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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.
Here is what is on deck this week:
WHAT'S THE BIGGEST MISTAKE YOU MADE AS A NEWBIE BLOGGER?
Back when I started this blog (in 2012), I more or less had an idea of where I wanted to go with it that hasn't changed much, if any. (OK, I was clueless about the need for my text to be peppered with a few nice pics/gifs at the time, to the extent that my first two posts didn't contain any 😱, but apart from that...). However, blogging is a learning curve, even when you're an old lady and you think you know what you're doing...so I've mastered a trick or two through the years. But If I could go back to those early days, I'd advise myself to socialise more from the very start. For a long time I have blogged into a void, because I didn't know back then what I know now: your audience (or most of it) is comprised by your blogging pals. And it's not just a follow-for-follow, comment-for-comment situation. You forge relationships, discuss stuff, find your niche. Anyway, the truth is, without your blogging pals, you're nobody 🤷♀️.
Well, that's it for now. And if you're interested in participating, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of September:
Well, that's it for now. And if you're interested in participating, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of September:
- September 8th: Name some book sidekicks you would love to have by your side
- September 15th: What are some good reading habits that you have adopted?
- September 22nd: What are some bad reading habits you kicked or want to get rid of?
- September 29th: Book cover love: Share some book covers that you love
Right now, I don't know when and if I'll be back for the meme, because Heidi is still on a hiatus and the future of this post series is pretty much uncertain. What I know is, I'll take the rest of September off, and October too (whatever happens), because I have my hands full with my yearly Back to Black project (Halloween backlist reviews). But I hope we can have many happy TMST returns in the near future, and in the meantime, you have fun with the rest of the questions!
Now tell me something...if you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your younger blogging self?
I think the biggest most I made as a newbie blogger is that I cared too much about sounding super professional. My reviews sounded so stuffy and boring, and it didn’t feel like a reflection of myself. Now that I’ve let myself to be myself in my reviews, I have more fun writing them. Great post, Roberta!
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting - I don't think I ever heard anyone I know mentioning it. On the other hand, I truly believe that even our fangirling reviews can ultimately sound professional, if in a more playful way (if that's what the blogger wants, that is. There are as many review styles as there are bloggers, and all of them are valid). It's all about balance and insight and, well, writing in good English (or whatever your blog language is). And there's still fun to be having 😉.
DeleteThank you!
That is really good advice. I always tell my daughter how she and her friends missed an opportunity there when they started WLABB. Though my blogging friends are disappearing lately, I am so happy we have each other. ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteAww, me too! And I swear I'm not going to disappear anytime soon 😉.
DeleteI did ask what advice you would give your younger self in one my posts but I think I have another answer: Don't do all the memes/challenges just because you can. I've done that when I first started blogging because that's how I find new blogs to add to my reading list. That's also how most bloggers socialize, I know I do them because I don't quite know how to interact with people. But I learned it's actually not so bad so now I only do a few memes now and then.
ReplyDeleteBut I also agreed with your answer because if we don't interact with other bloggers, it's really like just posting into the void. We all need some internet hugs now and then.
And yes, posts without images - I'm one of those people who doesn't like reading posts without an image/graphic mostly because looking at a long block of text is just not fun unless you're a extremely great writer and can persuade people to read your posts by words alone.
Have a lovely day.
The "don't get burned out with all the memes" advice is actually one I would give to a new blogger, but not to my younger self, because I've hardly done any since I started (I tend to prefer seasonal ones, like Armchair BEA or the Book Blogger's New Year Challenge - see my Features Room if you're curious about them). I can't cope with the pressure of having to put out a post a week related to a meme, not to mention, I rarely post more than once a week as it is, including reviews and other posts! Anyhow, memes ARE a good way to meet other bloggers - except when you get the kind of comment that shows they're only in it for the pageviews and to get comments themselves, and haven't even read YOUR post to begin with. I think the secret is, choose a meme (or two) that you do like and know you can sustain, and stick with it...also because no one wants to visit a blog where the content is all about memes 🙄.
Delete"We all need some internet hugs now and then."
That's a lovely (and very true) way to put it!
"looking at a long block of text is just not fun unless you're a extremely great writer".
LOL, yeah. I'm guilty of that when I write reviews, but frankly, I don't think they need to be peppered with gifs or something...of course, if one likes their reviews that way, more power to them - but to me, review=content. Then again, I use gifs in my other posts (BTW, I DO like gifs a lot) because they look dull without them, and more intimidating...
Back in the early days the audience was more far ranging. I had a lot of followers and friends that weren't bloggers. They got burned out on all the drama and there was a lot of envy (not getting the arc's the see everyone else piling up) and it wasn't a fun space for them anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think blogging is almost 100% for other bloggers now and I'm ok with it. I miss the good old days but having this space and friends to chat with every day is something I love and look forward to.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
"I had a lot of followers and friends that weren't bloggers."
