Entrepreneurs have become notorious for embracing the “fail fast, fail often” mentality. The idea is to erase the fear of failure by embracing the consequences (good and bad) of innovation. Don’t be afraid to try something new, because no one fails as long as lessons are learned and the venture pushes forward. Along those lines, I have decided to restructure my blog. Okay, here’s the situation…
When I first decided to turn my passion for writing into my paid profession, I had no idea where to start. Umm…writing, duh! Of course, I understood that I had to first develop the habit of sitting at my desk every work day to type out a few thoughts. Outside of that, I had no clue how to actually make money writing a blog. It turns out, there are a lot of people who do. I learned from them exactly what I was doing wrong, and, more importantly, how to improve.
Fail Fast
From the onset, I knew that my blog would look vastly different when it reached success than it did when I began. Like I said, I just wanted to get started to develop the habit of working for myself. I am not one to procrastinate, so I jumped in with both feet. I figured that I would discover my voice through practice over time.
Thankfully, I did just that. At the same time, I also looked at trends and studied the market I wanted to reach. I recognized my posts that received the most and least engagement and noticed the audience I was drawing. I didn’t have a huge audience, so I really felt confident that I could restructure my blog to serve my followers better and attract more attention. It took less than a month for me to develop the discipline to write daily and hone in on my niche.
Finding a Niche
During the week, I jotted down notes and turned those ideas into blog posts, all while trying to get a feel for my niche. On the weekends, I stalked other bloggers that were earning a comfortable living doing what I wanted to do. The most important advice they gave was to target a niche. Who were my peeps? What was my purpose.
Obviously, I wanted to use my words to help my fellow sisters. Unfortunately, this idea was entirely too vague. What did I want to help them do exactly? What do they want? What do they need? After doing a little research, I found that women around my age are searching for simple ways to live healthier lives. To be quite honest, I was in search of the same thing. Why not take them along on my journey of getting back in shape? Eureka! I discovered my niche– fast and fun fitness for women over forty.
Lifestyle Blogger
The third mistake I realized was that my blog was not living up to my intention. I wanted to help women with everyday concerns by detailing how I managed certain circumstances. Unfortunately, my absolutely unremarkable life is not suited for a lifestyle blog. While I love sipping green tea and chatting for hours with friends, a transcript of those conversations is, frankly, not that interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life. It’s just not adventurous or dramatic enough to continue to attract an interested audience. My husband is amazing. My children are great. We have fun every day together. Nothing to tell. If I had a more universally appealing sense of humor, I could spin those everyday tales into comic gold. Alas, it’s like my niece reminds me. I’m funny like a teacher. I think I’m hilarious, but that opinion is not shared by all. I’d better leave the lifestyle niche to the more fascinating and exciting bloggers.
We All Have the Same 24 Hours
I can write every day. That is not a problem. However, I found it difficult to write interesting text, edit, publish, cook, clean, be a mother to Lil Sweetie, be a partner to Honey, and take care of myself within 24 hours. I woke up each morning at 5:00 am and did not get to bed some nights until 1:00 am, and still was not able to get everything done. Burning the candle from both ends was not healthy nor sustainable. Finally, I had succumb to the stress and spent Friday morning sick in bed. I typed up a mediocre post and published from underneath my comforter.
Over the weekend, I decided to devise a schedule that would allow me time to do the things I enjoy, like going to the gym, while working and taking care of my other responsibilities. Incorporating my personal health and fitness into my profession allows me to consolidate two of the most time consuming aspects and takes some of the stress out of getting everything else done.
Time for Growth and Development
In addition to needing time to do all of the tasks I set for myself every day, I also required time to actually learn to blog. I needed to learn from the masters, so I can also be successful. I was so exhausted by the end of the week that I did not want to spend the necessary time learning to perfect my craft. Following your passion is supposed to feel invigorating, not life draining. I knew that I was on the right train but not the right track. Instead of coming up with new posts for this week, I overdosed on “how to blog” videos and blog posts. I learned that I need at least a week off to study more about this wonderful world of blogging.
Conclusion
There you have it, Friend. My latest light bulb moment. I am feeling back to 100 and ready to jump into phase two of my career. That was fast! I’m so happy and thankful that you have decided to join me for this spectacular journey. I hate to switch it up on you, but I hope you will continue to follow me into the next adventure.
I have decided that it is more sustainable to do two posts per week. At the same time, I intend to incorporate one or two YouTube videos per week as well. My main focus will be on fitness at 40 and beyond. Wish me luck!
Ciao!
AnthroNegra 