Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Wednesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts


By: Ashley Brooks

I have a pink Post-It taped to my computer monitor. It says, “Stop doing the same things everyone else is doing.”

This goes against traditional wisdom. Everyone else is doing all those things because they work. So if we want to grow our blogs and businesses or write a book or take over the craft world with our Etsy shop, we have to do those things too . . . right?

Kind of.

The advice you’ll find in the blogosphere is given with good intentions, but sometimes the noise gets so loud you can’t even hear yourself think anymore. If you keep trying to do it all, you’ll only end up overwhelmed and burned out.

The one thing that seems to stress creatives out more than anything is sticking to their blog schedule. Because surely the world will come crumbling down if you skip a week!

Obviously none of us really believes that our blog posts keep the world spinning, so why do we keep putting that kind of pressure on ourselves to blog every. single. week. no matter what?

I know it feels like you have to constantly keep putting out new content. But you’re not a hamster on a wheel, you’re a person. You need breaks for your own sanity, and to keep producing content that’s worth reading.

Creativity comes in cycles. We weren’t made for continuous production without times of rest and refreshment.

Do yourself and your blog a favor and take a blogging break. Here’s how to take a break from blogging.

Be intentional and plan ahead.

Don’t wait to take a break until you’re already burned out and behind on your posting schedule. Plan blogging breaks throughout the year like you would any other vacation or day off.

That’s not to say that some blog breaks can’t be spur-of-the-moment—family emergencies and unexpected setbacks happen to all of us. I like to have a few “emergency” posts prepped and ready to schedule if I can’t meet my blogging commitment for one reason or another. These posts should include evergreen content that will tide your readers over until you can post again. (Having posts scheduled out a few weeks ahead of time will do the trick, too!)

Don’t just disappear.

. . .

To read the rest of the post, click here:

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If you missed my latest writing and marketing tweets, here they are again:
Happy writing and running, Kathy

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