Starting a Blog and Finding My Groove

When it comes to blogging, if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, unsure of what to say, or found yourself frustrated from comparing your blog to others, this session is for you. Natalie Bourn, a high school freshman who has been blogging since she was 10 years old, shares what blogging frustrations and hurdles she overcame to find her voice and blogging style, tips she has learned from four years of blogging, and the tools she uses to make blogging with WordPress easier.

Transcript

1. Natalie Bourn @iamnataliebourn #WCSD
2. Get my slides and some more info nataliebourn.com/wcsd2018
3. I started blogging at age 10
4. Why I started blogging... → I thought it would be fun → My mom blogs a lot and she encouraged me to get started → We do a lot of fun things that I wanted to share
5. Yay for adjectives... → Amazing!!!!!!! → FABULOUS!! → Super awesome!!! → Totally cool!!! → So fantastic!!!!!
6. “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” —Margaret Atwood
7. Proving I was serious → Started with a free theme on WordPress.com → Proved I could stick with it → Moved to WordPress.org and a custom theme two years later
9. My blog has helped others stay positive and inspired friends to do fun things with their families.
10. But it wasn’t easy. At times, I cried and sometimes I wanted to quit.
11. Blogging is hard when... You don’t know what to say
12. Blogging is hard when... You compare yourself to other bloggers
13. Blogging is hard when... You criticize or second-guess yourself
14. Blogging is hard when... You think your posts must be perfect
15. Blogging is hard when... You feel like you never have enough time
16. Blogging is hard when... You don’t know how to use the tools you need
17. “All successful people started somewhere. They didn’t wake up one morning with a graphic design firm, or a blog with 50,000 readers.” —Angi Clark
18. The important thing was that I started and that I wanted to learn and get better.
19. Not sure what to say... I began using the notes app for ideas
20. Comparison depression... I am unique and so is my perspective
21. Critical of my writing... I needed to be patient and be myself
22. Stuggling with perfection... A published post is better than an unpublished one
23. Never have enough time... Don’t force it. Write when you do have time.
24. Don’t know the tools... Ask for help and learn one new thing at a time
25. I needed to find my blogging groove. And I needed it to be easy.
26. Finding my groove... → Length and type of posts → Batch processing images → Best times to write posts → Scheduling posts over time
27. Tips I have learned... → Content formatting matters → Add quotes or facts → Group images in galleries → Write great headlines
28. Tips I have learned... → The more you write, the easier it becomes → Create checklists so you don’t forget things → Don’t be afraid to be yourself
29. Tips I have learned... → Take the right photos for the space you have → Stick to the social platforms your audience uses
30. “Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think about what you shall write.” —William Cobbett
31. In 2017, I started vlogging
33. If working on my blog is fun, I’ll blog more often—so I needed tools to make blogging with WordPress easy.
34. Things I use... → Camera+ → iMovie → Notes app → Voice Memos
35. Things I use... → YouTube → WordSwag → Photoshop → WP101
36. Things I use... → Jetpack → WP Instagram Widget → Simple Page Ordering → Google
37. What I’m tackling next... → I have Yoast SEO installed, but I haven’t been using it. → I want to learn more about how to optimize my blog posts and YouTube videos
38. “99.9% of bloggers are not awesome on day 1. Their awesomeness is the accumulation of the value they create over time.” —Darren Rowse
39. Natalie Bourn @iamnataliebourn #WCSD Thank You! Phew ... Get my slides: nataliebourn.com/wcsd2018