I read somewhere on Facebook this week that list posts are passé. Done. Over. It turns out that I didn’t get the memo because I LOVE to write the darn things. List posts help me corral my thoughts and line them up in neat little rows for you all, which is virtually impossible without a dot point or two. So excuse me while I am all passé and share this week’s tips to make your blog reader-friendly. They aren’t rocket science {or rocket surgery, as we say in my family} just simple tips that will keep readers flicking through or coming back to your page.
Design and Layout
I’m a sucker for white. You can probably tell. And when you spend as much time online as I do, nothing loves your eyes more than dark type on white backgrounds. I also like wide spaces and nothing too crowded. As a reader, I don’t like my eyes hopping all over the place while reading the content. Yes, I check out sidebars, but on my own time. I don’t want them closing in on me! Run your eyes over your page. What grabs your attention, and should that REALLY be the first thing that does?
Share button and subscribe links.
I find it difficult sometimes as a reader to share a post or subscribe to a blog. This seems a little ridiculous given this is the point of writing one {in a lot of cases}. Turn on your share buttons if you are in blogger. Add a widget such as JetPack or something if with WordPress. Make it easy to share your blog. I know it’s possible to copy and paste or use a toolbar add-on like Add This or something, but that’s hard work for me, the reader. Don’t make me work for it.
Similarly, if I want to subscribe, I want the button to exist at the top of your sidebar. The RSS feed is what I’m after, and I want it to work. Blogger has the friend connect, making it easy, as long as you have the widget installed. WordPress bloggers make sure your links work and that they are easy to identify. Offer some options if you’re concerned. If I read a blog I like, I want to find it again. So I subscribe. If I can’t find where to subscribe in a few moments, I move on. Plenty, PLENTY more fish in the sea.
Spelling and grammar
I’m as guilty of this as you can be, I think. I publish quickly with errors and mistakes. I don’t mean to be careless; I like to think of it as passionate or spontaneous. But whatever spin I want, it’s annoying and hard work to read a blog with poor writing skills. It’s something I work on every day. Something I think we all should be working on. Obviously, some people are crazy talented and have all the skills. No disrespect to them. I think that’s about enough said on that.
Popular post/topic links/categories
Ever since Blogger introduced the popular posts widget, I’ve loved this idea. But as a reader, I love its GUTS. I love to be able to click on a blog’s most popular posts. You find the most random things clicking on those links. I love that. Most bloggers will tell you that those are hardly their best work {sometimes they are} but it gives you a feel for the blog. And as a reader, that’s essential.
It’s also important to use your categories and use them well. I have almost 15 on my blog. Too many by most standards. Ok, all standards. But I keep them true to form, and I think that if you need something, you’d be able to find it. As a reader, I love clicking straight to the categories and finding everything in one place. It makes it easy. Say I come to your blog for a post about cooking sugar-free. Your blog may have the rest of your life there, but if I click on the topic links {if used correctly}, there they are. All the sugar-free cooking posts in one. Easy.
A welcome page
This is something that comes from the ProBlogger 31 days to a better blog eBook. And something I’ve only implemented on this blog in the past few months. It’s a landing page. A “Hi, you’re new here” type page {that’s mine}. I use it now to land my Twitter, and Facebook clicks through. It’s a fixed page with a small welcome, some directions around the site and a few posts I love, as well as some posts readers love. It gives them an overview of what to expect here, feeds them deep into the site and gives me the chance to introduce myself before they flit away.
Sometimes it is the simple thing that makes ALL the difference. The ease of use of your site. The impact on the eyeballs {does it exhaust your eyes to read it?}. Take a look at your site, send in a family member or friend who doesn’t read it often. Get them to write down their first impressions, ask them to find their way to a couple of your main pages—that sort of thing. My Hubby does this for me sometimes. It can be a bit brutal on the ego, but it gives it to me straight. Plus, he will complain until the cows come home if it takes too long to load. So make that your mission. Get your site reviewed by someone you trust.
If you’re following along on Instagram, you would know that I decided to set some time aside to read last weekend. My books of choice from my recent book haul were Carly Findlay’s Say Hello and her curated collection of stories Growing Up Disabled in Australia. On Saturday, after sending the super delayed Suger News, I signed off and started reading. That day I pretty much finished Growing Up Disabled before starting Say Hello the next morning.
I loved them but this isn’t a book review. No, in this post I want to acknowledge the power of telling your story. Whoever you are and whatever your life looks like. As I read through Growing Up Disabled in Australia, I was moved to laugh, cry, and be challenged by my own beliefs. Forced to in the most entertaining of ways to reconsider or change my mind. Such is the power of story-tellers and the access and platform to tell their story.
