Month: December 2011

Welcome to Part 4 of One Year of Blogging, Narrowing your focus. This week I will be sharing some insights I’ve gathered over my first year as a full time blogger. I felt it was necessary to share my thoughts with others because its information I wish I had from day one. I hope you can gain something from what I have to say or relate to my journey in some way. //

This insight was a major game changer for me. Once I realized what I needed to do, creating blog content became so much easier and didn’t take as much time to create. Like I’ve mentioned in previous insights, my blog started out as a catch all for all the “blogable” aspects of my life. I blogged about anything and everything and that created a blog with a lost identity. I wouldn’t have know this would happen, but that is what happens when you blog without intentions. As time went on I made note of what blog posts were the most exciting to write and what content keep me excited to keep blogging. After months of making mental notes about my blogging experience I was able to narrow down the topics I posted about and put more time/energy into a more focused curation.

Around this time, as I delved deeper into the niche of online gaming, I noticed that my loyal readership started to grow. They seemed to appreciate the consistent focus, especially when it came to the complexities of navigating the digital gambling landscape. Recognizing this, I crafted this guide, aiming to offer a stable resource that players could rely on. In a field as dynamic as online casinos, especially those integrating cryptocurrencies like a Bitcoin casino, stability can be rare. This guide became a touchstone for those wanting to understand the nuances of such platforms, whether they were seasoned gamers or newcomers to the scene. By maintaining a steady thematic core, I gave my readers the certainty that each visit would provide valuable insights, making it worth their time to return and delve into the content I provided.

I feel my blog has evolved from a catch all to a go to resource for design inspiration. I want my content to inspire others designers to create interesting content  of their own (blogging or personal projects) and I want those who are not designers/artists to become more familiar with the world of art & design just by being in my little corner of the internet. Each time I create a blog post I do a mental check to make sure I am staying true to my mission. This tactic has helped me in many many ways.

Insights from Julie of Roving I
“To be a blogger, you have to be passionate – about your interests, about your life and about sharing it all with the world. My passion has always been traveling, reading about travel and planning my next trips. When starting a blog, I found that my wanderlust naturally translated into blog content in unique ways. Having focused content on my blog has helped keep me on track, pushed me creatively and has inspired me to travel more. Just as my bags are always packed, my blog’s always ready and waiting to capture my adventures. ”

Read INRO to week-long series.
Read Part 1 // Staying Connected Socially
Read Part 2 // Blogging Regularly
Read Part 3 // Having Patience

*All photos in this series are from Marco Suarez Art Shop on Etsy and all type was typeset by myself.

Holy Cow! I think I could write an entire thesis on the tortures of not having enough patience, but I’m going to just stick to the topic of “going with the flow” and learning from your “failures”. I’m an extremely driven individual who sets goals on a daily basis. I’m sure this is normally a healthy way of doing things, but when seemingly realistic goals aren’t met, your life can quickly be turned upside down, and mine was…over and over….and over again.

As a new blogger I was unaware of what it took to make a blog grow, how much time it takes to gain loyal readers, and how many hours it would take to create content. I set goals before I dove head first into this adventure and as time went on, my goals were not being met. What I realized later on is that that the goals I had set were unrealistic for this type of project and that I should have set benchmark style goals that I could track throughout the year. Since I was unfamiliar with all the details of blogging, my timelines and goals were created blindly and in turn just didn’t make since. I saw each passed timeline as a defeat and never really readjusted for the circumstances. Big mistake. It sure is hard to accept that your original plan is not going to happen and that you are going to be forced to reassess and create a new plan that is more manageable. Each time something doesn’t go the way you want it to, think about why it didn’t go the way you wanted it to and how you can adjust for the future. I am slowly (very slowly) learning how to go with the flow.

This blog is not making me money at the moment, people aren’t relying on me to get something turned in for final approval, and I am the only one who can set expectations. This means that I am 100% free to do things however I’d like to do them and it can take as long as it takes. Very refreshing 🙂

Insights from Kyla of Kyla Roma (blogging for several years now 🙂
“Blogging is such a fun, connected, rewarding thing- but it’s a marathon, not a sprint. There are so many technical & specific ways to measure how you’re doing – page views, twitter followers, comments – it can sometimes feel like every week and month is a contest against yourself and your online friends. My advice is this: don’t let yourself get carried away just because those aspects of what you do are easy to measure! The better things to check in on regularly are how much you enjoy the process of curating a post, how your style or a skill develops through blogging regularly, and the personal connections that you make through what you create. Work hard at what you love for a long time and eventually you’ll see the more tangible rewards that you might be hoping for, but focusing on what you can control (your day to day blogging experience) will give you more reward than focusing on what you hope might fall into your lap. ”

Read INRO to week-long series.
Read Part 1 // Staying Connected Socially
Read Part 2 // Blogging Regularly

*All photos in this series are from Marco Suarez Art Shop on Etsy and all type was typeset by myself.

