It seems as if we get asked this question time and time again:
“Can you be an average writer and have a successful blog?”
In other words, can you suck at writing and still make it in the blog world.
Here’s a little hint…Jeff and I are both “average” writers.
In fact, I would consider myself below average. Ahem.
I still think we have done a decent job of making it. 🙂
A recent reader asked us this very question so we thought it would be good to answer this question for everyone else that thinks they are an average writer.
*Bonus* We may have a few bloopers at the end. Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you so much for this great advice!
I was also wondering if you had any tips on photos that are not self taken on how to find and use those without violating copyright laws.
@ Lisa
My favorite spot for royalty free pictures is Flickr Creative Commons. I found this site that nicely packages all together: Photo Pin.
Writing is ok for me… it’s the technical aspects that are very difficult. I am just not super tech savvy (or graphic designer-ish) when it comes to design/layout/colors for my blog or plug-ins, adding social media buttons, photoshop for pictures, or ads to my site. I am a people person so I have motivation to learn and try with social media stuff, but as for the rest of it, even the thought of having to learn all that is discouraging.
Can I be a successful blogger if technology is not my forte?
One answer would be to hire someone, but I can’t afford that – unless my blog were making $$ – and the way to make it make money is to have a nice one, which requires some greater level of knowledge than I feel I have, and now we’re just going in circles! So for a beginning blogger (well, I’ve been personally writing/blogging for 6 years, but new to trying to grow traffic and readership), what are the most important things to learn and become good at for setting up a nice looking, easy-to-navigate blog?
@ Naomi
I’ll let Mandy comment here, too; but my response is YES!!!!
When I first started my blog, I knew NOTHING. I promise you that I’m not exaggerating. Mandy was no different.
How did we learn? We just did it. We blogged, we researched, and over time we figured it out. But we’re still learning new stuff every day.
Your current site works, with just a few small tweaks. We’re fans of WordPress over Blogger, but that’s just personal preference.
Custom WordPress themes like Genesis start around $60. From there, you could probably get a custom header for $50 and that’s all you would need for the time being. After that, I think it’s really important to have a solid About Page or Start Here Page (Mandy’s is awesome; I’m working on mine now for my new site design).
After that is solid content and marketing with other bloggers in your niche will start to yield you some results.
I am actually in the process of switching to a wordpress.org hosted by Bluehost. (Mostly thanks to Mandy’s recommendations on how to start a blog http://houseofroseblog.com/how-do-i-start-a-blog/ and all my research seemed to confirm WP with Bluehost is the way to go!) So far I like it way better!
btw, loved the bloopers! 😀
lol awesome video guys. The “Screaming” part kind of reminded me of when people talk on the phone long distance and their voices rise. As if you have to talk louder so they can hear you lol. And i love the pink belt matching Jeff’s shirt.
Great video, I’m very glad the answer to the question was basically yes because I think that’s my biggest weakness hehe. Love the outtakes too – can’t believe he’d litter your own house with gum!! 😉
Great video, and I love the bloopers. I am new to blogging, and for me the writing is a struggle. I keep hearing – just be yourself, so that is what I have been trying to do also. You guys have great info here. Thanks for sharing it!
Hey Jeff and Mandy,
I started my blog months ago, got out of the groove, and found my groove again (something I have discovered every blogger seems to do at some point). In all of this process I have really enjoyed your tips and fun facts! I can completely relate to Naomi, I am not a techy at all! Slowly I am working on that, and I haven’t made the full plunge by paying for a theme, I’m inching that direction (notice a theme here, dipping my toes in the water). I just had to let you guys know I love the outtakes of your videos just as much as the content itself. I think that’s when your personalities really shine! It was the combination of your blogs that pushed me off the fence to start blogging in the first place. Thanks and keep inspiring!
Cassie
Great Video! I was wondering if you might share a little bit about making videos for your blog? I have no idea where to start as far as software, hardware, etc…. Love the bloopers!
Hey Allyson!
First, check out our post on the best cameras to use for vlogging.
For us, it was trial and error. I started with a cheap camera and iMovie and just started practicing. It’s taken a lot of time and bad videos, but we’re finally getting the hang of it.
Now we have some “cheap” professional lighting and a Canon T3i (still using iMovie) and it makes a HUGE difference. You can see some of the equipment we have here.
Hope that helps!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the bloopers 🙂
I know my writing is not the best but with time and practice you will get better. You can have a successful blog you want to build a community and be helpful. People like hearing stories and you can even to podcast, show pictures or do video. There are a lot of other things involved with having a successful site. Nice video guys!
Yay, I started a blog and have been keeping with it lately. I hope that I continue to be faithful to this thing this time. Thank you for all your tips and encouragement and I will work on putting more pictures on my blog. Eeekk…even though I can get freaked out placing too many pictures. But it’s something I have to work on. Anyhow, thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Loved the bloopers! I was cracking up! So good to see people being ‘real’ 🙂 Thanks for sharing the blog links Jeff, it’s gonna take me FOREVER to go through all the awesome content on them!
Love your blogs, just happened to come across Mandy’s blog and saw this blog. I love you guys, I feel like there is hope for me. Thank you.
Can you help me understand subscribers and followers?
@ Tammy Glad you found us!
Regarding your question, the two are very similar. To me “subscriber” means they sign up for your email list or RSS feed. A “follower” would be someone that follows you on Twitter, Facebook fan page, or Pinterest.
That’s at least how I would distinguish the two. Hope that helps!!
This helps a lot, now I have to figure out how to set up the email list. I know you have a post about that so I’ll go do some reading. Thanks again.