Oh man, the growing pains of blogging and discovering what’s unique about you. Tough! I struggle with it all the time. I wrote about blogging rules and how they are like matching socks. They stink and you never find two the same. 
I’m redneck and random and I don’t like “fitting” in but I also don’t like getting totally left behind. So what to do as a blogger search for voice among the millions of blogs on the internet?
I’ll tell you what has helped me. In NO particular order.
1. Permission to write wrong: Free writing with no back tracking for a set amount of time helped me get past perfectionism. I participate in Five Minute Friday’s with The Gypsy Mama, because writing is a muscle and I’m far too critical of myself. I have 52 blog drafts because I don’t have time to go back and “fix” them.
2. Find The Source: Pray a lot and get back into daily devotions. I literally started with 1-3minutes a day while the coffee brewed. I plan to blog about that because I used to think it had to big a big hurkin’ deal. But now I know that Jesus is the big deal, not me.
3. Your story is important: Those things I mentioned above, my many passions, life experiences, quirky struggles and stories I think are boring…write about that. No one else thinks they are dumb but you.
4. Generosity & sincerity: You do not have to “sell anything”, give away anything amazing, or be who you aren’t to build a community online. You just need to be generous and sincere. Share great blogs by others, comment often and be encouraging, give away other people’s stuff.
My first blog was a gluten free food blog, because I thought I had to “sell” something.
Problem?
I’m a terrible cook!
Then when I started switching over to mom blog, redneck randomness, I tried giveaways and gimmicks.
Problem? No one could find me. I didn’t have a platform from which to do great giveaways. Just a few good friends who thought it unfair to sign up for a giveaway when they could walk next door and borrow the darn book.
I still struggle to find a groove that I’m comfortable with, but I’m getting a better rhythm and learning to be me. How about you?
Have you had blogging growing pains? How have you overcome them?
