How to Fall Back Into Love with Blogging

Do you ever feel like you are in a blogging rut? Like you could spend hours on Pinterest pinning beautiful images and reading well-written blog posts, but the thought of getting up to actually create something that you pinned seems absurd? 

Well, I'm here to share with you the secret to falling back into love with blogging. The photo above is not simply a mess covering an ugly apartment carpet (looks may be deceiving.) The photo above is what a motivational meeting looks like, and I'm going to teach you how to have one.

 

The first thing you need to do is sit down and get comfy. Yes, you can go put your sweatpants on. In fact, I encourage sweat pants here. We need to be comfortable for this meeting. Also, you'll need a cup of coffee or tea. Go ahead and get one, I'll wait. 

Ready? This is a very important meeting. You don't want to put it off any longer. Do you have your paper and pens? We'll be doing some writing.

  Now silence your cell phones, people. We can't be interrupted during this process or we'll lose our mojo.

Okay, now we're ready.

Step 1: M.I. Goals

Make a "MI goals" list. These are the 3 Most Important Goals that you want to accomplish. Yes, "relax and enjoy blogging" is a goal. Is it a measurable goal? No. If you are in a bloggy rut, it isn't relaxing to blog. So, we need 3 concrete, measurable goals. I want you to write down your 3 goals right now. They need to have a number indicating how you will measure them and a timeline of when they will be completed by. Write this "concrete" information in red. It will help, trust me. Making achievable goals that require you to commit to a deadline will help you to stick to your goals and keep track of your progress. 

Here are the 3 goals I wrote down:

1. Get 200 blog followers by December.

2. Have at least 35 items on my Etsy store by September 1st.

3. Make at least $50 a month and $450 between March and December.

Step 2: Write down your blog needs

Your house isn't the only thing that needs spring cleaning. You blog needs to be refreshed and renewed, too. What can you do to improve your blog today? What can you do next month? What can you have completed in 6 months? Write down specific things that you have been wanting to add to your blog and don't forget to add your concrete information. When will you have it done by? How will you measure it? Think blog upkeep. Maybe your blog needs a total makeover. Either way, you will be giving it some tender, loving, care. 

Here are my blog's needs:

1. a mission statement (this month)

2. a specific logo (this month)

3. New business cards (April)

4. A Sponsor Page (June)

5. Ad spots (June)

6. Google AdSense (March)

Now some of these tasks may require more elaborate definitions. For example, I wrote that I need to look at examples of other people's sponsor pages for inspiration and figure out what I want to put on it. These are good thoughts. Write them down. The goal here is to break each of your tasks down into manageable, written actions that you need to take to meet your goals.

Step 3: Write down your content goals:

What kind of posts do you want to be doing? Do you ever think of a great post idea, put it off until later and lose motivation for it all together? This happens to me all the time. So, I made a list of all the "content" pieces I'd like to be posting and a "quota" for how many a week or month I'd like to post. For example, I want to post at least one recipe a week, one lifestyle post a week, one Recipe Writer post a month, two DIYs a month. If you don't keep goals for what you want to be posting every week, you might end up in a bloggy rut (like me). This way, you have a specific number of posts you are committing to now, so that you don't have to fuss with content ideas later. You can also include how many link ups you want to participate in each week/month and how many guest posts you want to do. Alright, get writing. 

Step 4: How can you boost your following?

We all want to boost our following. That is the nature of bloggers. It comes easier to some than others. I'm an other. Anyway, here is where you can write down specific things that you can do today, tomorrow, this week, every week, every month...etc to get other bloggers involved and interested in what you have to say. Yes, these goals need numbers, too. How many link ups do you want to participate in? How many do you want to host, if any? How can you get more involved in that group you are a member of? How can you use social media as your side kick? What works for other bloggers? Ready, set, go.

Step 5: Time Commitments

This part is easy. You simply write down how much time you want to realistically devote to these new goals of yours each week. Each week, people! How much time do you spend on Facebook? How much time do you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend scrolling on your phone? You can set aside time specifically for you and your lovely blog. It will feel great to get things accomplished that truly make you happy. Make it a date. Maybe every Saturday morning you will have a hot date with your computer, just you and your ideas for the next week's posts. You need to write down how many hours you want to spend each week, though. And don't make it too high. I wrote that I will spend one hour each weekend planning my posts for the week and one hour solely on link ups and commenting on other blogs. Make it something that you can do, not something that just feels like another heavy time commitment. Okay, write it down.

Do you feel better yet? I sure do. I hope this process has inspired you as much as it has me. The best part about it is that you can do it over and over again when you need a refresher.

I'd love to hear what you discovered about yourself and your blog after trying this! Please let me know if this worked or not for you! What do you find as the biggest hurdles when overcoming a "bloggy rut?"