My Lightbulb Moment
Who would have thought that Cheesymite scrolls could have such an impact?
I don't usually post recipes here - in fact I think I've posted maybe 2 in the 3 years I've been blogging. Posting this one was a spur of the moment decision to share a little of my Australian life with my readers.
Doing something a bit different turned out to be a great thing to do. I had some nice comments about the recipe and it really got me thinking.....
What I feel I should do
I feel like this blog is about sewing, upcycling clothes and my blog learning - not about food and recipes.
I've set up my facebook page where I post more about my daily life and other snippets. I've kind of felt like Facebook is the 'social' side of my blog where I share more variety - but the blog itself is more focussed on the sewing, upcycling clothes and blogging.
I read a lot about blogging to try and learn and grow, and one thing that I find being said all the time is that you have to specialise and find your niche. Don't try to do everything, you must choose just one thing to concentrate on.
Now I struggle with this as I have several things I'm interested in and like doing, and enjoy the variety of doing different things, BUT I also want to have a successful blog, so feel like I should specialise more.
Tricky...
Three Blogs, Three Separate Topics
This blog - Creating my way to Success, was my first. It has evolved over the years and is one where definitely spend most of my time and efforts.
Some of you may know that this is not my only blog. I also have
one where I write about things I do with my kids, education, fitness and fun.
That blog is called
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I have also recently added another new blog to the mix - a Wordpress one this time (the other two are both Blogger). I decided that it was time to learn about Wordpress, took up an offer of free hosting for a year, and since I'm interested in fitness and health and learning lots about that at the moment, it seemed an appropriate topic to use for my new blog.
That blog is called:
Now I always have the problem of what blog to put my time into. Sometimes I feel more like one than the other, and sometimes just have more to write about on one topic than another.
I've tried to find a way to organise my time to cover all three blogs - setting aside different days for each topic, or times of day, but I still haven't managed to work out a way to run three separate blogs to my satisfaction.
My Solution
So what can I do about this dilemma? Am I spreading myself too thin? Should I just stick to blogging about one topic?
NO - because I don't want to do that!
The title of this blog shows how I like to do things
Creating MY WAY to Success
So what I've decided to do, is to stop thinking of my blogs as three separate things.
I've changed the page buttons on the top of my blog to include one that takes readers to "Be Our Best" and another that takes people to "Fit and Healthy Me".
All three topics are connected by ME - and this blog is all about how I am Creating my way to Success. That includes what I'm doing with my kids, and my fitness.
It might not sound like a big change - just adding links, but by making them "page links" to me it feels like they are much more a part of a whole rather than separate 'bits'.
I've also decided that having separate Facebook pages for each blog is silly. My main Creating my way to Success Facebook page is all I need, since I'm already sharing a variety of things on there - all I really need to do is think of it as my overall blogging Facebook page and not worry about trying to keep up with so many different places!
It's the way you look at it
It's all about perpective. I haven't changed the fact that I have 3 blogs about 3 different topics.
Thinking of my 3 blogs together rather than separate, I've got a fresh excitement about them.
I sew, I upcycle, and try to help my kids with their education, fitness and development and I'm also learning to look after my own health and fitness too.
Life is about a balance, and I think I've finally found a way to balance all the things I want to do in mine.
So maybe I'll post more recipes, who knows what else I'll learn or figure out! My blogs will certainly be more intertwined from now on, and I feel like I can share better who I am in doing this. The next few weeks are going to be fun as I explore my blogs from this fresh perspective.
So how about you? Do you try to stick to your blog niche? Or do you blog about lots of different things? Do you have more than one blog - and how do you balance it all?
This is actually a good decision.... me too having lots of interests... but yes i'm not or i don't know to balance all the things... sure you will be an inspiration to me..... go on with your pages....all the best....
ReplyDeleteThanks so much ! It seems like a small thing to have changed, but it's made the biggest difference in my head!
DeleteIt's so funny because I actually found out much later after I started blogging 9 months ago that you are supposed to pick one topic and blog about it. I equally share recipes, sewing, and a bit of crafting/organization/travel/food. Those are my three main sources of posts, but they're all jumbled up into one blog. I don't know if my readers mind it, but I know that I'm not a "go-to" source for any of those topics. I even considered splitting up my blog topics once I found out "the rule" but then I realized my "Vintage Zest" is for all of those items, not just one. Besides, when I look at my most popular posts, all of those topics are equally represented!
ReplyDeleteFor you, creating your way to success involves all types of things. You create with sewing, you create physically fit and mentally sound children, and you create a healthy lifestyle for yourself. Congrats on your new perspective!
It's silly isn't it Diane, to blog in a particular way because we feel that's what is 'the rule'. I've learnt along the way, so my blog set up is all over the place and not at all done in the ideal way. I still struggle with feeling like I don't want to post parts of what I'm doing that people won't be interested in, but really should just put all of myself out there, not just one part of me!
DeleteJill - Thanks for this post. I too have three blogs (two of them mostly neglected) but I keep them because I feel like they still matter. We humans are pretty complex creatures and have lots of areas of interest. Most days I feel like I can't even keep up with one blog but I sill believe in all three of them and while I do love comments and knowing that people are stopping by and reading or at least looking at my pictures in the end the posts and the blogs are really for me. Selfish I know :-) Thanks for reminding me that I have two other blogs and for letting me know I am not the only one crazy enough to do that.
ReplyDeleteCindy @ Upcycled Design Lab (and Clothesline Apparel and Outside the Cocoon :-)
Hi Cindy,
DeleteI didn't know you had 2 other blogs! I've just been over and had a look! I loved reading about your climb up Longs Peak - looks amazing. I'm a hiker and that really appeals to me. You know - I'm understanding more and more that blogs really are about the person who writes them - and if you like that blog then it's likely to be the person you like, and not just the topic. The more I think about it, the more I want to bring my blogs all together and share it all!
All I know as a Newbie is mainly by reading the book blog.inc by Joy Cho. She suggests that you don't have to choose just one topic for your blog, but definitely something you really care and interested in. I think, it's a great idea to have your blogs now under one roof! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Caroline. I think that's very true that you have to blog about what you care about and are interested in. But absolutely, it doesn't just have to be one thing!
DeleteJIll, I admire you for your perseverance in taking care of all your blogs, not to mention that all your posts are always interesting. I started with the idea that me blog would be just about sewing, mainly with machine embroidery techniques, then discovered that I could get out of the way and explore other avenues, finally told me that my blog would be about all that is creation , and why not, every so often a recipe .... I have not yet uploaded any recipe, but I've taken pictures of some of my favorite recipes, but I daren't to upload them.....maybe later. Meanwhile I try to share my creations with my new bloggy friends and learn with all of you, that's wonderful. What I need is time always, I'm always running and I'm always behind my posts, trying to follow the post of my favorite blogs, like yours ... finally, I enjoy, share and learn with you all and to me this is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, your bloggy friend:)
Marisa from
http://passionetcouture.blogspot.ca/
Thanks so much Marisa! I think you should post some of your recipes - especially since you've already taken pictures of them! It is hard to find time for everything we want to do isn't it - but it's so nice that we're all trying, supporting each other and learning together!
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