There’s so much power in telling your story.
Learning to speak up and be heard is one of the key ways I define success. Always a loud child, I had to learn the difference between making noise and speaking up. It’s difficult to speak about your needs or wants for people to hear. It’s hard to tell your story on a platform no one asked you to speak from. To own your truth and invite others to hear it, whatever the motives, is empowering.
I’ve mentioned this before; it’s why I blog and why I think everyone should have a blog or similar platform. Creating the space for yourself that doesn’t require permission from society, in general, is powerful. With some time and practice, it becomes empowering for people who are like you. They can see themselves in your story, empathise, relate. But it is just as important to those that are different from you. They get to experience life from your shoes or have their eyes opened to an experience they’d never considered.
I hope you’ll find a way to tell your story.
Whether it be through writing, art, photos, video or audible story-telling. One of the highlights of social media is that the whole world is out there, ready and somewhat willing to hear from you. Yes, accessibility is still a major concern, with access to the internet being a major disparity in this and most countries. But for the most part, especially for those of you able to access and read this, you have all the tools you need to share. Speak your truth, tell your story and do it in a way, whatever way, empowers you. We all need more of that.
…
You can buy Growing Up Disabled in Australia or Say Hello from book shops – online and IRL, borrow it from the library (and ask for it if your book shop or library doesn’t have it in stock). It’s available in paperback, ebook, audiobook and large print on demand – in Australia and overseas. As always, we encourage you to support your local bookseller if you are able to do so.
Here we are, on the very first day of 2021. Not me, I’m probably still in bed sleeping off a food coma. I’m sure the drink has nothing to do with it. This is past me, writing from the New Year’s Eve morning with a determination to make sure we end this year on a high. Taking stock, looking back on what we created this year is important to me. I do it in all aspects of my life to complete the year and move forward. My blog, a lifeforce of its own now, is no different.
In May, I spoke about how I would put some focus on the blog and see if there was still something here for me. It turns out, there is. During 2020 I managed 52 blog posts. One per week on average. But it wasn’t until we neared the end of this year I remembered that I love to write. Sure, pictures can tell a 1,000 words, but I’m a writer. To capture our lives and what is happening around us in a blog post is what I love to do.
So, I’m doing it.
Simple as that. Even though I have plans to keep up the content on all the platforms, try some new things and bring back some consistency, I’m a blogger first and making the time to write about our life will be the number one priority. It started when I came across some blog posts from when my niece was a toddler. The photos have always been great to look back on but to see our adventures described was the true walk down memory lane. I want to document it all.
I want to document as we renovate this house. As we add a pool (dear lord, SOMEDAY) and build a larger deck to enjoy with our family and friends. When we take trips in our camper, take the cruiser 4WD’ing. When the kids push me over the edge, then kill me being the best humans I know. I want to talk about my business’s growth and how sometimes, it’s lonely doing it all alone from my office in my house. That while it’s everything I’ve dreamed of, that maybe there’s more out there too.
This blog is a home base for my life.
Not in that it matters more than anything else happening. But as in its a place to come back to. A safe space where my memories live, where I grow and challenge myself. Where my thoughts are explored and ideas challenged. After all this time, it’s why I blog. I realised that this year. To be able to share our experiences, my thoughts and the challenges. All that comes from living a life you create for yourself with you is one of the best parts of my life. I’m not going to give that up. I can’t believe I thought I would for even a moment. And with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of my favourite, and yours, blog posts from 2020.
Wishing you all a safe and happy new year, I can’t wait to see you back here in 2021 now that the blogging groove feels well and truly back. What can I say, all it took was a major downturn in my business and a bunch of free time on my hands to inspire me again. Sheesh, come to think of it, let’s not do that again. Haha. Let’s hope 2021 has more good than bad for us and the realisation of the changes that we all feel coming. It’s a new day, team—a whole new year. Get out there and make the most of it.
A year, maybe more ago, I read ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. I was taking the steps and working through the daily tasks. Not always daily, in bunches here and there. One of the tasks was to create a Welcome Page for your blog. Somewhere you could introduce yourself to readers, show them your best posts and send them in the direction of all the goodness you had on offer. Great idea, I thought. Super.
Then 12 months passed.
It was still a great idea on my list of things to do.
One day sick of not being able to tick it off the list, I did it. I built a Welcome Page and called it, Hi, so you’re new here. And it was done. It had some links to outfits, some post links, some popular posts and some of my personal favourites. And I left it there to do its thing; a sidebar image was the only indication it even existed. But people visited it. I KNOW readers that had been here a while were reading it. New readers too.
