Today I got the second part of my series “Insights” for you. The first part is all about how I started blogging. I would like to tell you how I built up Designdschungel as a blog, how everything began, how I left my own comfort zone, how I deal with criticism and what tips would be interesting for you. But let’s start from the beginning:
HOW I BUILT UP MY BLOG DESIGNDSCHUNGEL
After I started blogging and determined a program (formerly Blogger), I had a conversation with RTLinteractive, who wanted to create a new platform called “Blogwalk”. I was instantly hooked and I actually had nothing to lose. My blog designdschungel only existed two months… what could possibly go wrong? I didn’t have much to give up. I guess I don’t need to tell you the story behind blogwalk anymore. What I liked most about it was the support and team spirit. So I first moved my blog to the specially created portal by RTLinteractive. The posts I published on designdschungel were also shown on the Blogwalk Home page and my range got increased by that. That was quite helpful for the beginning. Nevertheless, for the development or further development of designdschungel something else has gotten very essential: the continuous progress on the blog and also in real life!
WORK FOR IT!
I often get asked how I managed to build the blog. I always reply with that: Try to do something every day and love the job you do and don’t be frightened by too much work.
At the beginning something else was also very important: the continuous progress on designdschungel. It is important to always keep trying, even if you do not want to, you’re just exhausted or you have a lot to do. The content must be valuable and regularly, which is essential for a blog. When I wrote my master thesis in architecture the first few months I also built up my blog. I did not have too much time, as you can imagine. This didn’t stop me from posting on Instagram every day and I also posted at least 2-4 times a week on my blog. Most of the time, I wrote the postings late at night after work or on the weekend, if I didn’t need to do anything for the thesis. It just made so much fun that I “sacrificed” every minute for designdschungel. I didn’t know any excuses, nor did I prefer other things. It was simply the long-sought alternative to my studies and to my work. It was just important to continually reinvented itself and to get some constructive feedback from readers as an opportunity for improvement and regularly created content.
SHOW YOURSELF! STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!
An important factor, maybe even the most important factor, was to leave my comfort zone. I’ve never been the type of person, who confidently spoke to everyone. Sometimes it is not easy to approach people. But I just did it. Gradually I was invited to events and press days by PR agencies and I got to meet bloggers, who integrated me and connected me with agencies and / or other bloggers. It was important to be present on the internet, but even more important was meetings in real life. Co-operations are not the most important for a blog, it’s the contacts, which you get during the blogging. To make good contacts or to get to know agencies was also to be able to implement co-operations or borrow certain parts from the latest collections. This turned into new contents and new images for the blog and Instagram. Especially for you, my readers, it was always great to get new parts presented and to see new styles. Therefore, I did everything what my schedule allowed and tried to present myself as often as I can. It was also great, of course, that I could spend time with my friends and bloggers and always get to know new people.
EVERYDAY PROBLEMS, COMFORT ZONE AND HATER COMMENTS
Blogging also means constant changes, a path that never seems to end. You try to improve yourself every day and try to optimize things. Often you have an end in mind, but it does not seem to be right. Sometimes, I am super happy with photos or outfits and in the next week it is completely the opposite. Especially if you are in the public eye and you are exposed to public criticism, you need to try to deal with it. There are also times, when I am unsure and I do not know exactly which direction I should break out in, which path is the right one and which decision I should make. Does this topic fit to Designdschungel or is it not in your interest at all. Was it the right decision? No one is perfect and it is also important to make wrong decisions. I’m often doubtful and reconsider a lot of things. It is important, that I have learned over the past years to be able to take and deal with criticism. I do not mean “hate-comments” but constructive criticism. Unfortunately there are a lot of haters on the anonymous internet. They’re often those kind of people, who are jealous of what you have built up or simply they can not accept other opinions. Haters like to hide behind a fake name or an anonymous profile. They feel better when they can make someone feel bad. Even though I rarely get the extreme kinds of hate comments, it was still way too often. At first, those kind of comments had a bad effect on me and I was doubtful about myself. Over time, you get stronger and those comments bounce off quickly. I see the comments much more objectively and do not pay attention to them. I am no longer interested in them, because I’m making myself clear, that hat comments have absolutely no content at all and they just get created to hurt other people. I won’t waste my time at thinking about it. Nevertheless, it was a long way to get to this point.
But also being objectively criticized is never a nice feeling and I often feel attacked in the first moment. If I think about certain situations, I often realize, that the criticism is justified, even when I sometimes feel attacked in the first moment. It is important not to stay in the “comfort zone”, you also should do thing, that would not have been necessary. It can sometimes go in the wrong direction… but you got richer in experience and learned your lesson, even when it’s unpleasant. As long as you don’t try anything, nothing will change!
I hope I could give you a few more insights about how I’ve built up my blog, how I increased in size and how it got more interesting. In my next part I won’t tell you about my personal experiences, I want to give you some advices how to build up your own blog and what is important. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me! xx Laura
