Blog tip no. 38

Go easy on yourself.

As much as I’d like to sit here and say blogging is all glitter and gold, sometimes it isn’t.

There will be times when you don’t get many visitors, or when someone writes a nasty comment, or perhaps you aren’t getting any new followers. But in those times, you’ve got to keep your head up.

I used to write a weekly column for a newspaper and a few times, readers would email me or write letters to the editor loaded with all sorts of negative things about my work.

When I got down about it, I was given some advice from a fellow columnist. He told me that I should take the nasty emails and letters as the biggest compliment, because it’s proof people are reading it, it got them so worked up they crafted a piece of their own, and chances are, they’re going to read your work again to see if you respond.

It might sound backward now, but it’s thinking that comes in handy if you ever get down about your blog.

So, give yourself a break.