{"id":130175,"date":"2013-09-30T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T19:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heartifb.com\/?p=130175"},"modified":"2024-02-27T04:53:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T12:53:09","slug":"challenges-facing-new-bloggers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heartifb.com\/challenges-facing-new-bloggers\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Tough Challenges New Bloggers Face Today"},"content":{"rendered":"
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IFB is great for many things, and I believe the best thing that our contributors have to offer is years and years of experience in the industry.\u00a0 That being said, our experience doesn't always help when it comes to new bloggers – those of you who may have started your blog last week, last month, or within the last year.<\/p>\n
Blogging was an incredibly different world 2 years ago, and it was REALLY different 4 to 9 years ago (when most of the IFB writers began their sites).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When I began my blog, there were thousands of blogs – and now there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions. The major publications didn't have their own, and brands didn't have digital media teams or blogger relations.\u00a0 Blogging was about creating a voice independent of magazines and providing an alternative opinion to the fashion rules. Early fashion blogs really democratic, and most bloggers were taking photos with their cell phones (or with low quality point and shoot cameras propped on stoves, tables, or rails).<\/p>\n
Knowing that blogging has changed since we started, I reached out to some blogging veterans to hear what they think are the challenges facing new bloggers (and next week we'll talk about ways to navigate through those challenges).<\/p>\n
1. A Much Bigger Hill to Climb…<\/h3>\n
“We were able to focus on our content first, and then grow and develop our expertise on the platform as it grew and garnered more attention and followers. For those starting out in blogging today, I think there is a certain expectation that your blog looks professional, you take great photos, you have consistent posts and branding, you know all about SEO, you're really good at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and have a huge following.\u00a0<\/strong> It seems quite overwhelming and difficult to live up to, and that a new blogger would be very fragmented in a million directions, in order to keep up, but not necessarily excel at any of them…” \n– Julia DiNardo, Fashion Pulse Daily<\/em><\/p>\n
“They have a much, much bigger hill to climb. There's a much higher barrier to entry and of course it's intimidating!<\/strong> There are these changes that happen in the industry and if you don't immediately jump on board, it is very easy to feel behind. ” \n–Sarah Conley, Style It<\/em><\/p>\n
“People feel that blogging has to be so organized, professional and planned. I've heard people say they can't start a blog till they have a decent camera, domain name or can get someone to design them a site.<\/strong> When I started blogging I had a Blogspot blog and a camera phone, I never even thought about any of those things, and they just evolved.” \n– Gemma Seager, Retro Chick<\/em><\/p>\n
Julia, Sarah, and Gemma all hit on the same amazing point: new bloggers lose the learning curve that early bloggers had.\u00a0 If 3 different bloggers independently think of it, does that make it the largest hurdle new bloggers face?\u00a0 It can be intimidating to launch a blog expecting to know it all, and the reality is – no one expects you to know it all.\u00a0 The learning curve is still there, and it's arguably much more steep.\u00a0 But don't let that stop you from learning about it as you go!<\/p>\n
2. Focus: Breaking Through the Noise…<\/h3>\n
“I'd have to say ‘focus' is the biggest challenge. There's soooo much noise out there right now, it's overwhelming even for ‘veteran' bloggers who are also active in social media. The ability to filter information, resources and connections is a skill that takes a long time to be even remotely good at. Even if we think we're just reading through tweets or a few articles we think are informative\/helpful\/useful – how much of it is actually making you a better blogger or person at the end of the day?<\/strong>” \n–\u00a0Jess Estrada, Fresh Jess<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n