There was a trail of comments on old posts.
So this ProBlogger guy knows his stuff.
Apparently.
Wink.
And in the lead up to starting the Confident You series, I knew that I wanted to update the page, I wanted to make it more accessible, and I wanted the content to reflect the recent changes on the blog. I did all that with a few days to spare, phew, and now my little Welcome Page that could is THE MOST visited page on this blog. Ever.
Like, ever.
Most days, it ranks in the top five pages on this blog and continues to sit there. But, it really has given new readers {and the old, still absolutely loved, ones} lots of content to explore and links to posts they might have found on their own. Good posts. Silly posts. Fun posts. Posts that tell my story. And THAT is why having a blog welcome page is essential in my books.
And if you don’t believe me, trust Problogger. Do it, do it now.
I’ve been on the hunt for WordPress themes for bloggers as a way to freshen up my website, and another site I was updating. This is something I do often enough. What can I say, the trends around this kind of thing change often and keeping up is essential. Don’t laugh; these are the things that occupy my time. Haha. It wasn’t long into my search that I had a billion and one tabs open. Then I realised, maybe finding the right theme for your blog is something you guys struggle with too. And here we are.
Before we start, let me say a couple of things.
Firstly, all of the templates I included in this post had positive reviews for easy installation and after-sales customer service at the time of posting. If that changes in the future and you’re looking at them, please let me know and I’ll remove the template from the post.
Why? Because to me, when it comes to purchasing a theme, those are the things I’m looking for. Does it install well (no issues or glitches, no complicated setup instructions to follow) and after I’ve bought it, does the seller support the theme and me, as a customer, well.
The second thing that I want to mention is if you’re building a blog, look through the free WordPress offerings first. There may be something that you like before you purchase a theme. Themes are a bit like photographers with presets or teenagers and water bottles from Typo; there’s no end to how many you can buy. You should know that there are a lot of great free options in the WordPress Dashboard, start there. Try some out. At very least they’ll give you an idea of what you like.
Not a blogger yet? Are you ready to start your blog? Open this blog post of mine and refer back to it later. It will take you from the first steps of choosing a blog name and platform through to getting your first blog post published. I’ve tried to make it a bit of a process you can follow so that you can work through it, setting your blog up as you go. And team, with all that out of the way, let’s get started.
Awesome WordPress themes for bloggers!
My Go-To Divi for all the things
The template I use for SO many projects, this blog included (as at today) is Divi by Elegant Themes. It’s based around a content builder and comes with large, actually make that huge, selection of child themes as part of the main one. You can buy an annual subscription or go all out for the developer version and never pay again. This blog is built on Divi, so is my husband’s website here and this one we did for the team at The Career Planner which they have been successfully updating themselves since the website build in 2019. Plus, at the time of doing this post, they have just launched their Theme Marketplace, so if you’re not into any of the MANY themes they offer built-in, there will be something for you there.
Some great options that have been around a long time are Moesia, Nimbus (which looks a little like my theme here) and Magazine. They can all be found under Appearance > Themes > Add New, which is where you can also browse the other free WordPress themes that are built into the platform. When I started making on WordPress, I used a free theme and customised it where I could. The problem with Free WordPress Themes is that you can be restricted in how much customisation you can do and even what plugins will work with them. A great starting off point and well worth a look.
After my first adventure in FREE WordPress themes, I decided it was time for me to invest, so I went to ThemeForest. I had an account there already because I used Joomla before WordPress and they offered templates for Joomla sites there too (at the time, I think it’s pretty outdated now). On ThemeForest, it becomes imperative only to buy themes that have great reviews, but also, the team is responsive in the questions section, and there’s not repeated ‘I couldn’t get any help’ comments there. It can be hard to get a refund on ThemeForest, so do your due diligence with any Theme you like there. Be sure, and don’t be afraid to buy the more popular items, they’re probably popular because they work.
Finally, the place where I suggest people go if they are DYI’ing their blog. Etsy offers a HUGE amount of options, not just for WordPress but for all bloggers and website platforms. My biggest recommendation is to find one that you like, with FONTS you love, straight out of the box. Some of theme will allow customisation for colours and fonts, but not all. Trust me; you’re better off finding one that works for you without too much work. Otherwise, you may as well customise a free Theme and save your money. Here are some I found on a recent search.
