16 years ago, I hoped I’d still be blogging — as my job.
While it doesn’t replace my job yet, my blogging efforts are on the way there.
So…in some ways, I’ve progressed more than 2010 me thought I could.
Blogging has changed so much across nearly two decades.
I watched the shift from hobby blogging to professional blogging to influencer prior to the content creation boom in 2020.
I remember when bloggers were devalued and criticized by mainstream media, and when companies thought we were entitled for asking to be compensated to promote their products.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned?
Blogging won’t die out; it will simply evolve.
Every year, everyone creates posts and videos about whether blogging is dead or dying.
This panic is brought on by those who heavily rely on chasing the next new thing.
Tumblr killed blogging, except it didn’t.
Twitter killed blogging, except it’s a microblogging platform.
Vine killed blogging, then Vine died. Same with YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok and Threads.
When Mediavine and other premium ad networks cracked down on AI-generated content by decommissioning publishers, those publishers panicked about how blogging is dead.
If language learning modules (LLMs) die, bloggers will panic about how blogging is dead because they can no longer generate plagiarized content.
Similar happened with cryptocurrency bloggers, when their blogs died alongside the trends.
You see where I’m going with this?
Bloggers experience major setbacks, blogging becomes harder because of people trying to game and manipulate the algorithm, so they conclude blogging is dead or dying.
The term for this is confirmation bias. Something happens to them, they look for other people it’s happening to, they conclude the reason their blogs died is due to external factors — not anything they did.
Confirmation bias and the frequency illusion are common in blogging communities and discussions. The only way to combat this is to learn to identify biases and unpack the ones you face the most.
Everyone has biases, so you will never be free of them. Thinking you have no biases is called the bias blind spot.
I prevent myself from getting lost in the blogging-is-dying panic by staying away from clustered communities, where people are led by their panic.
As a blogger keen to have my blog replace my full-time job so I can work for myself as an online business owner, I cannot afford that kind of panic. It’s anxiety-driven, rather than strategy-based.
Being realistic is important, but so is creating systems and adapting alongside technology so you don’t fall behind. This is part of running a business.
Learn to DIY as much of your blog as you can.
Blogging in 2026 isn’t how it was in 2016 or even 2010.
You can pay someone to fix the minor issues on your website.
I’m not judging you for taking that route, but…sometimes, we’re talking $150+ for five-minute fixes!
It takes ~5-10 minutes to verify your domain in an email marketing service like Kit, and bloggers are online paying someone $150 to copy-paste into fields, plus $300 to make sure there are no errors.
What errors, Miranda? If you’re paying someone to copy-paste, to do something they say they know how to do, that $300 is a scam because the “errors” will come from them.
Knowing how to make your blog run puts into perspective the cost of that.
I know how to verify my domains in Kit and Proton Mail. I’d never pay for that.
But I also know how to set up an automated evergreen email sequence in Kit, and I’d still pay someone to do that, because it’d save me HOURS.
Niches aren’t required.
A lifestyle blog and a niche blog are two different types of blogs!
You can try to “niche down” a lifestyle blog, but it doesn’t work well because you’re trying to stuff lifestyle blogging into the niche box when it has its own box.
Regardless, you don’t need a niche to blog successfully.
I literally do not follow a niche, unless you consider me the niche of my blog (’cause technically, I am). My blog revolves around me, my life, and the topics I want to focus on.
Your writing is your voice.
It’s not how you talk, but how elements of yourself shine throughout your written words.
Your voice is a piece of your personality.
If you want to make a specific impression on people, but keep struggling, try changing your writing voice.
Learn how to write better, more confidently, more humorously depending on how you want people to feel once they finish reading a post.
For years, my blog posts felt so whiny. I tried changing the content and even how I wrote them, to no avail. I took some writing classes, learned how to write more confidently, and even had to grow as a person in order to stop writing whiny blog posts.
Sometimes the issue with the writing voice is not the writing itself, but the writer themselves.
Create content YOU want to read.
Would you read your posts if they were on a different site, by someone else?
Do you find your posts interesting, or do you read them only when you have to?
If you’re not in love with the content you create, neither will your readers be. People notice when you’re not into it. The writing feels stale, like you’re trying to be done with the post but can’t be yet because it’s way too short.
No one’s gonna stick around to binge-read a boring blog.
I spent 8 years analyzing the blogs I loved reading the most and implemented common elements into my blog strategy — with fries on the side. This is what my blogging tips teach.
It’s okay to change your mind.
You’re going to change your mind — about your blog name, topics, content strategy, design, etc.
That’s normal, and it’s great!
Changing your mind about how you maintain your blog means you’re [probably] growing, and your blog is able to grow with you.
I’ve had a lot of great blogging ideas over the years, but most of them fit well onto Lemon & Lively and saved me the trouble of having to manage new ones.
Sometimes, I start new blogs I end up merging into L&L like, “Nope, never mind,” and it’s fine.
It’s okay to change your mind. You’re allowed to change your mind.
Befriend bloggers.
Blogging is lonely.
Non-bloggers don’t get it.
Beginner bloggers try to get it.
Established bloggers do get it, but usually have already befriended fellow bloggers.
Befriending bloggers as a new blogger is harder now because you have to find them first, but also…money gets in the way. Bloggers are competitive, even when they say they’re not.
So some bloggers befriend each other on the basis of reciprocal promotion, mistaking the friendship as networking.
It’s something to be aware of, not an impossible feat.
Live your life.
Don’t stop living your life to dedicate yourself to your blog.
Blogging has motivated me to go out and explore the world, when I would’ve instead stayed home.
Like, some topics I choose to post about are because I know they will challenge me to try new things or go out into the world more.
I will never be a full-on travel blogger, nor will I ever blog about running marathons. Geocaching isn’t my thing, either. But I do see myself exploring my local community more as time goes on.
Maybe even going to local events, writing about those as is relevant to my blog.
The possibilities are endless, and that’s why blogging is so great — it can literally change your life.
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