In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of blogging with confidence. In this post, we’ll look at 5 practical ways to increase your confidence as you blog.
1. Be prepared.
I listened to an mp3 about how Jerry Seinfeld prepared for his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. This was many years ago when Seinfeld was an upcoming comic and The Tonight Show was a very popular show. Seinfeld knew there was a chance he would be nervous during his performance. So, he practiced his short monologue over a hundred times because he knew that proper preparation leads to a confident performance.
As bloggers, we can learn from Seinfeld’s work ethic. How prepared are we to blog? Do we know our niche well? Have we researched our niche audience? Do we know our competitors? Did we create a well thought out plan for creating content and gaining attention in the long haul?
Yes, there is the mistake of over-planning and over-preparation. But blogging without enough preparation is also a mistake. Too many bloggers jump into blogging without enough preparation.
If you feel unprepared to blog, you may need to take a break from blogging (or at least, post less frequently) and take time to prepare, research, and plan.
2. Break your tasks down in smaller steps.
Doing something big and bold is good for your blog. Let’s say you decide to do a seven-part series of posts. Or a list linkbait of 101 things. However, it can be intimidating to think about the project.
By breaking down your projects into smaller tasks, the projects won’t seem as intimidating. Smaller tasks are easier to accomplish and you’ll gain momentum and confidence as you complete each small task.
Also, don’t just use this tactic on your big projects. I’ve broken down 400 word posts into smaller chunks (paragraphs and even sentences).
3. Gain trained in the art of writing.
I started blogging because I was passionate about my niche. However, I soon realized that I didn’t have much writing chops. It had been many years (back in college) since I had written on a consistent basis.
So, I read a couple books about writing. This helped me remember the writing fundamentals from my college days. Here’s a good list of books to get you started.
Also, start reading popular blogs and books in your niche and you’ll get a feel of what good writing looks like. And getting feedback from other writers helps too. I recommended join a blogging or writing forum to network with writers and bloggers.
4. Celebrate small positive trends.
Look back at some of your stats – maybe the number of comments or monthly visitors. If you’re trending upward, you can feel confident that as you blog consistently, you’ll stats will continue to increase.
Even though you only have 100 RSS subscribers, you can look back when you had 20 or 50 subscribers. As long as your stats don’t stay stagnant or drop for a long period of time, you should have confidence that you’re doing something right.
5. Gain practical experience in your niche.
This mostly applies to bloggers in a “how to” niche. Let’s say you have a gardening blog. You should start a garden and then you’ll have something to blog about because you’ll learn a lot from your experience.
Also, you’ll gain confidence because your experience will add credibility towards your reputation.
Feedback
What have you done that has helped you blog more confidently?