There you go! I know this year has been a big one for starting new blogs or relaunching old ones. As I mentioned in my blog post about how to start a blog, I recommend you get going on WordPress. But straight out of the box, it’s pretty basic. This post should get you all set up with some excellent options for blog layouts.
Why does that matter? It probably doesn’t, you know. I think if you open a blog and want to write, share your work or whatever you’re doing, how it looks doesn’t matter. But, if you’re a little bit like me, those things do matter. Having them look good and how I want them too, does matter. Take learning to code/starting from scratch off your list and get going. Let them inspire you to get started (or keep going!). Enjoy. x
If you’re ready to start your blog, you’re going to need these WordPress plugins to get you started! I talked about why WordPress in my ‘start blogging in 2020’ post. If you haven’t read that one, click through and read it and come back. With the name selected and blog hosting done, it’s time to fit out your WordPress blog with all the stuff that keeps it running. That’s where plugins come in.
Plugins help you do all the thing that you need to do with a blog without needing any real HTML or CSS knowledge. You’ll be pulling together a function, impression blog website in no time. From there, the sky is the limit. Blogging is a lot of work, anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it, but these plugins will make your life so much easier. They do for me. So, let’s get started with a few of my favourite plugins that I never set up a blog or small business website without them.
Site Kit is a recent addition, and easily the most useful is you’re looking to grow a blog. It allows you to link to Google Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed and AdSense natively. Which let me tell you, after a decade of blogging, it’s best to go direct to the source if you can. And I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but my search impressions have gone up 50% since I installed it. Maybe there’s something to that.
Editorial Calendar is an essential plugin to all those who plan to blog ahead of time. When I was working full-time using this was the only way that I managed what was going out on my blog in advance. While the Site Kit plugin was the most recent addition, Editorial Calendar for WordPress was the first. It’s always the first when I’m building a blog or website. I use it to draft out my posts in advance, see what’s coming up and write notes for the post.
If you’ve had a WordPress site before you know that the comments section can be a nightmare, not to mention the Contact Forms. The spam that comes through without a spam blocker like Akismet to block the majority of it. It’s not sexy or something that people get excited about, but it’s the most must-have of the must-have plugins. Trust me on that. Download and it and get the free version running asap.
Suggested by a friend, WP-Optimise will do everything from creating a blog cache to compressing images to ensure they’re a reasonable size to deliver on the blog. This plugin is all about the speed your site offers content which is important to your readers, first of all, but to Google and other search engines too. This is the favourite of those that I’ve used over the years because the images don’t come out looking crappy. It’s important to me to have a fast website, sure. But so much of what I do is related to images; I need them to look good.
If you want to ensure that your site is ‘working’ correctly, you need a broken link checker. And this one is simple, effective and rarely gets it wrong. It makes it easy to unlink broken links, as well as adjusting or fixing those with errors. A simple plugin but it’s essential in the most boring of ways. It will help your blog stay on the right side of search engines by ensuring that you’re not seen as a dumping ground for links who have gone to die.
This is the big one. If you’re becoming a blogger, you need search engines on your side; Yoast SEO is the best way I’ve found to do that. It will give you a score, as well as actions to take, to make your post more readable and better able to be found by search. Yes, people tend to focus on building an audience on social media, but the traffic driven by search will be your bread and butter. Once you install this plugin its a simple matter of taking the suggestions, filling out the keywords and metadata and you’re good to go.
You’re going to all this trouble to write blog posts, of course, you want people to read them. Even better for you if they choose to share them. Shareaholic makes that easy by offering options for share links. At the top and bottom of your posts and things like related content blocks. If you make it to the end of this post (which is getting longer by the minute), you will see them in action down there. All visitors need to do is click the link, and they can share your post, pin it or even email it to a friend. Sharing makes a blog go ’round, don’t miss this chance.
As far as sharing goes, there is no better place to hope your blog post lands than Pinterest. The easiest way to do that, other than making sure you have great vertical images to pin, is to have a Pin It Button on your blog. It makes it easy on the reader and ensures they can just hover, click and send your post to Pinterest in half the time it takes to share it elsewhere. Don’t miss the opportunity to share your posts on Pinterest. Want to know more about that? Try this old blog post I wrote about pinning your own content.
And now, this may be a controversial one, but I use the Classic Editor to revert my WordPress backend to the ‘old way’. I don’t need the ‘builder’ side of things because I have Divi (see below) and to be honest, after all this time, I just didn’t want to get into learning a new backend. If you’ve blogged with WordPress before and are a little into the old way like I was, this could be an option for you. And yes, I know that change is as good as a holiday, but well, this time I just didn’t bother.