Welcome to Part 2 of One Year of Blogging, Blogging Regularly. This week I will be sharing some insights I’ve gathered over my first year as a full time blogger. I felt it was necessary to share my thoughts with others because its information I wish I had from day one. I hope you can gain something from what I have to say or relate to my journey in some way. //

Another great insight gathered from year one is that if you hope to grow your daily blog readership you must blog regularly (daily). By simply posting new content for your readers to come back and check up on, you are boosting your blogs online presence and in turn the amount of people coming to your site. It takes a lot of time for “the people of the internet” to recognize your blog name when they see it and more importantly, stop by to see what you have to say. They say repetition is good for creating/breaking habits, and in this case I believe that rule definitely applies.

Over the first year I have blogged a total of 385 posts, which ends up being a little more than one post a day. In the first couple months I would take the weekends “off” from blogging and I noticed that it took the entire week to regain the views I was hoping for. As my little blog grew and I had more of a loyal readership, those breaks became easier to take and my loyal readers would return. I can only assume that with time, blog traffic will somewhat drive itself and taking one day off blogging won’t result in a massive drop in daily views.

To help with keeping a regular blog schedule, I have created a flexible weekly post schedule with post themes in mind. Blogging seemed to become a little more carefree when I knew what topics to write about and when I should share. Keeping things flexible allows for you to change your mind without feeling like you’re breaking your own rules.

Insights from Sandi of Adalou Vintage
“Sticking to a series of scheduled posts has really kept me focus while blogging. It’s a lot of work mind you, but the consistency is something I’ve noticed my readers love. They are able to come back to my blog time and time again and find what they are looking for in a matter of seconds. My schedule is flexible, in the sense that I can add additional topics to my liking thru the weeks; but keeping focus and on track with a running list of “what’s next to post” has helped me stay consistent while building a healthy relationship with my blog and it’s faithful reader. ”

Read INRO to week-long series.
Read Part 1 // Staying Connected Socially

*All photos in this series are from Marco Suarez Art Shop on Etsy and all type was typeset by myself.

Welcome to Part 1 of One Year of Blogging, Staying Connected Socially. This week I will be sharing some insights I’ve gathered over my first year as a full time blogger. I felt it was necessary to share my thoughts with others because its information I wish I had from day one. I hope you can gain something from what I have to say or relate to my journey in some way. //

One of the most important insights I gained from one year of blogging may seem like a no brainer, but never occurred to me until I was knee deep in blogging. IT WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL BLOG WITHOUT HAVING A SOCIAL NETWORK TO BACK IT UP! You say….duh, but really it’s not that simple. You would think that having a profile page on Facebook and a Twitter account sets you up for gold, but it’s how you interact with those platforms that makes all the difference. When I first started blogging I already had a Facebook page and thought a twitter page would be a nice addition. On Facebook I would occasionally mention something newly featured on the blog and Twitter was used mainly to hear what others were saying. It took me several months to catch onto the benefits of having social media outlets and how both could greatly increase my readership, blog growth, and quality of relationship with my readers.

I’ve realized that it’s not just about posting an instagram photo on Twitter and seeing how many people like it, or posting a link to some shoes you’d like to own, but posting VALUABLE content that is engaging enough to encourage people to click and read more. Twitter is a perfect place for a blogger to share blog updates with readers, but its a great place to just connect with your readers outside of your blog space. Use twitter to supplement your blog content and don’t just copy and paste content. Your readers will want to gain more information about you, your blog, and what you like. For example… Instead of only tweeting a link to your most recent blog post (which I am guilty of doing), try tweeting a link to that Etsy shop you mentioned within your blog post, or better yet…. a link to a different etsy shop with similar content. Use twitter to content with your readers on multiple levels. I’ve also used Twitter as my main resource for networking and getting to know other bloggers. By following others you are able to see who they interact with and its just a jolly ole snow ball from there. Without twitter and the relationships I’ve gained in that space, my blog would still be itty bitty and I wouldn’t have gained the friendships I have gained.  All the above also applies to Facebook, instagram, or Flickr.. It’s just a matter of which platform you prefer to use.

Insights from Liz of SRSLY LIZ
“In our generation, social media is everywhere & so easily accessible. You can check into a restaurant, tag friends you’re with and post a photo of what you ordered for dessert, to Twitter. Which is why it’s important to remember to unplug every now and then & just enjoy living life instead of documenting it. It’s great to be part of a network & community but I personally need to balance that out by stopping and smelling the roses–without posting them to Instagram.”

