Learning how to be a top drawer, fearlessly authentic, back of the bus, kickass blogger can be a cluster-you-know-what-er of mixed emotions, raw talent and hard work while simultaneously tapping your head, rubbing your belly and sticking to what you do best.
Being YOU.
Listen here GoGo gadget, there's a lot of blogging hats to wear and big shoes to fill. All the hats seem equally important. The next thing you know, you're trying to wear them all at once and you can't because you only have one freaking head.
Okay tornado tits ~ it's a crazy ride ~ to be a blogger is like having a gargantuous mouth full of gum-balls and you don't know which one to spit out first... what to do? which way to turn?
Truth is, blogging can be fraught with problems. You want help with the crazy, confused online ride but no one seems to give the real deal answers.
It's a problem.
A BIG PROBLEM.
The EPIC blogging tips seem locked up water tight in the vaults of popular bloggers.
It's a big fat secret how to optimize a blog, the images, the everything AND there's a lot of everything to learn.
It happened to me too. It made me want to attack someone with my pen. Dramatic much? Yeah.
I know the frustration of learning how to grow a blog. It's mind boggling. It'll drive you to drink. Then it happened. I drank. Jokes. Okay, maybe a few.
I grew my blog by 700%. Yeah. Not a typo.
I totally swear. I'm not telling you that to brag. Bragging is for turds. I'm telling you that so I can help you too.
I'm about to share my insider blogging secrets with you. If you want a short cut, here's a quick downloadable list of my blogging knowledge bombs. Here's a super duper in-depth list of my top blogging tools & resources.
Do you look at popular bloggers who seem to have it together and all you can think to do is *face palm* ?!
They come up with titilating titles and epic blog posts. I bet they wake up with their makeup on, fresh breath and looking like super models too. Let's punch them.
For the rest of the real people on earth ...
We want to be good enough.
annnnd....we also want to be ahhhhmazing.
If you are anything like me, I sweat bullets until I figure things out. I'm like a Chihuahua. I sink my teeth into it while annoyingly whipping my head back and forth until I gnarled it to my satisfaction.
Problem.Solved.
Take that, sofa corner. Grrrrr.
Those moments usually lead to light bulb moments too....
When I first started blogging, I never liked the sound of blogging crickets.
No one read my blog { thank Gawd } because I was pretty much an expert in posting yellow, out of focus photos. If you had asked me back then about SEO, or what blogging tools to use, I swear I would have gone limp.
PS. If you have it all figured out and you're always perfect at blogging, no need to keep reading.
I love you with my big gushy heart. Goodbye. xx
I may not have all the answers to complex questions like why do cupcakes have to be so badass ???, yet I do have some epic blogging answers AND ways to move the blogging dial.
The dial to awesomeness, that is.
I'm pulling back the curtain and sharing my blogging tools that I live and breathe by every.single.day.
Blogging Exposure:
Do you want more exposure for your blog?
There are things that you can do to your blog to really put its best foot forward.
As I blogged, I kept on writing ... jammy clad, coffee toting, covered in winter blankets from knee deep within the folds of my couch.
I kept at it, through thick and thin. I wanted a boat load of exposure for my blog.
I got more of that by going out in the Canadian winter in my sports bra. What was I missing? It took me ages to figure it out.
Here's the answer ...
Great content.
Content is king.
Powerful imagery is the Queen.
Both of which, I sucked at. I couldn't crack the code and get in on what it took to be a popular blog.
It took 2 years.
Yeah.
F.O.R.E.V.E.R. in my book. *blush*
Then it happened. I finally learned how to connect the dots. As A blogger, you learn the good, the bad, the icky, the messy middle and the oh so awesome of blogging. This is why ...
Blogging Is Like Walking A TightRope Buck Naked
Building a blog and growing an epic, raving audience starts with writing epic shit. Period.
A glass of fancy pants every now and again revs up the creative juices.
That's how the blogging story goes.
End of story.
Ha. Nope it's not the end of the story, it's just the beginning.
Story telling and blogging is the where the awesome sauce happens.
