Doing it all

[Katie Rosebrock]

I am sure there are other posts like this. I couldn’t find them, so I started my own.

Last year I took some time off from blogging for “real life”- my senior cat who was my companion for almost 20 years died, I had a bad case of compassion fatigue and other life situations. Now I am returning to my blog and I am trying to build up what was once just a casual blog into something larger.

I am finding that I am having an incredibly difficult time balancing my blog, my job and the rest of life. I had been aiming to blog two or three times a week, including a Wordless Wednesday Post. I was doing really well when I first started back. Then something happened (don’t remember what) and suddenly I was overwhelmed with anxiety about getting blog posts done. Since then I have been letting the blog posts slip.

Beyond writing blog posts though, I am overwhelmed just trying to build a following. There are so many blogs out there! Trying to read and comment on even a fraction of them is so time consuming.

I finally have a set work schedule, so I know what my days off are, which will be a huge help for setting a schedule to blog and actually write my posts.

How do you do it?    How much time do you allot to read other blogs? How do you not get distracted by research when it is required?   How do you keep yourself to your schedule when life happens?

Thanks!

Katie

[Anita]

Katie,
I agree, life is crazy and sometimes I wonder if I should just stay in bed and let all the “to-dos” sort themselves out! I am a business owner and consultant, I speak and I write. Sometimes trying to balance all of this is overwhelming. 

I am not great at self-motivation. One of the best things I do for my writing is to be an active member of a writer’s group (I am a published author, most recent work is a story in the New Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul book released on Wednesday. My writer’s group (which is a critique group) reminds me how much I love the craft. hones my skills and it motivates me to blog and stay the course on my current manuscripts.

Mobile technology is my best friend. I do most of my blogging on my iPad when I’m at home surrounded by my fabulous felines (and my husband). My feline writing is whimsical and in the “voice” of my cats so being at home and seeing them doing something funny often inspires a blog post, a quick photo and the blog update is done!

My form of blogging is easier and less time consuming than those who take a more journalistic approach and  write about pet issues. When I do product reviews, it always takes me longer.

So my answer is, there really is no one answer but my advice is to enjoy the journey, write about what interests and motivates you because that will make blog posting easier and less time consuming.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your fur kid. My beloved Miss P. passed away two years ago at 18 and I will never stop missing her.
Regards,
Anita

[Jessica/YDWWYW/PetTalkMedia]

I am sorry for the loss of your kitty but glad you are getting some inspiration back. Probably THE most important thing to stand out from the crowd, and not feel so overwhelmed with the “me too” or “keeping up with the Jonses”, is to be really clear about your niche and mission. What do you want to me known for? What message do you think is super important to get out there? Who do you want to help? Once you have that figured out, it won’t be so much work and stress for “your people” to find you one you have a good handle on that.

I have been blogging for over 5 years. In the beginning, I spent 30-ish hours a week on my blog in addition to my real job. Now my blog IS part of my real job so I probably spend at least 20 hours a week on it. Where I spend my time has changed though. 

As for how I “do it all”…

I no longer have the time to comment on other blogs (only sporadically) due to the time needed for my own blog and my client work. Also, I realized that my target audience is not other bloggers – relationships are important but I wanted to reach the general public with my messages – so it stopped being one of my top priorities. I use social media to stay connected to the community. 

Sometimes I can’t do it all and I am ok with that. Luckily, in my case, I already have a base following. I would like to have a larger one though. However, I would rather concentrate on engaging my current following by sharing my best work with them rather than “checking off” a set number of posts. In other words, if I am stressed, don’t have the time, or am super uninspired, I skip a post and don’t beat myself up about it.

I’ve also had the more recent luxury of hiring a VA to do some of the preliminary research on articles. That way I can spend my time on other tasks that I need to do myself.

Good luck to you!

[Debie Pettry]

I’ll be honest, I don’t worry about it. It takes away the fun. I have been blogging since 2007. I now have two blogs, a blog related to my work and a dog blog. Money made from the dog blog has gone to dog charities. Not having to worry about who reads it is a wonderful freedom that enables me to speak my mind about things people who craft their blog content solely for money wouldn’t touch. In fact, I refuse to read those blogs. There is too much commercialism in the world already.Blogging began as an alternative to what mainstream media dished out..now it IS what mainstream media dishes out. I don’t do a timetable, don’t cater to advertisers, and once ignored the dog blog for a year, yet it still pulled 1500 readers a month. People know when you speak the truth, when you speak from the heart and they will find you without major promotion, without posting 3 times a week.