Read INRO to week-long series.

*All photos in this series are from Marco Suarez Art Shop on Etsy and all type was typeset by myself.

December 12th (TODAY) marks the first day I blogged for The Veda House and I want to commemorate this first year with a week long series all about the ups and downs of blogging. Last year I was not new to blogging. Throughout my college career, a classmate and I maintained a joint design blog that lived for 3 years. We both shared design content on a daily basis, but since we were design students, it kind of felt like part of the student job description. I really enjoyed it, but didn’t feel any real pressure to maintain the blog for traffic or growth reasons. Last winter, I realized that I wanted to blog more on a personal level and the joint  blog was no longer the place for that.

Last December I was a little over a year out of design school with a huge desire to get connected back into the online social community where I once lived and thrived. I was missing being surrounded by all my other designer classmates and sharing content dropped off soon after school ended. I was also yearning to leap into the world of documenting my many DIY projects and mini-adventures I embarked on. I wanted to get back into photography that I once loved so much and I wanted to try baking…why not? I will admit that The Veda House started with very little direction, focus or plan for the future. I just wanted to document, and document in my own space/on my own time.

I’ll start by saying that the first year was one nasty roller coaster, and I hate roller coasters. The climbs to the top were short lived and the time spend zooming down hill were long and excruciating. When I first started I didn’t know that putting together posts about personal content would be so exhausting and mentally draining. I didn’t know that I would want to constantly be validated for the content I was putting out there for everyone to see. It became a war between me and myself and honestly, I hated it. I wanted my little blog to be seen by others. I wanted others to like the content enough to share it, and I wanted my blog to grow at a steady rate. I blogged about recipes, diys, thrifting trips, homes I liked, music I liked, our trip to the zoo…everything. This was mistake number one and the biggest mistake I’d make in year one; not having any focus what so ever.

During the first few months my itty bitty blog grew slowly. There was a time when ten views a day was like winning the lottery and days were 5 views was like death. I became a chronic stat checking, because I am a human who yearns to succeed at everything I set out to do. I wanted the numbers to tell me that all the time I had spent pouring my soul to the internet was worth all the hard work. Numbers grew, but at an embarrassingly low rate. I kept going, hoping that this was just what it takes to make the blog a success. That’s what others were telling me at least. Success doesn’t happen over night right? I networked my ass off, paid for advertising on other blogs, left meaningful comments on other blogs, and filtered all my blog content throughout Twitter and Facebook. I felt like I was doing everything right, but what was my problem??

About half way through the year the numbers stopped. My blog was no longer growing, but laughing at me at the top of a very low plateau. My blog laughed at me for the next couple months. This is when I was certain it wasn’t worth my time anymore and that being a full time blogger on top of a full time day job was just crazy talk. But I’m super stubborn and I keep going because this is what I do. I complained a lot about, whined and pouted, and even stopped my feet some, but I kept going.

Three quarters of the way through this first year I decided that I needed to shift the focus of my blog content to something a little more manageable. I needed to make my blog more about collaboration and networking to help out with the pressures of creating original content. I started blogging more about what was inspiring me on a daily basis, and less about where I went last weekend. I realized that as a design professional who is surrounded by great design on a daily basis, I had access to sharable design content. I know “good” design. I know what a beautifully styled room looks like. And I know that blogging about these kinds of things is really easy for me. It flies off the tip of my tongue without a problem. Over the last couple months of this first year my blog finally stopped laughing at me. OMG! Finally! Numbers have started to slowly grow. They are growing at a rate that keeps me motivated to continue. And wahoo, I really enjoy blogging again.

So today The Veda House is a place where I document inspiring graphic design work, illustrations, photography, interior design, and design trends. My blog has become a collaboration with other online bloggers/designers/artists who share similar design beliefs as myself. It has become a place to grow my network and share my own design services with others. It has become a portal to my online design portfolio and other social media outlets. My blog has become organized and refreshing to read. Most importantly, I really enjoy blogging. It’s no longer a debbie downer on my to do list, but something I can spend hours and hours enjoying. I can’t wait to see how this next year goes. So excited…and relieved.

Over the next 6 days I’m going to share with you 7 tips/suggestions (one category a day) I’ve gathered from my first year of blogging. I have so much I’d like to share, information that I wish other bloggers would have shared with me when I first started out. I hope you find this information valuable, even if you’ve been blogging for years. Everyone has a different experience, and this is just my version. I also wanted to thank all of you who have traveled this first year with me. It is because of you that I have kept going….and going. haha

Stay tuned for Part 1 and some additional insights from some of my blogger pals.

*All photos in this series are from Marco Suarez Art Shop on Etsy and all type was typeset by myself.