What You Wish You Had Known Before You Started Blogging – Guest Week

By jackirenee On June 22, 2011 · 3 Comments

Today, Jennifer from Take2Mommy is sharing what she wished she had known before she started blogging. Jennifer is a stay-at-home mom who calls herself a work-at-home-mom when the occasional freelance marketing gig comes her way. When she began blogging, she had no idea how many mom bloggers were out there, but has enjoyed all the connections she has made.

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Thanks Jacki for inviting me to guest post here at The Raven’s Spell! When I think back to LBB (Life Before Blog) I realize that I was clueless about so many things related to the blogosphere and social media. Like many bloggers, I had no idea what I was getting into.

But I wanted to start a blog. It was about a year ago and I had just quit a stressful full-time job to stay home, freelance a little and spend more time with my kids. I remember Googling “free online blog” which pointed me to blogger.com. I signed up. I was off and running.

Here’s where “what I wish I knew before I started blogging” comes in. I needed to pick a name for my blog. Little did I realize I wasn’t just naming a blog — I was establishing my identity, my brand, in social media. It was something I should have thought long and hard about. Instead I mulled it over for about an hour, over two glasses of wine, and came up with take2mommy. Because I was embarking upon my second “take” at motherhood. (Because I screwed up “take one” with a busy job that didn’t let me spend much time with my kids.)

Like many bloggers I’ve poured countless hours of work into my blog, growing my brand in the process. I became take2mommy on Twitter, BlogFrog, YouTube and in many other social media groups. Then one night, over another glass of wine, I thought…

Take2mommy? Not sure I’m digging that. The name requires too much explanation. Can I change it?

Turns out I can, but at the risk of confusing — and losing — followers. So I’m currently on the fence about it. I know a few bloggers who have undergone a brand/identity change and emerged from it unscathed. Heather at www.girlgonemom.com told me that changing her brand (blog name, Facebook page, Twitter handle) wasn’t so bad. She had a lot of followers when she did it, too. She said the key was writing lots of posts and tweets to remind readers of the change, a tip that is echoed in this helpful article from bloggingbasics101.com.

But back to me. Like I said I’m on the fence about changing my brand. It very well might be that I’m just too lazy to do it. However, that helpful article from bloggingbasics101.com says that if you’re going to change your blog name, do it early on. I’ll give it more thought later tonight, when the kids go to bed. Over a glass of wine, of course.

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Thank you so much for your thoughts Jennifer. Be sure to head on over to the Community to check out the discussion. What do you wish you had known before you started blogging?

Tagged with: Blog • Facebook • Internet • Twitter

3 Responses to What You Wish You Had Known Before You Started Blogging – Guest Week

Jen {at} take2mommy says:

June 26, 2011 at 6:50 pm

Thanks again Jacki for the guest post opp! What a great idea for a series of guest bloggers. Hope you had a great week.

Reply
- jackirenee says:
  
  June 27, 2011 at 9:13 pm
  
  Thanks for participating! I really enjoyed to chance to share other’s thoughts on my blog and learned so much from everyone. If you ever feel like making an appearance again, just let me know. You are always welcome.
  
  Reply
What I Wish I Had Known Before I Started Blogging | The Raven's Spell says:

August 2, 2011 at 9:02 am

[...] bloggers to share with us what they wish they had known before they started blogging. Liz, Kim, Jennifer, Beth, and Dina each provided us with an amazing perspective. Yet, I never shared with you what [...]

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