I've been really confused blogging lately, mostly about what's most important, what I'm trying to actually accomplish, and what direction to go in. There are just so many responsibilities to run a profitable blog. I joke with friends that blogging is actually multiple businesses in one. And it is. I can think of at least 4 separate businesses you could take out of blogging -- it's freelance writing, graphic design, social media management, SEO, affiliate marketing, email marketing... And each area takes time to both learn and implement fully. It's a mess. Lol.
But I gained clarity last week and have a solid plan for the rest of the month that covers all points of these businesses for all three niches I currently cover -- without burning me out! I'm really excited and looking forward to making huge strides over the next 3 months, and eager to see where my little blog baby stands walking into January 2019.
Last week I published three articles and I'm very happy with that.
How To Cope With Stress Without Drinking Alcohol
This piece was great to write and I think it's very important. Many people drink to cope with stress and I think if you can find ways to manage stress, your road to recovery will be much easier. As I approach one year sober, I've developed a strategy that keeps me in line when bad days come, and I was really enthusiastic about sharing my methods with others.
Hitting 10 months sober was kind of emotional for me. I feel like I came a very long way. Lots has happened and I've grown a lot. I try to make the blog as little about me as possible and focus on helping others, but I know earlier before I quit drinking I actually enjoyed reading some personal stories on personal blogs of people who had quit. So I take a break from my regular protocol and talk a bit about my personal experience just once a month in my journal updates. I'm not sure if I'll continue this past one year though. I don't see myself doing a 13 month update lol. Might move to quarterly for year 2. We'll see!
Intermittent Fasting 12 Hours Week 2
I'm running another intermittent fasting experiment for just over a month to see if I can get good weight loss results with just 12 hours of daily fasting instead of 16. I posted the update for my 2nd week and oh boy... it was rough! My diet was crap, but I still lost over a pound and some body fat. That's a HUGE vote in favor of 12 hours intermittent fasting. However, it brings to light the truth that you still have to work. Intermittent fasting helps but you still have to watch your diet and exercise. It just makes it easier to do so. I'm glad I'm doing a public experiment and tracking weekly because seeing that result really whipped me into shape. I pulled it together and am already down 4 pounds for the week. But the "week" starts on Wednesday, so that's 4 pounds down, 2 days early. I've lost 10.2 pounds total since starting the experiment, which already beats the entire month of 16 hour fasting, where I lost a total of 9.6lbs.
I'm really excited about this, and can't wait to report week 3 and then the final before and after with pictures. I think this might help many people who find 16 hours fasting too restrictive. It is anecdotal evidence that you can be more flexible and still get a good result -- if you don't act too crazy with what you DO eat.
Thrilled about this one!
Finally, I've decided that I'm in the process of completely relieving myself of group boards and ultimately even sharing any 3rd party content at all. I've seen a few other accounts in one of my niches doing exactly this. All their boards are personal boards and these boards only house their own content. Their viewership is in the millions. If they can do it, why can't I?
I think I can do anything I want if I put my mind to is, so I said fuck it. I archived all my general group boards, converted some of my existing personal boards into "SoberAlley only" boards, and then made a series of BRAND NEW "Sober Alley only" boards.
I'm still going to circulate my new pins through niche group boards for now, while I build up Pinterest favor for my NEW Sober Alley boards. And will continue to pin 3rd party pins to my remaining personal boards that also house 3rd party pins... for now. But as my personal exclusive boards start to grow and I crank out more pins and content, I want to have the freedom to not have to worry about other peoples' pins, rules, duplicate pins, blah blah blah...
The way I see it is Pinterest has two sides. Creators and users. Some people think you *have* to share other peoples' pins to be successful but that makes NO sense. That's what the USERS are for. I do not believe I will be penalized as a creator for JUST creating. That's my job. The users already repin and save stuff they like. It's up to me to create amazing blog posts, beautiful pins, and put them in strong boards that are super-niche and relevant to the topic. So Pinterest's USERS will find my great stuff, fall in love with it, and THEY share it. Why should I have to do both?
I don't. And soon enough hopefully I'm right and won't have to!
The time I spend scheduling pins to other boards and finding content to repin would go so much farther for me personally, my business growth AND for Pinterest if I just spend it on creating better blog posts and prettier pins. So fuck it. I'm done. Lol.
We'll see if it works. I think it will. The proof is in the pudding. If any single person or company out there has/is doing it, so can I.
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