I pretty much go for Divi by Elegant Themes every single time. There are plenty of other themes available on places like Creative Market or Etsy, but for me, the foundation offered by Divi is too strong to pass up. The best part is if you’re not sure what style of website you want they have loads of built-in templates in their dashboard to select from, and each one has template pages for all the basics; Home, Landing, About, Contact etc.
Wondering if you should or how to start a blog in 2020? Then, you’ve come to the right place. I don’t even know if I can write this post in the detail I want. But I can feel it bubbling out of me. This is a good sign; that’s what it is to blog. A blog is to have something to say and the space to say it that is entirely your own. So, I’m writing this post for you, and I know it will be of enormous service if you have found yourself with something to say.
Earlier this year, I wrote about what I saw as the signs for a return to blogging. Then in March, it made more sense as we were all confined to our homes thanks to COVID-19. Why wouldn’t you want a space, just for yourself, to share your views and ideas and journal what was happening around you? I know I liked that. If you do, too and don’t know where to start, I hope this helps.
Now, this is the info you need to start a blog.
To niche or not to place, that is the question.
If you know you want a blog, you probably know what you want to blog about. I’ll not say much about the pick your niche thing here because I’ve never followed that advice myself. Blog about what you’re interested in and passionate about. The rest, like people to read it, will fall into place. There are plenty of courses and suggestions on narrowing your focus on your blog, creating a niche resource, and building a business around the blog and personal brand. This isn’t one of those; I’m all for doing what interests that. When my blog earned some decent money, I followed my advice to do that. Passion, excitement and enjoyment are undeniable when they are missing. Start now, and you can always narrow your focus later.
A rose by any other name
One of the first things when you start a blog that I’d do, is to think about a name; second, only decide on a topic. What do you want to call it? I suggest just going with your name if it’s a personal blog. It’s the easiest, and no matter where your blog goes, it’ll always be relevant. Search on Google and your favourite platforms for others using the same name. If you can get something unique, it will make your life easier. I wouldn’t recommend competing with someone using the same name and doing the same thing. It isn’t good for either of you. And if it’s trademarked or something, you may also find it an expensive exercise.
If you want to start a blog for your business or brand, I’d suggest just incorporating it on your existing website (for SEO and ease of having it all in one place). You can give it a catchy name, but it’s not essential. Add a blog landing page, and go for it. Not so confident to do that? Your developer (or even my business) can do that for you- easy as pie. But ultimately, if there’s one thing I know, you can get stuck on what you name something and never get started. So, leap. Done is better than perfect.
Blogging platforms to start a blog on
FREE (with upgrades)
Blogger – If you have a Gmail account, and want something simple and accessible, maybe Blogger is for you. This blog started on Blogger, and I was happy there for about three years. It’s straightforward to use (I’ve compared it to using Publisher or Word) and will get you blogging if you care about getting something up and running. Layouts are easy, and there are plenty of options to customise. But be warned, I had my blog taken down once for a Terms of Use Violation without warning. It was gone for a day before someone who knew someone gave me a contact address to reach out to and plead my case. That doesn’t sound that bad, but trust me, seeing years of your work ripped from the internet sucked. So, if you want to use Blogger to start a blog, make sure you play by the rules (which you should be, anyway).
WordPress (Managed Hosting) – This is a free platform from the people at WordPress, more like the Blogger option below; they handle most of the backend stuff. However, they do this by limiting what you can do, the plugins available, and things like that. This has always been a frustrating offering for me, but with a free account (upgrades available), it might just be the best place to start. Want to know more about how to distinguish between the two? Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth on the WordPress blog.
PAID (various pricing)
WordPress (Self-Hosted)– My blog, and plenty like it, are built on self-hosted WordPress sites. It’s a bit of a go-to as you can do pretty much anything with a WordPress site. Want a shop? Add a plugin. Feel like your post needs a gallery or a contact form? There’s a plugin for that. Just want to keep it simple, start a blog, and get going? WordPress works for that too. The best part is that most hosting providers will allow you to purchase a domain and hosting in one place, and some will even have a WordPress package where the initial installation is taken care of. I use and recommend VentraIP if you want a place to start; they’ve been great to me for years and years now.
If you want some options for WordPress Themes, I’ve put together a post with a heap of options here. And then, for plugins to customise your blog and get you up and running, I have this post here. With these two posts, you’ll have everything you need to streamline setting up your WordPress blog. Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask.
