Please Read My Post: A Day in the Life of a Needy Blogger #BloggerIssues

I Write, I Publish, Then the little voice inside my head says "please please please read my post", and then the cycle repeats itself. 

It's a bit like the instructions on the shampoo bottle:
Wash, Rinse, Repeat, but instead for me it's:
Write, Reader Requisition, Repeat

Yes, I get that it's a wee bit (okay more like infinitely) needy, but I can't help it. 

OMG ... I just realized I 'm a high maintenance blogger!

(Putting on the cone of shame as I type)

 

I have absolutely no idea why one day 100 people visit and another day I'm lucky to get 25 visits, even if I have new posts up and I'm actively sharing links on social media. I just know I like the 100 better than the 25 visits. Maybe on the 25 days you didn't hear my telepathic calls summoning you to a new post. (I'll summon louder in the future).

One of my goals for 2016 is post more consistently and increase the number of visitors and length of visits to my blog. My goal for the first half of 2016 is to consistently get 5o+ visitors a day, or 1500 visitors and 4000 page views per month, and double that number for the second half of 2016. Seemed like an achievable goal at the time, but time will tell.

Giveaways are fun and increase traffic to the blog, but also skew the numbers since they tend to result in quick one page visit, so I'm not including those in my monthly count. The length of visit is a pretty good indicator whether the post is actually being read. 

So far I haven't hit my 50 everyday, but I have had other days with more than 50 so over all I am on target to hit my numbers for the month of January. So to all those who have and continue to visit, thank you for taking the time to do so, and please please please keep reading my posts. If you're not visiting ... maybe it's you who needs the cone of shame.

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about being a insecure and needy blogger.

Finding My Blogging Groove, #Blogger Burnout & Other #BloggerIssues

Is this blogger burnout? And if so how the heck do I get my blogging groove back?

Lately I've struggling to find the energy or the will to engage on social media and publish on Cathy Thinking Out Loud. Where these used to energize and excite me now they suck the energy out of me, which is further compounded by the stress of not posting with any consistency. I have ideas, numerous outlines, drafts and partially written posts; I just can't seem to motivate myself to complete, edit, add images and finally hit publish on any of them. 

Could it be I'm experiencing blogger burnout? Or worse a combination of blogger and social media burnout? The thing I like best about social media and blogging is the platform it gives me to share ideas, engage and interact with others. But lately it all seems like a chore or a one way conversation with myself, leaving me feeling alone and lonely in a crowd.

The above paragraphs were actually written in April of 2015; the beginning of a post I started in response to how I had been feeling. 

They were part of that large pile of partially written posts waiting to be finished. These feelings continued until very recently and as a result I was down to completing only posts I was committed to write and What to Watch Wednesday posts. Each time I looked at my blog I'd cringe at the post stream and how little I was offering my readers, but still I couldn't manage to motivate myself to do more. I've always known my Hubby doesn't read all my posts, in particular sponsored posts, but over the holidays he revealed he rarely finds ones he's interested in reading anymore, further confirmation (like I needed any) the content I've been offering my readers is at best lacking. I think an examination of the reasons I'm in this rut and how I might get my blogging groove back is far overdue. 

Apathy Begets Apathy

The Blog: I knew it would take time to grow readership and my numbers, but after 2 1/2 years my blog hasn't seemed to grow; month after month the numbers stay the same. Unless I'm running a giveaway visits and page views remain low. I want Miracle Grow for blogs that I can sprinkle on my posts then watch my readership grow. So if any of you know where I can my hands on some, let me know. The thing is, when people read what I write it inspires me to write more, but apathy begets apathy squashing my inspiration to write. Lack of inspiration leads to inconsistency in my posting, and for readers out of sight is out of mind resulting in fewer blog visits, and round and round the vicious cycle goes. But it's a new year and with that I'm determined to push myself to consistently press publish, and more importantly dig deeper to produce more interesting and diverse content, regardless of how many actually read it. 
Having said that but please visit me I get lonely!

