As bloggers we all want to run a successful business, and how we define that success can differ from person to person. You might define success by growing page views, earning income or positioning yourself as an expert in your field. I have this question for you though – which can also align to helping you achieve all of these goals…
Are you being authentic on your blog?
What do I mean by this? Well, are you looking for ways to personally connect with your audience that can drive deeper engagement with your content? Have you shared your story? Have you shown a vulnerable side? Are you sharing personal experiences no matter what your niche is?
The point of being authentic and telling your story is so people can connect with you. People are on your blog for your great content, but once you build a loyal following they are visiting your blog for YOU!
Related: Must Have Resources to Set Up & Maintain a Professional Blog
What to Consider When ‘being an authentic blogger’…
- Think about your unique voice. There might be thousands of fashion blogs out there, but what makes yours different? What insight or personal experiences can you share about your love of fashion (or your niche) that will give your audience a truly unique experience?
- Don’t be afraid to get personal. If you started your blog to help you communicate better because you’re an introvert or because you have experienced mental health issues and you want to help others – rip the bandaid and tell your story. You might be REALLY SCARED at the thought of it, but I can tell you it will make you feel fantastic for sharing. I strongly encourage you to share and let me know how it feels 🙂 This is an extremely personal post that I shared.
- Show your passion. When you first thought of starting a blog I’m sure you were extremely excited at the thought if it. tape back into your feelings from this time and bring that enthusiasm and passion to your regular blogging voice. If your audience can feel your passion it will allow them to be way more engaged in your blog.
Here are a couple examples of how I got personal:
Dear Bio-Mom. 8 Truths Stepmoms Wish You Understood
How to Live with Infertility. 6 Tips for Healing
Here’s what happened… I received personal emails, I made new connections with people all over the world, I didn’t feel so alone, I helped others who are going through the same and I lifted a weight!
Authenticity is what #blogging is all about, so no matter what your niche is, think about how you can add a layer of yourself into your content from time to time or every time! #bloggingtips #bloggerswanted Click To TweetSo, let’s talk about how you can apply this to your specific niche. You might be finding it hard to think of ways to be authentic and tell your story (or stories) so here are some examples that work for several niches.
Being an Authentic Blogger, By Niche:
Mental Health – Share what you’ve been struggling with. It can be extremely scary to share something so personal as a mental health illness, but I encourage you to think about the goals for your blog. If it’s to help people (which I bet it is), sharing personal experiences is a great way to connect with your audience and let hem know they are not alone. You’ll most likely find that people share the same challenges.
Personal Development – This is a bit of a broad category as personal development can be connected to a multitude of areas in life. I look at this as an opportunity to share many stories. Yes, in blogging we need to keep the user in mind first and talk about how we can help them, but if you have a valuable tip to share that has worked wonders for you, your readers will be extremely grateful to know this.
Health & Fitness – You may be working on getting healthy and losing weight or becoming a strong woman. Did something get you to his point? Did you create your blog as a way to be more mindful of your journey? Share your experience and your why as this will help your readers come up with ways to help them stay committed to getting healthy. You can easily weave what inspires you or past experiences into each and every blog post.
Related: Why Your Blog Posts Aren’t being Shared & What to Do About It
Fashion – Get personal. Your audience may know that you love fall styles – but have you considered sharing a story from the past on how you felt when you went back to school shopping or when you FINALLY got that polo shirt you were begging for forever. Or share how you feel when you get dressed up. How does this help you show up in life?
Food – We all want recipes, but give us more. Tell us about the memories you had when you ate this as a kid or even about the first time you attempted to make it and it failed miserably. People give themselves stress to be perfect, so it’s okay to share that you failed the first few times making a dish. You could then give valuable tips to help someone feel more confident in the kitchen. A blog that does a great job of combining food with personal stories is Lemons and Zest. You must check it out 🙂
Parenting – Really think about your audience here. Are your readers aspirational? Are they stressed parents? Maybe both? What I can say is this; parents never feel perfect. So try showing what life really looks like on your Instagram feed instead of those beautifully styled shots. You could even show some blooper shots before the ‘perfect’ one is shown. Everyone loves progress and to know that your life isn’t perfect either!
