Starting fresh can allow for quick success as we hit the bullseye with our clear view of the target. But as our momentum builds we find that our vision starts to blur and our aim becomes questionable. We spread ourselves thin and then wonder why the shimmer of our success starts to fade.
I’m going to use the example of this vary blog to paint a picture for this post. I’m going to be completely open with you as I talk about my journey at “Motivate Thyself” in the hopes that my points are well absorbed and as helpful as they possibly can be. This post talks about a blog and blogging, but the premise is applicable to every individual. So let’s get started…
When I first started “Motivate Thyself” I was a brand new blogger and though I showed my ‘greenness’, I was full of passion and positive energy (a great combination for a motivational blogger). The first month was spent in hyperdrive, waking up at 4:30am every morning to crank out another passionate post. I also began my campaign of a commenting frenzy. I spent a lot of time over at zenhabits, taking in advise, sharing my own and hoping that others would notice me. Some did, but soon enough it was Leo that came my way.
By month two I was already dropping my first guest post on zenhabits and gained a HUGE flow of traffic (my server went down a few times that day) and a few hundred new readers. ON THAT NOTE: my two guest posts on zenhabits have accounted for about half of my 600 or so subscribers. Seriously! Take away those two guest posts and my subscriber numbers may only be around 300. Not to say that I didn’t earn them, but I certainly had some help. Anyway, back to my story…
So I’m in month three, I have hundreds of subscribers and I’m working my system. It was pretty simple:
- Write powerful posts.
- Comment like crazy.
- Seek out more guest post opportunities.
- Write powerful posts.
I’m not telling you this as a 4 step process for better blogging or anything. I’m just laying out the scene.
By month 4 I really start receiving notice from other bloggers. My name is getting around and I start getting requests for guest post opportunities. It’s like I all of a sudden became a somebody blogger when I had just gotten used to being a nobody blogger. So I was pretty excited and felt proud of myself. You know, the whole self pat on the back kind of thing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel I was being cocky or anything. Just excited about my itty bitty success.
Then came collaboration and growth and new ideas and taking on 10 projects all at the same time. Toward the end of the year I felt like my head would never stop spinning from the tasks I was trying to keep up with. Blogging was becoming a chore and things like quality and clarity were taking a hit. I did my best to keep up with everything and looking back I think I did OK. Some things have panned out and some have not, but I’ve learned so much that it’s all been worth it.
So recently I started taking another look at “Motivate Thyself” and felt somewhat disappointed. I know I haven’t put into it nearly as much as I used to (I haven’t had the time), but I’m not the type to settle for so-so. Here was my recent assessment:
- Comments are WAY down. I used to get 15 to 20 every day and now I’m lucky to hit 10.
- My subscriber numbers are crawling along. For a while I was seeing a steady rise, but now it’s barely more than stagnant.
- Content quality is hit or miss. When I have the time, energy and inspiration I can publish the kind of post I feel really good about. The other week I decided to take on the topic of, “How to motivate yourself” and laid out what I believe was solid advice and articulation. Right before that I answered the question, “What career is right for me?“ Another piece I felt happy to publish. But then I’ll have weeks that I just can’t seem to make it work. My heart’s not in it and I press publish out of obligation (a TERRIBLE thing in my opinion, but quite normal for the battered blogger).
Like everyone else I’ve been super busy and barely have time to blog, let alone do it well. But one thing I know for sure, I’ve been stretching myself in WAY too many different directions and my initial pinpoint focus has turned into a dull nub (whatever that is? 
)
OK, so let me cut to the chase. This isn’t a pity party or a claim for future success or anything like that. Life’s been complicated lately and I’ve done what I can. I’m actually quite satisfied with the fact that I’ve hung in there as that’s not always my personality to do so. But what this IS, is a picture that I wanted to paint to point out this very common mistake many of us make:
We seek success by honing our skills with precision. We then gain success from this vary act. But then we somehow act as if our recipe for success has changed and we try ten OTHER things in hopes for ‘THE NEXT BIG THING’. Then our progress begins to atrophy, leaving us bewildered. It’s like we stopped watering our plants, watch them wilt and then wonder what happened.
The point is this: When you find what works, continue to hone that solution, not re-invent it. And when you find you’ve outrun your success and are waffling with confusion to where your ‘traffic’ went (using the blogging analogy), go back to your notes. You know, the ones you made when you first found success. Re-read your recipe and follow it to the letter.
