Ever wish you could sit down with a super-accomplished person and ask, “What does it take to break into your industry? What’s it like to be you? And when you’re looking to hire someone, what does it take to impress you?”
With Pick My Brain, that’s exactly what we do. Enjoy this week’s installment featuring Shauna Haider— a professional blogger.
Question: Being a “professional blogger” is a huge dream, for so many twenty and thirty-somethings. It seems almost too good to be true! What’s the best thing about it … and the worst?
I’m Shauna, a creative director, graphic designer and blogger residing in Portland, Oregon. Blogging has been a huge passion of mine since 2001. On my lifestyle blog, Nubby Twiglet, I curate and share insights on living a well-designed existence.
But before I dig into the best and worst parts of blogging, let’s set the record straight: you really have to do it for the love. I know that can sound a little cliché but blogging is hard work and chances are that you won’t see big payoffs for your efforts for quite awhile. You truly have to be passionate about it because that passion is what will pull you through the ups and downs.
The best thing about blogging
The best thing about blogging are the connections I’ve made. Nearly all of my friendships have been made through my blog because I wasn’t afraid to put myself out there and share my views and personal stories. It can be a little scary at first but if you’re open, others will relate.
I’ve also made a lot of professional connections. I run a design studio full-time and nearly every client I’ve worked with over the last five years first found me through my personal blog, liked what I had to share and clicked through to hire me for their projects.
Blogging has been the foundation of my business and best of all, it’s been a low cost way to get the word out about what I do.
The worst thing about blogging
The worst thing about blogging can be the negativity. That first negative comment you ever get can really sting but it’s important to remember that it happens to everyone. You’re never alone. By being open and sharing the great things happening in your life, it can create an unexpected sense of competition and jealousy from others but you have to push through it.
The best way I’ve combatted trolls is by developing a support system of other bloggers who know what it’s like to be vulnerable and put yourself out there. It’s important to have those people around you who “get it” because everyone else will probably just tell you to get over it.
Blogging is just like anything else, there will be some bad lumped in with the good. But I can tell you from personal experience that the good will always outweigh the bad and if you have a purpose for your blog and stick with it, wonderful things can happen.
The unexpected thing about blogging
I blogged for very little direct income for a solid decade because I loved it. Sure, I made a good living from my design services by way of my blog but I blogged regularly because it was an important creative outlet for me.
Then, in 2011, I met up with two full-time blogger friends in Las Vegas and over the course of a week, we hatched the idea of teaching a strategy-based workshop geared towards women bloggers and small business owners called The Blogcademy. Since then, The Blogcademy has given me the opportunity to earn a solid income, travel the world with my two best friends and teach women the power of using their voices for good.
When you start a blog, you might not have a crystal clear vision of where it will lead at first but that’s okay — the point is to get started and follow through because with each post, your voice will get stronger and your vision will become more clear. If it wasn’t for starting my first blog in 2001 and getting over my fear of putting myself out there, The Blogcademy would have never happened a decade later.
Images: Made U Look Photography.