Stop Treating Your Blog Like a Selfie
As I sit on the train I can’t help noticing all the young kids taking selfies of themselves. It’s not something I fully understand but can accept that’s just the way it is now.
I chuckle to myself when I first thought these were kids just using their phone camera’s to fix their hair but I soon got the heads up that they were just taking selfie’s.
Over time, I figured out when there was another selfie about to be unleashed onto the world.
Usually, it starts with a little preening then the face is turned towards the light and the camera is thrust into the air. Then a quick hair flick, lip pout, head tilt and bam it’s posted on the internet to get some feedback.
And you know it’s not a good photo when minutes later they’re at it again trying for a better shot.
Of course, I can’t help be reminded that this sort of behaviour should also be familiar to new bloggers.
Are you treating your blog like a selfie?
Constantly checking and rechecking to see what sort of reaction you’re getting from the Interwebs?
If so, just chill out.
The metrics don’t mean anything when you’re first starting out with your blog. Hell, they barely mean anything months after you’ve started, so chillax a little.
Ok, I am the first to admit I do encourage you to set-up your blog up in Google Webmaster Tools and on Google Analytics but this is just for your back history and to catch those moments where a post catches fire and goes a little viral. It’ll happen so be prepared.
Other than that you can stay out of these tools for the first few months while you’re finding your new bloggers feet.
Anyway, it’ll be a little disappointing if you kept checking your stats like your waiting for some positive feedback to suddenly manifest itself.
So unless you already have an active audience I’d suggest not visiting your site analytics more than once a week, as it’ll be distracting from your real work.
If you’re promoting your blog on social media then there are plenty of opportunities to gauge your level of engagement anyway.
Retweets and favouriting in Twitter, post engagement and reach in Facebook, repins on Pinterest and likes in Instagram are all signs people are paying attention to you.
Let’s face it, a blog isn’t like a selfie, and you might not get an instant reaction. It’s more like a family portrait where the value in the photo is appreciated long after it’s taken.
Once you understand this you’ll stop fussing about with the fluffy stuff and compose and structure a great post that will be appreciated for years to come.
The average life of a selfie is calculated in minutes or hours whereas a blog post life expectancy is calculated in months and years.
Another way to think of you blog is like a book.
A writer will write, sometimes for months or years without getting any real feedback, but that’s ok because when they finally release the book they’ll get more feedback than they know what to do with it.
Be it good or bad.
Treat your blog like a book and don’t expect to get the feedback until you’ve written enough to fill a book. Then your audience will be able to work out if your writing is for them.
Until this time, your site metrics will drive you nuts and fill your mind with self-doubt. And yes, you are good enough. But sometimes success just takes a little time.
If you persist with your blog, the chances of becoming an overnight success increase exponentially, so treat it like a book rather than a selfie and do the work, before you become too concerned with feedback.
Now smile and get back to writing on your blog.