A big reason for me doing a thirty day challenge is is to test my resilience. I started blogging almost four years ago. In addition to this blog, I also have a travel blog where l document our slow travel lifestyle adventures in Europe and beyond. It started out as an online diary that was meant to keep my family aware of our whereabouts. This second blog came out of the desire to spread my wings so to speak and talk about other topics, including blogging, finance topics and current threads. There are some lessons learned, one of which is that consistency in blogging is a must if one has any chance of being successful.
Once you start blogging, you get fired up about the wonderful content that you write, be it your next blockbuster novel or recipe. I often say the worst part of blogging is not the writing itself, it’s the being seen and discovered part. In order words, the marketing. If your blog is a hobby and only intended as an online journal, you might not care if anyone discovers it or not. If you have wisdom that you want to impart on others, then it only makes sense to be concerned about reaching your audience.
When l first started blogging, everyone told me how much hard work is involved. You have to not only write, but schedule your posts and do other social media interactions. As a matter of fact, quite a lot of blogs l knew and read at the beginning are no longer in existence. They just disappear. Some do it because of monetary constraints, they don’t want to sign on again and pay hosting fees. I always recommend SiteGround hosting to anyone who wants a great option in low cost and with awesome tech support when needed. Others do it because they run out passion for what they started but most seem to do it because they have difficulty growing an audience.
One major lesson learned is consistency in blogging. Very few bloggers have overnight success. Most seem to plug away for years before starting to reap the benefits of the hard work. Consistency lays a foundation for retaining readers. They have to know they can come to the site and see new blog posts, nobody likes to visit a graveyard. If you abandon your blog, your readers will too. Here are some social media tips to help. This is something l struggle with too as we tend to travel a lot but l am hoping that a new year will bring a fresh start.
Are you a blogger? Do you find it hard to blog consistently?
I have abandoned a blog or two, so I know what you mean about losing passion for the topic. But I think also I got discouraged because people were pouring over my last blog but no one hired me to help. Maybe I gave away two much info for free, who knows. But I agree that you have to be consistent when you blog.
Yeah. Sometimes there is the tendency yo give away a lot for free and it’s not appreciated :-(. I had a financial blog so many years ago during the crisis and l was in deep with rental deadbeats. I abandoned it when things got better and it had served its purpose. I have learned.
That is a key factor. And, consistency doesn’t mean one has to blog 7 days a week. If you tell your readers that you are a MWF blogger, or a 5 day a week blogger, or a once a week blogger- they will accept that- AS LONG AS YOU MAINTAIN YOUR PROMISE.
So, pick your schedule and adhere to it. For your readers’ sakes and your own.
The challenge is a kick in the pants for me. I intend to be consistent and post twice weekly once the challenge is over. Saying it out loud will hold me accountable. I don’t know how anyone could do it on a daily basis unless they were news bloggers :-). Thanks for the comment.
I’ve also abandoned several blogs. I haven’t deleted them and they still get a few visits daily but sometimes it’s hard keeping up with the thing. After this challenge month, I plan to back off to probably M & Th posting just so the burnout doesn’t happen again.
I think it’s great that they still get views :-). I plan to scale back to twice a week after the challenge is over, but it has definitely spurred me on which is what l think was the intention. Good luck!
I love to write, but I do find that blogging takes a backseat to just about everything else. In addition to the challenge I made a “blog calendar” so that I can continue to keep up my blog after the challenge is done.
I hear you. Life sometimes gets in the way. I definitely want to skip with it as l am committed to it and l do have a passion for story telling and telling off as the case may be :-).
I hope to fall into yhe consistent category. It does take a team to keep the motivation going.
Yeah..it’s sometimes hard to get and keep motivated. Challenges like this makes it a bit easier. Solidarity and encouragement goes a long way. Good luck on the challenge :-).
I stay fairly consistent when writing my blogs. Of course during challenge months, I write daily and the other months I try to post at 1 or 2 weekly.
Good for you. I have done a much better job with my travel blog, but l slacked off on this one for a bit. I’m planning on getting back on track post challenge though. I think once or twice a week is a good balance.
I completely agree that consistency is key – and consistency doesn’t have to mean daily. However, one also needs to be consistent in promoting both current and past content to social media platforms. You need to know what your focus is on your blog and be consistent with your messaging.
Social marketing is indeed a big part of blogging. No use doing something good if no one sees it. I use a variety of tools to help promote both new and old stuff. Recurpost is a favorite of mine as is missingletr.
I have many blogs in play. Whatever mood suits me, is when I write. Or if I do the challenge for that blog, then I focus on it for 30 days. You are so right about consistency! Thanks!
Thanks for reading. Good for you for being able to keep up with so many blogs. I think l was overwhelmed with the addition of this second one after a while but wouldn’t you know it? I have an idea for a new blog..haha!
agree with you Kemkem… i do ok during challenges and now need to work on couple of things – consistency post-challenge, and come up with a content strategy (today’s post from Paul talks about that)
I will be sure and read it then. It’s really a sticking point for me and l hope to do better. Good luck with it :-).