Open Discussion: What are You Most Afraid of about Blogging?

My fear is that I am trying to reach younger people than myself, through a medium that they understand much better than I do - will they bother to listen? Because my approach must seem amateurish to them, will they just pass on to the next blog? Because I don't fully 'get' the medium, will my content go unheard? I'm not a business blogger, but I do have experience and ideas/skills to share and it really matters to me to reach like-minded people and help them on their road.

P.S, I'm follow your free course on getting more traffic, and it's really helping my thought proccesses! Thanks.

Unless differences in age are extreme, I don't think it matters that much.
Whatever you do, don't try to act young. Just be yourself. You need to
understand your audience's problems and thinking---talking like them or
acting like you're one of them when you're not is not necessary and will
even damage your efforts.

Glad you like Blog Traffic Fisher! :-)

Thanks.

I'm a writer, first and foremost

So, for me, each work that I publish must be able to be played like a musical instrument. It must flow and inspire, make one laugh or make one think. It must be all neatly wrapped up like a gift with a beginning, middle and and end, and quite frankly because of this self-imposed regulation, I cannot, as many others do, just publish a half-baked post just for the sake of "updating" my blogs to hit an editorial deadline or have frequency rates that search engines like.

My greatest challenge, for I doubt it's a full-fledged fear as yet, is maintaining even a post every 3 days per week on the two blogs which I operate.

Some advice in this arena would be appreciated...

Do you realize how long the first sentence of your comment is? ;-)

You would benefit greatly from an editorial calendar. Professionally written
publications use them. A blog may be published online, but the consistency
of it demands the same rigor as a print publication in this regard.

Why, yes, I did realize how long it was...on purpose...

Please, beyond scheduling when to post, what do you mean by an "editorial calendar"? As I have only ever been contracted for pieces and have never worked full-time for one agency.

Thanks...

You'll find that writing for the web demands shorter sentences and
paragraphs. Think Hemingway, not Tolstoy.

An editorial calendar is an advance schedule for what you will write and
when you will publish it. Any calendar interface will do (electronic or
otherwise). By thinking of posts in advance, you have topics covered in the
future for peace of mind. Also, your subconscious mind works on the posts
long before you write them, which makes for better writing. Your blog
software should allow you to schedule the publishing of posts any time in
the future. This makes writing them in advance according to your editorial
calendar a very advantageous practice.

I'm afraid of running out of "passion"…losing interest in a subject I'm blogging about…

It has happened to me quite a few times (for stuff not related to blogging) and I can't seem to find the "one specialized area" that I can consistently talk about with (not forced) fervor/excitement.

I am the same way, but after asking myself, "no matter what I start or drop,
what things do I keep coming back to?" Part of that answer is my interest in
blogging and marketing, so I know I can sustain that. Another one is a love
of science fiction & fantasy literature. Another one is electronic music.
These are constants for me. You might find constants for yourself if you
look. :-)

Want the truth? I'm afraid people will think I'm stupid. :-/

Michael - I really like what you've done here. You've given people an opportunity to talk about their fears honestly, which tends to dissipate them. Even a flashlight can light up a cave that's been dark for thousands of years. How much more powerful is the light of honesty!

Thank ya!

There are many reasons for fear, and many shades and levels. Your commentors raised some great ones about perfectionism, giving away too much of yourself, saying all the wrong things and alienating your readers.

If I would have just jumped into blogging, it would have been like a young child diving into the ocean without knowing how to swim.

I am smarter now; I have better skills; some of the pieces are coming together. But now if I dived in, I would have the equivalent of those blow up water wings on my arms. It is hard to learn to swim, to blog... when you are alone at your computer.

It helps a lot to have friends. :-)

My greatest fear is being exposed as a fraud. There are so many great people in my field and while I think I've got something to contribute, it's pretty intimidating to start putting stuff out there.

And then it's the thing about how to get people to read the stuff that I think might be read as a fraud - sigh

Amanda, I wrote this post just for you (and everyone else who feels the same
way you do):

http://remarkablogger.com/2010/02/23/how-to-be-...

I think most people, especially those who are like me who are relatively new to blogging, have this fear that we may be doing a post about a topic which hundreds of sites already talk about.

Julius, I think you're right. But it's not only new bloggers who worry about
that. :-)

My greatest fear is that "this post" will be the one that goes too far, that reveals too much of myself, such that no one likes me and no one comments and it's all over. And I feel that with about 1/2 of the posts that I publish ... as I keep pushing that line of truth and transparency. And, strangely, I have not hit the "too far" point yet ...

