Over the past 2ish years, I’ve definitely learned a few things I wish I knew when I started blogging.

When I started, I was quite oblivious to the blogging world and truly had no idea what I was getting myself into.

To this day, I get asked all the time how I started or how others can start their own blog and I always have the same answers to these questions. (Almost) anyone can start a blog or start influencing. But the cold, hard truth is NOT everyone can be successful with it. In fact I’ve seen a lot of people start and shortly thereafter, quit altogether as I personally believe that like myself, they underestimated the time and effort that needs to be put into it.

So, what exactly are 3 things I wish I knew when I started blogging?

What the time commitment is like

When I started, I actually didn’t even consider how much of my time would be taken up running a consistent blog and Instagram account. I started it purely for a hobby as I love fashion and (over)sharing, and while I still do it for that reason, it’s become more than that. It’s become a community, a bit of a side gig, a supplementary source of income, and part of who I am. With this comes the need for consistency in posting, and that can be a major time suck when your goal is to post minimum 3-4 times a week. Planning shoots, taking photos, writing captions and long form blog content — it’s not always a quick no-brainer. I put a lot of time and effort into everything I do for Brains and Bronzed, and I believe that’s essential if you want to see any sort of growth or success from blogging.

How many micro-bloggers there really are out there

When I decided I would create a personal blog, I followed some large scale influencers like Cara Loren, Rachel Parcell, and Amber Fillerup Clark, but other than these influencers with 1M+ followers, I had NO idea there were other people out there, just like me, with small blogs and big dreams, trying to build something for them self. When I look back on this, How naive was I?!?! But it’s true, I had noooo idea about the world of microinfluencers. Flash forward to today and I completely understand the value for businesses investing into microinfluencers; I just wish I could have recognized this sooner!

The difficulty in taking photos during Winnipeg’s winter

When it comes to blogging/influencing today, photos are the bread and butter. Beautiful images with a quick read caption are what captures attention of your audience, and so it is sooo important to be able to take high quality photos. During the summer months, this is my jam, but from October-March, it is a real struggle for me to get photos outside in natural light when it’s dark by the time my full-time job workday ends, leaving me with Saturday and Sunday as my only available opportunities. Oh and did I mention, it’s NOT easy taking photos in -30 weather?! Truthfully, I get sooo cranky trying to get a good shot when I’m freezing my butt off — Nico and I have got into arguments during these photoshoots more times than I’d like to admit because it’s truly 0.0000% fun! This is where I get major envy of people living in year round moderate or warm climates — they have it so much easier!

So there you have it. 3 things I wish I knew when I started blogging. If you’re considering launching your own blog or entering the influencers landscape, I say TRY IT OUT! You’ll quickly learn whether it is or is not for you. And whether this post motivates you or freaks you out, at least you’ll be 3 steps ahead of where I was when I started!

If you’re interested in more blogging-related posts, check out this one on Sponsored Posts for Influencers!