Squarespace – You’d have to be deaf and blind to be on the internet (specifically YouTube) and not know who/what SquareSpace is. They use content creators and influencers to shout their benefits from the rooftops. But you know what? It works. By all accounts, this platform is not only good for businesses, but it’s perfect for portfolios and blogs. An ideal home base for your internet creations. But those designer templates and award-winning customer service make them the least affordable. But if looking good straight of the gate is essential to you, along with ease of use, it might be worth a look.
There are several options out there for hosting a blog. If there isn’t one here that works for you, there will be one out there. Just do some homework, ask those around you, and you’ll find something that works for you. I did!
Write your heart out.
You’ve got your topic, your name, and somewhere to put all this bloggy goodness. Now, all there is to do is write your heart out. If that’s your thing. If there’s one thing I have learned about blogging over the years, you need to know more informal writing styles, even if you’re blogging in a professional setting. And even if what you are saying is essential. It doesn’t matter. People want to get to know the person behind the screen on a blog. They don’t wish to be generic; they can get that on any old news site. So, keep your spelling and Grammar in check (difficult for me, I use Grammarly, which I recommend) and write how you would talk.
Free Images for your blog
Now that you’ve got a platform and maybe have something to say, you want cool images to spruce up your content. Trust me, even if you don’t think you want that, you do. Firstly, I’d do my best to take photos you love. Personal always performs better on social than generic (no matter how beautiful it is). that doesn’t mean you can’t use stock at all.
Combining the two is an effective way to maximise your time and the resources available—the intro image in this post I took myself. The Pins below are from a stock image website. Here are some great free (not just royalty-free, free-free) stock images to get you started on your blog.
Unsplash – I have an account on Unsplash if you’d like to download, for free, some of my images to use on your blog, social media or website. It’s mostly food and beverages, but what else do you need? Haha.
Now you’ve set up your blog, created a post with carefully crafted words and beautiful images, and it’s life! Well done. The worst of it is over. Publishing a blog post is hard. You are saying something and having a position and an opinion on the internet takes guts sometimes. But now what?
Well, you’ll want to let people know it’s there. Whether by promoting it on your personal Facebook or pinning those post images on Pinterest. Or shout it out on Instagram or create a marketing strategy around your blog. This isn’t a case of if you build it, they will come. Some may, and as your blog grows and garners interest from search engines, that may well be the case. But for a new blog, it’s about getting bums on seats and selling yourself to anyone who will listen.
Don’t just sit on the info that you have something to share. Tell people. Use your platforms or build new ones (or both!). For a long time after I started my blog, it was a loosely kept secret. It’s not that I was embarrassed to blog, but I was embarrassed about what people would think. For some of you, that will be the hardest part. But do you know what? In the end, those who are going to support you will. Some will come around to it later rather than sooner. And some won’t get it. They’ll refer to it as silly or a waste of time—fluff in otherwise serious life.
But who cares?
You started this blog for yourself, right? To share what there was for you to say to the world. Take photos, write your story, and share tips and tricks. Make sure, if you’re going to all that effort, that you let someone know it exists – when you’re ready. Start with someone who has proven themselves to be a cheerleader in the past. Go to them, and get that blog traffic rolling. If you didn’t want people to read it, that’s fine. But why, then, didn’t you start a diary? Haha.
Are you someone who wants to start a blog this year? Tell us about it. Already a blogger? Share your link below so we can check you out.
This is it! The time has come for the resurgence of the personal blog. Not that they were gone-gone or anything. But with the rise of the Insta-blogger, twitter-superstar and all the tween Tik-Tokers, blogging has been a little out-dated. Short, punchy and on platform updates seem to have taken the lead.
But not so much anymore.
In 2020, we have something to say. More than the Instagram caption will allow and more important than some algorithm deciding who will see it. On a personal blog, you can take your time, find your words, and deliver them to your audience without the interference of Zuckerberg et al.
It’s s resurgence. From the back of the dusty wardrobe, people are dragging out blogs, dusting them off, and sharing the things that matter to them. I’ve seen it with several accounts I follow. Some have done very well in the recent social media boom. A lot of them blogged before, some had stopped, and others are finding their way to a blog now. But whatever their path they all agree, the time is now.
And I couldn’t agree more.
I mean, to be fair, I’m pretty biased. Team blogger, that’s me. I’ve been in love with blogging since I published my first, tiny dinky post. And yes, I’m uniquely placed to be like, WOOOT, can’t wait. But I can’t ignore a trend towards people having space to voice their opinions and ideas; to share their story.
What’s better than that? Here on this blog, I am the boss. Sure there is still some reliance on social media to promote a post, but when it comes to subscribers (both blog and email), they hear from me because they asked to. No middle man. And certainly, no signing up only to be shown a post every week or two. My thoughts and ideas travel from me to you. The words (and images) are here just as you asked them to be.
