A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about 3 Reasons To Start Blogging Right Now. Today’s post is basically “what’s next?” Once you talk yourself into starting a blog, that is only the first step. Many people start blogging, and they fizzle out after a few weeks or months of writing. I’m sure we can all think of those bloggers who had some really great ideas, but turned out to be one-hit wonders. I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to let that happen to your blog! That’s why I want to share with you three ways I have been able to stay consistent with my kidmin blog. They are proven to work, so what do you have to lose?
1. Set reasonable goals.
If you are anything like me, you probably have tons of awesome ideas you want to share with the world. You may see other bloggers who seem to be posting constantly, and you might feel a need to keep up with them. Resist the urge! If you want to stay consistent in blogging long-term, you have to think of it as a marathon instead of a sprint. Figure out how often you want to blog, but make it sustainable. This is going to look different for everyone. I knew that I had a lot of ideas when I got started, but a sustainable goal was one post a week. If you have a lot of ideas, or find yourself super inspired one week, write a bunch of posts and schedule them to post later on. You are bound to have a crazy busy or less-inspired week, and you’ll be glad you wrote some extra posts ahead of time.
2. Make it a habit.
So you have your goals set, but if you are going to keep those goals (unlike last year’s new year’s resolutions), you are going to need to make them a habit. The best way to make anything a habit is to consistently do it at the same time every week. My goal is to post once a week, and I almost always post on Fridays. If I have a long weekend, I will sometimes post on Thursday so I can be free for the rest of the weekend. That is what works best for me. Thursdays and Fridays are also the best days to post for optimum traffic on your blog. Whatever you decide, find what works for you and stick with it.
3. Find an accountability partner/editor.
This has probably been the most helpful of the three ideas for me. Sometimes I have my goals set, I get to Thursday or Friday, and I just don’t feel like blogging or I begin to make excuses for why I can just skip it that week. I’m fortunate enough to have a husband who has offered to be my blogging accountability partner. I’m thankful that he believes in me and in my ministry, and he wants to see me succeed. If I am having a hard week, he is always there encouraging me to keep my commitment to myself. Your accountability partner might be a spouse, a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or anyone else you trust to keep you in line. My husband is also my editor, and this is just as important. I am sure you have all seen the blog posts with lots of spelling and grammatical errors. That can be avoided by having a good editor. Even if you’re an amazing writer with flawless spelling, it’s helpful to have a second set of eyes looking over your posts. I always write my posts and send them over to my husband for editing before posting them out to the world. It saves me a lot of embarrassment and rewrites. Find yourself an accountability partner/editor and you will be much more successful at staying consistently excellent.
These are just three of the ways I have found to be helpful in staying consistent in blogging. If you are a blogger, what are you doing to stay consistent and keep yourself motivated?