I hope this post wasn’t too ‘all over the place’ for you. I’m kind of feeling a little RAW so my words are a bit unrefined right now. But I hope I was open enough to touch on something you may be struggling with. Maybe you’re in a similar place and can relate or maybe you’ve ‘been there, done that’ and can now see things from the other side.
For a somewhat similar read, but different time and place, you can check out THIS POST.
I read this post with anxiety, wondering if it was going to end with “I’m closing this blog.” I read the closing-down post of another blog yesterday, someone you know, but I also read about the launch of your new blog and Sean’s. I’m left with a few questions I wanted to ask you (Hey, I’m a coach – it’s what I do!)
In any of your blogs (blog = a web log/journal) do you give yourself permission to simply write for your own pleasure, with no thought of traffic numbers or monetisation or competion or collaboration? Would you still write if no-one was reading? Which of your blogs makes you feel like you’re having so much fun and pleasure it should be illegal?
What’s the worst that could happen if you shut this blog down and created and focused on blogs that got you excited again – either your new ones or something that inspires you when you become a dad? If you’re not making enough money from your blogging, don’t go it alone – get a coach and figure out what’s going on, what you REALLY want to do, what inspires you.
And that’s my final question. If motivation is fear driven and feels like pushing yourself, then what’s INSPIRING you at the moment, leading you, pulling you?
I enjoyed your post – I like you, and I like all honest, authentic posts, but if the feedback helps, I go to Blogopolis Blueprint to learn, have fun and feel like part of a community and I’ll be going to CloudCadet to learn from your specialist expertise. I especially like the wee videos.
Sorry this is so long, but your post touched me.
Janice: Us Bloggers like long comments, they’re validating.
Eric: I agree with your sentiments, yet have to change lanes with what I think is your conclusion. My history would be similar to yours, but I have no desire to revisit my past success. My past victory got me to this plateau, and now I must find a way to get to the next. Just because I now find myself in the middling doesn’t mean I wish to return to the old recipe. Sure, the old recipe got my fifty comments a post, but were those comments worth all the hours required to generate them? I like the old recipe. It was delicious in its time and place and it’s a tremendous one to hand down, but for me, I’m looking for a more delicious dish.
Writer Dad’s last blog post..Hi, My Name is Sean Platt. I’m a Ghostwriter
@Janice: Don’t ever apologize for a long post. Especially one with such great insight.
As far as your questions are concerned, I think they can be summed up by saying that blogging, for me, is both indirectly and directly a for of income. Sure, I generally try to use “Motivate Thyself” as a more personal blog, but keeping it’s reader loyalty and traffic strong is a great way to filter possible ‘buyers’ to my more business focused sites. So I would certainly write on this blog either way, but with supporting a family in mind, I always aim to combine BOTH sincerity and ‘traffic appeal’. And I’d be lying if I said that writing to a small audience is as fun as having many ears to hear my words.
@Sean: I’m totally with you, Sean. On the one hand I completely agree. We shoot for success, gain it in certain form and then become stifled by the plateau. Sure, we need to find that ‘trick’ to gain new altitude and this certainly requires new ideas. So I’m totally hearing you.
On the flip side, I believe we can go back to our initial bearings where we first saw success and harness that traffic in ways that we failed to do the first go ’round.
But if we’re talking specifics, than what you’re saying is probably 100% correct. What’s a comment to a professional writer other than a pat on the back? The difference between 10 pats and 50 is nil when supporting a family. Eric
Eric, I hear what you are saying. While I haven’t had the success that you have had with Motivate Thyself, I’ve had some of the same issues. For a while I was pumping out content 4 or 5 times a week and it got to be work. Then I scaled back my posting, and I also noticed that my post quality dropped. My daily numbers aren’t growing. Toss in a new blogging project with some friends and my time was diverted.
I’ve recently had some developments that have brought Be 4 Success back to the forefront and will be looking to pick things up.
Keep doing what you’re doing, I still enjoy reading your posts and I always find a little nugget to think about.
Neil’s last blog post..One Hundred Pushups
Perhaps I can offer a unique perspective as a regular reader who isn’t a blogger or writer myself, when reading my fave blogs I don’t expect perfection or for every post to be relevant to me, I’m just looking for those nuggets of wisdom & specifically enjoying the writer’s unique “vibe” or tone of voice.
