Blogs have been around for a long time. In Kenya, they have grown in number over the years with more blogs coming up on a daily basis. Even with more people taking up blogging, there are still many misconceptions about it.
When you decide to become a blogger, you need to be prepared for a lot of thoughts and opinions to be directed your way.
I’ve heard a few funny and weird things about bloggers. I decided to pick a few and share them with you. Maybe if we crack a few of the thoughts out there, we can make more people take up blogging.
You can’t make money blogging
This is probably the biggest myth out there about bloggers. People think blogging is simply a hobby and you can’t earn a living out of it. It’s a bit of a double edged sword. It’s a yes and no to this. Making money is no easy fete as a blogger, but it’s something that’s very possible. If you’re only blogging as a hobby or it’s casual then making money may not happen as often as it does for others. But if you decide to be professional about it and take your time with blogging, you could very easily turn into a career. All you need is a plan and strategy to help you be consistent and dedicated when blogging.
You need to a writer
Some people shy away from blogging because they aren’t writers. They feel that to be a blogger, you need to have writing skills that border on being professional. This might be true if you venture into writing creative posts or features on your blog. But if you simply want to share your thoughts and opinions, you don’t need to be a writer. You just need to be able to communicate your thoughts in a cohesive way. Yu could also choose to take up vlogging (video blogging) doing podcasts or photo blogging. There are many options available if you don’t think you can write but still want to be a blogger.
You need to post everyday
This is also a bit of a yes and a no situation. While many of the people considered to be successful bloggers post every day, it’s not a requirement for all bloggers. You should post everyday as it increases you audience, hits and pager rank. Not everyone can come up with fresh content on a daily basis which is why this is a myth. Some people can do one post in 2 months and it will go viral while others do 20 posts and only get a handful of hits. When it comes to regularity of content, you need a plan that suits your personality and type of content. Come up with a strategy that will let you be consistent. If you decide you will do a post once a week then go for it. Have a strategy that will work for you and you will blog in comfort without stressing over your regularity in blogging.
No one reads long posts
I admit, I’m one of the few people who says this.It’s all abse don the fact tha ti have a short attention span and I assume so does everyone else. Many people will advice you to write a post that’s about 300 words long and at most 600 words. Anything more than that is unacceptable in their opinion. This isn’t true. Yes, long posts are not popular but that does not mean you should limit your content. Write a post that tells a full story. If it needs more words to make sense, go for it. The length does not matter, what’s important is that you fully convey a message to your audience.
You shouldn’t share your competitor’s work
Blogging is full of rivalries. Everyone wants to be the best in their niche. Many will refuse to share content form others in their field in attempt to achieve this. The belief that you shouldn’t share your competitor’s work is false. Sharing that content might actually help you out in the long run. It might lead to his audience knowing about you and have your blog become something they add to their list of blogs to read. It might also start a friendship that will lead to them introducing you to key players in the market and have your blog grow. So the next time you see your competition has new content up, hit the share button!
There you have it. Just a few myths laid to rest. Which other blogging myths have you heard?