Have you lost your loving feelings…for blogging?
Chances are that if you have been blogging for longer than a month you have been there. Possibly many times! It happens to all bloggers, nobody stays in love with blogging forever without running into burnout, discouragement, blocks, etc.
I recently had someone ask me about this and since I know that is something that we all go through it would be a great topic for a post.
I’ve been there plenty of times, I’ve had a lot of times when I’ve wanted to just call it quits.
It’s a lot of work to run one blog, especially if you want to make it successful! You need to write quality posts and respond to the comments. You need to promote your posts if you want the comments to begin with! You need to find the perfect image to with your posts.
That’s not even counting the other things that need attention. The look of the blog, building your list, writing to your list, product creation and promotion, interacting with your readers, researching post topics, and more.
Questions to ask yourself
When you have lost the loving feeling for your blog there are some questions that you can ask yourself to get to the bottom of your frustration. You need to figure out if there is something that needs change or if you simply need a break or refreshing.
Do you feel like the niche isn’t working for you? Is there a way for you to expand your niche to give you more inspiration or excitement? One thing that helps me is that I write about three things: blogging, entrepreneurship and personal development. If I feel that I have nothing to say about one thing at least I’ve got a couple other topics. Other times it’s my life that gets in the way and I feel that I don’t have what it takes to keep it up.
Do you have specific goals in mind, and steps to meet those goals? This has been key for me, because I mapped all of this out I have so much to do that I can’t even keep up! Nearly every email that I write these days begins with “I apologize for taking so long to get back to you…” But that’s a good problem to have!
Are you feeling overwhelmed? There have been plenty of times where I feel overwhelmed with everything involved with blogging. Maybe I have 3 pages of comments to respond to. Or I might have a lot going on in my life and blogging just feels like another chore. In times like this it’s good to have posts saved in the queue or seek out guest bloggers. You may have to skip a normal day of posting to take care of yourself to get yourself refreshed!
What do you do to revive that loving feeling for your blog?
To Your Success,
Thank you for sharing. When I get that feeling, I definitely should take a break. The longer, the break, the better.
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Hi Jim,
Yes breaks can be very helpful!
Stacy
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Great article! I haven’t lost my love for blogging yet but I do see how it might get frustrating because gaining readership/followers goes very slow and quite frankly our society is really into instant gratification.
Brandi – Keeping It Indie
via The Blogging Mastermind Team
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Hi Brandi,
Yes, the instant gratification factor can definitely play a part in that at times!
Stacy
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In blogging, we have a passion to write. We must focus and determined to continue on what we are doing. When you get that kind of feeling, then maybe you must take a break to refresh your mind.
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Hi Micky,
Breaks can be great when we feel stuck! Sometimes just getting our minds off of a frustration is enough to spark the creative juices!
Stacy
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I love to write but there are times when it’s difficult to share or I don’t bother. When blogging becomes a chore, I take a long break!
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Hi Charlotte,
It seems that a lot of people agree on taking breaks!
Stacy
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yea I also think connecteting with like minded peope keeps you refreshed..
When you are coaching or mentoring, you always need to be at your best..
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Hi Jack,
Keeping connect with others who are similar is a great source of inspiration!
Thanks for sharing,
Stacy
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There had been times that I am burn out that I feel like I don’t like to blog anymore… But it just for a short time. What I do, I relax and take a break. After my vacation, fresh ideas will just flow naturally.
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Hi Diana,
It seems that is a very common way to get refreshed as a blogger!
Stacy
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Hey Stacy!
Great post. Currently I haven’t officially launched my blog – a couple of days more to 1st Jan. But I’ve been working hard.
I’ve written around 50+ posts in the past two months. Given that I’d probably should have roadblocks since I’m a relative minor to blogging. But everything have been smooth sailing. Apart from days where I take a day off to gain inspiration, of course.
Blogging is a way to express ideas and I hope I’d never ‘lose that lovin feeling’.
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Hi Amanda,
It looks like you have a great start to your blog and you definitely have the talent to make it extremely successful! I can’t wait to see where you take it!
Stacy
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[...] Have You Lost That Lovin’ Feeling? [...]
Thank you so much for writing this Stacy! I thought I was alone when I had the blogging blues. Most people make it look so simple. I am a mom of 4 and the smallest thing can be a daunting task. Thanks for the encouragement!
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Hi Barb,
I can imagine that would be challenging! I think that it’s common to think that people have an easier time than they do. We don’t usually see the challenges from the outside!
