This isn’t my first blog. In fact, I had about 4 or 5 failed blogging attempts before this one. All of my failed blogs had cute layouts and I enjoyed writing the posts. They didn’t fail because I hated blogging. They failed because I was trying to blog alone. Blogging may seem like a lonely hobby (or job) but if you do it well, it can provide you with a wealth of socialization which is what I’m going to talk about today. As you read and finish today’s post, keep one piece of advice in mind: never blog alone.
If I were to show you my traffic reports, you would see a lot of up and down mountains on the graph. This is because I’ve had my up moments and down moments with blogging. (You can even look at my archives in the sidebar and see how some months have been more active than others.)
I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting the last two months on my blog and what I want from it. I’ve reflected on whether or not I want to try to earn money from it or if I want to simply keep it as a hobby. Among this reflection, I reflected on what things have caused me to be successful with the blog and what has caused me to take breaks. Breaks were mostly caused by major life events (moving, marriage, rough job situations, etc) that I didn’t plan for in advance. The ups – those have been caused by something different.
The successes with my blog have been caused by socializing and being active in the blogging community. My first big up was joining a blogging group on Facebook. At the time, it was the Her Campus Blogger Network. I loved the network but eventually started looking for others since I’m no longer in college and the network is geared towards college age bloggers. Along the way, I found several groups and even shared a list of my favorites on the blog. (An updated list is coming in the near future since I’ve discovered even more favorites!)
The next big success for my blog was starting the Blogger PJ Party. It was a random idea that came to me and I originally planned to host one. People loved it so much that it became a monthly event. It’s had it’s ups and downs in the past, but 2016 is looking to be a big year for the party. I’ve brought on help and there shouldn’t be any down months since a team means shared responsibilities! (I should have brought on a team ages ago!)
I’ve had other successes along the way but I have to say that they always involved others. Most recently, I have had a personal success of getting a blog post on every day that I plan to. I owe this success to finding blogger friends who help keep me accountable. I’ve found I’m much more successful when I have friends to talk to in between writing posts. I highly recommend finding someone who can be your blogging bestie as well. (Or tribe, mastermind group, etc)
In fact, if you need help finding someone to help hold you accountable, let me know and we’ll do a little matchmaking! The next Blogger PJ Party might even be the perfect place to find someone.
Who are your blogging buddies? How do you help hold yourself accountable?
P.S. This post was written as a major thank you to those who have helped me lately. There’s too many to list but if we’ve had a conversation about blogging lately, then you’re on that list!
