No one starts a blog and says, “I can’t wait for this to fizzle out.”
When most people begin publishing a blog, they are full of ambition and aspirations. They have desires of sharing their thoughts with a delighted and engaged readership. They daydream about posts going viral — shares and tweets and retweets as far as the eye can see. They start out with a hopeful yearning that they will beat the odds of the 95 percent failure rate.
When I started my blog, it was after over at least a dozen failed starts. Because of those previous failures, I knew I was my worst enemy when it came to working on something for myself, so I had the foresight to post a public deadline on commonsku that in one week’s time, I would launch a blog. It worked. I reached my goal. Cue the fireworks.
But then the next week, I got busy. I thought to myself, “No one is going to realize I didn’t post this week. I’ll get back to it next week.”
I was wrong. My friend, and fellow IdentityMarketing writer, Bill Petrie sent me an email saying he noticed I didn’t publish my second post. I explained how I had gotten really busy that week.
Next thing I knew, my phone was ringing and the always-wise Mr. Petrie was there with some of the best advice I’ve ever received: “Don’t busy yourself out of your personal deadlines.”
I had one of those aha moments where I realized that’s exactly what I always did. My dreams always came in last to all of my other obligations.
For the next nine months, I posted to my blog weekly. But then, the holidays approached, and my schedule started getting heavy. Soon, my resolve started to weaken, and I went from posting weekly, to twice a month, to folding altogether.
For the last year, I’ve been planning on restarting the blog. However, I quickly found that when you take an unexpected sabbatical from your blog, it’s really difficult to revive it. You start to put pressure on yourself that your first post has to be profound and revolutionary, and worthy of a 365-day hiatus. But with the right approach, it’s not impossible:
Focus on what went right. When I look back on my blog, it’s easy for me to justify not working on it any longer since it wasn’t directly related to my day-to-day work. But that’s just one more excuse. I’m doing myself a disservice by abandoning it.
Think about what went wrong. To do this, you’re going to have to ask yourself those tough, revealing questions. Why is this important to me… and why did I give up anyway? Why do I always give in to my thinly veiled excuses? Why was I only allowing myself to work on this after my family went to bed when I’m tired and more likely to give up? (I told you the questions would be tough and revealing.)
Analyze results. What posts resonated with your audience? Which ones got the most comments and shared? Which ones did you phone in that you could instead repurpose into a series? Which resulted in crickets (even from your mom)? Write more of the posts that inspired you or engaged your audience. Drill down into your content to uncover gems you might be glossing over — whether it’s out of fear, laziness, or lack of time. Those kernels are there for you to capitalize on them.
Create a realistic schedule. And. Stick. To. It. What is a reasonable schedule for you? Whether that is twice a week or twice a month, schedule it like you would anything else. And if you are someone who needs outer accountability, find someone who will hold you to your deadline.
There is a reason 95 percent of blogs fail. It’s not easy. If there is something creative you’ve been putting off, it’s worth gritting your teeth, tossing those excuses, dusting off your desire, and giving it a go. If you need the extra push, feel free to email me, and we can cheer on one another.
Aubrey Collins is the director of marketing and communications at MediaTree, a supplier of branded digital entertainment cards. She fell in love with the promotional products industry in 2011 at her first PPAI Expo. She shares her perspective on everything from the industry, what parenting continues to teach her about business, to what marketing campaigns make her cry on her blog. Connect with her on Twitter or email her atacollins@mediatreegroup.com.