DeleteWow, really? That probably accounts (in part) for your huge follower count then LOL. But I hear you! In a way, it's weird that we are (almost exclusively) each other's audience. But at least there's more interaction? maybe? than it used to be...also because we are each other's cheerleader as well!
I feel like finding my "group" has been the thing I struggle with most. Even after being around for so many years, I don't feel like I have that. It's actually quite sad lol But I still keep truckin' because I enjoy reviewing books :)
ReplyDeleteDon't feel sad...I have a very small clique, and it's been EIGHT years. Also, it's funny how most of my closest internet friends don't even read the same books as me LOL. And I hear you! Reviewing books is my passion, and if only one person read my reviews and/or chooses a book because of it, it's a mission accomplished!
DeleteOh I agree. I had no idea what I was doing when I first started blogging.
ReplyDeleteHaha, probably no one of us did! at least to an extent.
DeleteUsing ridiculously long tags. I used to think that tags were like Google searches: I thought that if you typed in - What are oranges? Then Google would pull up a bunch of websites and blogs with the tag 'What are oranges?' So all of my tags were incredibly long questions that had to do with each blog post.
ReplyDeleteHaha, this one was hilarious! Then again, we all have been blogging freshmen (well...freshwomen) once. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteThat's a good lesson! Socializing more has definitely made my blogging experience so much better. 💛 I didn't go into blogging with a lot of expectations or ideas about what I wanted my blog to be. I just wanted to write book reviews. So, pretty much, all the wonderful things that have come from it have been a pleasant surprise, and since I wasn't expecting much at all, there haven't been many disappointments either. 😂 I did learn to run separate giveaways for each book rather than try to sort out who wants what after the fact. It's a small thing, but what a mess!
ReplyDelete"I didn't go into blogging with a lot of expectations or ideas about what I wanted my blog to be. I just wanted to write book reviews. So, pretty much, all the wonderful things that have come from it have been a pleasant surprise, and since I wasn't expecting much at all, there haven't been many disappointments either."
DeleteSame for me! And I'm sure that most of those who opened a book blog just to get ARCs, or because it was the cool thing to do at the moment, gave up a long time ago, while we are still here 💚.
LOL, the giveaway thing must have been a pain in the ass indeed.
"Anyway, the truth is, without your blogging pals, you're nobody " That's so true. I was thinking about that a while back- how my audience is almost exclusively other bloggers! It's like a private club, and while I sometimes wish I had a broader audience, in many ways I'm okay with it. For one thing, I've made so many friends, and I seem to click so well with so many, it's like finding my tribe haha. But that is definitely such a good point!
ReplyDelete"It's like a private club, and while I sometimes wish I had a broader audience, in many ways I'm okay with it."
DeleteLOL, exactly, and same here! It's turned out a bit differently than I thought it would, and I guess it's true for every one of us...but the upside is, we made friends 😁.
I agree! Blogging is a lot more fund when you have someone to scream about books with. I feel like back in the day it was easy to find people to chat with, but now there are so many of us. You would think it would be easier to make friends, but it's harder?
ReplyDeleteIt does seems like that! Maybe it's because the younger bloggers see us like ancient relics LOL (you not so much, but in my case...😱 😂).
DeleteIt's interesting how our biggest audience as book bloggers is other book bloggers. I wonder if other blogging niches are like that. I kind of can't remember what I did when I started blogging, if I was even social right away or not lol.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that we're pretty unique in that - or at least, say, lifestyle blogs and the likes have more followers than peers...I don't have proof of that though - just an idea.
DeleteHa! I don't think any of us really had GIFs at the time of blogging in 2012. Maybe memes, but not GIFs. I personally wish I socialized more from the start as well - I had more time to invest in blog hopping and leaving comments in high school, and I mean way more than I do now, which is maybe once a month if I'm lucky and feeling like it. Although I'll admit some of my earliest blogging pals have been from follow for follow, even if most of them now aren't because I avoid F4F.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I wish I could have done back then - focused on branding early rather than later. Of course... that was back when I was in high school and I really didn't know much about branding until college and really took classes related. There's also a whole load of other things like focusing more on quality posts rather than well... quantity, but hey, better later than never? Then again... I did start as a little baby so I guess we'll blame younger me for that.
"Although I'll admit some of my earliest blogging pals have been from follow for follow, even if most of them now aren't because I avoid F4F."
DeleteGuilty as charged LOL. You were my first follower because of that, and I'm still wondering what you found in me that led you to actually reaching out later and becoming friends. Maybe you took pity of this lonely old lady 😂. Anyhow, not bad for a F4F 😉.
"I really didn't know much about branding until college and really took classes related".
They teach that? That's great!
"There's also a whole load of other things like focusing more on quality posts rather than well... quantity, but hey, better later than never?"
Absolutely! As long as one grows into a self-aware blogger, which you did.