To be perfectly honest with you I have been everywhere but my blog. How's that for an answer. But really I became pretty burned out of this blogging world and I couldn't figure out why. I was so burned out that I stopped writing completely for the past 4 weeks. 4 weeks! That is a long time for me to go without writing.
So what caused this burn out if I love writing so much?
Well blogging was not just about writing any more. It was about link parties, twitter chats, how many Facebook & twitter followers I could get. Yes these things are important to blogging because lets me honest if you aren't finding followers then nobody is going to read what you have to say. But these followers that I was gaining because they were involved with the link party for the most part were not genuine followers. Now don't get me wrong I am not knocking these parties at all but I think they need to be done in moderation. At least this is the case for me.
I started blogging not only because I love to write & read but I wanted to inspire people to continuously work on their lives to make them better. But I lost the drive for this when I put more attention on getting my name out there then studying & writing.
What inspired me to come back? To start writing again?
I was sent a message via twitter from the gals at Striving Onward asking if I would like to write a post for them. Now if you do not know who these lovely ladies are you need to go there now because their site is AMAZING!
I have followed them for quite some time now so I was very honored and quite surprised that they asked me since I have not written for my own blog for weeks.
But I emailed Audrey at SO and we talked back and forth for awhile about what they were looking for and my creative juices started flowing again. Suddenly all I could think about after weeks of not.... was writing.
So what can you expect from me here on out?
- Inspiration & Motivation
- I am not going to promise you 3 or 4 posts a week. But what I will promise & commit to is genuine heartfelt writing.
I will be doing a lot of research on ways we can improve our lives together and sharing all of this with you. (PS if you have a book suggestion or article that you think I should read please let me know :D)
Now you may see me from time to time at a link party or twitter chat but mostly I will be writing for you and for me.
I do have to tell you that these past few weeks I have missed reading your comments so please don't stop that!
Lots of love,
It's true! You do have to so the link parties in moderation. I host a few. What I'm starting to do is to categorize the blogs I follow who are supporting me too and the ones I am following as a courtesy to help them boost their following for more opportunities for them with brands and sponsors. I'm enjoying creating relationships with the bloggers that I've met who truly follow me and comment on my blog and I do the same for them. Not all bloggers do this. I'm glad I stayed in the blog world long enough to find those who do. Looking forward to finding more. I hope we can have a similar relationship. I enjoy your writing. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Brittnei! I agree that there are a lot of bloggers out there that make this worth it. I have developed a few close friendships that I would not have otherwise and I am grateful for them. I hope that we can develop a relationship as well :D
Deletei'll see you soon!
Keia
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlogging can be very disheartening. I've seen new bloggers who have 1,000s of followers by their first anniversary and it all seems a breeze and all I can do is scratch my head. They do the link ups and blog hops but I have no clue how it works for them. Sometimes it is important to take a break, to not force posting. Blogging should be fun not pressure.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Everybody has there reasons for blogging. Some may just be here to get as many followers as they can. This is not why I am here and it sounds like you and I are on the same page :D
DeleteThank you for taking the time to comment Samantha!
Keia
I agree with you on moderation on the blog hops. I do participate and I even put one on, but I think they can get overwhelming. And honestly, I don't see a big increase in visits to my site when I join in one, even though I visit people from them, and I pretty much always visit someone who comments on my site. So maybe there is a secret there that I am missing. I don't know. But what I do know is if I do more than a couple in a week, I get overwhelmed so I haven't done too many lately.
ReplyDeleteI actually noticed that you always visit people when they comment on your site and I think that is a great practice and a great way to build relationships and true followers instead of just numbers.
DeleteThank you Michelle I have definitely learned a lot from you over the past year :D
Love, Keia
I am with you -- slowly but surely I am gaining followers but I feel like I'm really having to go out there and personally meet every one. I only do the link-ups that I enjoy... not ones I think will gain me followers. I love the concept of your blog! I'm a working mom too, and it's tough to do it all!
ReplyDeleteThats a good rule of thumb for joining link parties I think I'll try that... only join link-ups that I enjoy. When you just do it for numbers you are not gaining true followers.
DeleteThank you Sarah I really appreciate your kind words and yes it is really hard being a working mommy!
There was a time when I tried writing and posting according to the "blogging rules." It was awful. Now, I only write for me. I don't do the awards and link parties and all the other things people say I should. I am not actively trying to grow my blog. It's not why I write. When I don't write for me, it's not fulfilling. I have enough stresses in my life. I don't want writing to be one of them. Writing for me makes it mean something.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes as you work to find the balance.
I couldn't agree more... writing should not be a stress in your life it should be a way to relieve stress! Very well put thank you Robin!
DeleteStopping by from SITS! I just have to tell you that it's scary how similar some of your posts are to my own. Especially the one on taking chances. Life can be so confusing, messy, and stressful, which causes a lot of fear. The part where you wrote about being a planner... yeah, totally me! I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with letting go of fear. Baby steps!
ReplyDeleteYes baby steps indeed! Sometimes I feel like a take baby steps forward and the next day I'm falling backwards but I guess thats life and why improvement is a constant process. I'm happy to hear we have a lot in common :D
DeleteThanks Alisha!
Love this. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Laura :D
Delete