As Neil above said:
“Keep doing what you’re doing, I still enjoy reading your posts and I always find a little nugget to think about.” I second that!
Keep doing what you love, whatever that be on any given day
Can I just tell you how happy that picture makes me?
It’s perfect.
Hayden Tompkins’s last blog post..Spending Valentine’s Alone
LOVE the picture!
You’ve really been on quite a rollercoaster with your blogging. You’ve experienced the milestones that are supposed to happen years apart in a “normal” career. You’ve been moving fast and furious through this jounrey, but it’s probably not a pace you can sustain. I think you recognize this and that’s why you’re moving toward consulting again (in the “cloud” this time). That’s a good move. And hopefully that will allow you to relax and let Motivate Thyself progress through it’s natural ups and downs without fear of loosing your livelyhood as a result.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy’s last blog post..My Inspirations: The 4-Hour Work Week
Your post is rather timely, as I’m feeling some of the same things that you describe. Nice to know I’m not alone.
Good point about sticking with a winning formula, but I feel it’s important to experiment, too.
Mark Dykeman’s last blog post..Frumple or why we do not say what we mean
@Neil and Bonnie: Thanks guys! Your perspectives are always fresh and I welcome your thoughts. I really like the ‘Nugget’ idea as well. It’s easy to feel the pressure that every paragraph has to be super insightful, so it’s nice to know that the ‘bits and pieces’ have merit as well. You guys are great!
@Hayden: I’m SO glad it made you happy. Abi hot on my trail!
@Matt: You totally hit the nail on the head! I definitely have seen some quick highs and have sometimes taken on too much because of it. And yes, I partially came back to consulting because of the need for income, but more than that, I really enjoy it MUCH more in the cloud than I ever did on the ground. I just feel there’s much more freedom for me. To each his own.
@Mark: Don’t get me wrong, I’m ALL ABOUT experimenting. I just need to come back to the fundamentals every once in a while. Eric
Great post. Attaching a video reply. Lets see if it works.
Andrew Brown’s last blog post..fields_for and validating and association
Sorry for double posting. I don’t think my video made it in. The viddler plugin on your website wasn’t as smooth to use as it looked, heres my video response:
http://is.gd/jmZT
Andrew Brown’s last blog post..fields_for and validating and association
@Andrew: I don’t know why the plugin’s not working. It works on one of my test blogs, but not this one. I’ll have to troubleshoot it when I have some free time. In the mean time…
Thanks for the great video and I really appreciate the kind words. It sounds like you know where I’m coming from. Here’s the link to my video response to yours:
Video Response
My journey has been very similar to yours since relaunching my blog in August. The only difference is in speed. I’ve very careful with my energy levels so even though I’m an impatient person, I’ve been taking the whole blog/reputation growth thing slowly.
By moving slowly, I’ve also been able to regularly re-evaluate where I’m at and what I want to take on. It’s definitely a challenge not to reach overload, but I’m happy with the progress and I’ve managed to stay positive about the blog throughout (well except for the occasional day of wallowing
).
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post..Need some butt-kicking? Someday Syndrome needs new Lab Rats
Wow! I love community. I am so glad to see that I’m not the only one sometimes pushing publish out of guilt.
Lot’s of great stuff! Question though, we have our voice when we first start our blog. We have our “ways.” As we grow older, doesn’t our voice change, maybe? What do you do when your voice changes? It’s hard to go back and try to write with the voice that started it all, I think.
Scott’s last blog post..The Results Are In
Hi Eric,
As a fellow blogger, I understand what what the situation you are describing. There will always be a point where we will be pulled in different direction due to multiple projects coming out in our mind. Maybe the best way is to refer back to Leo’s rule, simplicity and one thing at a time. Following this philosophy will help us to do one thing at a time instead of spreading our focus over multiple projects.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Vincent’s last blog post..30 Budget Ideas For Valentine’s Day
For someone new to this game I found this a really interesting read, thanks for the insight.
And btw the picture is hilarious!
Julian’s last blog post..9 Tips To Create An Extra Hour In Your Day
I was a few days behind in my blog reading, so I just got to this one this morning. Thank you for sharing these thoughts, as well as how to be relentless when decluttering your life. Both of these posts challenged me where I am at right now and have given me a lot to think about.
Michelle’s last blog post..Challenge