I've been thinking a lot recently about my vlog channel and the direction that I want it to go it. At the moment its daily vlogs but I really want to switch up the content and play around with different aspects and ideas that I've been wanting to try but kept holding myself back from actually doing.
I was speaking to Zoe about this the other day and we are both have a bit of a fear of not creating good content. We’ve both really been into the idea of a more basic/diy/raw approach to youtube but are dogged with the fear of our content not being good or judged because it’s different from the norm.
It bought me to the conclusion that I think all bloggers, new and old, should really take the time to experiment with their content. Sometimes things work and sometimes things don’t, that’s life. Truth is that taking a risk and seeing what happens can be almost as beneficial as perfectly planning out your content following the sort of set lines within the blog world.
Remember that your readers won't know you are experimenting with your content even though you are very aware of it. They will just see a new post or video and they will either love it or hate it, which, either way, is all great feedback for you on the direction to take.
Blogging is a game of learning from your mistakes, trying and trying again until you succeed in finding what works for you and posting content your readers respond you. And if you are a seasoned blogger and you think you have already found your direction, trying new styles of posts is always a great way to refresh your content and engage your readers even more (or even attract new ones).
If you’re interested in something new in your personal life, then just try blogging about it. Consider the feedback you get from it and if it doesn’t work you just know that is not the right direction for your content to take. Experimenting can certainly help you keeping yourself inspired and refreshed and it can even open doors to new opportunities.
I think a lot of new bloggers go into blogging with the idea that their content has to be perfect right from the get go. I think I winged blogging for at least the first two years of becoming a blogger. In that time I was still growing as content creator and as a person but I had the luxury of being able to post about pretty much anything I wanted to without fear of repercussion. I was in an experimental period.
Taking some time to experiance the experimental phase of blogging something we should all try. It’s the time where you can try new things and see what works and doesn’t work. While following tried-and-tested methods of blogging seems like a great idea to get your blog moving, it might not be the most effective way to work long term. You want to be unique and really stand out from the millions of other blogs that are out there already, therefore sometimes going in a completely new direction and finding your niche might be a winning strategy.
On the other hand, I think a good way to experiment is also to look at blogs that inspire you and how they do things. While some people seem to be a little afraid of drawing inspiration from others, seeing how other bloggers are doing things (successfully) shouldn’t be seen as copying. It’s a great starting point and it can really help you develop your own ideas . Never rip off someone else’s content, especially because, remember, your goal is to be unique, but you might like how they take their photos, how witty their copy is, etc. Think of the things you like from their blog, and then work on reshaping them and implementing them in your own way on your blog. There is always room for someone new doing something old in a completely new and different way!
