I’m back for the latest post in my series for how to build a creative business as an introvert. And today’s post is all about blogging! To outsiders, it might seem strange that people who don’t like talking all the time would want to constantly broadcast their thoughts to the world. But I think that blogging is actually a really natural fit for introverts for a lot of reasons.

First of all, it’s normally a pretty solitary activity. Secondly, it can help us got a lot of our thoughts out that we wouldn’t normally just blurt out in normal conversation. And since we introverts are often very pensive before we actually share our thoughts, the written format is a really natural and comfortable way of communicating, in my opinion anyway.

So if you’re an introvert and you’re still not completely sold on this whole blogging thing, fear not! I’ve gathered some simple tips below from my many years of blogging to help you find your voice and create a blog that you love!

Consider the actual benefit

Although I’m a big believer in the power of blogging, though the whole blogging industry has sort of shifted recently, you don’t absolutely HAVE TO have a blog. If you’re building a business, particularly one that’s heavily creative, I think it’s a good thing to have. But there are other ways to market. So before you actually start a blog, you need to have an actual purpose. Are you blogging to give people a behind the scenes look at your business? Are you trying to share your expertise so that people will hire you? Having a specific purpose in mind can help keep you on track to actually blogging consistently.

Read a lot first

If you’re like me, then it can help to take a look at what other people are doing before just jumping right in. So do some online searching and subscribe to some cool blogs in your niche. Of course, you don’t want to copy what they are doing. And you don’t want to spend too much time just reading and not creating. But getting that sort of inspiration can really help you get excited about blogging.

Write how you talk

Finding your voice as a blogger is a really complex process, and one that I’ll definitely cover more in depth in later posts. But at least when you’re getting started, I think it’s a good policy to just write in a style that comes naturally to you. When you go through your posts and read them, they should sound sort of like how you talk in everyday life.

Focus on other visuals

Of course, if written words aren’t your main focus or a format you’re super comfortable with, you could go another direction. You could instead focus more on creating beautiful imagery to include in your posts, either with photos or maybe even a video with music playing over it. Then you can get away with just writing short posts to sort of explain your work.

Take a break before editing

I know from talking to a lot of other introverted boss ladies (and from personal experience) that hitting that “publish” button, especially on a post that’s really personal or that you worked really hard on, can be a big source of stress. While sometimes I think it’s best to just jump right in, I’ve found that hitting that button becomes a little easier when you give yourself a little break beforehand. So once you’ve completed your post and think you’re pretty happy with it, hit that “save draft” button and close the window out for at least a day. Then go back to it and read it with a set of fresh eyes. If you’re still happy with it, then you can schedule it to publish without quite as much anxiety.

Create a doable schedule

There are always plenty of excuses not to blog. Obviously we all have other things going on. And sometimes people, particularly we introverts, think we just have nothing to say. So that’s why it’s a good idea to set yourself up with a schedule and a set of post ideas when you’re feeling particularly inspired. Put those posts on your calendar and make blogging a part of your regular routine. Just don’t force yourself to blog more than you’re comfortable with. If you only have enough time/ideas to blog once a week, stick with that schedule!

Get input from people you trust

When you’re first getting started with blogging, it’s totally natural for you to be a little nervous and think that your blog isn’t as good as it should be, or as good as other people’s blogs. You should try to just banish those thoughts from your mind. But if you think it would be helpful to get a little assistance, you can ask a close friend or family member that you trust if they would mind reading a couple of posts so that they can share their input. Getting that impartial second opinion can help you feel a little more confident about putting your thoughts out there.

Don’t compare yourself to others

And along those same lines, make sure that you never try to put your blog up to others for comparison. There are so many people out there who have been blogging successfully for years. So for you to compare your level of success to those people, or even people who started blogs around the same time as you did, is really not fair. We’re all different. So looking too closely into what other people are doing only really serves as a distraction.

Have a marketing plan

Another way to increase your blogging confidence is through reader interaction. A lot of bloggers go through this stage (as have I) where we thought that what we were putting out there wasn’t good enough because it didn’t get a lot of views or comments or whatever. But in a lot of those cases (I know it was true in my case) it’s just because you’re not really putting your posts out there. Just because you blog doesn’t mean that thousands of people are going to find your posts. And if they can’t even find it, they definitely can’t comment or tell you how great your posts are. One tweet automated from your WordPress account isn’t enough. You need to really market your blog if you want to see interaction on your posts. Sign up for multiple social media sites! Comment on other blogs! Learn how to interact with people online! I know all of that can be tough, so slowly work yourself up to all of that (maybe add one site/marketing activity at a time). But you need to have an actual plan or you’re never going to really be happy with the level of interaction that your posts get. And that’s caused more than just a few bloggers to give up.

You don’t need to share it!

Now here’s where I completely contradict what I just said. If you simply want to use your blog as a creative outlet or if you want to work on your blogging skills before really putting yourself out there, you can totally blog without a marketing plan. Just have fun with it and build up your blogging confidence on your own. If, at some point, you want to use your blog as an actual part of your business, then you’ll have an archive or at least a lot of great blogging skills to start with.

Blogging is a constantly evolving process, and there’s no one right way to do it. These are some of the things that have worked for me over the past several years. Do you have any other tips you think would add to the list?