3 Reasons You Should Not Immediately Want Blog Followers

By: | September 22, 2015 | Tags: , , , , |

3 Ways Bloggers Can Patiently Wait for New Blog FollowersHow many blog followers do you want?

Do you have a goal? A number in mind?

A reader recently wrote, “I would love more blog followers.”

This sentiment is echoed so often that I have written many posts about how to get more blog followers.

Bloggers have expressed concern, disappointment, frustration, even threats to abandon their blogs.

Did it ever occur to you that getting blog followers as soon as you want them may not necessarily be a good thing?

According to Ronovan Writes,

We don’t get the views each day, the follows, the likes. We begin to think no one likes us. We visit blogs and we think how much better our posts are than those. We wonder why no one likes us.

Ronovan’s advice is valuable. “You’re new. Be patient.

Unfortunately, although valuable, patience when it comes to growing your blog can be difficult to achieve.

For this reason, I invited my friend Hilda Solares to write an article explaining how to achieve that elusive but important quality successful bloggers need, patience.

Why Being Patient When Growing Your Blog Is A Must

Ever heard the saying, “Don’t pray for patience or God will send you a test to help you gain some”? Well, when it comes to growing your blog you can’t ask for growth without expecting some growing pains.

This means it will take time for your blog readership to increase. Most likely it will take longer than you anticipated. However, don’t rush the process.

[bctt tweet=”It’s actually a good thing your blog is not blowing up with followers by week two.”]

We live in a world where our culture is accustomed to getting everything fast. We get all our messages, pictures, notifications instantly. We drive-up to a window and get our food in minutes, and God forbid it takes longer than that, because we can also lose our tempers quickly.

Why Having Instant Followers is Not Desirable

  • When blogging for the first time we can easily lose our perspective and think that instant growth is a sign we are on the right track. The truth is that it would do your blog more harm than good if it grew before it was ready to be seen by many readers.

I still cringe at some of my first posts and wonder how I even managed to get any followers. Today, I am grateful it was only a handful who read them at the time.

I know we have all heard it over and over, but it is true your writing only gets better as you purpose yourself to write often.

Let me be clear. I have only been blogging for a little over a year. Although I have seen some level of success, I am a just an itty, bitty fish in a huge ocean of blogs. I still have so much to learn and I know that it will take some time and real patience to see sustainable growth.

  • There are a lot of technical aspects to blogging that can get to be overwhelming, if you don’t take the time to learn them ahead of time. Writing a good post is only one aspect. You need to learn how to showcase it properly and then how to share it to as many media channels as possible and consistently.

I must admit that much of what I have learned has been through trial and error. I also follow and read many blogs gleaning what I can from them. I quickly learn what I don’t want, and then I try to figure out how to imitate what I like. Reading articles on blogging has to become almost a past-time.

  • Did I mention that you must be willing to invest many hours if you want to blog successfully? It can be tedious work. However, if you are committed to the process it will be also be very rewarding.

One of the biggest lessons learned was that blogging was just not about putting your content out. A large part of blogging is developing relationships with other bloggers, this means reading and commenting on their blogs.

If you want people to follow your blog, you must be willing to follow others too. I am not suggesting you follow just anyone, but I do believe they should not all be part of your niche. When you are willing to engage with those that might not share the same interests, it will expand your thinking. This helps in stretching the way you see things, and this will enhance your writing.

I have to admit that it took me by surprise that genuine friendships can be developed among the blogging community. Today it is this community and their encouragement that keeps me in the game when stressors come.

Conclusion

The biggest advice I can give you is to be patient and make learning a way of life. I make an effort to learn something new about the blogging world at least once a week and then try to implement it in some way.

Be willing to fail. Don’t expect instant success. I have had a few articles go viral and that’s fun, but I am grateful that they did not go so viral that it shut down my blog. Frankly, I am not ready for that type of growth yet.

In the meantime I keep moving forward and wait patiently as I stay the course and keep learning.

If you are trying to grow your blog readership be encouraged. If you continue to write and are consistent, eventually your blog will gain the readership you desire. Patience

truly is a virtue, especially when it comes to blogging.

Hilda Solares is the founder and owner of Fittoservegroup, a community that encourages people to be whole in spirit, mind and body. From debilitating diseases to health and wellness.

Her journey has impacted many to take a closer look at their diet and take control of their health.  Interviewed at 90.9 Life FM and featured at The River Cities Gazette.  Find her blogging at www.fittoservegroup.com or volunteering at her church Word of Faith Global with her husband Randy.

Me again: It is human nature to want more than we have.  However, when it comes to having blog followers, more is not always desirable.  Hopefully, with Hilda’s advice, we can achieve  what is desirable, patience.

Readers, please share Hilda’s guest post.  Perhaps if they could read her article, it would give bloggers a different mindset when it comes to having followers too soon and enable them to be patient.

If you would like to guest post for Mostly Blogging, click here for the instructions for submission.

Do you have any questions for Hilda?  Any comments about her article?  Do you think patience is elusive, or do you think it can be achieved?  Do you think it is possible to change the perspective of new bloggers in order for them to hone their craft before trying to rapidly grow their following? I look forward to your views.

