I love hear bloggers talking about their journey of blogging and some of the discoveries they make alone the road. Today in this guest post Renee Mayne from Bra Queen does just that.
Everyone has a purpose, a reason as to why they start blogging.
Mine was because I had heard “It was good for business” So I started blogging using my business name.
I didn’t get much satisfaction from it because I was always thinking of the business name and my business partner and I was representing all three. I was holding back and wasn’t being true to myself or my personal opinions, I was playing it safe.
However I was enjoying the writing or blogging process and believed in what I was doing so I thought “I need to be 100% myself, I need a title.”
It’s like when you call a business do you like to talk to a machine or a person?
A person of course,
The exact same goes when you’re blogging and with that Bra Queen was born. I soon become more at home at my blog then at my business so I sold my business to pursue Bra Queen.
Once I gave myself freedom to be… Bra Queen Sky rocketed, I became so passionate with my writing and the topics. I was like a mad woman frantically typing at the keyboard and 80% of the time I was doing so through tears because I felt so strongly about the topics.
I write everyday because you have to be consistent but I vow to write honestly and passionately, everyday.
I look at blogs that I once loved however when they started blogging everyday I felt they lost their passion and drive. You can always tell just by reading them. I really try to just let myself be when I write.
The beauty of blogging is it gives people a chance to express themselves. You have a voice and you can be 100% you and people will either like you or they won’t, their choice. But at least you have given yourself permission to be.
I have learnt that in order to have a successful blog you have to be:
- Knowledgeable in your field (you should be anyway)
- Passionate
- Persistent
If you are those 3 things an abundance of opportunities will come your way.
Those 3 things have brought me this:
- Immense satisfaction
- Happiness within yourself and my career
- My Love Your Life Challenge starts 5th Oct then will be available via e-book
- Contributing Author in SPROUT WEALTH
- Contributing writer to various resource websites
- Oodles of new ventures with amazingly successful people
- Lingerie and Business Consultant, coaching businesses to a new found success.
- Multiple interviews online, on podcasts and on the radio.
Give yourself the freedom to be!
Are you holding back? Don’t.
I don’t blog everyday but keep on schedule. A post for 2 days.
For me, the journey of my blog is to share info and showing others my progress in blogging. It is good to have 4-5 loyal readers at beginning .
Why do you think that’s happening Renee, you get this feeling that “they” lost their ‘passion and drive” . I seen it happen to many.
Anil Atluri – Impeccably authentic freelance content provider
I absolutely agree and have also vowed to be 100% honest in my blogging in order to create trust between myself and my readers. However, sometimes I worry that I’m giving too much of myself away with my posts, and that I may inadvertently offend some readers with my honesty. I’m passionate about my blog and love to write but I wonder how being honest and being me in a blog that’s mostly personal will have any effect at all.
I think that being yourself is the most important aspect of blogging; having said that, I restrict myself a lot in that I won’t write hit-pieces, rants, political or religious posts and I don’t use profanity (not that I think there’s anything wrong with using a well placed profanity, but I think in general it’s lazy writing).
Great post!
(note: you need to remove the www from the link to braqueen).
I think that if you are passionate about what you are blogging about, then you will find that you are putting a lot of effort into your blog. Passion provides persistence! Great post :D
Link to her blog needs to be fixed.
We don’t think you have to wait till you “find your passion” in order to start blogging. It can be the reverse, as in our case, blogging has enabled us to find our passions in Life. Our knowlege and passions for a subject grow as we discover, adventure and blog along the way.
Maggie & Danny
I think you can combine a business and a blog and still be successful and free. Sure, you have to write from the perspective of yourself and your business, but if you’re passionate about your business, then the blog will also be passionate.
If you love blogging more than your business, then I agree, go with the blog. But if you enjoy your business (and it pays the bills) then combining the two is a win-win in my book. :)
Rob – LexiConn
Hi Renee and Darren,
It’s nice to see case studies like this and I simply love the title. I see that Kevin commented earlier that Renee’s blog link isn’t working. I also agree with excitedbylife that sometimes you don’t find your passion until AFTER you start blogging and I guess that all depends on what your first blog is focused on. It’s nice to see how things can evolve or morph into something that’s even nicer than it was intended to be. Thanks for the post. Cheers!
Thanks Bra Queen! I have been struggling with finding my own voice, as you once did. I find that when I am trying to write an informational post to teach my readers about something it is much better to use my own experiences to give a personal spin—instead of just spitting out an unemotional edited version.
In admiration of your quest to let the real stuff come out on your blog, I applaud your bravery. It is one thing to say that we should be real, however, how many people actually do that? I would guess not many, including myself.
Then, I happened to think…Is the ultimate liberation going to be the burning of the Bra? I know, it’s old school… ;)
Just to feedback, the Bra Queen link at the top of the post is dead because there’s a space before the last slash.
There is a problem in the bra queen link. Just omit the gap between the slash and .com or just omit the slash.
After reading your post I wanted to see your blog. But unfortunately this one was not opening from here.
What is the problem ? Is it typo mistake or what ?
My mentor always keep remind me how important to be sincere especially if you blogging using your own name for your blog. If you frustrated about making money online just tell the truth why you fail and what is your next action to overcome your problem. That is what I wrote when I wrote a first topic in my blog and also in my about me page.
I’ve been dragging my feet more and more since deciding to start a blog. Your article helps me see that authenticity is as important as expertise. Thanks for the post!