Unfiltered. Uncensored. And most of all, unapologetically me.
That’s why I think that personal blogs will make a comeback in 2020. There are too many of us with something to say for it not to happen. I don’t know about you, but I feel like now is not the time to be quiet. To go quietly when they shut down our accounts or put us in some algorithm based sin-bin. Oh, no. NOW is the time to be heard. And I plan on taking advantage of that. How about you?
I receive emails sometimes with PR requests and offers, and opportunities. Always lots and lots of opportunities. I consider my blog to be a PR friendly blog; I respond to emails that have a call to action or request, love to attend events and will do so if I can. And I am genuinely interested in content that would be of use to me. So, I welcome emails and correspondence, and ideas from my PR friends.
However, sometimes it’s a bit much.
I feel like a pawn in a tug a war. My inbox is littered with random announcements for brands I’ve never been associated with. Peppered with offers to do giveaways. And I’m grateful to be acknowledged in this way, really I am. But it feels rather generic. I get that PR’s are just like any of us who have measures to meet and time to do it in. But for me, it’s just a reminder in my inbox over and over again that I’m not special enough to warrant a one on one email.
Then sometimes, I accept an offer, and there’s a post or social media coverage. I send off the post link and hear back crickets. Nothing. Zip, zero, zilch. And I’m not going to lie; it would be nice to get a thank you sometimes. A thumbs up. Thanks for the mention/attending. We appreciate the post—that sort of thing. And yes, some contacts will do that every single time. They take the time to read the link, and I sent and respond. I love those; those have my heart.
This is a first-world type problem, a problem that only some bloggers have. I get that.
I don’t mean to be a jerk about it. On the contrary, I am genuinely grateful for the opportunities I get that fit the blog and the type of content we make. For example, OVO in Brisbane totally worked. We loved that event and have offered ourselves up to the PR in the future, trusting her judgement to select stuff that will be of interest to me and, therefore, you guys. ECCO’s event was the same thing. I was treated really well; great event and something I could report back on without feeling like I was going through the motions. Which, we all know, I’m just not very good at doing. There are others, oh my yes, sorry to not mention them; these were fresh. Recent.
So, how do we, as bloggers, find a balance?
How do we remain available with becoming, errr, TOO available and compromising our blog?
When it comes to working together, how do we make it work for everyone?
Within the blanket pitches, I search for the tiny call to action in there somewhere, and I pounce. I read the article and either respond quickly, thank you, keep them coming but not this one. Or it’s the starting point of a beautiful friendship. And by friendship, I mean that they offer me what I need, and I offer them what they need with varying methods of delivery and compensation.
I love tailored ideas delivered with my blog in mind, and I want to be pitched. Wow’ed and wooed even. This isn’t always possible, but just once, I would love for an email to drop into my inbox that I thought WOW. Yes, that! And maybe it’s a scale thing. My blog is where my blog is. It’s nowhere near the king of the castle. Perhaps those pitches are saved for the top of the tree? If I ever get one, I’ll ask and let you know.
That said, I think bloggers need to remember their manners.
Or, as I like to call it, professionalism. Rule one, I never ask for products/samples that I have no intention of reviewing. Two, I don’t attend events I don’t intend to cover. And, three, I don’t misrepresent my blog by fluffing the facts or fudging the stats. From there, it’s about delivering posts on time, working hard to promote them and doing everything I can to make them a success. That’s my side of the bargain, and for all the demands out there by bloggers, it’s important to remember our side of the deal.
Well, it’s been 30 days of daily blogging; give or take a few days. I made it, sort of. While I may not have blogged every single day, but I did the majority of them. In the last 30 days, I made stuff; took more photos and wrote what was there to write day after day. It’s a long way from the blog sitting empty for weeks at a time.
It started with me staring at a blank page for the fifty-billionth time. Not sure what to write and sort of trapped in the what would be worth saying, what was important and second-guessing everything. I wasn’t sure that I even knew how to blog anymore. That was the day I committed to making something every day.
Daily blogging. Just like the old days (for me).
I dusted off my rusty typing fingers and started to write about whatever happened that day. Thoughts I had and ideas that crossed my path about life and business, relationships and challenging myself.
Along the way, I found my voice, which hadn’t been gone but buried deep. I took outfit photos and shared thoughts on shopping. But I also wrote about business and the things I experience as someone learning a new (to them) platform, like YouTube.