Stacy
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Hello stacy, no, saying that you are very busy don’t deter me from commenting. Its easy for us to succumb to the comfort trap of just doing our day job and caring about little else. Its just too easy. It’s the lack of progress and recgonition that really discourages me. During my travel to New Zealand, I abandon my blog. I’m really guilty to admit that. Now that I’m back, I realise this is the thing that I really want to keep it going. It has been almost 4 months since I last blog. Undesirable situation. Paradoxically, it helps me to be more committed to my blog, since now I know that is what I truly love doing. I’m going to be cliche, absence do makes the heart grow fonder (and the character stronger and more determined).
wing invites you to read… What I have learned from the 5 mistakes I make in 2011
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Stacy Reply:
January 1st, 2012 at 4:50 pm
It sounds like the time away was exactly what you needed!
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Very good post Stacey. I’ve also gone through the ups and downs of blogging. Should I carry on? Or should I stop? Thankfully I’ve continued. I used to post very frequently but the posts ended up bring very similar. My plan for 2012 is to write less and write on topics which broadens out the area of stuttering.
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Hi Stacy!
Thanks for inviting me back to your Blog…from The Blogging
Mastermind Comment Tribe’s page.
A golden oldie from the Righteous Brothers, a real sweet tune.
I have to agree with you, at times blogging & article marketing
can be very boring & monotonous. BUT, the long term benefits of
the whole process is really cool. Especially when Google starts
to recognize us, throwing a little ‘authority’ our way.
Wishing you a very prosperous 2012!!
Have a highly inspired day…your tribal friend Steven Suchar
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I’ve had those moments for sure. What helps me is to refocus on why I’m blogging and to reconnect with my readers–ask them what they’d like to read about, what I can help with, etc. That gets me writing again.
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I don’t really lose the loving feeling for my blog. I have more ideas than I know what to do with but my issue is actually finding the time to sit down and write! When I use up all of my ideas (which is rare), I simply go to Google. Since I blog about social media, for the most part, a search for “social media” will be enough to keep the creativity and writing going!
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I have been enjoying blogging but do have that feeling from time to time, usually when the other things in my life are demanding more of my time than usual. As a night and weekend blogger there are times when I just have to let blogging go for a few days and pick it back up when I have the time and energy to do it. I have definitely slowed down in November and December with holidays, traveling, sicknesses, etc., but as long as I am still writing as much as I can I feel good about it.
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Thanks for posting this! This is what I needed to read right now. I needed to see that someone who has success with their blog has felt the same way I have.
I personally find that a shift in my schedule does the trick. Normally when lose that loving feeling for my blogs is when everything gets predictable and chore like. I want to have fun blogging, that’s why I started! So, I change up my routine or work at the coffee shop instead of the library for a while. A slight shift is sometimes all I need to get back to blogging and enjoy it again.
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Stacy, I’ve been blogging for 8 months now and, like you, have arrived at a few topics. It gives me enough flexibility to write about different content and experiment. To guide my blog topic choices I’ve been relying on Alexa to tell me the “high impact” keywords for searches going to my existing articles. That “success-breeds-success” focus does trend toward sameness and burnout, so I write on brand new topics to see if I can get new keywords to rank. Love your site BTW.
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Stacy Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:46 am
Thank you very much, Astro! It really does help to have a wider focus to keep the variety up!
Stacy
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At some point in life, you will get the urge to give up, even at your own passion. All things in this world are just temporary. Nonetheless, an individual can still make something last for a long time. Hence, one great formula is to always have an inspiration. That applies to blog writing. Having an inspiration gives you a lot of reasons to keep on writing.
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Stacy Reply:
January 4th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Very true, Kerstin! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Stacy
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Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I’ve truly loved surfing around your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I am hoping you write once more soon!
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Stacy Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:30 am
Thank you!
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This year I have planned to change my negative habits into positive habits.
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Stacy Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:48 am
Which ones are you working on?
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Hey Stacy,
Nice tips. I actually wrote my a guest post on GuruCreation regarding similar topic. For novice bloggers, quitting can be a simple task especially once they learned that making money online is big endeavor.
Thanks for sharing,
Noah
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Stacy Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Hi Noah,
That sounds like a good post, I will have to check it out!
Stacy
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I’ve started and stopped blogging again and again. One thing that keeps me going now, is that I have a tendency to regret i stop after months / years. Everything you build up: traffic, social and so on disintegrates.
Haven’t started blogging at my job, since it’s overwhelming to keep up with everything else. And now… once I start – I know I shouldn’t stop
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