Homeschooling – Share your ultimate fail as a homeschooling parent… what happened, how you felt, did you want to give up? There will be many homeschoolers that could be questioning their decisions so letting them know that you don’t always have it together will let them know they are not alone. Share your passion for homeschooling as much as you can to inspire people to keep going.
Blogging – Share what your first pin looked like compared to your most current one. Communicate what sucked about your first and what’s important to know about your current. It’s okay to let your audience know that you have optimized along the way. You made mistakes so they don’t have to. Trust me, they will truly appreciate this! You could also share a screengrab of your first post as there’s a chance it’s no longer live. That would combine nicely with the what not to do’s of blogging 🙂 The overall goal here is to let your readers know that succeeding in the blogging world takes work and doesn’t happen overnight.
Are You an Authentic Blogger? Here are some great ways you be more personal with your blog. Tips to Try by Niche. #BloggingTips #bloggerswanted #bloggersrequired Click To TweetI haven’t covered every single niche here and many of you will not have a specific niche, but I hope this gives you some ideas for ways to be an authentic blogger with your audience. Sharing your passion and experiences on your blog will elevate your success in so many ways.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. Are you currently sharing personal parts of you in your blog? How did it feel and what was the reaction from your audience?
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Pearl says
Very true. The only thing that keeps me going with my blog even though I’m not seeing much progress yet is passion! I’m passionate about what I write about.
yridley says
You definitely have the right way of thinking. Passion is where it all starts!
ShootingStarsMag says
Great post, and I definitely agree. I’m a bit of a mix when it comes to my blog so I don’t focus on just one thing. However, I am trying to be more open and share more personal posts because I appreciate those posts on other blogs. Plus, I want people to get to know me better.
-Lauren
yridley says
I’m the same – I write about many things (under one arching theme). I think there are a lot of ways you can give some of your personality in every post. I always love to hear about personal experiences!
Sharon ǀ The Helpful GF says
Thanks for these tips! It’s important to reevaluate my focus off and on. 🙂
yridley says
Hi Sharon! Thanks so much 🙂
Carli says
I love this post. It’s so easy to just throw up a post, but it is pointless if I am not being true to who I am and also being transparent with my audience.
Colleen says
I needed to read this today. I have been struggling with how to stay true to my niche but also reaching more diverse readers. I am passionate about my topic so I must stick to this in order to be authentic. Authenticity is why readers are drawn to certain blogs.
Gina says
I write about several topics on my blog, but food is my #1 topic. I like to add a little personal touch to each recipe. I have a fairly new blog and I am passionate about it. Great post!
Neely Moldovan says
I love to write super personal posts and I have been trying to do that more!
Jasmine says
Great tips, its important to make and keep a personal connection with your readers
Anthea says
Great tips!
I must say I put off opening up and sharing something personal recently on my blog. Then last month I just did it and the kind and supportive comments received confirmed (again) that my blog is my space. I’m allowed to be vulnerable and open up.
Bailey says
These are such great tips! Authenticity makes such a difference to your readers.
Colleen says
Yes! I blog in the mental health and personal development spaces and what resonates with readers is personal experience! If my audience can relate to me, and me to them, it makes my message that much more powerful.
Jheelam says
“It can be extremely scary to share something so personal as a mental health illness..”- I can so relate with this.
I write about personal experiences with depression on my blog quite often. Some well-wishers cautioned me about it as mental health attaches lots of stigma in my country and what if some potential employer goes through my blog?
But blogging is my passion and I want to remain true to it. Thanks for sharing your tips. Pinned the post.
Indya | The Small Adventurer says
I really love seeing other bloggers be so passionate about this topic, and so focused on ensuring that they’re always being authentic. It definitely reminds you that this community is such a genuine one, and one that I am so proud to be a part of. Bloggers are the best!
Alix Maza says
I definitely try to mix personal tidbits along with some good hard facts/tips! Thanks for this great post.