[Katie Rosebrock]

Thank you all. My old man was days shy of 20. His sister was 18 when she crossed. I had been with them since they were 8 weeks old. I miss them and their brother every day. They were my joy and my inspiration. Now I only have one cat, due to forces beyond my control. (Both he and I would like another kitty friend). I don’t have as many stories to share as I would like, because he is a weird cat (yeah, I know, but he’s weird even by cat standards.)

Anita- You are right that the more journalistic pieces take longer. Perhaps I need to take that into consideration when I plan my blog posts.  Overall  it’s good to know that I don’t have to do it all. That many people here do not do it all. There is no right or wrong way to blog. I have to do what is right for myself.

 Good to know it is possible to have a successful blog-one that reaches readers and gets a following-and not have to worry about it. And glad to know there are other bloggers out there who are also “casual” bloggers who don’t follow a strict time table. I just don’t know how to do it while working 40hrs a week, trying to give my cat the attention he needs, care for myself, spend time with family/friends and indulge my other interests.

I am trying to figure out what my niche is now. My original topics were feral cats and senior cats. My colony has dropped to two cats, and my seniors are gone. So I have to adjust my topics accordingly.

[Kathryn Goerig-Eastlake]

Hello Katie

So sorry for your loss.  Have you found any help with pet grieving blogs?  It  is the topic that I plan to address this week.  I have trouble too.  If I tell myself that I am overwhelmed, then I believe my thoughts.  Now, when I start to say that to myself, I stop and say that’s a lie instead.  It helps me.  Maybe it will help you.

Another Katie, 

http://www.myfavoritefurr.com/blog

[Michelle]

I learned to just let go of the stress and do what you can. Working yourself up over something that should be fun, just makes it stressful and you lose the heart of what you are doing. At the start of my blog I was really pushing to blog like crazy and tons of newsletters and really trying to build up social network. I just had so many things I wanted to say and experiences to share but not enough time to write it all. I work full time, have 5 animals, foster and do  A LOT of cat rescue volunteer work. I had to ask myself, why am I beating myself up over what I don’t have time to do when I can make what I am already doing and can do more fulfilling by having realistic goals.

You can’t beat yourself up not being able to make more time in a day and burning yourself out before you even start. Its better to find a balance you can manage, set reasonable goals, and keep going. When you get to the point were you cannot maintain, you need to reevaluate your work load because once you stop from stress, its hard to restart. The rest will all comer together if you keep at it. I have to agree with some of the others about if its about money or about your freedom of creativity. I am very particular about what I’ll post or review and I stay away from most commercialized products. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly from working in pet supply for so long that I’m turned off by most products that I could probably get sponsorship for, they aren’t going to pay me to say why I don’t like the product. (LOL)

At this point I’ve reevaluated and dedicated more to my cat toy line as its proven to be more profitable for me and I feel more comfortable promoting something I know the actual source from. I going to re-up the blogging and redesign site but again, you need to do what you can and not stress yourself out. 

[Allison]

Katie, hi.

Sorry for your loss of you cat of 20 years. I lost my cat of eight years in 2013 and also ended up immersing myself into the blogging world.

When life happens, you make time in the day whenever fits. Or you allow yourself to miss a day and then get right back to the posts. Even a week. Once you get your blog established, it does become easier to stick with pick your blog back up even when life happens.

I think it’s okay to let yourself get distracted by research. This is part of your journey of learning about pets and about becoming a writer. After a time, you do get better at just grabbing pieces here and there as you need them. You also get better at giving yourself a time limit for how much research you do. Have you ever used Evernote? It’s a free online program that allows you to store online articles by categories. I’m hooked on it!

At the same time, it’s good to give yourself permission to write the light and personal pieces too. These are easier to write and will provide variety to your blog. I teach and trust me there are times when I don’t have time to write a journalistic article.

Browsing blogs can eat up all your time. When I started, I thought I needed to visit lots of blogs, but it tired me out and didn’t improve my stats. Now I rely on reciprocating visits to my blog and searching out bloggers who can do guest posts. Memes are also a great way to connect. Beyond that, I don’t worry about it. Being the best blogger and animal advocate I can be within my own local community are my priorities.

Family, pets, and work should always come first. Then as time allows, certainly work on continually improving your blog and finding your voice. But remember, it’s to share and make a difference. So just have fun!

Allison

[Author]

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