The Hardest Part of Blogging

As some may know, I used to run a couple of different blogs.  I ran a personal blog that consisted of all of three posts, I think, a few years back.  I stopped because I couldn't keep up with it to my satisfaction.  More on that later.  I ran a professional travel blog when I was a travel agent.  When I stopped being a travel agent to focus on weddings and events, I stopped blogging as well.

To blog or not to blog...That is the question.

So why did I stop blogging on my personal blog all those years ago?

Two reasons really.

Reason #1 was that I couldn't keep up with maintaining the blog to my satisfaction.  That is, I couldn't produce enough fresh content on a consistent basis.  As you well know, dust gathers dust gathers dust.  I would go months between posts and nobody gave a shit when I did post because they kind of forgot the blog existed.

Reason #2 was that I wasn't getting out of blogging what I thought I would.  I assumed I would type something, post it on social medias, have every single friend share the post, have their friends share it, and then, before I knew it, millions would be reading my thoughts on paper, as it were.  That would obviously lead to thousands of clicks on ads and money in my pocket.  Combine that with the travel blog I was running and I'd quickly be making a substantial income from blogging...

In all the years of running both blogs, I made a grand total of $100 in advertising dollars. $100.

People weren't sharing my posts and why should they?  I am opinionated and my views, while amusing to them, didn't necessarily reflect their views.  So I stopped blogging.  My ego was hurt.  My codependency was flailing.

Why am I back?

Well, I am older and wiser now and I understand why I am blogging this time.  It's not for the fame or the fortune. It's because I find it therapeutic.  You enjoying it is icing. Any advertising pennies from you clicking on ads is a cherry.  I am blogging for me. (Please still share on social media and click on ads as often as you see fit.)  While I love knowing that you're reading this and there's a chance you'll hit share, I am truly doing this for me.  I have so many thoughts rolling around in my head about such a wide variety of topics that it's nice to get them out.  This blog, for me, is a journal of sorts.

Truly, I like sharing my knowledge with people, hence the Travel Tips posts, but I also just need to get my thoughts and opinions out and this beats talking to myself.

So what challenges do I have this time around?

The hardest part of blogging, for me, is the waiting.  See, I discovered that I could write a bunch of posts at a time and schedule them to be published automatically.  While this solves reason #1 from above, it creates a new problem.  I now have to wait for you to experience my awesome thoughts.  Narcissistic, I know.  But I write 5-6 posts at a time and schedule them for publication at future dates.  For example, I am writing this a full week before you'll read it.

Right now, the blog is new so I am loading it with stories on a daily basis because I want a new reader to be able to go back to past articles and have more to read.  Once it's established, I will cut publications down to once or twice a week which means I may have to wait 5 weeks after typing a blog post before it gets published.  Why am I going to cut back?  Simple.  I don't want you to get bored with me.  Always leave them wanting more.

The anticipation of an article getting published can be excruciating but it's a necessary evil.

At any rate, I thank you for taking time out of your day to read my thoughts and I am eternally grateful every time you click an ad or share a post on your social media of choice.