Last week I was sitting on the pity pot. I wanted to scrap this blog and just give up on blogging all together.
I felt like I had nothing to give. I haven't posted much lately and I haven't felt very inspired. I wondered WHY do I blog? Is it for me? Is it for my audience? Do I really have anything of any kind of importance to share with the world? Does anybody actually care?
(Please do not feel that I am seeking any attention or any kind of reassurance from you. These are questions I asked myself. These are questions you should ask yourself when you think about blogging)
I believe that sometimes, feeling sorry for yourself can do some good as long as you reflect on your thoughts and reevaluate the problems that are causing much angst. I am fairly certain I do this once a year. Ha.
WHY do I blog?
1. I enjoy writing. Am I a good writer? That's questionable and it completely depends on my mindset and focus. When I am focused, I feel that I am able to write with compelling emotion. When I am not focused? I am flat.
2. I am working to improve my writing. I follow a few blogs (Jeff Goins, by Regina, Renegade Writer, Make a Living Writing, and a few others I can not recall off the top of my head) that inspire me to not only become a better writer but inspire me in general.
3. I have done some freelance writing but I felt my writing to be sub-par. I can be better. I can write with more emotion. I can be compelling. I can pull you, as a reader, in. I haven't done it as much on my blog.
4. I write for me. And for you. I want to bring myself something of value and I also want to give you something of value. I do not blog to make money- if I had, I would have been seeking out money making opportunities when I began many years ago but I won't lie- I do want to make money (and I do). I am just having difficulty maintaining balance on my blog. I have been a bit burned out lately and it's not just here. Just in general. I needed to take some downtime for me.
5. I love to teach. Orrrrrr maybe I like to hear (read) myself speak (write) and feel like I am a know-it-all. Regardless, I haven't done much teaching on here but I plan to. SOME time soon. My focus has been evolving and many of you have been through my continuous changes but you still stick around through it.
Do I really have anything of any kind of importance to share with the world?
1. I know that each and everyone of us does have something to share with the world and for each of us, it's different. I am slowing down on sharing too much about my daughter on my blog and I really don't go too much into it on here anymore but I want to take away the focus of WHAT happened to her and focus on now and the future. I believe that if I, a single mom with a special needs child, am able to succeed in this dog-eat-dog world than anybody can. My situation is not unique but there are other people out there who are overcoming obstacles and if I can inspire one person that they can achieve anything, I know I have succeeded.
2. As I continue to push forward in building my writing career and my small business (soon, my friends, soon), I hope to share with you the trials and tribulations I have been able to overcome and that you can use the tools to overcome any roadblocks that have come your way.
Does anybody actually care?
Absolutely.
I care. You care.
I did realize the source of my angst over my blog- I was comparing myself to other bloggers. The first six years, I did not care about growing, stats, and so on and so forth. This last year I have. I've even written about it. I lost my focus and that was to write quality content. I was spread too thin with marketing, writing, sponsorships, etc. I am involved in several blogging groups to help each other grow and finding audiences. I felt depressed because I was sharing poor content (well, if you want your tweet retweeted- you must retweet everybody's tweets! Tweet Tweet!, same with blogs, pinterest, etc.) and I am not interested in most of the topics. I am limiting my interaction in the groups and am weeding out the ones that I do not feel are a good fit. They are too broad in regards to niches and I would like something much more focused. I don't want to feel embarrassed tweeting, +1, pinning, liking, commenting, etc. and I would rather be much more genuine. The groups are amazing and supportive but if you aren't marketing to the right audience, it doesn't matter if your post was shared once or 100 times- you won't get a click because your audience isn't seeing it.
Having a tribe is critical but only if your tribes are of similar niches!
This will cost me traffic in the short run but I believe in the long run, it will have a better payoff and I will feel less... icky.
As yourself the same questions I have in bold and go forth and blog, my dearies!
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