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I set a sort of resolution/goal for myself back at the beginning of 2012 to post every (weekday) day for a year. It was my way of really committing to blogging and holding myself accountable. While I missed a few days in there, I mostly stayed true to my word and posted almost every week day. There’s definitely some truth that posting often keeps people coming back.
My traffic grew substantially, I started getting more comments than I used to (and who doesn’t love hearing from their readers?) and I feel that I’ve really started to define my voice and point of view and I’ve realized just how important that is in blogging.
Anyone can throw great content up, but I’ve found that being personal and real is what people truly relate to. But it can be so so scary to put our personal lives and experiences out there for the whole world to read and critique. You never know how people will react, and we hope it’s not poorly, but you just don’t know what people will say when they’re hiding behind a computer screen. One blogger who I find so inspiring is Jess Lively. She does an incredible job of being so real and honest. Props to her!
So after being personal and real, the next biggest thing I’ve found is that you’ve got to stay true to yourself. We each have unique points of view and that’s what makes a blog fun and exciting. I find that so many blogs are almost carbon copies of each other when it comes to their content. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s so easy to look for other bloggers for inspiration, but I think we can agree that seeing the same thing everywhere starts to get old. That being said, it can also be good to look at successful blogs and see what they’re doing that’s making them successful. But I’m learning that staying true to the things that inspire and interest me not only make blogging a hell of a lot more fun, but more interesting for my readers.
Maybe only bloggers will understand this, but it can take several hours to put together a fabulous post, and I’m starting to realize that quality is greater than quantity. I get such better feedback from you guys (thank you thank you!) when I’ve put more thought into a post than when I just toss something up there last minute.
So this year, rather than focusing so much on posting every day of the week (which I still hope to do!), I’m really trying to focus more on creating better content. Inspired content, if you will. Things that are more personal, close to my heart and things I’m passionate about. I’m hoping that will mean more of my own photography (I’ve got this great camera and I NEED to put it to more use), documenting and sharing my own life experiences and design projects — both good and bad.
And on that note, I’ve got a fun and easy DIY project lined up for tomorrow, so stay tuned and enjoy your Monday!
