Yesterday a set of comments on the blog post I wrote the previous day, Saturday, reinforced a very powerful bit of information which I have a tendency to forget over time. We all know different things. You may well say, “Of course!” At the most basic level, sure, we all know this, yet as a writer, blogger, and graphics nerd; I can forget that the things with which I work, day in and day out, are not common knowledge.
I was unsure as to whether I would be writing something that was of no practical use to anyone when I wrote a short post on a basic resource for free images. I didn’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence, and I’ve known of this resource for ages.
But those fears went away when one reader commented that she had bookmarked the resource and thanked me. The other comment that popped up Sunday morning was reinforcing the info I had shared as a known quantity but one of high quality. Today another reader thanked me. I love sharing information that is useful.
So today I’m wondering, how do I find out what it is that I know that others don’t know that they might want to hear about? I’m at a loss. I mean I can ask you the readers, and I am going to ask you, but other than questionnaires and scouring my analytics, what else is there? How do you determine the topics on which you write? What are the subjects of which you would like to see more? There is a poll on this topic in the sidebar; please fill it out if you would be so kind. It will remain open through October 31st. Do you like my reviews, my information nerd articles, pet articles, personal stories, or political stuff? You can always leave a comment too. Thanks!
Thirty Days Hath September
[one_half]September In Review
I don’t know where this month went. I’ve blogged every day in September as a part of a NaBloPoMo challenge. I have posted, essentially cross-posted, links to my daily posts whenever I can find a few additional minutes in the day to catch up with four Facebook blogging groups, as well as leaving a link on BlogHer’s Nablopomo September Posts page. Pinterest and Stumble Upon updates have been made less successfully than other updates. Google+ was utilized least well of the standard social media platforms this past month. Auto-generated and posted Twitter and Facebook posted links were the most regular. Facebook sends lots of folks to my site, but autoposts on Twitter rarely does. I have not really even dipped my toe into Instagram.
I’m going to have to rethink the entire update/marketing procedure to make it more streamlined targeted, effective, personal, and worthwhile. I’m not sure all that is possible at the same time though. Some changes do need to be made.
The most important writing and marketing lessons of September for me were the ones related to pipelines and previously mapped out, written, and scheduled posts. The stress goes away and the act of seeing words come together in a meaningful way on the page is fun when the immediate, “gotta get it out today” pressure is removed. I start posts now even though I know I won’t finish them the same day, or perhaps ever, but if the same thoughts or topic crop up as something I want to write about again, I have something from which to add to, or subtract so the blank page is not a problem for me to face.
The Wednesday Weekly App post, even though has ‘t been every week, is a definite keeper. I will probably include something like a Mastiff Monday, too, to include my undoubtedly in the offing puppy posts. The addition of another puppy into my life gives me another topic about which to have recurrent posts. Like I need another topic!
I still think that writing every single day may be a bit much for me. I might give myself weekends off, if I don’t feel like writing on a Saturday or Sunday. And if I do feel like writing, I can polish, edit or get a few days ahead with posts or work solely on the structure and back end of my sites.
I like idea of a retrospective look at my writing for the month that is ending. Briefly examining what I want to keep and what I want to change for the upcoming month sounds like a reasonable tool for me and a topic that might inform others who are interested in blogging and writing in the 21st Century.
Next month a summary will be tough to do because the end of the month is not just Halloween, but also preparation time for Dia de los Muertos which in Tucson is a very important time for historic and evolving cultural traditions. MORE on that throughout the month! There are also some birthdays and anniversaries in this coming month of people I have loved and lost. I want to write about them. I will also be prepping for a long weekend at a resort in Mexico in November, something that is way off my usual radar as “resorts” especially ones with “native villages” within the resort “experience,” are a bit too colonial and “noble savage” for me. October will provide opportunity for lots of fun and thoughtful writing. And of course the holidays are approaching with visits from the offspring and their progeny. And Done Nesting will go live, though be in Beta. I’m looking at an After the Apocalypse launch (tongue in cheek naming here!) October is gonna be GOOD.
Not Quite Success, But NOT Failure
Trying. I’ve been trying… It has been trying. And I am tired, but happy.
Lots and lots of life events in the last few months Important visit from the East Coast family branch was of major importance. My daughter graduated from college and I helped her move across country. I also visited family and the area in which I grew up for the first time since my mother’s death. Now my hubby and I are negotiating the new rules for the empty nest. So in keeping with my usual modus operandi of trying to do too many things at a time, I decided to participate in the February Nablopomo challenge on BlogHer. I wrote some good pieces but didn’t make the whole month challenge. My hosting company troubles ate up my “buffer” posts I’d stored up. Then taxes and converting our personal finance tracking software to a different platform did in the blog challenge. But our taxes are filed, and that is a good thing.
I write a lot, but I write in so many different places, I don’t think I can showcase my writing to its best advantage because it is so dispersed.
I tried having all my blogs be scraped and posted to my business site, but with Google penalizing multiply posted content, I don’t think that is such a good idea. This added to the dormant state of some of my blogs that makes me question whether it is worth my time to post new posts when I have new ideas to those that do not have an active, current readership. Plus the posting of personal blog posts on my business site just did not seem like a good idea, and I ended up censoring content I really wanted to share.
So I’m back in the search for how to blog my multiple passions, showcase all my writing, and still maintain some professional polish for my business.
I’ll keep you posted on what I figure out. How do you balance and present your different voices.