Want to know what else happens?
It creeps in.
Fear is a jerk.
Fear has scared the bejeesus outta me, many a time. It still does. On the daily. That makes me real. I'd be a turd if I didn't admit it. Truth is ....if something scares me, I dive deeper into it, until it doesn't scare me anymore. (first, I avoid it and then I JUMP in)
Maybe having a hubby with cancer made me feel that way. Maybe the loss of so many beautiful souls in my life to cancer has made me think about challenges in a different way.
I dunno.
I do know what it feels like to be scared out of my wits.
Even though blogging is an epic journey, it can also make you feel like you're standing buck naked while teetering on a tight rope.
It makes you feel vulnerable. It's scary. It's awkward. It's uncomfortable.
It's also weirdly exhilarating.
Sure, you can write a blog, promote it ... slog it out on social media (did I just say slog? Is slog a word?)
All the promotion in the world won't matter if your blog sucks.
Dear laptop Last night I fell asleep on your keyboard. I was reading a stoopid boring blog.
Sometimes you'll feel fuelled up by reading other blogs. Sometimes it'll crush your confidence.
You can reach a point where you consume too much and then you don't have the energy left to write, create or even DO.
That's when the holy shit meter goes off.
Remember this:
Done is better than perfect. I repeat {with love and maybe a whiskey burp}
DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.
We write words on paper when the mood strikes us. The crumpled pieces of paper sit in the bottom of the no mans land that we call our purse.
For 83 days.
Now you're screwed.
The look of desperation appears on your face. It's the kind of look that usually only exists in times of war.
Those pieces of paper are like 'the other sock' in your house ~ both disappear when you need them most.
Gone. Whoosh. Vanished.
It's like an imaginary hand reached out and grabbed you by the scruff of the neck, and slapped you on the head.
Write.
Create.
Walk through that fear.
Your inner fraidy-cat wants to go back to that time in life when you were ten years old, all simple and nostalgia-like.
Now, you're wearing big girl panties and slogging it out in the noisy online world.
It gets better AKA worse. Sometimes, you get criticized and feel like shit. You start down negative avenue. Pump the brakes. Do a U turn.
The haters can't hate when you've got your love glasses on.
This is where the rubber meets the road.
This is where you keep on keeping on.
Never mind that your ovaries just drop kicked you in the face.
Acknowledge how far you've come and get excited about how far you have to go.
Am I sounding all-wise-like-and-oh-so-very-smart-today??
Truth is, I mainlined 3 cups of coffee.
If you're building something epic, you're going to be juggling a lot of moving parts. Those parts aren't neatly packed together and tied up in a shiny bow. Sometimes they don't go together at all.
Want some help to get through the messy middle of blogging? I've got 'yer back. Here are my insider blogging secrets. I'm sharing my tools and resources and tricks of the trade of how I created my blog and what tools I used to get here.
Click here for my top blogging tools and resources. It will make easier work of the that it takes to be a blogger.
If I have learned anything from having an online life, it's this ....
Don't stop because things get messy. That's where the good stuff is. Tweet it.
Because they will. Things will get messy. You can lose sleep.
The problem with the internet is that you can buy stuff in the middle of the night. When that happens, I shop here and here, oh and here too. Night time is a dangerous time in my household.
Let loose and let it fly.
Blog out loud.
Bring the noise.
Don't be afraid of no...
'What if I sound like a freakin' idiot on my blog?!'
Okay, maybe a little. It's okay to be afraid. The blog posts that make you scared to hit the publish button are the BEST ONES.
You in?
This is your year.
Now is the time.
There's not any boring blah blah blah blah stuff in this free downloadable. No yawn. No manuals. If manuals had a face, I would punch them.
^^^ It's the how to be a kickass blogger stuff ^^^
Ready to roar?! Cue music : Katy Perry ROAR. Rahhhrrrr.
Your turn. Talk to me. What do you want to learn more about? What's your secret sauce of awesomeness? Is it special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions - on a sesame seed bun? SPILL it.