7 Things I Hope Will Make It Easier And More Fun ;)
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Liz Strauss wrote an excellent post this week titled: 10 Ways to Kill the Kudzu and Get Your Blogging Mojo Back, so I thought I’d write a list of things I will do to get back into it! ;)
1- Don’t Expect Too Much
I will try not to expect too much from myself (I tend to always want more, not that it’s a bad thing though), I won’t tell you I will post daily, won’t say I will link to this or that, I’ll simply write, and try my best for another 257 posts.
2- Take Breaks More Often
That shouldn’t be too hard (or maybe it will be), but I set that rule for myself: for every 3 hours of work take a 30 minutes break. So far it works pretty good and helps get back in the mood.
3- Information Overload
I used to have around 180 feeds in my feed reader (Netvibes), now Netvibes is gone. Yep, gone, no more feed reader that eats up 2 hours of my time everyday. Instead, I subscribed to the e-mail updates on my favorite blogs (if you haven’t enabled the “subscribe by e-mail” thing you might want to consider doing so). Don’t worry, I will still read your blog even if you don’t have the subscribe by e-mail thingy, a lot of the blogs I visit I just bookmarked or type in the address.
4- More Conversations
You know how much I enjoy engaging in discussions and connect with other bloggers, well there will be more “comments writing projects” soon. This blog is sorta like an ongoing experiment, so I will keep doing just that, experiment.
5- Don’t Take Things Too Seriously
I don’t really feel like being all serious, that’s just not how I want to do things on here, I think it is very possible to have lots of fun, and still not take it too seriously. I mean, what difference does it make if you’re not the next Darren Rowse? Just have fun, and enjoy what you do.
6- Stats And Numbers
Some may measure the success of a blog by the number of links, the technorati rank, the alexa rank, the page rank, but honestly I couldn’t care less about those numbers. I really think that’s not what makes you an authority, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the conversations (at least on this blog). ;)
7- Just Write
So that’s about it. All I want is to write, share what I know, learn what I don’t (and try to stay on topic). So I’ll just write, and not care if my post will make it to the “top 10 best posts of all time” list (is there such a list anyway?)
Your Turn To Talk
You guyz gave me some awesome tips in the form of comments and e-mails in response to my last post, and I wanna thank you all for that. It definitely helped (more than you think). So keep the conversation alive, keep writing kick-ass tips and comments! ;)
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20 Responses to “7 Things I Hope Will Make It Easier And More Fun ;)”
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It’s a lazy, beautiful Sunday in Chicago. Everyone is outside. I bet more than a few of them are bloggers who are ignoring their blogs. :)
Did you see the post I did later last week about how everyone seems to be blogging less these days. No one seems to mind. How cool is that?!!
Don’t forget nmber 8 . . . If you’re not having fun, then you’re not doing it right.
I’m glad you addressed this, because (on my personal blog) I was going through the dumps and didn’t feel inspired to write anything lately. I’m glad to know that I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t feeling the blog thing…
Numbers 1 and 2 are hard for me but very key.
It’s so easy to get down on yourself, to try and achieve perfection. We are our worst critic, and it’s funny too because most times everyone else thinks we do a fabulous job :)
It’s easy to forget to take breaks Even just the 1/2 hour every 3 which is a great guidline, some days I can sit in front of the computer for 10 or 12 hours (My Bad)
I am also trying to be very aware of breaking just to get out and do some “visiting” with other bloggers. That can be great fun :)
-Heather
Hi Liz, I totally agree with #8, actually it should be #1 ;)
Roberta, it happens, sometimes life gets in the way, and we don’t feel as productive or in the mood. Liz gave some great tips in her post about “Kudzu” :)
Heather, well you do a fabulous job! :)
I think you’re right, we’re our own worst critics, that’s for sure. It’s weird, cause being a musician I kinda learned not to too much, but I guess blogging is different, maybe because I know something like 200 musicians, and around 2000 bloggers, maybe that’s why, it’s easy to compare ourselves with other bloggers ;)
Great list that I need since my stats have gone a bit down the lately so it’s been a bit hard to keep blogging.
Hey Jon,
Having big expectations for stats, traffic, and monetization can be a real blogging demotivator.
If your biggest expectation is to write something you really enjoyed writing … you win every time.
Jon,
I think your 7 points present a good, healthy approach. I don’t think I could give up my RSS reader, but if it saves you that much time it’s probably a good move.
Thomas, it’s hard sometimes, just gotta keep at it I guess (what I plan to do) :)
Shane, man that’s great advice, it’s true if you keep looking at those numbers they won’t go up, gotta do something and write instead.
Steven, yeah, with 170-180 blogs in my feed reader it was really time consuming, I have no idea how I managed to keep up, now it feels much better, and anyway I visit the blogs almost daily so, it’s just one thing I won’t have to check everyday, more time on my hand ;)
You should call them 7 habits for highly effective blogger!!!!!!!! :D
I do agree, you made good point.
Francesco
Have you thought about trying to get some guest posters? That may help you fill gaps in content, you seem to have a pretty decent audience, so I’m sure people would be interested.
Fare, thanks! ;)
You,re right, that title would’ve been more “social network” friendly, but oh well, I don’t mind, for as long as you folks keep commenting and keep the conversations going it’s all good :)
Dave, I’ve thought about it, but I’m more looking for guest posters on my other blog (www.freelancefolder.com), SWR is more “personal”, I might wanna get guest bloggers in the future, but not for now :)
this is so funny!! I just wrote about procrastination and I am feeling so de-motivated to write anything… so its not just me, it must be the weather :) but at least you are getting lots of comments here, I have stopped seeing comments lately and that is disheartening!! I know it shouldn’t be, but it is!!
great post as usual Jon
Great list and super new strategy Jon!
It’s good to see you “back in the saddle.”
Great ideas there Jon.
Sometimes I feel the same way and my blog has not even been online long. Sometimes I just feel like not writing but I really try to buckle down and do some type of productive work toward my blog even if I don’t write.
I have a couple other sites in the making and it will be very hard to keep up the blog plus launch these other sites, so hopefully it will be a good leaning experience for me and hopefully Random Jabber won’t suffer.
Hi Jon :)
Just connected to you in Twitter and felt that this is the perfect place for me to tell you. ;)
Enjoyed this subject VERY much and will do my best to keep these suggestions in mind while I blog.
Great post! I’ve been in the same mood. No motivation to blog right now, but I want to. I don’t know what it is…but I don’t want to take a break either. :( This sucks!
I think what affects me is that I expect more traffic and earnings, when in reality it’s perfectly fine! I don’t need to be a big time blogger…if I did, I’d definitely need to put in a lot more time than I currently do.
Many ups and down on the blogger rollercoaster! It’s funny how I just wrote a post similar to this a few days ago..must be something in the air…. :)
Yeah, I just did something on blogger’s block as well - seems like actually there really is only 1 blogger around - can’t explain why everyone’s feeling the same way at the same time ;)
Yes I had stopped blogging for quite some time. I started again two months ago. Your article motivates me to continue and not stop again.
Yeah…blogging can be tedius and time-consuming. It all depends on what you want out of your blog. Money. Subscribers. Community building.
When you have multiple sites (14 for me), you end up feeling like a content junkie. Meaning your whole day is spent coming up with content for those sites, or you just blow it off.
I’ve launched my LAST golf site (blog) and am hoping to build a community of golfers…if not, I’m going to another online niche completely.
You can only beat yourself over the head for so long :-)