It helped me to stop trying so hard. To post more regularly across all my social media. Some, like Instagram, had been in the naughty corner for so long I was wondering if there wasn’t anything for me there anymore. It reinvigorated me at a time when I was producing so much content for others there didn’t seem to be room to do it for myself.
I’m glad I did it, and I’m going to keep trying.
Keep digging and discovering and finding something to say as often as I possibly can. Daily, if the habit keeps up. I want there to be a purpose to my blog and the things I share here. But I’m okay with that purpose being to entertain myself, for now. For it to be somewhere that I can create and share.
For a lot of you reading this, that will seem entirely obvious. Of course, a blog is somewhere to express yourself. I think the main thing I learned in the past 30 days was that by trying to BE something, I lost that. I thought I’d figured out what people wanted or needed from me and I was doing that. But along the way I’ve finally learned that really, people just want to come along for the ride.
I’m a week into this daily blogging thing. You can thank the daily vloggers of YouTube for the idea behind this. To think it was just this time last week (maybe a little earlier, my bad!) that I decided to give this a shot. My writing had been in a rut for a while; it felt clunky and hard when I did try.
Not so much anymore.
So far, I skipped Friday night because I was working late but other than that, I’ve blogged every day. This coming week I’m going to work on a few drafts I’ve had rattling around in my head for a while. I’m on a roll. Now feels like the time to tackle some of those posts that just wouldn’t get onto the page.
This week what I’ve found is that it doesn’t take me long to work out what I want to write about. I’m trying to just sit down and do it each day, rather than attempt to schedule a few days in advance. That makes it more habit-forming, don’t you think? More of a challenge to sit and write daily. That’s been my experience.
So far, so good.
Have you ever tackled a challenge like this? Something that forces you to get into the habit of doing one small thing every day? Prior to this, I would have said sure, I have. But I don’t think I have. Strange, right?
The only thing I can think that I have done that is similar is the initial 28 Days to a More Confident You. And even that I scheduled more than half of those posts and emails after writing them in advance. So, yeah, check me out. Changing my habits one day at a time.
It actually got me wondering what else I could tackle.
Not to get ahead of myself or anything. Haha. But there are things I want to be doing and I’m just not making them happen. I want to cook more of our meals and even prepare some in advance. There are things like getting into the pool more often or going for an evening walk with Kel. And making my bed, I mean, when did I stop making my bed!?
All of it actually seems a little more possible if I just tackle it one single day at a time. And maybe that’s what they’ve been trying to tell me my entire life. To stop pushing so hard against stuff. Stop forcing it and just put one foot ahead of the other. Worth considering, that’s for sure.
What about you? What’s one thing you could be doing every day that could change how you’re living your life?
I was talking to Dani (you know her, right? SUPERSTAR) and as long time, back in the dark ages type bloggers, we were wondering how the heck we used to make it work. What did we blog about? How did we fit so much more in? Did we fit more in, or nah?
While in this what the heck, how do I even do this spiral, Ash of Ashas_Curves said she’d recently lost her mojo, but now she’s identified her why and she’s ready to go. I’m pretty confident this isn’t my problem. I’ve been locked down on my why for a while now. I even created a mission statement type thing. Classic geek.
To advance the position of women through confidence, self-awareness and self-sufficiency.
It feels like I don’t know where to start. Or what to start or how. I mean, is it possible to forget how to do something that has been a part of your persona, business and lifestyle for almost a decade? It feels like it went POOF and disappeared.
And yes, this increasingly lengthy post seems to directly indicate otherwise. What I’m doing is something I used to do; I opened a page and I started to write. With no plan. Heck, I even just went back up and put a title in.
So, in the interests of making something, I’ve decided to write a post on this blog for the next 30 days.
If I have something on, I’ll schedule it. If I miss a day, you’ve got full permission to kick my butt. You guys, my team, are pretty great to me. You let me come and go, time to deal with myself and time to grow. But this time, it’s on, let’s not let this go by the wayside. I want to get back in the habit of blogging. After all, I said I have to get out more, what better way to tackle it than by doing STUFF to blog about.
I mean, I ate breakfast at a cafe this morning, does that count?
And, the other day I softly petted the head of a teeny tiny, new’ish baby.
Last week I made a warm salad that was impressive AF and learned how to play Fortnite.
And most importantly I spent the day with my mother and sister saying goodbye to a woman who impacted my early years in a way I’m not I can quantify. How do I express that? How do I share what she taught me so it lives on here? I know I want to, I want it recorded and here for when I need it. But how?
To be honest, I’m not sure. But I’ll try. That’s what blogs are for, right?
