Blogging After a Social Breakup
Do All Blogs Go To Heaven?
A few years ago I started to see a decline in my blog reader engagement. Unlike the 95% of bloggers who give up on their blogs, I knew what to do. After all, I have been blogging for almost 20 years. I simply wasn't doing it. I was spreading myself too thin, disorganized, and to be honest...a bit bored/burnt out.
Here we are five years later. With the new addition to the family (shown below), I have less time than ever. So, why in the heck would I decide to rebirth a blog? Good question. There is a lot of research on the increase in inbound traffic for brands with blogs and how blogs are still popular with readers, but that is not why I decided to blog again. I am blogging again because I have had a chance to reconnect to my personal priorities and goals for each of my blogs and have information to share that I feel will be valuable to others.
While I was "away", I stopped forcing content onto social media. This allowed several things to happen:
1. I got the chance to enjoy social media again with no pressure. I found myself playing Words with Friends, discovering new selfie and pic collage apps and software. I learned how new social utilities and communities worked like Snapchat and Medium and lost myself in group discussions. I captured moments in life that did not fall neatly into categories. I found fun and satisfaction. Why is having fun important in social? Think about it: your upcoming event, new research, blog, book or product line is seldom the reason people log into social accounts. What most of us do as bloggers, artists, or business owners is disruptive marketing...meaning that we interrupt people on social sites to share our information. The reason that this arrangement works is because people have accepted us into their community or vice versa. You cannot become a part of a community if you don't have any ties to that community.
2. I listened. I am always telling clients to listen before they move. I like to think of it as the chipmunk approach. (You know how a chipmunk will dart out in the street and then do a quick listen and look from left to right before advancing?) That is the way it is on social media as well. It is so tempting to build a marketing strategy where you spend an hour a week scheduling your blog post and social media. You know what I mean: Okay let's see: Gonna send out my blog to LinkedIn on Monday, Twitter on Tuesday, post it to Facebook on Friday.. Yep. That ought to do it. When I hear this, I cringe. As a social media manager, I am most obviously quite into marketing plans and content calendars. However, if you do not listen and observe what your target audience is doing, you will always be behind the power curve. I suggest before posting on any site, blog or social media, you should spend a couple hours over the course of a week to read what others are posting, what type of language and format is popular, and trends.
3. I reflected on my weaker areas. Because I have this creative, run-a-way train kind of a brain, I will often trace the dots inside my head without making them absolutely clear to others. For instance, I once held a blogging workshop on June 11. I called it Blogging 611 to highlight the year as well as give a nod to the popular cheat code to reach cellular customer service (with most cell phones you can engage directly with customer service with your provider by dialing 611, just as I see blogging as an extension of your brand's customer service). Unfortunately, not one (not one single participant) drew the connection to the date or the customer service reference. That is the kind of sh%t I have to tighten up on. I feel more equipped now that I have a team of besties to help me in these areas.
4. The most important thing I noticed while I was "away" was something that is integral to the "Les Go" model, which is it that it is okay to start now (Get it: Let's Go = Les Go). It is okay to start before you obtain X or learn Y or calculate the risk on Z. The most important thing is to BE SOCIAL! Ironically, a client that I have worked with in the past on several occasions about being more spontaneous and less fretful about "doing it right" on social posted this graphic (shown below) on their Facebook Business Page. Today, I am taking my own advice and starting now. I have already started rekindling my relationships with my communities on Twitter and Facebook; now is time to rekindle this blog. Use the comment section to tell me what you think, what you miss, what you would like to see.
