How To Stay Motivated As A Small Blogger

With a hopeful face you started your blog to share the things you're passionate about. However, by now you thought you'd be famous with a book contract and piles of money in the bank. But it isn't like this. Then your motivation starts to slip, and while you ponder on what to write next, a small flicker of doubt appears that says "what's the point?"

I've seen many new bloggers lose faith and then stop blogging all together. They had an absolute hype in the first few months, writing post after post, about every possible topic under the sun. After a while the sad tweet "I am falling out of love with blogging" is shared.

That is all right, we've all had moments when the world seemed hopeless and what you're doing seemed fruitless. However, there is a way to stay motivated when you are a small blogger:

Write for Yourself

I know it's an old hat, The same as "be yourself". Yet, this is very important! After all this is your blog, you are not paid to do it, and so you can indulge in happily writing about what you fancy. In the end it should be a post that you would want to read, and re-read the next day.

If you already think "I don't really want to write about that" then don't!

Make Your Blog Your Space 

When you click on your blog you have to like it. You need to feel comfortable on it. This is your space. If you don't want to spend hours on it, then why should anyone else? It's a lot of work to find a new theme. Often you have to edit it until you finally fall in love with it. Maybe the pink is a bit too girly but you like it, so why not? Change everything to your wishes.

Easier said than done. The theme still needs to be practical and a new reader should know their way around. It takes a lot of time to customize it. I vividly remember working on many small changes in December. Then in February I decided "meh, I like this new theme way more" and ditched it. I wasn't done with that, I spent a whole week digging around in the source code on the test blog. Then I worked two whole days to make it work on this side of the world. All the blood, sweat, tears and cursing was worth it. Now, I scroll through it and I love it.

Share on Social Media 

When all is said and done, you want people to read what you write. But how do you get people to read it?

I found that the easiest way is to share on social media, especially if you're a small blogger.  Personally, I think twitter is the easiest platform, because of Blogger Retweet accounts - you tag them or use their hashtag they RT - which is an easy way to connect with other blogger. This brings me neatly to the next point.

Find Fellow Bloggers

There are bloggers you look up to, and others where you don't know why they're famous at all. That's as maybe, not only does that give you a good way to connect to people but you can also use this to try out a bit of their knowledge. After a time, you'll notice how they try to connect to their followers, or how they promote their posts. Once a day? Once a week? Or only when a new post is published?

Then you can pick up little things and try those for your own blog. Furthermore, it keeps the world interesting: you might find new subjects you'd love to write about, or a different opinion on a certain topic, or gain a little bit of inspiration.

Write Regularly 

This is the most important advice I can give. Even if you think nobody is going to read it, write, write, write! You need to get a routine. 

Figure out how much time you have to spare for blogging. One good post per week is by miles better than three rushed ones. Even if you have three ideas this week, of course, write them down if you can, but don't publish them just yet. After all there might be a week when time is running short and you could use a back-up post.

Furthermore, writing is a skill - not talent. No blog post is ever wasted, even if you don't publish it, you learned something from it for the next one! 

I am going to admit any day, that being a small blogger isn't always easy. You wonder why that person writing about hubcaps has more followers than you, and why isn't anyone reading this post you've worked on for so long? However, that will pass, if you truly love what you're writing about and keep at it, you are going to gain faithful readers and enjoy what you're doing as well.

Happy blogging! 

In 2021 I wrote a response to this article and if I'd still give the same tips!
Check it out