The Do's and Dont's of Blogging | Celebrating 2 years as a blogger | Atlanta photographer
Let me start this post off by saying I’m a little late my own celebration of being a consistent blogger. My first post on this blog was actually published on August 1, 2016. But I didn’t realize I had been blogging for 2 years until I randomly went back and checked the other day. So of course, being who I am and believing completely in celebrating even the small milestones in life, I decided I wanted to dedicate a post to this moment.
Sidenote: I did have a blog prior to this one before I switched my platform to Squarespace, but that site has since been deleted (so don’t go looking for it, because it was kinda janky… just being honest lol).
But here we are! 2 years into this blogging game and I’ve learned a few lessons along the way that I’d love to share:
For one, make sure you take the time to schedule your breaks.
Earlier this year I experienced complete burn out. My current goal is to post a new blog once a week, typically on Wednesday mornings/afternoons. At first I had the goal to blog 2X - 3X a week, but I really aim for my blogs to have content worthy of reading and I felt worried that trying to push out so many would result in less than stellar posts.
So far I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping up with my goal of once a week, but then when I hit a block I hit it HARD. It wasn’t just that I couldn’t think of topics, it was that I didn’t want to. I had lost all of my motivation. I completely checked out and although 10% of me felt bad about it, the other 90% was relieved.
So what did this teach me? Rather than waiting to hit the wall I should allow space for myself to take a break before the wall catches me off guard and I’m completely burned out.
I know it’s a popular frame of thought that we should be working 24/7, but ain’t nobody got time for that. I mean… ain’t nobody got energy for that. We all need to take a time out every once in a while and that’s okay. So in 2019, I plan to pre-plan my breaks and use those periods to rejuvenate myself, brainstorm new ideas, and appreciate the hard work I’ve already put in versus always thinking 3 steps ahead to what’s next.
Ask yourself often, “why am I doing this?”
It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the various activities you may be doing, and when that happens you can sometimes lose sight of just WHY you’re participating in the hustle and bustle in the first place. It’s important to check in with yourself on a regular basis and remember what your specific goals are. Take the time to reflect on why your current actions are important in helping you reach those goals.
I wholeheartedly believe it’s okay to put things on pause while you re-assess your why if it’s necessary. If you’re swimming in the middle of the ocean and you’ve lost your bearings, it’s perfectly reasonable to tread water while you figure out the right direction before continuing on your path, right? Keep that same mentality when it comes to your business or your brand or whatever it is you’re building. Always keep your “why” in perspective and if you need to take a moment to reconsider that, take it.
Build what they want, not what YOU want them to want.
You may be reading that and thinking “……..Chanel, what??” But let me explain.
You know the saying “build it and they will come?'“ Well, that’s not entirely true. Just because you WANT your audience to want what you’re offering doesn’t mean they will necessarily want it. Then guess what? You’ve wasted your time building something no one wants.
Now if you’ve built something solely based off of fulfilling your own desires and not necessarily to meet the needs of others, that’s fine and dandy. Then who cares if no one wants what you’ve built? You did this for you and only you. You don’t need anyone else to want or even support it because it’s JUST FOR YOU.
However if what you’ve built relies on others wanting it in order for it to flourish, then you have to take into account what others want and need from you.
If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog I wholeheartedly encourage you to do it. Push aside your worries that no one cares what you have to say and instead focus on why you want to put yourself out there in the first place. Whether it’s to share your story/testimony in order to encourage others, or to make people laugh with your thoughts, or to educate and lead others in your field, or simply to display your talents - whatever you reason is, trust that it’s legit.
If you need help getting started, I’ve already got you covered with 5 tips to starting your own blog. Don’t hold yourself back if blogging is something you really want to get into. I look forward to celebrating another year providing tips, tricks, and insight around this time next year!