Courtesy of Danielle McInnes via Unsplash
It’s so funny that this post happens to be dropping on this particular Thursday. Why, you ask? This week I did something that I have never done before in the history of my blog.
I completely, totally forgot about it.
Yep, you read that right. It’s been a weird few weeks with social distancing and I think the lack of being out and about (I’m used to going somewhere almost every day) with other people is getting to me a bit. Full transparency – I’ve been having a difficult time being productive and my creativity with photography has hit a snag. As I was mentally gearing up for my day yesterday, I realized, Oh, crap. I haven’t even started on my blog. The one that’s publishing tomorrow.
Which brings me back to my first comment – It’s funny that I planned a blog post about my blogging process for the week that I just so happened to forget about the whole dang thing. Laugh with me.
Here’s The Truth
The workflow of my blog has changed quite a bit since its launch. I don’t view this as a bad thing because I’ve learned that it takes some experimenting to figure out what works the best, which could be something very different compared to another business. In the beginning, I wanted to be a heavy blogger, publishing new posts three times a week. Writing has always been something I’ve enjoyed so that should have been a piece of cake, right? Wrong. Three posts a week was not feasible for me so I cut back to two for the first couple of months. This went alright, but it became tedious and the quality of my content was suffering. I finally cut back to simply one post a week and it’s something I’ve been able to not only manage, but enjoy!
My Process
The scheduling aspect of my blog isn’t the only part that’s seen several changes. I’ve also changed a lot about the way I create each of my posts. I started writing posts with sort of a checklist system. I would have an intro, 3-5 points, and a conclusion – Similar to how you would layout a paper. Then I tried just powering through an entire post from beginning to end. Both of these processes were dull and draining, sucking all the joy out of writing for me. I even began to dread this portion of work each week, which is when I knew that I had to make a change.
My current process was actually inspired by one of my favorite authors, who also has a blog. While reading one of her posts, I couldn’t help but think how much I loved her style. Her posts can be read as if she’s having a casual conversation with you, which is how I want my posts to be read by you guys! When I revisited my posts, I decided to take some of the sophistication out of my writing and instead just “brain dump” everything into a post, then go back to polish it all for publishing. This has cut down on the amount of time it takes for me to write a post (leaving more time for me to work on other tasks) and it’s made the whole process much more fun!
So, What’s Next?
Having goals for everything you do is so important! They motivate you and provide structure for your growth, which is what I want for my blog. My short term goals, being 1-2 years, are to be able to build partnerships and write sponsored posts so that I can share some of my favorite things with you all! I also want to learn how to batch work efficiently so that my posts are 100% ready for you guys to read a month or more in advance.
I love sharing my goals with you guys because while it’s mainly up to me to make them happen, I cannot do this alone! You guys play such a huge part in helping me meet my goals, so THANK YOU for being so encouraging and supportive!
Let this be a lesson that, hey, sometimes things don’t play out quite the way you planned. Sometimes pandemics come out of no where and social distancing is required, which sets off a chain reaction that eventually knocks you out of your work groove. *shrugs* It’s important to remember that this is temporary. If you’re in the same boat as me, having forgot your next blog post or another important aspect of your business, be sure to cut yourself some slack. This will not hurt you or set you back farther than you can catch up. It will not ruin your business. Pick back up from where you left off, investigate what knocked you out of your rhythm, and make provisions for the future.
If blogging is a key part of your business, whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been around for a while, I encourage you to check out these awesome blogging resources by one of my favorite business gurus, Jenna Kutcher. These are great for boosting your productivity when it comes to creating your posts as well as teaching you how to make your posts more successful!
