In today’s 100th episode of the ProBlogger podcast, I take a retrospective walk down the lane of memories from my last 13 1/2 years blogging.
I’ve learned some pretty huge lessons along the way, and back when I started blogging in 2002 there were quite a few things I wish I’d known! I hope to share with you the top 10 things that might help you on your own blogging journey.
Mine began when I received an email containing four simple words: “check out this blog”.
Of course I did, and I was not only intrigued by the blog itself, but blogging in general. What was it? Why was anyone doing it? Could I have a go at building a community around a blog even though I had zero experience and probably more important things to do?
In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about some important lessons, and identify ten things that I wish that I had known when I first started blogging in 2002. I hope to share some of the things that will help you get over the bumps in your own blogging venture.
I discuss not only my introduction to blogging, but the things I was doing to earn money in the early days, what my first blog was all about, and how people even found that blog in the early days of long ago.
I talk about all the things I didn’t know and now take for granted – like how to make bold text! There was so much to learn: blog design, promotion, making money… I learned a lot by reaching out to others and asking those who had gone before.
When it came time to make some money to be able to afford my new blogging addiction, I went from a few dollars a week to a full time income, which I did in 2004, just two years after I started.
So all the way back then, these are the things I wish I’d known.
Thank you for riding along not only on the podcast journey, but on my blog journey, too.
Further Reading:
- Episode 64: Content Marketing – Secrets From an Entrepreneur Who Has Used It to Build a Successful Business
- Episode 37: How to Grow Traffic to Your Blog Through Guest Posting and Creating Content for Other Blogs, Forums, Media and Events
- Episode 67: Why You Should Create a Product to Sell On Your Blog (and Tips on How to Do It)
- Beginner Week: We Asked Veteran Bloggers to Reflect on Mistakes Made in Their Early Days
- Talk at World Domination Summit in Portland Oregon – Paying Attention to Sparks
Darren Rowse from Chris Guillebeau on Vimeo.
Hi Darren,
Fellow dreamer here. Big time! LOVE your story man.
I myself do not regret a thing because we are in the perfect place at the perfect time…but….I advise folks to start off blogging for fun versus blogging for money. I was about as detached from my blog and online business as a kid detaches from a rattle. It was bad. Really bad. Hella bad. Because I did silly stuff – which most do in the beginning – and that held back my progress for years and years and years.
However, beyond that 1 major mistake, I have no issues skipping the practical stuff like list building and stuff during the early days because I know if I got the energy down pat, which I eventually did, all else would fall into place. Which it did.
Watching the video Darren, I see you had an entrepreneur’s mindset. Good for you. I developed mine over time, as I released many business related limiting beliefs. Once I slowly let them go I found my blogging career take off quite a bit.
Thanks for the inspiring share!
Ryan
Big fan here! I wish I knew those things before start blogging. I am glad that you bring it on spot. Good to know. Thank you!