Whenever I see someone post on social media that they are starting a blog, I admittedly think to myself "talk to me in six months and we'll see how that's going". Well, I'm four months into my own arbitrary six month "now you count as a blogger" milestone, and haven't missed a day! (Well, there was that one day that I definitely wrote a post but I wrote it on mobile and it didn't POST and I didn't catch it until the next day, so I'm still counting it as a perfect record.)
I thought I would mark the occasion by answering a few of the common questions that I have received about blogging.
1. Do you get tired of posting every day, or does it feel like drudgery sometimes?
Short answer: Yes.
But you all know how I roll now, so here's my long answer: The first couple of weeks of blogging was so much fun for me! I loved having a creative outlet, I was constantly thinking about things I was eager to say to the world, and it was an exciting new project to be working on. Now that the novelty has died off, there are plenty of days when I sit down to write a post, and I'm tired, and feel like I have nothing to say. Sometimes I get to the end of my post and still feel that same way, but more often than not, I start typing and end up having a learning experience right there on the keyboard. It has been really neat to see that happen over and over. This was one of those times, as well as this and this. If I had waited to write until I felt inspired, or like I had something to say, I wouldn't have half of the posts that I now consider "quality" ones.
2. Are you trying to make money?
I am not blogging to make money. I'm not ruling it out if it ever seemed like an appropriate opportunity, but if I never make money with this blog I would be perfectly content.
3. Well then why are you blogging?
I've talked about why I started the blog, and all of that is still true. I have a variety of additional reasons why I am blogging, or a variety of goals for what I might like to accomplish by blogging, but I am not sure that they will end up fitting the natural direction that this blog will take. I can say that I want to build a community of readers who feel like they know and trust me because they are coming along on a journey with me every day. And I hope that I can use that influence for good.
3. Do you have many readers?
Probably not by anyone's standards. I get about 20-25 views on each post, which is up from the 12-ish views on the posts in my first month or so. I guess you could say I've doubled my readership. ;)
4. Are you/do you plan to work to grow your audience?
I would love to grow my audience, and I probably will put more effort into that at some point. Maybe at that magic six month mark. I want to have enough material on the blog so that if someone were to happen upon it, there would be enough to keep them around. I am also still working out what exactly I'm blogging about, or what my voice is. It's getting more natural every day, but I'm not quite ready to try and actively do any marketing. I share each post on the blog's Facebook page (well, and through an auto feed to G+ and Twitter), and the more likes or comments those posts get, the higher my "reach" is on the post and the more views I receive. That's the closest thing to marketing that I'm doing. For now, my focus is on producing good content, and my hope is that good content will produce some natural growth in the meantime.
5. What are some of your favorite posts?
Truth be told, no one has asked me this question, but I thought it would be a fun one to answer so I'm putting it in anyway.
Sometimes I write a post and feel like I've shared valuable wisdom, and some of my favorites of those are the how I improve a bad day, things I've learned about anger, realizing how I can relate to Christ, and what I've learned about forgiveness in parenting.
I also really love posts that are vulnerable, pour my heart out kind of posts. They are so difficult to write, but there is something liberating about sharing those things. It's a feeling of pushing through discomfort, and it's satisfying. I wrote about an emotional breakdown I had, and about realizing that I was struggling with some level of depression, and about how painful motherhood is to my heart.
Lastly, I love writing about my faith and my journeys within it. I loved this one about my struggle with faith, about the secrets that God keeps from us, and the one about the teachings that have shaped the way I try to speak to others.
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Let me know if you have had any questions that I didn't answer here!
Labels: Blogging