  1. Juana G

    Excellent post, and so true! I have been blogging for nearly a year, and I also cringe when I see some of my earlier content. It takes effort and practice to craft a clear, concise, and relevant post. Blogging isn’t just about writing, it’s about web design, marketing, networking, and photography, even. It takes a lot of effort, but it’s fun to create in this way.

    Thanks to Hilda!

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Juana,

      Thanks for reading and commenting on my guest post. I so grateful for the work that Janice does in helping learn the ropes on blogging. It truly is important to be patient when growing our blog.

      • Janice Wald

        Hi Hilda,
        Thank you for guest posting. You did a great job. The readers are quite engaged. Thank you for the kind words.
        Janice

    • Lucie

      Boy, was this post right on!!!! After a year, I still don’t have a “large following”, but I have a dedicated, small group of talented writers following me, so it’s ok. Sometimes I feel “bad” because I don’t “follow” everyone that “follows me”, but I sincerely am not interested in their post topics, so unless I TRULY, HONESTLY will follow you, I don’t “sign up to follow”…..doesn’t mean I don’t care about you (as a person), just that I’m not too interested in the topic that you write on and I don’t have the time to dedicate to you to read…….Anyway, GREAT post! Thanks! 🙂

      • Janice Wald

        Hi Lucie,
        I knew Hilda’s post would strike a chord with people yearning for followers but at the same time knowing they needed to improve other aspects of their blogging first. I am glad you liked it. Thank you for writing to let us know.
        Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Juana,
      I agree with everything you wrote. I just made a new vow to continue to try to improve my graphic design. Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  2. Leisel

    I would have to agree with this. While I’ll be happy to eventually have scores of followers I’d rather hit personal milestones first. Right now I’m hovering at ~600 total followers. I can manage this; I can handle the traffic. My next goal is to reach 500 followers on FB alone, then 1,000 total followers. Then… we’ll see. I don’t have a timeline for when I plan to achieve these milestones, but if I can hit the FB follower mark by the end of this year that would be amazing.
    I am not a social person and I have to do this gradually or I’ll be more likely to make a life-sized Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fondant shell to hide in. (Yes, I’m mostly kidding.)

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Leisel, Thanks for commenting. It looks like you understand the value of growing at the pace that best suits you.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Leisel,
      I would be happy to help you achieve your goal on FB. Send me a FB friend request. Janice Wald should bring me up, but
      janice greenfield rappoport wald is actually my full FB name! Thanks for writing.
      Janice
      PS I liked your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle analogy

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Charles,
      I agree with Hilda. Thank you for your support of my guest author with such kind words.
      Janice

  3. Skipah

    This is so true! When I got back and look at my old stuff I wonder if was on drugs or something with the jibberish I wrote!

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Skipah, I can so relate with you. Funny how at the time I though my posts were pretty good. One year later and I can’t take them off site any faster. Thank God that our writing does get better the more we commit to it. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 🙂

  4. John Doe

    This was a very very interesting and logical post. Thanks for the insight.

  5. My Memoir Entries

    Thank you for this 🙂 My website is not even a month old and like you said, i’m actually enjoying the process of writing content ^^ more for myself than anybody else although viewership is very encouraging 🙂

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi, Thanks for commenting. It is so important that we enjoy the process and not get overly concerned about the numbers. The more we do the more likely we will see success.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi My Memoir Entries!
      Thank you so much for writing. I help new bloggers here, so it’s great you found me. I always wonder how people find my blog. Do you mind sharing? I am glad you are enjoying blogging for its own sake and enjoying the readership it brings. Nice to meet you.
      Janice

  6. Heaven

    This is such great advice. As much as I want skads of followers and readers, I know right now I need to clean up old posts and redo a lot of photography and social media stuff. It’s hard, but I know it will be worth it in a few years when I’ll have the time to seriously devote to a lot of writing. Right now I’m just trying to lay a good foundation.

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Heaven, Love the name by the way. Glad you understand the importance of laying a good foundation. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Heaven,
      Great to see you. Bloggers have a reputation for wanting followers, so I asked Hilda to come and give patience a pep talk. However, readers are agreeing with both of you that immediate followers can be bad. Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  7. Debby Gies

    Good caution here. I’m sure we’ve all felt the same in the beginning of our blog lives. It’s not about just growing it, it’s maintaining it. If we don’t communicate and respond to comments, readers may feel they’re wasting their time following us. All of our time is valuable. The more followers, the more comments to keep up with. I’ve seen quite a few blogs where owners don’t respond to comments. That puts me off wasting my valuable time spending time as a commenter. Granted not every comment warrants a response, but a simple ‘like’ beside the comment at least shows it’s been acknowledged. 🙂

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Debbie, I can’t agree more. Maintaining our blog is just as important as growing. Thanks for stopping by and making a point to comment.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Debby,
      You and I are on the same page about this. When I am at work and see I received a comment, I click “like”. that way the commenter knows I read the comment, and it was acknowledged. When I am at home that evening or the next evening, I leave a more in depth comment. Thanks for writing and commenting on Hilda’s article.
      Janice

  8. Renard Moreau

    [ Smiles ] If a person just started a blog of their own, it would be wise of them to work on creating content for it.