Social Engagement When You Feel Anti-Social:

Twitter: As my twitter numbers increased I've found it harder to see people in my tweeter stream. Lists help but even so my experience has been the bigger the numbers the smaller the number of meaningful connections and interactions. Twitter parties once so fun and interactive are a challenge to engage and participate in because of their ever growing size and loss of the beloved tweetgrid. Over the past few years I've noticed a shift on twitter by many brands from 2-way conversational engagement to more 1-way promotional content. It's great to see brands embrace social media but I'm really interested in what the brand stands for and the people behind the brand. Even brands once outstanding at connecting with followers seem less likely to engage, retweet and have conversations on twitter. This may be a result of outsourcing promotions and social media, but I kinda miss the type engagement that inspired this best brands list. The end result is social media often leaves me feeling anti-social. 

We should all strive for the kind of daily agenda-free and personal engagement I see from my friend Todd (@tgreenc). Time to reinstate my daily ritual of  looking at 10 different twitter friends' feed to see what they've been up to and comment, engage or just say hello. Who knows, this type of social might just leave me feeling less anti-social.

Facebook & Other Social Media: Although I like other social media platforms time management of them is a puzzle I've yet to solve. I could spend every waking minute reading and responding to friends on the handful of platforms I'm active on and still miss the majority of updates and wonderful content shared. Add to that, sharing content on the CTOL facebook page, and my continued efforts to understand the ins and outs of the various social media platforms and I'll need to clone myself soon. Juggling life's obligations, the Blog and engaging on twitter, facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram can definitely trigger my my anti-social tendencies, followed by burying my head in the sand (aka marathon steaming sessions on Netflix). I truly have no idea how others do it. 

The Pressing Issue of Word Press

In my head I know exactly how I want my blog posts to look, and the design style and feel I want for my blog, headers, logo, and business cards. It's not a cluttered patchwork of what I've managed to add, edit, or customize on my own. I spend more hours fussing with positioning and sizing text and images for a post trying to get something remotely resembling the aesthetic I want than actually writing it. I really want more control over image and font sizing,  placement and editing options. I would love to figure out how to add a PDF with print option to a post. I want pull down tabs, and a user friendly browsing experience for all those who visit; so basically the polar opposite of what I have now. I want to switch from Blogger to Word Press but thinking about the learning curve involved to switch, maintain and trouble shoot issues for Cathy Thinking Out Loud triggers a flight rather than fight response in me. Plug-ins, hacks, hosting, self-hosting, domains and HTML code; all just synonyms for fear. I'm an advocate of outsourcing to the professionals and would be happy to hire someone to redesign and switch Cathy Thinking Out Loud to Word Press, AND give me one-on-one WP tutorials, AND be available for emergency IT and tech support, preventing me from having a complete mental meltdown. 

To that end I've started a list of potential blog-whispers referred by fellow bloggers.

I'm just not sure anyone truly understands just how blog-tech-code challenged I am. Assuming reliable, patient, knowledgeable, professionals who can tolerate my neurotic personality and whose services fit my budget exist; how do I find and recognize the one that is a good fit for me? Many blog-whispers are also bloggers or closely connected to the blogging community thereby increasing the threat level to DEFCON1 that I'll be exposed as the bat-s@%& crazy person I actually am. Cause that's been such a well kept highly classified secret up till now. Can you imagine the size of the cone of shame required if I was fired as a client due to my inability to grasp concepts and being too clingy-needy. So one my goals for 2016 is to find this superhero blog-whisper who can help me turn my blog vision into a reality.

Getting My Blogging Groove Back

I can't figure out how others pitch and post so often and consistently, it takes me hours to write each post. Not to sound pessimistic but my To Do Lists are pages long and my current rate of posts, pitches, blog maintenance, and social media engagement already seems unsustainable and overwhelming. So baby steps starting with: 

 Strategies to Feelin' Groovy: 

• Create and add a really great About Me page to the blog.
• Write everyday. Whether it gets posted or not it keeps the creative juices flowing and may inspire a really great post.
• Take at least one random picture a day. Not only are they fun to share on social media, a collection of images to use for posts makes getting from draft to published that much easier.
• Schedule time once a week to experiment and try a new photography technique or hack.
• Write and publish at least one non-sponsored post per week in addition to the What 2 Watch posts. Dig deeper to create more interesting and diverse content. 
• Read and comment on at least 1 fellow blogger's non-giveaway post each day. The comment lets them know I have read their post. No apathy here! 
• Tweet a hello to 10 people each day, just to say hello. 
• Research a different social media platform each month. By year end I'll be an expert.
• Reach out and get a few more names of blog-whispers who might be a good fit to help me redesign and switch my blog to WP.
• Find ways to better schedule blog and blog related activities, including an editorial calendar, and improve my time management skills. 
• Pitch an idea to a brand once a week, and don't be discouraged if pitches are rejected. 
• Examine goals and long To Do Lists once a month to track my progress and edit as required to ensure I continue moving forward without the burnout. 

