Of Blogging ABCs I Would Rather You Didnt

Three things A blogger must not do

I would rather you didn’t

apologise for being authentic

Apologise for being authentic

You matter and you have a right to be here:

Whether you are just starting or you have had a long time to hone your craft, whether you have no one else reading or the whole world hanging on your words, whether you are expert in your field or a novice offering their humble opinion, whether you are on a free platform or you own your domain, assert your right to be seen and heard.

If you cannot unapologetically be yourself in your creative space where else will you be you?

Your blog is whatever you believe it to be and no one else can tell you otherwise.

Let your content proudly reflect, flaws and all This Is Me.

blogging as a hobby

Blog as a hobby

Contrary to popular opinion blogging is not a hobby, while yes you can do it just for fun, if you sit down to think about why you press that [publish post] button you know, there’s deliberate intention.

Are you in the business of randomly sending your nudes on the internet?  I would think not, right? But in a way, to blog is to share a very intimate bit of your soul and identity, that’s why it’s so scary to hit the publish button, why we refresh that notification screen a thousand and one times, to see if anyone out there in the world saw us, to worry over what others will think of the bits of our mind they have glimpsed.

Even if your content is not personal, a part of the creator is always infused and visible in the creation, it’s almost a philosophical debate whether you can fully separate the art from the artist, the words from the writer.

Do people go to school as a hobby, no, do people read books as hobby, well, yes but that’s not the only reason people read…..

Blogging is many things, do not simply dismiss it as just a hobby.

cancel interactions

Cancel interactions

I have seen sites where the owners do not respond to their comments or mentions have always wondered why;

•Are they too busy?
•Do they not have the time?
•Are they so awed by the comments that they are having a heart attack?
•Are they too good for their fans ( well that’s the image you portray when you don’t)

There was an interesting social media storm when a prominent musician dismissively responded to a fan who had mentioned how they had been snubbed a selfie moment with the celeb, it became very messy real quick, things could definitely have been handled better.

Anyway unresponded comments are like a snub to whomever decided to take the time to not only read your content but to write a response (if you do not wish for unsolicited feedback from your readers then disable the option to comments, than simply ignoring)  

Also the blogging space thrives a lot on reciprocity, I have received a lot of questions on how one can make their blog more visible and when you ask in return if they read and interact with other blogs, you will find they don’t, so you want people to read your content and yet you have no time to read and engage with others, ok good luck.

Blogging is not about posting great content only, a large part of it is about how you interact with the global community and the image you present about the brand that is your blog.

~B

Responses to “Of Blogging ABCs I Would Rather You Didnt”

  1. LisaRomans avatar

    Interaction! Interaction! Since I learnt its value, I’ve never looked back.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Ms Abigaba avatar

      You got the words out of my mouth😊

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Beaton avatar

        it is medicine 😊
        ~B

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Beaton avatar

      Its such a deliciously simple recipe for a fulfilling blogging path.
      ~B

      Liked by 3 people

  2. Ms Abigaba avatar

    Thank you Beaton for sharing 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      A pleasure to serve the sauce ^_^
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  3. Of Blogging ABCs I Would Rather You Didnt – Anomaly avatar

    […] Of Blogging ABCs I Would Rather You Didnt […]

    Like

  4. Anomaly avatar

    So good! Authenticity is key 🤞🏾

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      You can never go wrong with being authentic or forget which image you are supposed to be portraying to be hahahaha
      ~B

      Liked by 3 people

  5. Experiences with Bex avatar

    Uncle B continues to inspire me thanks for this .

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Own it ^_^
      you are welcome
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  6. Sparkle✨ avatar

    Blogging as a hobby, a no go zone
    That’s a first for me
    Thank you Uncle Beaton for sharing

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Always, glad to be of muse ^_^
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  7. dianedeexclana avatar

    Thank you for this.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      you are welcome always glad to be of muse
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  8. Sam "Goldie" Kirk avatar

    B was thought-provoking for me. Hmm… Thank you for making me dive deeper.
    As for C, I’ve asked people that before. The only (somewhat) reasonable one was that it’s hard to reply to hundreds of comments a day. I don’t understand that because I don’t get hundreds of comments a day. Maybe one day…

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      B is close to my heart, especially as I try to get people to regard blogging with a bit more recognition or the potential it has I like to joke how who knows maybe these blogs may one day end up as important as rock paintings 😂😂 the original blogs

      I can’t wait to get a 100 comments in a day and see for myself how hard it would be reply 😂😂😂
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Wonani avatar

    “Blogging is not a hobby” hard to believe but I only started believing it wasn’t just a hobby recently!
    Interaction- I have seen for myself these last three days the power interaction has!
    Thanks for the great tips.

