Happy First Birthday!
This blog is officially one year old today.
Happy First Birthday to my writing blog.
It has been an interesting journey of discovery, frustration, elation and a very steep learning curve. This blog commenced while I was staying with my son and daughter-in-law in Sydney last year. We were having a short holiday there and Simon did all the technical stuff setting up my three blogs. He still does all the maintenance on our blogs.
Thanks Sim’.
What have I learned?
- Connecting: The writer’s life can be lonely at times – but on the positive side, I’ve made many contacts with people all over the world through their comments and links to this blog and my other sites. Thanks to all of you.
- Selecting: The blogging world is an interesting place to live in; there are many wonderful writers who are forward looking in their thinking and express that in their writing. There’s just not enough time in each day to read it all, so one has to be very selective.
- Focussing: The writer’s and blogger’s life needs to be very focussed on the task at hand. The internet can be a huge distraction and hours just fly off into the unknown leaving little time for the real work of actually writing.
- Absorbing: There are so many things one needs to learn how to do to make the writer’s life and one’s blogging ventures successful. At times I felt like a giant sponge soaking up all the information about this new venture. Putting it all into practice was a challenge. Sometimes, like the sponge, I felt so bloated; at other times all wrung out and dry.
- Rewarding: Being able to write over 900 blog posts for the last year has been very rewarding, giving me a great sense of achievement. Having a readership in the many thousands every month has its own rewards, especially when people connect via comments, some returning frequently. Receiving my first payment from my blogging was another reward and, though modest at this stage, it is a start.
So there you have it.
Happy First Birthday.
Reader’s Questions:
- How long have you been blogging?
- What have you learned from writing and blogging?
How I keep track of my blogging schedule
I am trying to keep alive the juggling act of writing three blogs simultaneously. I try to post a new article on each blog every day. I don’t always succeed but I’m getting better. Regular posting like this hopefully keeps the readers returning regularly and this repeat traffic is important.
Forward Planning:
Most of the time I plan my topics and posts well in advance. Many articles are also written days or even weeks ahead of when they are published on the web. This helps to even out the workload and allows for emergencies. Knowing that I have a new article coming on every day for the next three days, for example, eases the mind if something unexpected occurs.
Record Chart:
Keeping track of these posts and plans is the key to forward planning. I’ve devised a simple way that works for me. I have a chart drawn up in MSWord. This chart has four columns. The first column is for the date. The other three columns are for the three blogs I publish, one column for each blog. As I write each article, I type its title in a bold font next to the date it will be published. At a glance then I can see upcoming posts and when they will appear. I can also see dates with no upcoming posts and I can then work on writing articles for them.
Other ideas:
For ideas for posts I use two parts of the chart. Where there are spaces I type in ideas ahead of time. These are not in a bold font and act as prompts for future writing. For example, I might plan to write a series of writing hints and publish them every Monday over the next four weeks. So on the chart I type “writing hint” every Monday for four weeks.
Virtual scribbling Pad:
I also have a space under the chart that I use as a virtual scribbling pad. It used to be on a pad alongside my computer, but other things kept on being put on top. On this scribbling pad I jot down ideas for future posts. Some I use, some just sit there for another day, or week or month; some may never be used but they are there so I don’t forget my ideas. You never know when you might be scratching for an idea.
Emergency posting of blog articles
I try to post at least one new article on each of my three blogs every day. In this I’m not always successful but most of time I keep up this schedule.
When I know I’m going to be away from my computer for a time or very busy I write articles ahead of time and queue them up to appear during the busy time. I can do this as most of my articles are not time sensitive.
I don’t regard this strategy as emergency posting but rather a case of planning ahead. But when an emergency does occur it’s great to know you’ve got several posts ready to go. Writing a series of articles in another excellent strategy in this regard.
For another perspective on this concept check out the idea written by Daniel in Brazil on his blog called Daily Blog Tips. The comments section of this article is also worth reading as other bloggers have shared their ideas.
How to run a home based business
Many writers and bloggers are trying to turn a dream into a successful home based business. Working at home has many attractions, many benefits and can be very cost effective. There are, of course, many pitfalls too.
As far as I am concerned I’ve only been working at home on my writing and blogging for a little under three years. I’m not expert on the topic. My limited experience has shown up a few benefits.
Benefits of working at home:
- No commuting (this is a fuzzy one for me; all my working life I was never more than 10 minutes from work, 30 minutes if I rode a bike).
- You don’t have to dress up (and I will admit to writing while in my pyjamas; I couldn’t sleep is my excuse).
- You can work when you feel like it with no boss to check up on you (unless your wife/husband/partner/dog/goldfish give you a hard time when you are not working).
- You can eat and drink when you feel like it, not according to the company clock.
- You can go for a walk, feed the bird, water the garden and check the letter box anytime you want to.
Disadvantages of working at home:
- You need to be very self disciplined.
- You need to be very self motivated.
- It can be lonely sitting at the computer all day and night.
- It can be very scary trying to make a living from your writing or blogging when there is little or no money coming in.
- People get to know you are at home and will think nothing of phoning or calling in when you are trying to meet a deadline or the creative juices and ideas are flowing freely.
I am sure that with a little thought I could come up with many more advantages and disadvantages. I don’t need to because Tony D. Clark has an excellent blog called Success from the nest. It’s about working from home; he’s been doing it successfully for nearly 14 years so he must know a thing or two about how to make it all work.
Success from the nest has the added bonus of being illustrated by Tony’s own cartoons. Check them out.
How to be a successful blogger or writer – or whatever
I think I’ve said it before on this blog, the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Success in any endeavour is always the end result of work, hard work, sometimes incredibly hard work in overcoming difficulties and many set backs. People compliment me when I chair a meeting or I am MC* of a function or I speak in public saying how relaxed and confident I seem. This has not come easy for someone who was as shy and retiring as I was as a child. It has come through much effort, thought, planning and rehearsal.
A lifetime of effort
Blogging and writing is no different. It takes time and effort to be successful, long hours of seemingly fruitless, unrewarded effort. After a lifetime of writing endeavour I guess only a small fraction, perhaps as little as ten per cent of my writing has been published. Do I regret all that unpublished work? No way – it was my apprenticeship in the craft. And I’m still learning.
Sporting Success
Like so many other Australians, I enjoy watching all kinds of sports, especially those featuring Australians. The Aussies are fanatical about their sport and our success in sporting endeavour far exceeds normal expectations for a country of barely 21 million people. Many of my readers would be aware of the amazing achievements of Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, one of the greatest of all time. He makes breaking world records look easy and effortless. When he retired recently he admitted that he could no longer face endless hours of training. To get to the standard of performance he displayed took a lifetime of effort, lap after lap, day after day, year after year. There is no such thing as overnight success – in any field.
Steven Bradbury and Blogging
In the recently announced honours list here on Australia Day, Winter Olympic Ice Skater Steven Bradbury received an award. What has this got to do with blogging? Plenty. Steven was the first Australian Gold Medallist in the Winter Olympics. The realisation of his dream seemed accidental, but it was no accident. I didn’t realise all the hard work, the difficulties, the setbacks and the injuries that Steven had endured in order to have crack at success. And in the end it all paid off. Writing and blogging, like speed skating, can be a lonely pursuit with many long hours of effort. That’s what it takes.
Links:
For a more comprehensive article about Steven Bradbury and how his story can help your blogging, writing or whatever read this inspiring article by Darren Rowse. It even includes a video of Bradbury winning the gold medal.
How Steven Bradbury can make you a better blogger by Darren Rowse.
*Master of Ceremonies