Blogging tips 10 tips for new bloggers

Blogging tips: 10 tips for new bloggers

April 14, 2016

I am blogging for 10 months now and I learned a lot. So it’s time to share some of my blogging tips how to blog from a tent in Ras Mohammed in Egypt without electricity or wifi but with a great view or from home in between your travels.

1. Write for yourself

I write my travel blogs just for one person: me. I love to document my travels in word and image. I’m happy when people want to read my blogs, but if they don’t; that’s fine too. So don’t get to much involved in your statistics. If your reason to blog is to become rich or famous, your are blogging for the wrong reason. Just enjoy the creative proces of blogging.

2. Work hard, play hard

I often get remarks like; ‘Do you actually work or are you just travelling?’ Trust me I do work. Hard. I have a demanding job as a curator and manager in a castle museum, I write books (I’m working on a big book project right now) and I’m a travelblogger. So when I work I work really hard, when I travel I really enjoy. Building a blog and an audience is more work then people will ever likely realise. So make choices: identify what’s most important in your life and eliminate the rest.

3. Enjoy the little moments

I travel because I love travelling. I don’t travel because I love blogging. So I live in the moment, enjoy my travels, without thinking how I can to share this moment with my audience. I don’t think about writing, or how many pictures there are to edit. Travelling is my way of living, not blogging. I don’t sacrifice my own travelling experience to blogging.

4. Learn from your mistakes

Blogging is about trail and error. Try new things and find out what works and what doesn’t work. Let go of life’s uncontrollable outcomes. When you attempt to control too much, you complicate things, and thus you enjoy too little. Sometimes you just need to let go, take a deep breath, love what is and continue blogging for yourself!

5. Carry a notebook

This is important! Writing things down helps you to remember moments, scents and impressions. If you don’t have a notebook, you’ll forget that beautiful sentence or your inspiration will be gone when you finally have a computer (or electricity) near.

6. Manage your time

Travelling and blogging is a challenging combination. It’s important to find a routine travelling and at home. I explore during the day, I work on my text and photos in the evenings. And even when you are home and not travelling, it’s good to stick to a writing schedule and a blogging routine.

7. Have a writing schedule

I plan my posts in advance. I have a busy life. My days are dedicated to working my job, writing my book, travelling, exploring nature and blogging. So I have to manage my time. One of the best ways to makes sure I have enough content is planning my blogs in advance. Inspirational blogs and blogs with tips (like this one) can easily be produced in advance.

8. Keep it simple

People are used to skimreading online. People expect a great post with useful information, beautiful photos and a clear layout. For a clear layout it’s important that there is room between paragraphs and that you break up your text with headers and sub-headers. It’s also important that your font is easy to read otherwise people will click away immediatly. It’s good to format your blogs so people recognize it easily.

9. Deal with criticism

I would think: don’t read my blog if you don’t like it. But that is not how it works. Some people are bound to criticise your work no matter what. Spin criticism into a positive experience and learn to distinguish constructive criticism and haters.

10. Invest in the right equipment

The more I travel the more I realise how important it is to have the right gear. For years I was carrying around my way too heavy laptop and all my camera lences. Travel light and bring only what you need. And know your gear, specially your camera!