Jen says
Hi! Great blog! To answer your question, yes, I feel like my blog is all about authenticity to the point I’ve questioned if it’s professional enough. Messages like what you’ve included here boost my confidence and security that I’m on the right track. Thank you for your insight and investment into encouraging and coaching others!
Jasmine Vargas says
Personally, for me, I don’t like to write/share too much personal stuff on my blog. I like to keep things private. But I like to consider myself an authentic blogger.
Nicole | The Professional Mom Project says
These are such great tips thank you for sharing! I try my best to be as authentic as possible on my blog. I think it’s really important because it can help others grow. Love this post 🙂
Amy @ Orison Orchards says
These are great tips! I blog about homeschooling, and my most popular post is about a homeschooling fail! I’m sure all your other suggestions are right on, too!
Stacey says
I write about self-development and I often wonder if people really want to know how things work in my own life or if I’m boring them. Thanks for the encouragement to keep sharing!
yridley says
Hey Stacey! I think if you can share examples or little stories about how things have worked for you or why your recommending them then that adds even more reason for them to try what you’re talking about 🙂
Nicole Kauffman says
This is a great post! I recently started another blog and it has reminded me how utterly important it is to be authentic! I love these tips and definitely will try and incorporate some of them 🙂
yridley says
Hi Nicole! That’s cool that you started another blog! Congrats! That’s a big undertaking to have more than one blog.
Kiersten says
Great post! I think my blog falls under the personal development category since I blog about living as a Christian millennial. I like to share what I’m doing with my life on my blog and what other women in their late mid-twenties can do too! I will always try to be authentic and not try to act like somebody I’m not.
yridley says
Thanks Kiersten. I think when you have a personal development blog at times you need to show even more of yourself, so I’m glad you’re giving personal inspiration to your readers!
Tallary says
I think it’s very important to be yourself with whatever you decide to do but especially with blogging. Thanks for sharing!
yridley says
Hi Tallary! That’s for sure. Always show who you are and you’ll feel happier for it and the best part that means you’ll make genuine connections with others 🙂
Samantha says
Thanks for sharing this post, as a travel blogger I have centered my website around telling “truthful” travel stories- the good, the bad and the downright ridiculous parts of travel. I think that authenticity always gets better results!
yridley says
Hi Samantha! I absolutely agree! I’ve travelled a lot and there are always hilarious stories that go along too. I’ll check out your blog 🙂
Sarah | Wake up and Blog says
Really good advice here, it can be hard to be authentic online.
yridley says
Thanks Sarah! I’m happy you found it helpful 🙂
Keating says
Yes to all of this!! I’m a mommy blogger so I feel like it’s pretty easy for me to be authentic with my audience. I’m constantly showing behind-the-scenes looks at our life on my Instagram stories and I post about important parenting topics and open up when I’m struggling. That authenticity is really important to me in my blog and business.
yridley says
Hey Keating! It’s so good that you open up to your readers. I find that it makes blogging that much more fulfilling too. Such a great way to connect.
N says
So true! Being authentic helps connect with others eapecially if they are going through similar life situations. Great tips!
yridley says
Absolutely! Definitely a great way to connect on a personal level.
Kathy D says
Great article. I’ll have to incorporate some of these tips into my blog about gluten free living. I certainly have lots of family stories to tell 🙂
Hank Cheah says
I don’t think that a blogger is inauthentic if they don’t share their personal experience, BUT the tips that you’re sharing can definitely help a blogger in becoming more relatable and less impersonal. Nice write-up.
yridley says
I agree with you Hank – I certainly wouldn’t say someone is unauthentic if they don’t share personal experiences. I do however think that if you can share how you feel about something, it gives your readers a way to feel more connected to you and this is authentic!
Rudy Stankowitz says
Thank you for reminding us about the side of blogging that is sometimes so easy to forget.
yridley says
You’re welcome Rudy. I hope you found this helpful 🙂
Abby | theMomCorner says
Very true. And it can be hard to be authentic at times (like if your personal story is extremely vulnerable or painful for you), but it’s the only way to really connect.
yridley says
I hear you. I have to say though if you share parts of your personal story – if you feel comfortable it’s amazing how it feels to get it out there 🙂