Hey travel fam! This week officially marks 6 months since I launched The Global Ghana Girl. I can’t believe how fast these months have gone by. Although it hasn’t been a year yet, I feel like this is a milestone worthy of celebration. While I’m always planning for the future and thinking about where I want to take this blog, I’ve also reflected on what I would do differently and the lessons I’ve learned so far. Here are 5 things blogging has taught me so far:
1. Stay in your lane
This was one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned. When I first started blogging, I wasn’t sure what my niche was or what direction I wanted to go in. I bounced a bunch of ideas around like lifestyle and travel, food and travel, New Jersey/northeast travel, and photography and travel. I was so overwhelmed by all the sub-niches that existed and I felt like I had to pick the “right one.” I looked at other bloggers with tons of followers and amazing websites and felt like I couldn’t even compete with them. It then dawned on me that my niche was already defined, and I had been operating within my purpose all along. Travel has always been a big part of my life and I found myself always giving my friends travel tips and advice – so in a sense, my niche found me. My main message here is to focus on your area of expertise and refine that. Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers and content creators because everyone is on a different path.
2. Produce, produce, produce
Okay, within reason of course. Don’t burn yourself out, but try to stay as consistent as possible. The more you produce, the faster you can assess what is working and what isn’t. If you work best on a posting schedule, create a content plan that works for you. This is something that can be challenging if you have other responsibilities, but try to come up with a plan that works for your lifestyle. Also, don’t get caught up in trying to do things perfectly because you’ll drive yourself crazy! Remember that perfect doesn’t exist.
3. Don’t get caught up in numbers
Numbers are important, but try to focus more on building a community. When you focus on building a loyal core audience, you’ll have people who will always come to you for quality content because you bring something that other bloggers don’t. You’ll have a dependable base, which in turn will increase your engagement rate. Your core audience will spread the word about your content, and likely bring in some new followers without you even asking. Focus on engagement, community, and high quality content – and the numbers will follow.
4. Track your analytics
This one might sound contradictory to #3 but hear me out. I’m a numbers nerd so this is actually really easy for me. You need to know your numbers, especially if you’ll be pitching to brands for partnerships and collaborations. It’s important to know your engagement rate, follower count, Pinterest views, monthly readers, etc. Overall, it makes good business sense to keep track of your numbers, so you know what to improve upon and what isn’t working.
5. Don’t be afraid to self-promote
Who else feels me on this? It’s important to promote yourself vigorously, especially in the beginning when no one knows who you are. As someone who’s very low-key, this was something I had to get comfortable with. I knew that in order for my blog to be successful I had to promote my content. I promote on my personal accounts, and all my business accounts (even my photography page!). I also inform people about my blog in person (and my family spreads the word too, which is really awesome). Don’t spam people, but be comfortable advertising your blog. You put a lot of work into your content, so don’t be afraid to spread the word and promote yourself.
6. Have fun!
For me, the creative process is one of the most exciting parts of blogging. I absolutely love all the planning, writing, editing, photo-taking, and SEO-ing that goes into this. Even if you’re running your blog as a business, I think it’s important to be passionate about the content you’re creating and to enjoy the process.
This past 6 months have been full of growth and learning. I’ve met so many amazing people and I’ve already had my work featured on different tourism sites such as Visit Maryland, Hyatt Place Baltimore, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and Explore Georgia. I’m excited to see where this journey will take me, and to continue providing tips and guides to help other young adults travel the world.
Are you a content creator as well? How long have you been blogging and what lessons have you learned? Let’s chat in the comments!
Blogging resources I use (and recommend)
- WordPress
- Luxibee (blog theme)
- Canva
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Lightroom
- Preview app
- Best Time app
- Mail chimp
