Then, there are some of us who take blogging seriously. Somewhere along the way, we heard that we might be able to make money from blogging or that companies use highly read blogs for reviews and giveaways. Suddenly, we find ourselves in the crazy world of trying to get top-ranking blog status. There are followers to attract, sites to network with, and little do-dads to use like Apture or Networked Blogs widgets. Our blogs are rounded out with affiliate programs and internet stores that can be set up through online stores like Amazon.com. We check our site stats at least once a day on Google webmaster and analytics tools, Alexa, and Technorati. We fall asleep dreaming about how to get more traffic and when we wake up, the first thing we do, is head to our computers.
Suddenly, what was once enjoyable has become a thorn in our side. It’s become a thing on our to-do list instead of a treat to sit down and do once the to-do list is done. An “ought’ instead of a “want”. Pressure instead of enjoyment and competition instead of self-fulfillment.
How can we as bloggers avoid the stress, while tackling this whole blogging thing in a way that we hope is profitable? What can we do to ensure it doesn’t steal from our family by making us neurotic, stress-filled women who are tied to our computer every waking moment?
1. We need to realize that we can’t be all things to all people.
We need to find what we either like to do, are good at doing, or know a lot about, and focus on these things in our blog writing. Picture this scenario:
Blogger one: She is a part of every affiliate program there is. When readers hop on her site, they see ads for everything from coupon sites to organic sites. She writes about everything under the sun. Readers never know what to expect when they go to her blog. She may be writing about the new health care bill one day and reviewing chocolate the next.
Blogger two: Readers know what to expect when they come to her blog. She writes about the same common themes—though with new information and a constant fresh style. Readers know her blog is a source of information for a certain topic, maybe two. It may be reviews or it may be parenting. Perhaps it’s green living or maybe it’s about gourmet foods.
Does this mean we should only keep our blogs limited to one topic? No. That’s boring.
At the same time, we can’t write about everything under the sun either.
Instead, it’s best to figure out what makes us, us, and write about those things. For me, I am a Christian, stay-at-home-homeschooling mom, who is in pursuit of the all-natural, self-sustaining lifestyle. I love to read. Thus, my blog reflects those things. I write about parenting, Christianity, all natural living, and occasionally toss in a book review (more on reviews in a second). My blog remains pretty consistent across the board in what I write about.
What does your life consist of? Write about that. Become the expert on the things that make you, you! And make that your blog.
2. Schedule it all out. A planned blog is a stress-free blog. Get in the habit of keeping pen and paper with you and jotting down ideas whenever they hit you. Ideas never come when you sit down to blog. They instead come, when you’re taking your toddler to the bathroom at Target or are elbow deep in canning.
Have a brainstorm list, that is always ongoing, to help pull you through writer’s block.
Also, have your weeks scheduled out. I can’t tell you how nice it is, to look at my schedule and see what articles I’m writing in the coming week! I don’t have to wrack my brain. I look at my plans, and start writing.
I use both a month calendar that is on my wall and a weekly chart. I can see at a glance, everything from what review is due, to when a giveaway ends on my month calendar, and then every Sunday, I plan out my blogging week by transferring from that, to the weekly chart I have created.
Organization is key when blogging becomes a serious venture.
3. Keep reviews limited. Unless you write a blog that is all about reviews, don’t fill your blog up with them. Readers want personal! They want to know what makes you tick, what life is like for you. Too many reviews will drive them away.
4. While we all want to know about great products and love to enter giveaways, at the same time, when we give our readers nothing but reviews instead of “us”, they lose personal interest in the blog. Don’t sabatoge your blog by having 75% reviews and 25% personal posts. Flip that ratio around and your readers will be reading for more than just the giveaways that catch their eye.
If, and when you do reviews, do reviews that fit your blog. As much as I would love to review chocolate (yes, there is a site out there that does this!) it doesn’t fit with my blog which has a focus on all-natural living. Neither do jewelry reviews or processed food reviews. Instead, I try to keep with reviews that pertain to my blog. Reviews of books about parenting or green living, green products, toys for children, or, because I love to read, Christian fiction and non-fiction books. But again, I keep those reviews limited and attempt to keep the blog more personal between each review.
5. Network. Network for the sake of developing friendships not for ulterior motives. Comment on other people’s blogs and get to know them. Don’t expect other bloggers to come to your blog and want to hear about your life, if you don’t want to hear about theirs.
6. Additionally, for heaven’s sake, don’t use Facebook and Twitter for promoting your blog only! I can’t tell you how many people I have removed from my Twitter or Facebook lists, because every tweet or every status is an advertisement. Yes, I follow links to great giveaways and such, but as I tweeted last week, “If your last 15 tweets are all I see and they are all about advertising your blog, you need to go!” Like your blog, be personable in your tweets and statuses, and people will be more willing to read the non-personal ones you put up.
7. Lastly, don’t lose yourself in this blogging thing. I wrote an article called In Bondage to Blogging? for one of my sites a few weeks ago, on how we lose ourselves and we lose our families because we are trying so hard to raise successful blogs. It really hit a nerve with our readers and it was one of our most highly commented posts – which tells me I am not the only one who struggles with being in bondage to my blog.
Budget your blog time and limit it. This is a must. Keep your marriage and kids top priority, not your blog. This is difficult in a competitive blogging world but a necessity. A blog will always be there. Our children won’t. Don’t miss out on time with them for the sake of attracting one more follower.
Truth be told, if you’re kids have given up asking you to play games with them and your husband has given up asking you to come to bed with him—and you think back and can’t remember the last time you had a block of time in which you weren’t at your computer but instead, on the floor with your children—then you are blogging too much.
Blogging should be rewarding and enjoyable. If it isn’t, then your blogging habits either need to be re-invented or blogging needs to end. Don’t blog because you should – blog for the love of blogging.
Guest Post: For the Love of Blogging http://bit.ly/80fGBx #BlogU