How to Grow Your Blog by Being Fearless

Exactly one year ago, I made my first blog post on My Debt Epiphany. Don’t forget to sign up for the giveaway in celebration of my one-year blogoversary

This post originally appeared on Brown Girl Bloggers.

So you’ve started your blog. You’ve been lucky enough to find your niche early on, set up your domain and hosting, install a professionally design theme, and maybe even get started on some amazing content for your site. Whew.

After all that, you should no doubt be feeling a sense of accomplishment but the most challenging task is yet to come. After you’ve set up the basics for your blog and begin to get into the habit of perfecting your posts, the idea of growing your blog will most likely surface.

I’m sure we’ve all heard time and time again that blogging takes time and lots of effort, but growing a blog is not necessarily that easy either. Sometimes when trying to grow a blog it’s important to realize that you can derail your blog’s progress by being your own worst enemy. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get in our way of success by being afraid.

Common Fears New Blogger Have

• Being afraid of what other people think
• Being too scared to ask others questions or get help
• Fear that others won’t like what you have to say
• Fear of rejection if you offered services on your blog or tried to do business with more experienced bloggers

Fear Can Hold You Back

Unfortunately, fear can hold you back from achieving your goals with your blog. If you’re intimidated by an expert blogger in your niche and you choose not to forge a friendly connection with them, you are only hurting yourself and holding yourself back from achieving success with your blog. If you’re afraid to share your products and services on your social media pages because you don’t want your old high school classmates to think you’re weird for having a blog, you’re missing out on the opportunity to attract loyal readers and potential customers.

Fear Can Waste Time and Energy

Fear can easily lead to anxiety causing you to spend more time than necessary over analyzing your pitch and contemplating how people will react. If you are being authentic with your blog and offering helpful advice to your readers then odds are someone is bound to resonate with your content.

With blogging I’ve learned that you can’t win them all. Not everyone is going to agree with what you have to say and love your blog. Blogging with passion and a purpose is already time consuming enough as it is. Instead of wasting time and energy worrying about who will be underwhelmed with your blog and becoming discouraged by the criticism, it’s better to spend your time connecting with those who find your content useful and building an email list of dedicated followers.

Now is the Time To Be Fearless

Have you ever heard bloggers say they wish they would’ve done this or learned that when they first started blogging? While no one will have the perfect start, don’t let that be you with the long list of “I should haves”. Be fearless when it comes to growing your blog and building your brand.

Ask questions, create a solid plan and leverage your platform to bring in more traffic. Being fearless won’t solve all your issues, but it will get you further ahead than the next person. There will still be rejection and setbacks sometimes. But there will also be breakthroughs, progress and success stories as well.

RELATED: A Day in My Life: How a Working Mom Manages Motherhood, Work, Blogging and Freelancing

Being Fearless One Year Later

Back when I wrote that guest post I was just getting my feet wet with blogging. While I’m still no pro yet, I’ve taken some risks with my blog and my writing over this past year and really went out of my comfort zone to grow it. I know it can take years to build a very successful and profitable blog, but I didn’t want to let fear hold me back and I encourage every other blogger – new or veteran – to do the same.

Don’t be afraid to share your honest opinion, to monetize, to build a community, or to promote yourself and your services to others if you genuinely believe it will help someone. The sooner you jump right in the sooner you will start to see the fruits of your labor.

I’ve kept track of all my writing and was surprised to find out that I’ve written 370 posts and articles to date since I started my blog. This includes posts for my blogs, posts for my clients and guest posts. In light of my blogoversary this month, I’ve picked out some of my favorite posts from the blog this past year.

Could You Live on One Dollar a Day?
What do your Friends Think of your Frugal Ways
My Version of the Secret
How to Stop Letting Money Control You
The Man I Never Knew Who Changed My Life
Why I’m Choosing a Staycation Over a Vacation

In what ways have you decided to stop letting fear hold you back? If you have a blog, what are your plans to grow it within the next year?