    Liked by 4 people

  10. conniedia avatar

    As a newbie just by interaction I have made new friends and I plan on not forgetting them💓💓💓💓

    Thank you

    Liked by 3 people

    1. advocateofunpopularopinions avatar

      And you will not be forgotten either

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Beaton avatar

        If blogging were like this all the time we would change the world, we still can but it will take longer
        ~B

        Like

      2. conniedia avatar

        I look forward to that😂😂🤗

        Like

    2. Beaton avatar

      That is the spirit!.
      ~B

      Like

      1. conniedia avatar

        Thank you

        Liked by 1 person

  11. CBG avatar

    Awesome stuff. So true. 👍🏾

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you
      ~B

      Like

      1. CBG avatar

        Thank you Uncle 😁

        Liked by 2 people

  12. Linda Stella avatar

    I’m most likely awed by the comments that I get a mini heart attack but….. I’ve seen the importance of Interaction.
    Thank you Beaton.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Hahaha
      Well am just glad to play my part
      Thanks for dropping by
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Hope Chilinda avatar

    I love how you have presented these. Very catchy title.

    Love all three points you’ve raised. Very valuable lessons.
    Good read.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      I was going for something that sounded easy to remember..
      And then I thought easy as ABC and here we are.

      Thank you Hope
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  14. advocateofunpopularopinions avatar

    There is an ‘unclic’ touchy to this!! I have learnt before committing too great errors on all of the mentioned things. It’s good to be young and be close to uncles…

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      😂😂unclic
      Haha the touch is supposed to be of the uncle who catches your mistake but is very nice about it you don’t even notice that you have been corrected.
      ~B

      Like

  15. Winnie Malinga avatar

    I have experienced too the power in interaction with other people’s content. Actually isn’t the point to get some interaction. You’re not talking to trees or walls after all, right?

    Also I follow The Art of Blogging by Cristian Mihai. I have to say this post is right up there. I enjoyed it so much.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you Winnie!!
      Totally true what’s the point in talking to walls?
      Wow! Honoured
      ~B

      Like

  16. musanjufu benjamin kavubu avatar

    We live in a world where hobbies are evolving to sort of life long activities with a purpose

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      The world is changing and we need to rethink the way we have looked at the world
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

  17. joseyphina avatar

    I agree with your thoughts, Beaton. Blogging is serious business.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Totally!!!
      ~B

      Like

  18. mamlomemz avatar

    Well said Beaton

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Trey Pascal avatar

    Thanks for the bit on interaction. Great article by the way.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      thank you Trey

      Like

  20. Simon avatar

    Blogging is so many things, a relationship with your readers, expose of thought and mind and soul. It’s hard sometimes but I always reply to comments… I hope you’re good my friend 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      True, blogging has so much potential we still scratching at the surface but one day.
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Simon avatar

        We are… this is the seed of joint intellect 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  21. Lisa ,a.k.a, Juniper B avatar

    I’m starting new after considering blogging for 3 years now. It’s manifested. The time came as and when it needed to. I said to self, rather many embrace this or not, some person is reached in all that I do. I’m a Social Worker and even when ppl who don’t inner stand our role in society…some person is affected, thankful, thus, the purpose is fulfilled. Thank you for your post!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you Lisa, welcome and congratulations!!!
      The time comes when the time comes, yes?
      ~B

      Like

  22. FancyPlantsFoodie avatar

    I just had to read this when I saw the title. Great tips, thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you… I wanted to make it as easy as ABC 😂
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  23. Gary A Wilson avatar

    yes and amen Beaton.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Of Irregardless – Becoming The Muse avatar

    […] I post blogging advice such as The BloggingABCs or 10 lessons Learnt about blogging from watching spiderman and this one time I wrote A Review Of […]

    Like

  25. Elle avatar

    I love this and I definitely agree with letter C! Blogging is a two-way street, if you care about your readers, a friend once said, that you shouldnt treat them as audience but co-bloggers too. 😊 thanks for this, I enjoyed reading your post!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you Elle unless you are already famous 😂😂then dont act like your readers are your fans ⭐⭐
      Also most of the people who will leave comments are usually other bloggers too so treating them as co-bloggers definitely will have merit
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Elle avatar

        It’s my pleasure! 💚☺️

        Liked by 1 person

  26. Msdedeng avatar

    A lesson in itself, thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Beaton avatar

      Well, blogging is a way of life in itself.
      ~B

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Msdedeng avatar

        Blogging actually brings me joy in my somewhat boring existence.

        Like

  27. _wenyasha avatar

    Wow! B got to me. The part about blogging being a form of sharing a deeper part of you.
    Thank you for these. Will be very useful!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      Thank you, glad you found these to be of use!!
      Blogging is so many things and we need to start asserting our presence more.
      ~B

      Like

  28. Sejal Sheth avatar

    Thanks for sharing! I agree with C!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beaton avatar

      thats the best one!!!
      ~B

      Liked by 2 people

  29. cristandile avatar
    1. Beaton avatar

      Each day we learn
      ~B

      Like

  30. Shuvai Mlilo avatar

    These are essential. Thanks

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com