THE FUTURE OF YOUR BLOG
Three Questions To Ask Yourself
Okay so deep title right? But the truth is, my blog and I often have a love hate relationship. I love writing, i love love love photography, I love having my own space and I truly love working with the brands I get to work with as a result of having a blog. But every now and then I start to lose my love, and usually its down to comparing my content or success with others, or simply because I wish my blog would grow as I see others doing. I wish more people could discover it, like it, love it and keep reading it. I wonder if I’m not good enough and more recently this feeling has left me struggling to put ‘pen to paper’ if you will.
My desire for the ‘perfect’ post or ‘perfect instagram image has left me slow, inconsistent and a little out of the loop.
The thing about the blogging industry is that it’s ever changing. If you’re not on the front foot, not willing to adapt, test, learn, then you risk being left behind. I experienced that first hand with instagram, slow to the game and forever playing catch up. Every now and then I stop and take check, i think about how i’m doing, think about what I want to be doing and look at ways to evolve and improve my offering!
I think it’s a good thing, but it’s important to remain balanced and not get too swept up in ‘hating’ on yourself and the work you have created. When it comes to planning for the future I think there are three key questions we should ask ourselves, in order to move in the right direction, with the right motivations and with the right information.
THREE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN PLANNING THE FUTURE OF YOUR BLOG
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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?
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It’s important when analysing anything in life, to have a clear criteria for what success looks like, what are you measuring against? In the world of blogging, the simple is question, what do you want to achieve? What are your motivations, what do you hope to get, what does success look like for you, today, tomorrow and in a years time. Once you know what it truly is you want to achieve, it’s much simpler to create pragmatic, objective and smart steps to help you achieve things!
More often than not comparison can leave you comparing your work to others successes. A combination unhelpful to everyone.
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WHAT DO YOUR READERS WANT?
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As a blogger, we write as much for ourselves and our passion as we do for our readers and our followers. If success looks like growth, engagement, a loyal and blossoming readership, then knowing what your readers enjoy, want and dislike is very helpful!
The last time I had a little blogging dip and prior to relaunching my site earlier this year, I carried out a reader survey and asked you guys for some help! You told me you loved careers and blogging tips, you loved the everyday outfit posts and actually it turns out I had two types of readers (put simply, those that want style advice, other bloggers looking for tips)! The survey really helped me take a fresh look at my content schedule and how I structure my blog, and importantly what I wanted to create in the future. Which leads me to my final point …
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HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THERE?
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When you have a clear idea about what your goals are, what your readers want, and where the similarities lie (ultimately, you want to be creating both you and your readers enjoy), that’s when you need to ask yourself how you’re going to do it? What are the things you’re going to do to help you achieve your goal and deliver content your readers like. Perhaps it’s increasing the frequency of certain posts, upping your instagram game because short snappy content is what your readers love best.
Or for me, a realisation that perhaps making my instagram more real and ‘everyday, would make it more appealing to new followers. Currently I focus so much on my photography, that I end up not sharing so much I get up to! That means creating content is a hard task, limited and truth be told a lot of pressure … by snapping with my iphone more regularly and sharing a little more of the ‘everyday’ not only might i make my life easier, but I also might make more enjoyable content for you guys (i’d welcome your thoughts on this, any advice welcome – ahem, see point 2)?
READ MORE BLOG TIPS HERE
How To Make A Killer Business Plan . What Does Success Look Like . How to Evolve Your Strategy
And there you have it. They’re super simple questions, but they really do help focus your mind, efforts and attention. It’s fine to have dips, moments of review and decisions to make changes. In fact, i’d go as far as to say in this industry it’s essential. To stay ahead you must constantly analyse, evolve and take action!
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Did you find these tips helpful? How do you keep your blog or business ahead and relevant? I’d love to know what you want more of from mediamarmalade in the future!
