Realistic Blogging Commitments for Mom Bloggers

Most bloggers, at some point in their blogging career, experience burnout.  I have, for sure.  Burnout is horrible – you don’t feel motivated to write, you don’t know what to write, your blog-related email inbox is intimidating, and it all feels like too much.  You might seriously consider quitting, and you wonder if anyone out there really cares and if it’s worth it.

You may absolutely love your blog and your readers, but as with anything you love that takes effort, if you don’t pace yourself you’ll find yourself on the fast track to burnout.

I would like to share some of what I’ve learned in my two years of blogging.  I’ve fallen into the mom blogger crazy rat race before, but then I discovered that I needed an attitude change.  I’m writing this for you and me – if I write it down then maybe it’ll stay in my head and I won’t find myself dragging myself to my computer half-heartedly.  Since I’ve changed my attitude, blogging has been so much fun for me!  I have been able to write and schedule posts, make time for online communities and connecting with my readers, and I’m having fun doing it!  I really hope that the following thoughts help you do the same:

Find What Works for You!

♦  There are many articles online sharing tips and rules for running a “successful blog”.  Many of the tips are great, and I think it’s a good idea to expand your knowledge, but they’re not always realistic for you. Find what works for you and go with it!

♦  One of those rules is posting every day.  I have read that you should post every day to keep your readers engaged and your traffic up, but sometimes it just isn’t practical.  Believe me, I have a two-year-old and I know.  It’s better to post less often and have something to say that people want to hear than to post more often and not have good content. Many popular blogs post only 3 or 4 times a week, even less – and they have a great following.

♦  Remember that every blog is unique – I’ve noticed that the popular blogs are run differently.  The things that make them popular are usually personality and good content.

Review Bloggers, This is For You.

♦  If you are a reviewer, keep a list of the reviews you need to write either on a calendar, on your computer as a Word file, or as a Google document.  Don’t try to remember this stuff, or you’ll go crazy.  ;-)

♦  Schedule time to write your reviews, either a certain time frame (for example: every night for a couple hours after your children go to bed) or follow a schedule.  Find out what works for you!

♦  Don’t take on too much.  If it’s reviews, figure out how much you can take on before it starts feeling like you’re sinking slowly in a muddy mire.  ;-)  Limit yourself to that certain number of reviews a month.

Make Sure You’re Having Fun

♦  Make time for the fun stuff!  For me, it’s commenting on friends’ blogs, social networking with Twitter and Facebook, participating in forums, and writing posts like these.  Offline fun includes taking walks with my daughter, crafting, reading, and watching The Office reruns.  ;-)

♦  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  And I mean stats.  If you’re checking more than twice a week, you might be thinking about it a bit much.  Unless it’s just fun for you to check out keywords, where people are coming from, etc.

♦  Think about what stresses you out, and do it LESS.  This is your blog, it’s supposed to be fun!

If you’re starting to think about quitting or taking on a co-author so you’ll have less responsibility, you might want to take a step back and think about your blogging philosophy.  Chances are that you’ve put a lot of work into getting where you’re at now – do you really want to lose it all?  A change of attitude might be all you need to make it fun again!  Believe me, your readers don’t want to lose you.  I’ve seen popular mom bloggers quit only to come back when they’ve discovered how much they love it!

Take a break!

If you need to, take a short blog break!  Or cut way down on the reviews for awhile.  Give yourself time to think.  Doing this has helped me so much, and I’ve found myself thinking of more content-full posts I want to write much more often, too.  It’s like taking a vacation and coming back refreshed.  So worth it.  :-)

Do you have any tips or advice for bloggers to add to this list, things you’ve learned along the way?
What makes blogging fun for you?

Read about my blog burnout experience here:
The Joys and Trials of Being a Mom Blogger