In the past year or so I’ve taken a relatively strategic approach to running In it 4 the Long Run (plus the podcast and instagram) as a business. I watch the trends, and as blog visits go down and instagram rises in popularity I adjust how I blog and create content. I’m not emotional or nostalgic about these changes. If there’s one thing I learned about this digital space is that things will always change. With the blog, I’ve tried to make sure every blog post I shared was IN-DEPTH. I’m talking tons of tips, takeaways, information.
As a result, I blog a lot less. I’m a one-woman show. Occasionally my husband will take an instagram of me, but that’s about it. I know it seems like blogging and podcasting is an easy thing to manage solo (and for a lot of people it probably is). For me, running it as a business just means more time dedicated to the management, sponsors, bookkeeping, taxes, organization and less time strictly creating content. I also work for myself as a photographer so those gigs are sprinkled in the mix.
I’m Craving More Less than Perfect, Off the Cuff Writing
What I’m trying to say is I’ve been blogging way less. Partly because I am seeing and reacting to trends, partly because I’m pretty much as full out as I want to be.
Yet this year, I want to do things slightly different. I’m in this space of allowing, curiosity and non-attachment to this work as my one and only career. With that beautiful freedom, I want to keep exploring as authentically as I can. I’m ok if my risks don’t work. I’m ok if people don’t love what I do.
When it comes to the blog that means I want to share more pieces like this. Short, mini-essays, that are off the cuff. The kind that won’t show up in Google’s search algorithm. These posts are written for YOU to read. This doesn’t mean my meatier more practical wellness and personal growth blogs are going anywhere. I love writing and sharing those.
I just want to be more present on the blog and in my work. Hopefully, this can help me in my personal life too. (I’ll get back to you on how that works out.) I don’t want to feel like I’m looking at my work from a distance anymore or that I make decisions just because they will be profitable or someone else’s definition of success. I enjoy sharing more real-time, rough draft ideas with you. To be honest, I’ve struggled to share my ideas, thoughts, truth, real-time because I’ve been so afraid of other people’s opinions. Not exactly about what the content is but whether my “boundaries are healthy enough.” I am afraid of the overshare or not providing you with enough value. All of it is the same thing: fear of not being enough, fear of being rejected. It’s human but I’m aware and open enough to acknowledge it without letting it stop me from sharing what my truth is.
Who else needs a tattoo that says “it’s ok if not everyone likes you.”?
It doesn’t feel right, for me personally, any more to create a strategy for my blog and craft my life around it. I want to LIVE and then blog/shoot/podcast/create around it.
Live, then blog. Not blog, then live.
Thanks for reading this. Just in case it’s not abundantly clear I’m always figuring it out. There’s no grand plan or marketing funnel. Just a girl learning what living well means and sharing it with her friends (that’s you!).
Love you Wee-One….you are getting it….Happy New Year to WHO you already are….to live life in the “present” and share your insights & aha’s as they happen…..I love reading your blogs….I love seeing your pictures on Instagram – I love to write myself and wish to pick up my journaling again and maybe finish writing my book….but do I do that online or in private? How do I work my viktoriasKreations #calligraphy scribe world online and still finish grad school and work full time? How do I carve out ME space & time and get back to eating healthy and working out regularly (finding time to grocery shop) so…today for New Years Day John and I washed the windows in our kitchen & on our front porch- I do not remember the last time we cleaned the glass and vacuumed the sills….but what happened was almost cathartic- as the haze was wiped away the windows became clearer & I realized I could see…a parallel to how fuzzy life has been – homemaking is an experience and an act of gratitude for what we have – this year I plan to write more handwritten letters and send cards and scribe…. I plan to nourish myself and have better boundaries….I want to master my 35mm Nikon I rec’d as a gift for my 50th birthday almost 5 yrs ago – I want to visit friends and be still and I want to be on social media less without losing touch….so – lots to contemplate and consider…we each are born with so many heartbeats and I never want to waste any of mine…I am taking 2 vacations this year…on in February and one in June – both cruises…I want to just encourage you to be still….and let your words flow….work will happen – practice gratitude…and give more than you receive….in that you will find purpose and meaning and be sure to “gather” embracing togetherness with family and friends…..hmmmm….that was my hearts response to your post ♡
I would love to see you here more often, as I’m not really a podcast kind of person…sorry! But off-the-cuff are my favorite kind of blog posts -and if your off-the-cuff ones are this well-composed and thought out, that’s really impressive! 🙂 I don’t come for the Google hits; I read because I want to know what you are up to and what insights you might have to share. Take care, happy new year, and can’t wait to read more in 2019!