I’ve been blogging now for almost five years and it’s changed a lot in that time.
My approach to it has changed too.
For a long time, I spent hours tweaking my blog, learning new SEO techniques and planning content strategically, trying to think of ways to boost my audience.
And somewhere along the line, I just stopped.
Now when I publish a new post, I might tweet a link to it and if I’m feeling really jazzy, I’ll share a link on Facebook.
I don’t bother much with Pinterest, YouTube or outreach, or any of those other things you’re supposed to do if you want to make your blog a success.
And it’s not that I don’t care, or I wouldn’t like to reach a wider audience.
But somewhere along the line, I stopped caring so much. I no longer had the energy to pour into promoting my blog in the way I used to. I took on more senior role at work and it dominated my time and my mental energy.
Blogging became too much like my day job in marketing and I no longer wanted to go home and spend half the night on social media, always pushing, pushing, pushing. I struggled to find the energy to work on my novel.
I knew I couldn’t do it all.
And just the other day, I realised something. For me, blogging has been stripped right back to its essence.
I started this because I love writing. I love exploring an idea and seeing where it takes me, the way I used to do at university.
That’s where my time and energy goes now, rather than on the business of blogging.
Sure, sometimes I have a burst of energy or some free time and I work on the things I’ve been neglecting. I can spend hours editing photos or trying to build my Twitter following.
But, mostly, I’m okay with not being a social media tour de force and not making my living from this blog.
Maybe one day the cycle will change again, but for now it’s enough to have a place where I can pour my thoughts onto the page and I don’t have to worry whether anyone reads them, because they’re there for me, as a record of the important things.
Lynsey || One More Slice says
I love this. I absolutely suck at the ‘business side’ of blogging, but to me it’s just my hobby, I don’t need brand deals or a million page views a month. I use it exactly like you, for me to document my life and memories. And that works out just fine xx
Lynsey || One More Slice
Amy Lord says
There’s always time to push harder on the promotional side if you want to in the future, but there’s no point doing it just because you feel you should. Sometimes I get my head turned by all the professional blogs, but it’s not really for me!
Lauren says
This is EXACTLY how I have been feeling of late when it comes to blogging. I’m just going to write for me, hoping that maybe somewhere down the line, somebody reads it and finds it helpful.
Amy Lord says
That sounds like a good idea, Lauren! And if it’s something you’re passionate about or you find interesting, that feeling will come across in your writing and other people are bound to relate to it.
Chichi says
Great post!
You have to do what is right for you. If that’s how you want to run your blog then that’s fine. Even though I want to make more income from my blog, I still treat it as a fun hobby.
Chichi
chichiwrites.com
Amy Lord says
It’s tough to get the balance right sometimes – it would be nice to run my blog professionally, but there are other things I want more so it’s about choosing where to put the effort in. Nothing wrong with it being a fun, when blogging gets too much like work that’s when I always get burned out! Thanks for reading 🙂
Alycia says
I feel very much the same way! I no longer really care much about the promotion of my blog as I do just writing, or documenting memories. It’s so much work and I’m not willing to put more than an hour or two into it each week, and that’s just writing the posts if any.
Amy Lord says
Running a blog can definitely be a lot of work, but it should be something you enjoy too. If that means keeping it simple, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.