If I could start blogging all over again, I’d definitely do a few things different! Luckily, I’m getting the chance to make some changes and start fresh with my new blog, No Bologna. It is more of a health and fitness blog. (Don’t worry, From Here to There is still going strong) It got me thinking though as I was creating it how I feel like I know so much more now and can start off on stronger footing.
{I would create separate social media}
I wouldn’t have used my personal social media for my blog. I would have created a new twitter account, a pinterest account (although I’m not sure you can), a face book page, and an instagram feed (again, not sure you can). I also would have set up a separate e-mail account specifically for my blog. This would have made separating blog and personal so much easier from the get go!
{I would promote, promote, promote!}
I would have instagrammed, tweeted and pinned every post I had from the beginning. At this point I’d be much more familiar with it and in the habit of doing so. I’d have a lot more pins with my DIY projects and my recipes instead of sporadically having that. Now I’m just too lazy to go back and fix it. I did finally set up Networked Blogs that posts to my FB and twitter feeds, but it took me forever to even realize what that was.
{I would read more blogs}
If I had started off reading more blogs and understanding more of the blogging world and what all there is to learn and do with blogging, then I’d have started off with a better understanding of blogging in general. I’d realize that there is so much more you can do to a picture than upload it or that there is video editing that can create awesome short minute clips for vlogs. I’d have researched a lot sooner and learned how to do a lot more before my blog had taken off. I would have had more time to learn and now i’m lucky if I find time to even post haha.
{I would schedule better}
I would have started off using a calendar to schedule my posts. It helps you understand what types of posts you’re putting out there. You also see where you have spots that need filled and you can determine before it’s too late if you want to crank out another post or designate that for a guest blogger.
{I would have created a media kit}
I’m struggling to get a media kit cranked out of this brain of mine. I see it all over blogs and I understand it’s importance, I just wish I had thought to do it from the beginning. I’m sure I needed this experience with blogging in order to even understand what all should go into my media kit, but I feel like it’d be helpful now and right now I’m not in the mood to create one, so I feel behind.
{I would have understood the value of my word}
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve done a review or two that I wasn’t completely excited about. It might have been a product I didn’t particularly like or one I had never even tried. I once did a Firmoo review… I’ve never even ordered from Firmoo! I’m embarrassed to say that, but to be honest, I didn’t really think about how important my opinions can be to others. I understand that now and I’ve chosen to only review and giveaway products that particularly interest me or that I believe in. The value of my word is much more than just an easy peasy review and a free product to go along with that.
{Google Analytics}
As I was researching things for my upcoming Blog Conference, I ran into Google Analytics! For some reason, I had yet to hear about using this to keep track of your blog traffic. I’ve just used the blogger analytics that they provide. I just signed up my blog for Google Analytics and luckily I can sign up No Bologna for Google Analytics before it’s even hit the ground running. I really wish I started this when I first started blogging so I would have a better idea of my blog traffic up to this point!
There are obviously a lot of things I’d do differently if I was starting over, but then again, I was a beginner just like everyone else is at some point and I just have to be thankful for the knowledge I’ve gained over the past 2 years. I’m now investing time and effort in to this new blog and I’m really excited about its potential!
Continue this discussion for me… If you could go back and re-create your blog, what would you have done differently? I have no doubt, I missed something!
I’m very thankful that I started out my blog with a separate email address from my personal email address–That’s definitely the right way to go, in my opinion! So much of this we can’t really learn without the experience of blogging–unless you have enough foresight to do a lot of blog reading before you start a blog! I think reading other blogs is one of the most helpful things you can do as a blogger.
I actually just re-started my blog because of this! Looking back, I wouldn’t have thought so much about what people want to see, instead of thinking about what *I* want to post. If I get zero comments on something that is heartfelt and genuine, it’s better than getting twenty comments on something that I just kind of tossed out real quick.