Doot-in doo-doo, feelin' groovy!

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about blogger issues and getting my blogging groove back.

Someone told me I was prolific today and I think being prolific is pretty terrific!

PROLIFIC: "Producing constant, and successful results, highly productive, intellectually productive." 

via The Free Dictionary

Today someone told me "I'm a new fan of yours and admire how prolific you are!" From the context of the rest of the conversation, I believe she was telling me thank you or acknowledging that either my blog posts or my social interaction in some way had helped her, made her smile or just connected. 

What she might not have known is that those kind words helped me, made me smile, and made me free connected. I am fairly new at blogging, and Cathy Thinking Out Loud  is less than a year old. Lately I have been struggling with the fact that almost all of my writing is for free. It is not that I do not try for the paid writing opportunities I see, it's that I am not chosen for them. 

What does that matter? Why isn't writing for yourself good enough? Well, for the same reason not being picked for a team, or not being chosen for a promotion matters. It impacts how I feel about myself. It makes me question my abilities, and occasionally makes me feel like giving up. Being picked and paid is a sign that my work has value. After more than 18  years as a stay-at-home Mom, right or wrong, I need that validation sometimes. 

That being said until the time comes that I am picked for "the team" a compliment like; you are prolific is pretty terrific! Proof positive that at least one person reads what I write!

 Feels a bit like I just got a big Christmas bonus!

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud, and happy to be prolific. 

Content is King (or Queen) - Should be easy now that you know...Right?!

You will hear it everywhere, from all the top social media gurus. Content is King, Everyone needs, wants, and must have good, unique, original, top grade, content. I see and read posts about how this "content" will drive more traffic to your blog, and increase readers, and followers. People say write what you know or what you are passionate about, and focus on that. I know lots of things, and I am passionate about many things. I don't want to write about a single area, or topic. Am I doomed to be banished to the island of misfit bloggers? 

I agree with the "gurus" content is important, and I do not want to read posts that are a rehash of old stuff, or page after page of promotions and sales pitches. I want to read a post that gives me insight, teaches me something, makes me think about a subject in a different way, or think about it at all. I want to read something that makes me laugh, or cry, or surprises me, and ideally calls me to action in some way. I also want that content to look nice with graphics, pictures, font choices, and borders, all without being busy, or distracting. It is a pretty tall order. 

I am relatively new to blogging with no formal writing experience, or training in social media. I muddle along trying to get Blogger to do what I want it to do with varying degrees of success, depending on the given day. None the less, I want to give my readers all the things I want when reading a post. I want to write posts that make people smile, or think, or respond. Now that I know I need excellent content, and what I like to read, and what I want to write, it should be so easy..... NOT. 

I know what I like when I see it or read it, but I am not so clear on how to write it. I am passionate about, and know about many things, so I write about them, but that has a tendency to make my blog look busy and unfocused. I simply cannot help it, I am a multifaceted person, with a variety of life experiences. The lighter weight content threatens to bury the more important messages I have to share; but it can't be all work, otherwise Cathy will become a very dull blogger. My eye for design far outweighs my abilities to make that vision materialize on my blog. 

Then there are the questions that whirl around in my head like a merry-go-round, about citing images, quotes, posts, within posts. Not to mention what seems to be endless and ever changing rules that it not followed threaten my blog's very existence. I constantly worry about pressing publish only to find grammar and spelling mistakes. With all that who has time to write content, far less good content.  

On that note, without a proper transitioning sentence, I begin the conclusion to this light weight content piece. I always aim for well written posts that make the reader happy they took the minute or two to read it, and hopefully inspire them to read more my other posts. If my content is not "King" it is not for lack of trying. My writing, my blog, and myself are all a work in progress striving to be the very best we can be. I like to think of my blog as heir to the throne.

Yep, just me Cathy thinking out loud about content.