Sounds like a goal to me. ;-)

Let me just add that there is value in recognizing and acknowledging your fears, but we must be very careful not to identify with them or "become" them. Fear is an emotion we feel based on imagining events which have not even happened. We can choose to have control over our own minds and choose not to imagine the worst. Then the emotional fear reaction will not arise.

Recognizing and acknowledging your fear, and then also recognizing that it's nothing but the product of your own imagination is a great way to let it go so that it has no power over you.

I'm sometimes afraid I'm wasting my time and my posts aren't really helping my readers at all. People don't always tell you if you are making a difference to them or not.

Yesterday was one of those really good days when someone who found help on my site posted about it. I have to hold on to that kind of thing, because it might be a while before it happens again.

Joella, getting feedback is so important, I agree. Sometimes, it's simply a
matter of asking for it (like these "open discussion" posts). Also, don't
discount the "silent" feedback of your numbers. If your overall subscribers,
visitors, commentors, and social media actions (retweets, likes, etc.) are
growing, then people are finding what you do helpful.

So often before I hit "publish," there's a small part of me that is afraid of fully 'putting myself out there.' It can feel very vulnerable to share my beliefs and 'who I am' with the world! I'm getting better and more comfortable each time, and the cool thing is...by practicing and sharing "me" with my readers and with the world, I'm feeling much more confident. Life's short and I'm a firm believer in living life out loud!

If you don't feel a little bit anxious about publishing, you're not putting
enough of yourself into it! Plus, the more human you are the more people
will identify with you, which leads to business. The personal is the
universal.

What if a few months from now I'd have nothing more to say? Blogging is great, but I expect that at the very least it must pay for its own upkeep: domain registration, web host fees. Should I start dipping into my savings to keep it going until it can pay for itself? What if it doesn't?

Think and plan out for longer than just a few months: what is the major
"arc" or story for what you're going to do?

I'm afraid of publishing a post that is ridiculously obvious and turning off my readers. I bounce back and forth between thinking - well, this suggestion or tip is easy/natural for me because that's my gift or my area of expertise and - Good Lord! Everyone knows this stuff, all my readers are going to spit on their screens when they see this.

As a result, I occasionally spend too much time researching, fact checking, (procrastinating) and too little time producing.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't get too obvious. Your
own perspective is completely warped and cannot be trusted when it comes to
this. Let your audience response be your guide. Don't let perfection be the
enemy of "done."

I am afraid of a poor grammar and other mistakes. I am afraid that when people see them, they will be more critical about everything else, including content. In twenty years of living in the US, taking English classes (as much as I could afford financially and time-wise) I still make mistakes.

I don't notice grammar one bit, and judging by your comment, your English is just fine. What I do notice is misspellings (because spellcheck is just so easy to use), strange capitalization and strange or missing punctuation. I'm just being honest.

That said, I don't think you should worry; and as a non-native speaker, you're likely more cautious than the average blogger.

Erika - my take on grammer? Fuck it. I just blog like I talk, which is not always with the best use of grammer.

Your English is probably better than most natives. I have a post coming up
about three common ESL mistakes I see a lot in blog posts, but it might be
too simple for you.

Erika..stop that...right...now! If you are providing great content that is beneficial to your readers, I GUARANTEE that they will not care if there are typos. In fact, they will send you messages that you have a typo and that can open up a dialog for sales. I will have to post about this because so many people are afraid of being judged. If someone worries about your spelling or adding abilities and misses the great info you are providing, they are probably not a good fit to be part of your business anyways...:)

I appreciate you encouraging others! Way to go!

Many of the fears have gone away over the past two-and-a-half years. For example: Will anyone read it / care? However, the one that persists (and that popped into my mind immediately when I read your headline) is ... will I run out of fresh ideas for posts? Most days, it's not an issue. However, on those days when the words don't come so easily ...

George, two words for you, buddy: editorial calendar. :-)

Failing and getting a real job.

You know the old story of the Viking leaders who, upon reaching the shores
of the land they were to conquer, burned their own ships? No going back!
Most places wouldn't hire you after you've been self-employed because they
know you'll chafe at the rules and the politics. So really, when you think
about it, your ship has been burnt, anyway, which means you can choose to be
free of that fear (and it is a choice) and what a wonderful thing that is.