Follow your blogging bliss: Do what feels good
It’s so easy, in a sea of Pinteresting and Tweeting and Facebooking businesses and bloggers, to feel overwhelmed, uneducated and lost FAST. Statistics whizzing by your head as you try to recall the right photo sizes and hashtags for each platform. Remembering to add value to opt-ins and post constantly, but only when you’ve got high quality content. Be an individual and stand out while still keeping up with trends. Tracking down the latest infographics on what to post and when to post and how to post it…is your heart racing a little yet? Feeling a cold sweat coming on? Don’t worry – I’ve been around the blogging block over and over for 17 years and I still have moments of panic thinking I just can’t keep up.
And so I’m here to tell you what I always tell myself in a moment of information overload.
You don’t have to keep up.
I know I talk about building a better blog and making sure posts are in order and your sidebar is clean and you’re hashtagging and interacting and adding value and SEO this and responsive that…but you don’t have to do everything. I don’t – I’ve given up Facebook, I don’t do Tumblr or Linkedin, I’ve skipped out on ads and sponsors, link parties and five days a week posting, and I’m over here straight chillin’.
I make things to help you get un-stuck or to keep you from tearing your hair out over that one damn piece of code that WILL NOT WORK. I tweet and Instagram and pin and write to help you make sense of all this internet and blogging stuff.
And sometimes I can’t figure out what to write or tweet or Instagram and I just give myself the day off and don’t worry about it because I know at some point (like now) the inspiration will show up and I’ll have something worthwhile to share.
And today that worthwhile thing is this – chill out, blogging is supposed to be fun! It’s not a race or a competition. Be inspired, be entertained, be connected. Get something out of it other than a load of stress. Learn the basics, figure out how everything works, and then do what FEELS GOOD. Do what makes you smile, what gets you excited, what’s FUN and don’t worry about the rest!