As others have stated, the link is messed up above. So, for those of you who want to see the site before it’s fixed (sure Darren will fix it soon):
http://braqueen.blogspot.com/
Being authentic and truthful is the foundation of my blog. Sometimes I wonder; am I sharing too much, is mixing humour with personal development a good idea, should I stop swearing?!
The answers are no, yes and no but only because if I changed how I am blogging then I really don’t think I’d be authentic. It must be working because I’ve had a number of comments from my readers saying they appreciate my genuineness and honesty.
A really great and inspiring story by Bra Queen.
Its true that in order to succeed in blogging, we must have passion in writing.
And most importantly, be authentic. Be yourself.
Wow Renee – congrats on getting this published!
(full disclosure – I’m contributing a post to her challenge and also exchanged blogging advice for a haircut from her recently)
I stopped holding back. I went to meet ups. I agreed to catch up with people like yourself, in real life. I introduced myself to people more successful than i and I pretty much offer to help anyone that seems cool.
Seriously, I changed my perspective to blogging and you wouldn’t believe the opportunities that have come my way. A job, radio interview requests, high profile guest posts offers.
Congrats again, Renee and SO looking forward to the challenge :-) You rock, girl!
i am agree with this
i used to write something about unique news on my blog but in the middle i was stuck up, however i created new blog and write anything I’d like to
and now i feel happy and blogging is interesting
Being passionate and persistent keeps the blog alive
I love the opportunities and freedoms that blogging offers. Congratulations with your blogging and your career.
Ya, finding my voice, and just learning how to write what is true for me is really taking the pressure off of writing for me. I also think it will help the blog be more successful. In a way, trying too hard can cause a lot of problems.
Thanks for the tips. I love what I am doing but dont want to lose focus.
Lucy
It really seems to be an echoing sentiment – the need to be transparent and sincere to maintain the connections you make with your readers.
Perhaps the reasons for people losing their drive and passion are not always in their control?
Congratulations on finding and maintaining your passion Renee!
Hmmm… I don’t think I can stay with a nickname. My personality keeps changing. One day I would be bra queen.. the next “let’s go bra-less”
Hi Darren,
Hey its right that blogging is a nice business, i also like to do blogging.. In Problogger i always see the article related to blogs only. This site is really a very helpful to me or all bloggers..
Thanks Renee. We always lose Passionate.
I know for me the biggest hurdle in blogging was finding my voice. It’s often really hard to break free our social voice and our gaurded selves and allow our words to pour freely. For me the catalyst was writing for a few community projects I felt strongly about and from their as my confidence grew I found I needed to to check my writing against my conscience less and less often.
Nice post and thanks for sharing. Being passionate and persistent keeps the blog alive.
“I didn’t get much satisfaction from it because I was always thinking of the business name and my business partner and I was representing all three. I was holding back and wasn’t being true to myself or my personal opinions, I was playing it safe.” Thanks for this nice post.
I am new, but working effortlessly! I am really enjoying it, but right now not able to commit to writing every single day. I feel that sometimes I want my last post to have a moment and a possibility to linger. I also am finding my way through the atmosphere of blogging.
I have been blogging now for a few months and readership is starting to grow but I love my site because it gives me a place to vent and hopefully educate my readers to others points of view ….thanks…nice article
BraQueen, I’m not sure when you said that you want to be “consistent” and write everyday, but in the next line you talked about blogs you “once loved” that post everyday.
Do you think it’s good or bad to write every day? Could I be alienating subscribers by not being there for them?
Thanks for this post. This reiterates the truth that we are human beings not human “doings.” Our blogs then should express our being and not our doing.
Passion. The quality needed to pesist amidst all appearances that what you’re doing ‘isn’t working.’
From my experience I’ve learned that the more frequently you blog from the heart, the happier you’ll be, and the more success comes your way. That is the “be” which you speak of Renee. The inner voice that when listened to provides the most happiness and success.
Each person has a different reason as to why they start a blog, but these motives change. Like you, I’ve decided to pay more attention to the inner whispers and ignore the logical way to do things. It’s tremendously freeing.
It’s important to have knowledge in your chosen field but when you have Real Passion, people will find you. Everything falls into place. You’ll acquire the knowledge and whatever tools you need along the way. It all starts with the inner fire.
RB
Renee – you’re so right – finding your voice is the most important factor in getting blogging right – and being able to maintain it – I tried 2 other blogs before I hit on the formulae I have on my current blog – which is here to stay – because it is me, not me trying to be like some other blogger.
Firstly a HUGE apology for the link not working,I don’t know what happen there, sorry!
Thank you so so much for all of your lovely comments!
I LOVE what I do, it’s nice to know that we all go through similar things when we blog.
To Lydia, Clueless Crafter- I blog everyday however it I didn’t feel strongly about a particular post then I will never post just for the sake of it. Thankfully touch wood, I always find topics to write about because I am passionate about oodles of things.
I wish you all well and much success!
Renee
Bra Queen xx
I am new to the blogosphere, but I have a background in sportswriting. Although I love the big 5 (baseball, basketball, football, hockey and college), I have a feeling I am going to end up focusing on baseball and hockey (my personal favorites), but only time will tell. Let’s hope I can keep this going and not end up another one of those “dead” blogs. :)
Thanks thanks thanks! I was looking for something along the lines of this (baseballs) for hours and couldn’t find it. Also, I’m thinking, I’m thinking I might get my kids
Hi guys, can you help me win a bet I made with a friend of mine? Thank yooou!! xxx