Avoiding Blogger Burnout

Granted, I haven't been blogging that long, but in the short time that I have been blogging, I have learned a lot.  One of the things that I have already experienced is blogger burnout.  Blogging can be a great hobby, but in some cases, it can be a lot of peoples life -- even livelihood.  Believe it or not, some people actually do this for a living.  In that case, it's super important for them to know how to avoid blogger burnouts, but really, I think it's important solely for everyone who blogs sanity.

Find Zoella on Blogger and Youtube -- I found Zoella randomly one day through just browsing about blogging advice on Youtube.  She is a well-known blogger/vlogger from the United Kingdom.  She has several videos that are highly educational and thorough for people who are seeking blogging advice.

Fun fact:  She just recently came out with her first book called "Girl Online" and it was the fastest selling debut novel since records began.  Her book sold 78,000 copies in the first week!  Surprisingly enough, that's more than the author of Harry Potter, JK Rowling sold in his debut.

You can find Zoella on Youtube by clicking here.  Not all her videos are blogging advice related, so you will have to search her channel for those.  You can find her blog by clicking here.

Be original -- No one likes a copycat.  People don't want to read the same thing over and over again.  It may take time to find your way into the blogging community -- heck, I'm still finding my way.  As they say, "A house wasn't built in a day", so with that being said, becoming a well known blogger takes time.  From your layout to your content, be original.  If you try to compare yourself to another blogger, you will drive yourself insane.

Don't have any expectations -- This is like setting a New Year's resolution or really just trying to plan anything in general.  When things don't go your way, you get upset and discouraged.  The best and most popular bloggers came in with little to no intention.  Most bloggers that are popular today didn't even know that their blog would take off the way it did.  Just go with it and see what happens.  What is meant to be will be.  I promise.

Don't force it -- This is what I like to call "blogger constipation".  Some days, no matter how hard you try, you just can't figure out what to write about.  That's okay.  It's not a rule that you have to blog everyday.  If you feel like you have to, eventually you will become burnt out and give it up.  If you have genuine followers, they will wait patiently for your next post.

Write for yourself -- Don't get me wrong, your content is very important when it comes to the amount of followers that you retain.  However, don't make it all about the followers.  It's better to have dedicated followers who actually read your content then followers who just sit there as a number and don't visit your blog religiously.  Truth is, you can't please everyone and if you try, you will get unnecessarily stressed out.  People won't always agree with your perspectives and won't always take your advice -- and that is perfectly okay.  Diversity is what makes the world go around.

Step away from the computer -- It's okay to do that, you know.  Your stats won't change much if you just sit there and refresh the page every minute.  Besides, if you never take time away from the computer, there isn't really much that you can blog about.  Most of what people blog about is what they experience from their time away from the computer.

Do "other" things for your blog -- Publishing posts is a very important part of blogging and retaining followers, but it doesn't necessarily get you the rapid growth that other bloggers experience.  You have to exercise the other aspects that come with blogging in order to grow your blog in reference to followers.  Social media is one of them.  As you can tell from my blog, I have links on my side bar to every main channel of social media; Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Bloglovin' and Youtube.  Every time you publish a post, make sure you share it on your social media sites as well.  I share them on both my personal social media sites and the social media sites specifically for my blog.

You can also approach the more popular bloggers and ask them to promote your blog on their page.  Most of the big time bloggers have you pay for sponsorship and sometimes their pricing can be relatively expensive.  You should weigh your options, shop around, and decide which blogger has a healthy balance between followers and pricing that is feasible for you.  If you are lucky enough, you can even find a blogger who accepts swapping as an option.  That is the most affordable because it's free.

Comment on other bloggers blogs.  If some bloggers catch wind that you are just about the numbers and don't genuinely follow blogs (and by genuinely, I mean actually read and comment), they will unfollow you.  There is no way to read everyone's blog daily, but reading and commenting on a few a day won't hurt.  Remember, when you comment on others blogs, others who leave comments have a link to your blog in that bloggers comment section, so there is a chance they will click and find your page.

Quality over Quantity -- The quality of your content is definitely more important than how much you write.  You want to draw people to read your blog, whether your intention is to entertain or to educate.  Some people feel like they have to write on and on and on.  Truth is, if your content doesn't have a purpose or doesn't make sense, people are less likely to read it.  Refrain from saying the same thing over and over again.  When some people write, they think that they aren't repeating what they write, but really, they are saying the same thing ... just in a different way.

For example, when I write advice posts, I try not to exceed ten topics.  You could really go on and on with advice, but covering the most vital topics is most important and after ten topics, you really risk repeating yourself in some way.  Basically, you over bore the post.

I'd say, "If you don't have anything worth reading to write about, don't write at all..."  I totally made that saying up myself.  Pfft.  I pride myself on my quick wit.

So mainly, the lesson to learn here is to just relax and let things happen naturally.