It’s been about a year and half since I began writing regularly* on Uncoveries.
And by regularly*, I mean once a week when I’ve been timely, and two to three times a month when I haven’t been as prompt (I’ll spare you the excuses).
It’s about time for some real talk—about the next phase for Uncoveries, a couple changes, and the reason behind them.
Why am I doing this now?
As anyone in the blogging world knows, if you have a domain purchased or a blogging account opened, you’ve separated yourself from the thousands of people who want to write or start a blog. Granted it may be a false first step, but it’s still further along than many. If you’ve actually written several posts, you’re even further along, and if you’ve continued writing for more than a year, then you’ve lasted far longer than the vast majority of people who start blogs.
But the bloggers who make it are those who have spent multiple years consistently writing and fine-tuning their site. We’re talking three plus years of frequent, consistent new content, folks.
At some point for any endeavor, it’s important to evaluate the hours spent, and to determine what’s working and what’s not.
Though I’ve known this to be important, I haven’t faced it until now. My reluctance stemmed from the fact I’d need to face some personal shortcomings and also put more of myself out there. These are terrifying thoughts that scream of more possibility for failure and risk—which regular readers and friends know are not my favorite things.
But this needs to be done. I don’t want to be another blogger who eventually fizzles out. I want Uncoveries to continue, last, and make an impact. Most blogs that succeed are not because of spectacular writing or killer cornerstone content, although that certainly helps. It’s because the writer kept on going and fine-tuning for years.
Here are the takeaways on the next phase for Uncoveries.
There will be more frequent but shorter content.
While I’ve been focusing on cornerstone content over the past year, my writing frequency has lagged. It’s been hard to balance the pressure of putting out quality, cornerstone content while freelancing, traveling and dealing with other priorities.
It’s also been frustrating to feel as if I’m not progressing in my writing artistry. It takes daily practice to really become better at something, and I’m nowhere close to that. The process of writing my articles—from the first blabbering draft to the reorganizing, rewriting, editing and formatting work—takes me about six hours two days out of the week if keeping to a weekly posting schedule. Lately it’s been more like two days every two weeks.
It’s frankly been tiring, overwhelming and not sustainable. The lack of consistency and frequency has also taken a toll on my traffic.
As such, I’ll be more consistent in writing.
What this means is I will spend 30 minutes writing every day. I will aim for two or more posts published a week. I’ll start there and if successful, I’ll see about writing more. While I don’t consider myself a professional writer by any means, I’m finally taking more action on what it takes to run a successful blog. The greater frequency means I’m going to allow myself shorter content. Some days may be more of an inquiry or observation instead of a packaged piece.
I will start guest posting on other sites.
You’re probably thinking, “What, you haven’t done that yet??”
Agh, I know—this has been on my conscience for a long time. To this date, I haven’t guest posted on anyone else’s site.
Why? It’s been partially based on fear. Who am I to write on other people’s site like I’m an expert on something? But hey, I’m an expert in certain things.
We all know something that 80% of the population doesn’t know.
Another reason I never focused on guest posting was because I felt I wasn’t writing enough on my own site, which while true is no excuse. So in addition to more frequent posts, I’m also going to focus more on guest posts. It’s about time I did so.
This blog will become more personal than it’s ever been.
The future Uncoveries will need to be more of a reflection of me. I started off wanting to be an anonymous voice when I first bought the domain. While that’s lessened considerably over the past year, I’m still shy about sharing the journey—the glorious, the horrible and all the messy details.
I’m imperfect like everyone else, and I have days when I have no clue what I’m doing.
But it takes showing vulnerability for people to relate to you. Or so I’ve been told, repeatedly by many different people.
Super. Point (somewhat) taken, and we’ll see where this takes me.
An area I’ve contemplated is video content since my husband has the gear and knowledge. While I’m currently not a fan of being on film, I know my discomfort will lessen with practice. If I venture into videos, it’ll be more in the future. More immediately so, I’ll be sharing more in my posts on what’s going on in my life and in my mind—even if it’s not quite resolved yet.
For those of you who have followed along thus far, thank you. There’s more to come in the remaining part of the year for this next phase. I hope by uncovering my path day by day I can inspire you to uncover yours.