Blogging: An Exercise in Building Confidence & Moving Past Fear
I act with courage even though I’m afraid. Afraid of being judged, not being enough or appearing foolish. I've had this internal struggle all my life, but I take risks anyway. These fearful thoughts pop into my head all the time, nonetheless, I’ve come to realize fear may never go away. My job is to do my best and move forward.
Whenever I'm afraid, I ask myself two questions: (1) what's the worst that can happen? (2) is this really going to hurt me? Now, I know the answers to these questions will include some variation of the word NO, but I'm a thinker; I wouldn't be me if I didn't overthink the good, bad and ugly when making decisions.
Scary Yet Exciting Stuff
Blogging has been a scary yet fun experience for me. Most of my blog posts are personal and putting my stuff/baggage on-line for all to read is nerve-racking stuff. How will people receive my work? I think about that every time I hit publish. I cringe when I receive a comment notification in my email inbox. Although, I'm scared and afraid, I refuse to be paralyzed by my fears. I blog in hopes that people can learn from my experiences. And I continue to blog each week because of the warm comments I receive from women whose feedback challenge and inspire me. So last month, in an attempt to increase my confidence and nudge myself out of my comfort zone, I did the following exciting yet scary things:
1. I wrote my very first guest post for Diedre Anthony's blog, “Are Those Your Kids” about raising a daughter with an independent spirit. My daughter, Kenya, has taught me some amazing lessons about acceptance and respect; I wanted to share what I learned. Diedre's blog is amazing. She writes about her experience in a biracial marriage and raising biracial children.
2. I boosted a post on Facebook, which ran for 24 hours, to promote my blog post about the resting bitch face. I did this to target fans of Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed shared a list post earlier that day about the resting bitch face and I wanted to capitalize on that momentum by promoting my post. I was petrified, not scared but petrified! Promoting on Facebook scared me because I was afraid my writing wouldn't be received well. I couldn't even bring myself to hit the button to finalize the ad; I had my coworker do it while I walked to the bathroom. Pretty cheesy...huh? Boosting the post got me the following results:
- 5 Facebook page likes
- 25 likes on the boosted post
- 2036 paid reach
- 258 blog page view
- 40 social shares directly from my blog
- Expense: $10
3. Now that I had some confidence and experience with the boosted posts, I boosted another one "Singe, Almost 40 & Happy”. This time I promoted it for the weekend, Friday to Sunday. I chose to do this because I figured Facebook usage increases over the weekend. Stats from promotion below:
- 10 Facebook page likes
- 78 likes on the boosted post
- 10 Facebook comments
- 2904 paid reach
- 400 blog page views
- 100 social shares directly from my blog
- Expense: $25
So Was It Worth It?
It was absolutely worth it; not because of the Facebook gains or increased blog traffic. I gained confidence in myself and my ability. I still get nervous when I hit publish, boost or send, but bad reviews or comments won’t kill me. What will slowly kill me is failing to act. If I had let fear guide me, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I act even though I’m afraid…someone living in fear could never say this. What inspires you to move forward when you’re afraid?
I look forward to reading your comments. Don’t forget to hit the share icons below...sharing is caring!
