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How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a Blogger
One of the most common questions I get from aspiring bloggers is how to overcome imposter syndrome and feeling like you aren’t good enough.
Do you feel the same way?
Maybe you’ve been dreaming about starting a blog for months or even years now, but you can’t bring yourself to do it because the fear of failure keeps getting in the way. It’s a common feeling, and you aren’t alone!
But let’s talk about how to defeat imposter syndrome.
Because I’m here to tell you that there’s nothing that should stop you!
1. There’s no perfect time to start.
One thing that can hold aspiring bloggers back from actually getting started is waiting until the “right” time when conditions are perfect to start a blog.
But trust me when I say there’s no perfect time to start!
You’ll never feel “ready” if you keep waiting for the right moment. There will always be some excuse (I’m too busy, I don’t know enough, there’s too much competition) if you keep waiting. So forget all about that!
I often hear from potential bloggers who are worried that it’s too late to start blogging and that they have missed out on getting started.
But guess what? This is something I heard seven years ago when I first started blogging, and I still hear it today. Yes, blogging is always changing and evolving, but it’s never too late to get started and you can still be successful!
2. You don’t have to know everything.
You don’t have to know everything to become a successful blogger.
A huge thing that holds many aspiring bloggers back is worrying that they don’t know enough about their niche or that no one cares what they have to say.
But the truth is, you don’t have to be an expert in your niche.
You just have to be passionate about it and be one step further along in your journey than someone else might be. For example, let’s say you want to start a personal finance blog but you still have lots of debt you’re working to pay off.
You might feel like you should wait until you’ve paid off all your debt before you can start blogging about personal finance. But that’s not the case!
Just sharing your experience about your debt payoff journey is credentials enough for you to get started right now. People want to read blogs like this!
It’s more relatable and shows you’re a real person.
3. Don’t compare yourself to others.
One of the worst things you can do as a blogger is compare yourself to others. There’s always going to be someone better than you, someone who knows more than you, someone who is more successful than you, and so on.
You also shouldn’t worry about the fact that there are thousands of other (more popular) bloggers out there in the same niche as you already.
Yes, that’s true. But your goal shouldn’t be to become the number one most popular blog in the world. You don’t need everyone to find your content and resonate with it, just some people. Even just 1,000 truly engaged readers and subscribers is enough to make a full-time income from blogging.
The more you compare yourself to others, the more frustrated and inadequate you can feel. So I recommend tuning out the noise completely!
Unfollow and unsubscribe from others, and focus on yourself and growing your own platform. It takes a delusional level of confidence to get started, but soon it will become second nature to you the longer you stick with it.
4. Don’t worry about making things perfect.
The first version of anything you do is going to be terrible.
Your first blog design, your first blog post, your first product. It’s not going to be good and looking back on it you might cringe, but that’s okay.
The only way to succeed is to just get started. I recommend being as iterative as possible. Constantly put out new content, experiment with things, create new products, and make changes when you see what’s working and what’s not.
The more you DO, the more you’ll be able to tweak your process once you see what is successful. Don’t worry about making every little thing perfect.
5. People won’t judge you.
Another common fear I hear from aspiring bloggers is worrying that people will judge them for starting a blog or leave mean comments or criticism.
Honestly, you don’t have to worry much about that!
In over seven years of blogging, I’ve gotten very few mean or critical comments. And the amount of positive feedback I’ve gotten weighs it out completely. I don’t give any thought to the outliers who feel the need to be negative.
If you’re worried about people you know reading your blog and feel like you can’t be yourself without being judged, there’s an easy solution for that too.
My blog is semi-anonymous (I don’t use my real last name and have very few photos of myself online) and I’ve had no issues with this at all.
You can still be a successful blogger without revealing your identity. If you’re worried about that, just use a pen name and keep your blog anonymous.
6. What’s the worst that could happen?
Finally, ask yourself what’s the worst that could happen if you start your blog.
Maybe you won’t get any traffic or make any money.
In that case, all you’re really out is the cost of starting your blog (which can be done for under $40 if you’re on a budget) and the time you invested.
There are FAR worse ways to waste your time and money.
In the grand scheme of things, you have nothing to lose by starting a blog.
And the reward is much greater than the risk when it comes to blogging. Because if you stay consistent with it, you have the potential to grow your audience and earn a lot of money doing something that you love.
7. You will never regret it.
Finally, going off what I said above, it’s important to remember that you won’t regret starting a blog, even if it ends up not going anywhere.
Do you regret any hobby you’ve started and given up on in the past?
I’ve started and quit many things in my life… piano lessons, ballet, writing and publishing a novel. I don’t regret any of those things, even if I never got quite as far as I wanted! Starting a blog is really no different from any of those activities.
If you don’t succeed and end up quitting, it’s a learning experience.
Again, you really have nothing to lose!
I wouldn’t recommend starting a blog if it was something you would regret. For example, it’s not like investing thousands of dollars into starting a brick-and-mortar business and potentially losing your life savings if it doesn’t succeed.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a Blogger
So there you have it! I hope this helps you overcome imposter syndrome as a blogger. What should you do next? Sign up for my free email course!
You can also read my step-by-step guide on how to start a blog.
Don’t let imposter syndrome prevent you from going after your goals!
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