You raise up two very good points – what you yourself want to achieve, and what your readers want. The key is to find a good balance!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Very inspiring post! I need to have a think about these questions and what my answers to them are – I’ve recently been feeling a bit down about my blog, and I need to get out of this rut! And I definitely need to stop comparing myself to others and feeling jealous of other people’s success. It’s not helpful to anyone, least of all me! Thanks for giving me so much to think about xx
Laura // Middle of Adventure
These are great questions, but they do feel rather non-actionable. It’s so easy to get boggled over grand ideas but without a good plan they are utterly useless :)
Hi Alex.
Good point, I’d forgotten to add links to my other posts which are all about making a business plan, creating your content strategy, defining success, measuring success and generally tips for blogging for business too! I’ve added those in above now, so hopefully they help you take some action!
I’ve also written tons of articles which are more focussed on actions you can have a little browse here https://mediamarmalade.com/category/tips
Mel xx
Really enjoyed this post – very helpful things to consider
Rebecca
xx
http://www.peppermintdolly.com
This is really helpful! I started my blog a couple of months ago and now I’m a bit more into the swing of it I want to start looking at how to improve and what I want to achieve, so there’s loads for me to think about here :) My favourite posts of your are outfits, blogging tips and career tips – particularly when you combine outfit photos with writing about work/career! Sophie xxx
http://www.sopharsogood.com
This is something I regularly do to keep track of where I am in relation to my goals, I find it so helpful!
Ps. I’d love to know how you take these gorgeous photos of yourself, do you have someone take them for you or use a tripod?
Jess x
http://www.acornlifefitness.com
having a plan is always useful and it helps following your blogging path. sometimes the suggestions and questions are very simple but effective! thanks for sharing this!
xx from Italy
Cate // 35mminstyle.com
Great way of thinking and such a good post which made me ask myself those same questions too!
I hope to see more real life moments on your Instagram as well as on your blog. For me as a reader,
being able to relate to the person which I’m following is what makes me want to return to their blog/
Instagram profile much more and engage more than something that is 99% of the time staged and
well thought about in advance. More spontaneity is the key!
https://lartoffashion.com/pandora-summer/
I do the same thing you do! I often compare myself to other bloggers and their successes. But, like you, I’ve been late to the game of Instagram, and regretting it haha, but I guess if our passion for blogging is strong and lasts, then our success will surely come at one point. I wish you luck!
Natalie | Holistic Health, Lifestyle, & Inspiration
http://nataliesalchemy.wordpress.com
First of all, your blog posts, photos and style of writing are incredible. These tips came right on time for me! I had just written a post on my need to define my blog and the direction. Never considered a survey from my readers so this is very helpful!
Asakemi.com
I always compare myself to other bloggers, I sometimes find myself loser for having a limited to budget and photography. I wish someday to at least improved my blog post and photos. Thanks for sharing!
xx Katrina Isha
These are really great questions that make a difficult task seem really easy.
http://ohduckydarling.com
Love this post! Totally agree and so sorry to hear you are getting disheartened but remember that its not all about numbers
http://www.petiteelliee.com
Ellie xx
I am just in the very beginning stages of starting a Lifestyle blog. I actually have no clue on how I happened upon this…lol….I loved reading your wise words in the this post! Truly inspiring.
Do you take your photos with your phone or a camera? you wrote “by snapping with my iphone more regularly and sharing”….so it made me wonder if all your photos are by phone…which would be amazing!!! Your photos are lovely
Stunning Pics of an Angel, Costume !!! Wooww :)
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
These tips are definitely ones for me to sit down and think over this weekend!
Thanks
Charlee | Rose above the Thorns
I agree and sympathize! It so happens that Ι suffer from a very similar stress about photography lately. I am so focused on creating high quality photos for Instagram that it leaves me with very little time and energy for the unedited “story” type of posts. I don’t think it’s actually possible to be good at everything! Some bloggers share every little bit of their everyday lives (do I really care what’s for dinner for x,y blogger every day?) but I don’t think we should all follow their example. Or I don’t know. I think we should all have our own personal style and focus.