Last week on Twitter I saw Lacie from A Thousand Threads post this article: 5 things I wish I knew when I started blogging. I told her on Twitter what a great post it was – and she urged me to do my own. So here I am, attempting to sum up SO MANY THINGS that I have learned since starting Capitol Romance in 2011. I’ll try to stick to just 5, and keep it to the biggies – things that I wish I had known (not necessarily all the things I’ve learned).
5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started This Wedding Blog
1. Step Away From the Computer
I think the #1 thing I wish I had known and done sooner, was engage with the wedding community and its vendors. I hid behind my computer for way too long, opting to reach out to people via email or other more impersonal channels. It wasn’t until I did my first wedding show, and then starting actually meeting vendors IN PERSON through laid-back channels, that my business was really able to grow. I wish I had reached out to people and engaged in person, sooner.
2. You Have to Spend Money to Make Money
My very first WordPress template makes me cringe – it was so, so bad. It was also F-R-double-E, free. This isn’t an earth-shattering piece of advice (it’s actually a very common, famous one) but I wish I had realized this sooner. I wish I had pumped some money into things like a logo, a decent WordPress template, and some other add-ons for my site. First impressions are everything after all, and I am sure I lost vendors and readers early on with my embarrassingly bad (free) logo and template. The only excuse I’ll give myself is that I never really dreamed back in 2011 that CapRo would be a real business – it was a hobby first.
3. Just Say No
It’s OK to say ‘No’. This is a lesson I am STILL trying to exercise. When I started, I was young and naive – I was shocked when anyone read my blog, let alone, sent content to me to share. Looking back, I should have said no to crappy content (bad images, content that didn’t fit my brand). No content would have been better than crappy content.
4. How Much Time Blogging Takes
Back to that young and naive – sometimes I wish I had known just how much TIME running a blog takes. Not that it might have caused me to do anything differently, but man was I unprepared for the total time commitment that is, running a wedding blog.
5. Join Twitter ASAP
I fought Twitter for way too long. Looking back – I don’t even really know why (other than the inane “I don’t know how to use it”). I wrote a blog post on this a while ago, but it’s still something I wish I had done sooner. I wish I had known just how valuable this social media tool could be. Always makes me wonder if I could have been further along in my business than I am right now.
Your turn – what have you learned since you started your business?
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6 comments
Time is a big one! I never realized it would feel like I had two jobs, although mine is a hobby for now.
HUGE, right?! Mine started as a hobby too ;)
Fabulous post!! Amen on all of these. I really need to pump up my volume on twitter… I find it so hard though :-/
thanks Sara!! Just start on Twitter – it only gets easier the more you use it.
All of these!! So so true! Some I’ve learned and some I’m also still working to learn. :) You remind me how much I need to get out from behind the computer and meet friends face to face. It’s something I don’t do nearly enough of.
<3 it's totally worth the time -- i've made so many great connections that way!