If you’ve ever stopped on my blog, you might have read that few years ago, I was in a stage in my life where I needed an outlet to express myself, reflect on some issues that affects me and possibly connect and network with other people. And that it really took me few years to execute my vision. However, despite my strong passion for blogging and sharing ideas with the world, last year I realized how difficult it is to stay committed and put out consistently content. I can’t believe my last post here was in March. A whole full year. Where did the time go?
So, here are 5 lessons I have learned over the past year:
1) The dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately
I remember when I was toying with the idea of starting a blog, my sister warned me numerous times that maintaining a blog was a lot of work. But I was so sure about my passion to keep me going. She was right. I have learned that maintaining a blog and juggling it with a full-time job, motherhood, and just all other personal and professional commitments is hard work. I’ve realized that successful bloggers and everybody who had built a successful platform, have put incredible hours of work, commitment and going the extra mile to realize their dream. Most successful blogs that I follow have 10+years of hard work behind them before achieving visibility and success.
2) Routines, processes and consistency is key
Another factor in my blogging failures last year was the lack of established routines and processes. In my naive blogging dreams, I thought I would simply sit and write about a subject that inspired me, made me went hmmm? Or Uh-oh! And deliver a 750 words piece in no time. Sadly, I learned that quality content required strong routines and processes which ultimately lead to consistency. And this my friends this is a life lesson that you can apply to anything: parenting, work, sports, keeping your house clean, self-care etc.
3) The power of timing: blogging in social media era
A big competition to traditional blogging today is social media. Many bloggers have left their space on the world wide web to create content for social media. Micro-blogging for social media is quick, less hassle and feed the need of immediacy these social platforms have created. As soon as a breaking or trending news is available, it is widely shared and commented on social media within minutes. Blogging in social media era requires more in-depth and behind the story analysis.
4) Procrastination hidden as perfectionism
This one is probably the biggest lesson. Many posts, content ideas never saw the light of the day because, I have spent too much times, thinking about how my blog didn’t look like yet and how I wanted it to be; enormous time was spent thinking, brainstorming, researching about blogging than blogging itself. If I had documented all these processes, I would have probably today, thousands of posts to show.
5) My “hot wings and beer” promise
Have you notice that the most successful restaurants are those who sticks to simplicity such as a simple combination of offerings: Hot wings and beer, wings and waffles, fish and chips?
My offering since day one has always been Lifestyle and Edutainment. So, this year I am going to stick to delivering just that: You can now look forward to more regular Lifestyle content such as series, interviews, and edutainment like amazing African history features. Also be sure to connect with me on my social media pages for more snack-able content.
If you’re a blogger and you’re either struggling to keep it afloat or found a system that allows you to blog consistently, I’d love to hear from you. Share with me your tips, systems and routine that have helped you. Leave a comment or better, let’s take the conversation on my social media pages below; I’d love to hear from you.
Let’s get social, let’s connect!
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Podcast: https://anchor.fm/houseofnzinga
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