If you want to build and establish a successful blog, especially when you have a Uncomfortable past, check out this guide. You may even be able to leverage your past into a incredible blogging business and help others along their journeys.
Brené Brown is a professor and author of five New York Times best-sellers about overcoming adversity. According to Brown, facing painful past memories is the most effective way to overcome any feelings of shame or inability. And one of the most therapeutic ways to express vulnerabilities, face your fears and hurts, and release them, is through writing.
If there’s something from your past that’s holding you back, blogging can be a powerful way to release the shame and fear associated with your challenging past experiences. Doing so could help you overcome past conditioning so you can move into the future with hope. You may even be able to leverage your past into a blogging business and help others along their journeys.
Choose to Be Authentic
If you have a past you feel ashamed of, authenticity could be liberating. For example, if part of your uncomfortable past experience is the collateral damage from a criminal past, being honest with your audience about the experience and coming from a place of vulnerability could create a connection between you and your readers.
You may be surprised to find you’re not alone and there’s an audience of people that are going through a similar experience. They may take comfort in your raw and authentic storytelling. The experience may prove cathartic for you — reading your words could bring a new understanding about what you went through and its consequences, allowing you to see the situation in a more objective, detached manner.
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Many people turn to blogs and websites for help — they have an issue and need a solution. For your blog to be successful, place a sticky note on your computer monitor reminding yourself to provide your readers with a service or solution.
For example, if you blog about anxiety, sharing your journey to better managing your anxiety by eating better, or creating a fitness routine, or taking up meditation could provide a great service to your readers who may be struggling with the same issues.
There is a caveat. It’s important to approach your advice cautiously — it’s perfectly fine to share what worked for you as long as you disclose that you’re not a medical professional and you’re not providing doctor’s advice. Discussing the trials you faced due to a mental health condition is acceptable and most likely something your readers would be interested in. But recommending prescription-based medication should be left to professional healthcare providers.
Commit
Commitment is essential to build and establish a successful blog online.
Countless bloggers start off with many ideas and great enthusiasm. The problem is, they bomb their audience at first with great blog and social media posts that decrease in frequency over time. You’ve probably noticed this first hand — you find a blog you enjoy but notice the last time anyone contributed was a couple of years ago.
For a blog to succeed, you’ll need to commit time and focus, as well as consistency. Start with small manageable goals. Instead of trying to write a 2,000-word essay about your entire life in one post, consider sharing small experiences in digestible 500 to 800-word posts. Format your blog posts with a template that consists of the experience, your feelings about it, what you learned, and advice or solution as the conclusion.
As you start to write, your words may flow freely. You may be able to produce several blog posts in one sitting. Instead of publishing them all right away, schedule them to post once or twice per week. Working ahead of schedule in this way will take some of the pressure off of blogging when you know you have a month, or two worth of blog posts scheduled.
Stay consistent by earmarking a certain time for blogging. It may be as simple as scheduling one hour at your favorite coffee shop on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings for writing new posts and responding to reader comments. Schedule a blogging routine and commit — the longer you consistently post new writing work, the more likely your audience will check-in.
Don’t Forget the Business Side of Blogging
As your blog grows, a professional online presence will be more important than ever. You may get away with a basic, no-frills format at first, but if you plan on setting your blog apart from the competition, establishing a specific feel and look that reflects who you are is important.
You may need to designate more time to ensure the success of your blog or hire someone to review the business end of blogging, such as traffic analytics, design, and user experience. Although you’re writing about very personal past experiences, treat your blog as a small business and grow it accordingly. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and work with someone to guide you and your blog towards the next step for growth.
What Happens When You Outgrow Your Niche?
Although evolution is probably not why you started blogging about your uncomfortable past, it’s a welcome outcome. You may find after some time that you’ve outgrown your niche about depression after a life-threatening injury, for example. You may have overcome the obstacles and find yourself in a good place without the desire to bring up the past any longer.
Also, you don’t need to shutter your blog — consider pivoting it instead. For example, your blog may have started as the journey towards overcoming your depression after a traumatic event. You may have shared how you transitioned into a vegan lifestyle and saw great improvement in your moods and mental health.
Vegan, wholesome eating could provide the segway into your blog’s reinvention. Start sharing more vegan recipes and expand into other ways you could provide service to your readers, such as by writing about how certain foods or supplements could help uplift moods or help others with depression manage their symptoms.
Enjoy the Journey – Establish a Successful Blog
Regardless of whether your blog becomes an overnight success, enjoy the creative process of putting your thoughts, feelings, and experiences on digital paper. What your write could be therapeutic for yourself and others. And if vulnerability brings you some clarity and release, as Brené Brown suggests, you’ve already won the battle — establishing a successful blog will be the cherry on top.