    It would be ridiculous if there was a large subscription and no content (or not much of it) on the new blog.

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Renard, So vital to have content, to understand what your blog will be about. I think that was one thing I understood from the beginning. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 😉

      • Janice Wald

        Hi Hilda and Renard,
        It took me several months to realize I wanted my blog to be about blogging. I didn’t know right away.
        Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Renard,
      I know someone whose blog didn’t go live until she had two posts. I hit publish after my first post because I didn’t know any better at the time. Great to hear from you Renard! Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  9. Hilda Solares

    Hi Janette, you had me rolling on the floor with your comment. Yes, I do know what its like to watch and wait for paint to dry. Get this, today I painted my kitchen LOL. It took four coats! Yeah, my patience was tested today 😉

  10. Melinda

    Hmm, I agree patience is a virtue! But, I want followers now! waaaaaaa
    Ok, tantrum over. 😉
    Great points, about blogging being more than great posts.
    I’ve made so many friends here in the blogosphere!

    • Janice Wald

      Present company included Melinda! You are definitely a great friend! It takes one to know one!
      Janice

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Melinda, I understand the desire for followers we wouldn’t be blogging if we did not want anyone reading. Just be a lil patient in time they will come and you will be happy they came at a steady pace. I find that my numbers rarely go down. So I would rather have long term followers. Best wishes, Hilda

  11. Bun Karyudo

    This was an interesting take on the issue of followers. I strongly agree with the idea of developing relationships with bloggers outside our own niche. It may help inform our writing and it also, to my mind at least, simply makes blogging much more interesting.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Bun Karyudo and Hilda,
      Perhaps one day when I retire from teaching and paper grading I will have time to read more blogs like those outside of my niche. For now, as busy as my personal life, my work life, and my blogging life keep me, it’s more of a pipe dream and the exception to the rule. I agree it would make me more well-rounded, but sadly, there are just so many hours in the day.
      Janice

      • Hilda Solares

        Hi Janice, I truly understand the need for hours in the day. I can’t say I read all their posts but I do try to check in and at least read a few. It helps to schedule a time to do so and keep it as any appointment. Here is to retiring sooner! 😉

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Bun, I am glad you see the value of following blogs that are not in you niche. Keep up the great job. Hilda

  12. Janice Wald

    Hi Jeanette,
    Nice to hear from you. Your comments were really funny. If health doesn’t work out, I will nominate you to be a humor blogger. What an analogy–a bull and wet paint! Priceless. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face.
    Janice

  13. Elle Knowles

    Steady and strong is what it takes I learned early on. Usually if you have a quick stream of followers, they also drop off rapidly from reading and staying in touch. Great post Janice! ~Elle

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Elle, I’ve missed you. Thanks for the visit two days ago. Sorry I didn’t reply sooner, I got behind and am still playing Catch Up. I am self-hosting now. Glad you found me at the new site.
      Janice

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Elle, I can’t agree more. Today my drop off rate is very low. I rarely have my numbers go down so it has been great to see the growth be a steady one. Thanks for reading and commenting. Hilda

    • Janice Wald

      Hi,
      I am trying to reach you. Are you still blogging? Do you still have a Wednesday Reblog Day?
      Janice

  14. Joanne Corey

    I spent the first few months with my blog just posting and getting used to blogging before I set out to grow my followers. I am still taking it very slowly. I follow and read a lot of blogs and comment on them, as well as visiting blogs that comment on mine. I recently made it to 500 followers and am continuing to add more at a slow pace. I am very patient! 😉 I never expected my blog to be big, so I’m not disappointed that it is small.

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi Joanne, Happy to hear you understand the need to be patient when growing your blog. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Hilda

  15. SB

    I’d love to give your post a gold star for the insights. I had a scary conversation with someone the other night. He didn’t want me commenting on his blog because I didn’t follow him. He hasn’t been to my blog to support it since I did, and I knew why he wouldn’t. He envisioned himself a king of blogging with a bunch of unoriginal ideas generated by other bloggers. So far, what has worked for me is to be original, trust my readers’ intelligence, respect their time and attention and pour my soul into my work. I hope many more people will find and read your article. It is a treasure.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Sabiscuit!
      Thanks for coming over.
      First of all, that was a scary conversation, I agree. I am always grateful for comments despite who follows who (whom?) While I do collate from other people’s articles, I always cite my sources the resulting article becomes my own.
      Thanks again for the kind words and visiting me.
      Janice

    • Hilda Solares

      Hi SB,

      Wow a gold star! I am treasuring it, thanks for your kind and encouraging words. I don’t understand how someone thinks that a form of bullying will get more followers? I agree originality is key and understanding that you need to be true to yourself. Thanks for my gold star I am going to remember this for those days my stats are not too impressive. Hilda

    • Janice Wald

      I wanted you to know I tried to come by your site, but it wouldn’t load, I got a blank screen.
      Janice

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