Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of my clients and others saying “I think I should just give up on my blog. It’s a lot of work and I’m just not seeing results.”

I remember having those same thoughts when I started my blog willowbottom.com.

You look at other bloggers and how they can support their family while working on something they love, and you want that too! So you learn how to create a blog, you put a lot of time and effort into it, you launch and nothing happens. Months go by and you’re still working hard to get content out, but still no results…

You feel discouraged and like it’s not worth it. You wonder how so and so’s blog is doing so well with so many followers, yet yours goes unnoticed.

Maybe you feel like your blog isn’t good enough. You see the website of someone you’ve been following for a long time and you have no idea how to create a site that looks like theirs or you feel your content is lacking compared to theirs and discouragement sets in.

Does this sound familiar to you?

You’re not alone. It’s something we all go through in the beginning and to be honest, sometimes years into blogging, but playing the comparison game can rob us of our joy and make blogging a chore instead of something enjoyable.

This post contains important ways that we can end the comparison game.

Everyone starts at zero

No one starts a blog with followers. It takes time, lots of time. I always tell my clients not to compare your first day to someone else’s 100. We all have to start somewhere.

To build an audience you need to build trust. The best way to do this is, to be honest, and be consistent.

Consistency will show your audience and search engines that your blog is relevant, which will keep people interested.

People like posts that are honest and real and they can tell if you’re not sincere. Unless you’re a fiction writer, always be honest and upfront with your audience.

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Also Read: 15 Things all new bloggers need

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Nothing good comes easy

Blogging is hard at times. Writer’s block, technical difficulties, and low engagement get to everyone.

Some posts will be a hit while others are a flop. We all have this struggle.

It can leave us feeling like we’re not good enough but I can tell you, something inspired you to start a blog and you followed that inspiration so please don’t give up.

I think a lot of new bloggers come into it thinking that it’s easy and let me tell you, it’s not. It takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work. No blogger has gotten where they are today by sitting back and letting search engines and social media do the work for them.

If you want to start a blog, you need to be ready to dedicate a lot of time to it. You will grow, but again, it takes time.

Your blog is a piece of you

Your blog reflects you, no one else. It’s this individuality that draws people to read blogs.

Even if you write about a subject that is similar to a post written by someone else, it will be yours because you’re writing from your experience. I’m sure there are thousands of posts out there about ending the comparison game. This post I’m sure isn’t any better than those, but this is my writing, my experiences, and my way of helping new bloggers and you are sitting there reading it and I hope enjoying what you’re reading.

One thing I love about life is that we are always learning and that’s always the case with blogging. We never stop learning and improving.

I don’t care how great a writer you are, your first blog posts are going to be rough and you might even feel like un-publishing them after you write better content, but don’t because it’s good to see growth. You and your audience can look back at your first posts and see how far you’ve come and I think that has a positive effect on retaining your audience.

I know sometimes it’s easier said than done, but please don’t be discouraged when you see other blogs, but remember that they started where you are now. Go look at their first posts and see their growth. I find it so encouraging to see what can happen when you put your mind to it and keep moving forward. Great things can be accomplished.

There is something great about the blogging community that no one realizes until you’re in it and that is, that there isn’t a competition. We are all in this together and we want to help each other.

Of course, we want our own blog to do well but we want to help our fellow bloggers too and it makes us feel good when they’re successful.

Join Facebook Groups for blogging to find a community of bloggers who want to grow their blogs and help yours grow as well.

Instead of saying:

“No one reads my content because it’s not as good as others.” Say, “How can I improve my content?”

“I’ll never have as many followers as them.” Say, “I know it’ll take hard work, but I can grow my audience if I put my mind to it.”

Positivity and a willingness to learn and grow goes a long way in blogging.

I have faith in you. I know your blog will become a success if you keep going.