Welcome to our very first guest post on my.blog. We’ve long known that the .blog’osphere is rich in thoughtful content, stellar writing, and a diverse range of topics, perspectives, and experiences. We are always thinking about how we can shine a light on our favorite dotbloggers, and this new series allows us to do just that. A special thank you to Lily Snyder for contributing our first guest post.

By Lily Snyder of Lilyotron.blog

My blogging journey began in fits and starts. I attempted a blog way back on Blogger. I had recently graduated college and started my first post-grad job. I wanted to write about what I was doing and apply the management styles and project techniques I learned in college to the job. But, after an unfortunate post that led me to part ways with that position, I took a break from blogging.

A few months later, I was hired as a business analyst (my official first job out of college) for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). I just had to write about that! 

We were given a book to read, The Perfect Plant, and I thought that would be a safe topic to blog about. I didn’t have any aspirations at the time of affiliate marketing or making money from ad banners (can you tell this was the early 2000s?). Life got busy and my Blogger site lies in the dusty domain of the Internet.

A few years later I started up again—this time on WordPress. I saw they had a .blog domain and it spoke to me. I wanted to write about professional topics but I also wanted to have fun. I felt like I could do that with the .blog domain. 

I wrote about MES, IT projects, and systems. Suddenly my blog posts were getting comments! Other people who worked in the industry followed my blog and liked my posts. It inspired me to write more. I started to relax with my posts and write in my own voice. The memory of getting in trouble for a blog post still haunted me. But blogging offered me something more than my job could and would eventually lead to opportunities I could only dream of. 

Key learnings and insights

The thing about writing is that the more you do it, the more confident you get about it. Not just how you put sentences and paragraphs together, but how you express thoughts, make arguments, and even have fun. 

Some key lessons I’ve learned in over a decade of blogging:

• If you’re writing about anything related to the people you work with (especially your manager), you might want to clear it with them first.
• Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Most of the comments I receive are positive or supportive but sometimes you get a rude one. Don’t let that stop you. It’s your blog!
• Share, link, re-post, and re-write your content. It doesn’t take too long to build up an archive and lose some gems in the backlog of posts. 
• Something you may be scared to post might become your most-viewed post.
• It’s OK to switch niches. You’ll find your community in the process.

My blog has gone through a few different themes over the years. That’s because my life has taken twists and turns. I went from writing about IT manufacturing to virtual reality and working in a startup. When I had my son, I quit my startup. I was afraid I wouldn’t have anything to blog about because my work was my content. So, I wrote about being a military spouse and mother. 

I continued to write about virtual reality. I reviewed books and was invited to speak. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t tied to a company, so I could say exactly what I thought about the industry. Suddenly, people were reaching out to me for advice about their VR projects. I landed my first client (who still is today) who asked me to do some writing for her. 

My blog, which I thought was dead, became alive again. I was blogging almost daily about virtual and augmented reality, emerging technology, and its impact on businesses like manufacturing and marketing. Sticking with my blog launched me into my career 3.0. 

My blogging tips and advice for bloggers

There are a lot of people who know how to start a blog. If you want your blog to make money, there are templates for that like how to use affiliate programs, guest posts, and sponsored posts. I would suggest, if you’re starting today ask yourself, what are you blogging for? 

• Are you blogging for fun?
• Do you want to be a thought leader?
• Do you want to use a blog as a testing ground for a side project?
• Do you want to make money? 

For any blog to be successful, you have to be true to yourself. Write about what’s important to you, something you have a lot of knowledge about, topics that don’t take a lot of research to write. That’s probably your niche. 

Tips for Aspiring Bloggers

• Follow other bloggers. These could be bloggers in your niche or any blog you enjoy. That could be the style of the blogger, how they format their posts and their style. I learned about blogging challenges by following people out of my niche and was able to apply those challenges to my blog. 
• Learn how to write for the web. That means using bullets and numbers, writing in shorter paragraphs, and using headers. Styles change on how many images or infographics to use. I see a lot of text-based blogs these days. That can still have a lot of impact playing with fonts. 
• Share your work. Share your posts on your socials. Email them out. Ask people for feedback, to comment, and like your posts. It still feels weird when I do it but it’s a noisy world out there. To be noticed you have to be proactive.

Blogging Challenges 

There have been so many times over the years where I thought I would never have anything to write about. But then I read a book or someone else’s post, maybe something will happen at work and inspiration will strike. Sometimes, I’ll start writing, and the first paragraph will be fire…and then fizzle out. Sometimes blogging takes research or interviewing someone, but that helps complete a post. When I’m stuck, I use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas or create outlines. But I still have to be passionate about the topic, even if AI helps me. 

Connect with your audience

There are a lot of fun ways to connect with your audience. Respond to comments in a thoughtful, timely manner. Add a contact form or way for readers to get in touch. WordPress has fun, interactive features like “claps” so people can interact with your posts if they don’t want to comment. One way I’ve enjoyed interacting with my audience is by adding guest posts to my site.

Dot blogging into the future

My blog will always be an outlet for me. My posting schedule ebbs and flows and I’ve decided that’s OK. It’s there when I need it. Nowadays I have so many posts, I’ve been going back and updating old ones to be more recent. I reshare them and no one knows the difference. It’s exciting to see interaction on posts I originally wrote years ago. 

As immersive technology becomes mainstream, there will always be something to write about. That reminds me. I have to make a post about my demo of the Apple Vision Pro… 

Cheers!

~Lilyotron