your desk, and typing the first word. But you see, sometimes it is hard to find an interesting topic, or on the contrary, the topic is so vast that you have no idea where to start.

That Big Blank Screen in your head is nothing more than an illusion. I assure you that you have a great idea stored somewhere deep inside, all you have to do is concentrate.

Solution

We may not have an On/Off button that can determine us to write whenever it is necessary, but there are ways to train our mind in order to produce content. If you are afraid that people will not like your ideas, you are wasting valuable time.

In the end, blogs are digital journals, and journals are all about self-expression. Pay attention to the moments when you get a new idea, and try to write them down. Subsequently, if you have too many ideas, make use of mind-maps or diagrams in order to make articles easier to digest.

2. What if Nobody Will Read Me

I have to admit that this was one of my biggest fear. When I opened my first blog, a few years ago, I would check the stats page multiple times a day, and it wasn’t because I wanted to monetize traffic, but because I wished, with all my heart, to be read. Deep down, we all wish to be read, that is why we started to blog in the first place.

Solution

There is no recipe for success when it comes to blogging, but know this, as long as you are putting your passion and effort in everything that you create, readers will come. A few SEO tips and social media promotion might help you speed up the process, but content is the main factor that will help you attract more readers.

3. I don’t Know How to Reply to Comments

Even more confusing than having to deal with an empty comment box, is having to deal with a pertinent comment from an expert. After you have dedicated a few hours to create your amazing article, a random, or not so random fellow decides to leave a negative comment. What do you do?

Solution

First of all, do not panic. It is absolutely normal for people to have different opinions. This is especially relevant for people wo create controversial content.

I strongly believe that feedback, may it be negative or positive, is better than no feedback. It means that somebody has noticed you. Take your time to reply to the comment the best way you can, but don’t ponder to much on the subject, because you have a lot of articles to work on!

4. I have no Idea how to Behave on Social Media Channels

You are probably already aware of the fact that there is no way for your blog to grow as long as you do not advertise it on social media platforms. But engaging with the target audience doesn’t come easy to all of us.

To be honest, I am a total Twitter noob. I have no idea what to tweet about halft of the time, and the other half I worry that I might tweet about something stupid. This is just un example, but you get the idea.

Solution

There are many social media platforms available at the moment (Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc), and each of them promotes a certain netiquette that you should be aware of. Think about it this way, everybody who has a social media account has started with 0 followers.

In order to succeed with your social campaign you should keep it real. In addition, you should read several tutorials which will help you understand the specifics of each platform.

5. How Can I Find the Balance Between Professional and Personal

Some people blog for pleasure, they talk about their life, children, and dreams, while others spend hours creating thorough tutorials and incredible guides, but no matter what you write about, you should find the balance between personal and professional.

If you write like an expert, chances are that people will consider you pompous, and if you are too familiar, people will have no reason to remain on your site.

Solution

Your future strategy should be closely related to the type of visitors that you have. For example, a retired person probably does not care about bungee jumping places or gay clubs. Identify your target audience, and try to write something that will interest them.

Remember that if people were only looking to be informed, they would probably go to Wikipedia, but they have decided on your blog because they also wish to connect with a real human being.

Triny used to be a self-employed writer and designer, but she has recently become part of Guest Post Shop. This company offers the very best content marketing and guest posting services.