I have been doing this fitness blogging thing for just over a year now and along the way I have learnt a thing or two about the realities of running a blog. There are lots of preconceptions and stereotypes around blogging however theres a lot more to it than meets the eye. Here are a few things I’ve learnt about being a male blogger…

You have a niche

Before you even hit publish and start creating content you have a slight advantage over all the other bloggers out there. You are a male blogger! It’s no secret that there are far more female bloggers out there than male ones, so use this to your advantage and be a thorn amongst the roses.

Men are known to be a lot less creative than women

When it comes to creativity, I have to admit, I’m not the best at it. I’ve always been more of a numbers person than a writer. I don’t think anyone has a clue about what running a blog actually entails, and to be completely honest, when I started I didn’t know either. In essence you have to do multiple jobs; writing, photographing, website design, marketing, strategising, content creation, SEO and more. Often enough I just blagged it as I went along, learning bits and bobs here and there! In the end, you end up developing a whole new skill set and have endless respect for other bloggers who make it look so effortless. It also looks great on your CV!

You have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and what you’re doing

Theres a big difference between having a big ego and having a lot of confidence in yourself. Every time I’m in the gym I’ll see girls taking photos of themselves, and to me it feels normal. However as a guy, I feel theres a lot more pressure on you to just work out and not look self obsessed.

When I mention fitness blogging I am usually greeted with a look of confusion or curiosity. The first question I normally get is ‘You don’t have a 6 pack, so you can’t possibly be a fitness blogger?’. Then come the rest of the questions – ‘Isn’t that a bit girly?’, ‘What do you actually do?’. And then the inevitable – ‘Do you make money from it?’. It seems people know no limits when it comes to asking about blogging, so you should just be confident and show them that you believe in what you’re doing.

You have to be good at talking to women… in a non creepy way!

Blogging, let alone fitness blogging, is an industry completely saturated by women. Over the last few months I’ve discovered that when I go to events it is normally the same crowd there, or at least 80% the same people. Most often enough I stand out at these events like a sore thumb because I’m around 2 foot taller than everyone else and I’m normally the only guy there.

If you want to get anywhere in this community, you have to learn to talk to women without seeming like you’re hitting on them. This is my biggest piece of advice I could give any male blogger. The approval of fellow bloggers goes a long way in this world so you have to build their trust. Once you’ve been validated as ‘non creepy’ by at least one girl in the group, it’s a lot easy to be accepted by the rest.

You have to prove yourself more

As a male fitness blogger you’re always under pressure to be seen as the best, an expert in your field. No I don’t have a six pack, but there’s A LOT more to fitness than having a toned stomach, but a lot of people forget that. Adding top fitness accolades to your repertoire like running 10k’s, tough mudders or half and full marathons to me seem like one of the only ways to show you’re serious about fitness and not just in this for the free stuff.

It’s easy to get caught up in the high school drama

Most people know each other in the ‘blogosphere’ and like always bad news travels fast. There can be a lot of bitchy-ness and competition between bloggers that is why it is essential to develop a good reputation. As tempting as it is sometimes, I have learned not to chat rubbish or make digging comments on photos. In fact I have even cooled it in regards to calling people out for buying followers! Stick to deadlines, produce high quality content and exceed expectations, be the alpha male and prove you don’t have time to get caught up in all the high school drama.

What would you like to know about blogging?