What I've Learned From a Year of Blogging

Since I've consistently posted twice a week for about a year I am now a blogging expert. Insert wink emoji. I've learned a lot in the process about my writing style and the internet response. Some days I feel like I'm crushing it while tracking my analytics, more on that below, and other days feel unmotivated and uninspired. I usually find time to write at my full time job, easier to do during the slow season, but some weeks are so frantic I can barely write a thing. This is where the planning and time management kick in. Read on for more blogging life lessons.

Time management, planning and the power of good and consistent habits.

No one can say that I was necessarily bad at these things before but now I've fine tuned my time management skills into an art that only people with side hustles and passion projects know about. I like to plan out a month in advance with room to change topics or move them around as needed. I also write outlines or at least half of the post at least a week before posting. Depending on what I'm photographing, myself or objects, I like to shoot those the weekend before since this is when my time is most flexible. I purposely keep my weekends free with pictures being my main project or task.

Last June, I wrote down a long list of topics so I wouldn't run out of things to write about. Now I realize, unless I stop existing, new things and ideas will always be bombarding me so don't worry about running out of things to write about. The challenge is to distill down my thoughts and feelings into coherent sentences which takes practice and editing.

I enjoy content creation.

I learned the fine art of content creation and what pictures draw people in to click. In a well timed experiment I changed the blog post photo for The Ordinary Peeling Solution Review from a lovely red picture of my face with the product coating it to a cleaner photo of a old fashioned alarm clock between two large blocks of pastel blue and pink. Did you guess that traffic and search results would spike from this one change? Because they did! I had about 20 or so clicks the first month before changing the picture. The next month I had 372 and climbing daily. Now it's my second most popular post just from changing a picture which is pretty crazy to me.

I learned blogging probably won't be my career but it is fun.

I can write about anything and that is terrifying and calming. No one is making me write about things I don't care about.  I enjoy writing about a range of things from frivolous to serious. Also no one is paying me so you don't have to worry about corporate dollars skewing my thoughts and reviews. I only write about books, movies and products I would tell my friends and family about. I've tried lackluster products, seen and read uninteresting media but don't think that makes a good story. What else is there to say besides, this sucked don't watch or buy it! I'd rather spread the good to mitigate the bad. So noble.

Create and spend time on projects you care about.

I also learned dumb luck plays a part in what posts drive traffic and which ones don't. The posts I spend the most time and energy on are usually for my personal benefit. Even though I doubt anyone else will care about them, like Goth in the Country, they are still fun to do and look back on as a creative accomplishment if nothing else. I read the book, got an idea and executed it. In the moment it wasn't the funnest thing to do, even at night August is still pretty sticky and hot in Texas, but the idea and photos are there to show I did something.

My general advice for everyone is to do what creatively fulfills you even if no one else sees or acknowledges it. Feel free to share it with friends and family for feedback and not on the internet until you are prepared for negative reactions no matter what you create. Creative pursuits are worthwhile since they are feeding your soul and you never know which projects could lead you down a more exciting path in the future.