Last year, I made a goal of blogging 3 times a week. Despite the video-by-default shift in social media that requires about ten times as much work, I had in my head that three blog posts a week was a totally doable task. But the problem is: blogging has changed, too.
I used to be able to post anything that came to my head, at any time, with little to no research or SEO optimization because let’s be honest, I didn’t even know what that was. The reason I could do that is I had a built-in audience who came to my blog daily or weekly, with anticipation of a new post.
With the rise of instagram and tiktok, as well as other platforms that came and went, blogs as we knew them fell out of fashion. Many — my own included — never really went away, but the focus shifted. Some others are absolutely thriving, which I absolutely love to see. But in my own and many other’s experiences, my native audience dwindled as google reader shut down and readers became less inclined to visit a blog when they could just follow on instagram, instead. And like many other bloggers, as my numbers went down on here and rising elsewhere, I started posting less regularly. I never gave up on my blog, but I also never put the love into it to make it grow and thrive in these different times. I regret that.
While I know it’s never too late — and I have no plans of ever abandoning my blog — I also know that it’s more important to cater to searchable posts. Informative posts. Evergreen content that will thrive on Pinterest and Google for eternity (or at least longer than 24 hours). And yet, what I find myself wanting to write about most often is all the in-between, semi-useless information.
In short, I want to blog as if I’m writing in a diary. I want a space to share what I’m working on before it’s done. I want a micro-space where it feels a little safer to share a little more like I used to. Less curated, more in-the-moment.
So, I started a Substack. I’m trying it out to see if it fills that void. Ideally, it will be a place to share my thoughts, ramblings, inspiration, and works in progress. And then the final, finished projects with all the instructions and details can still live here and on Instagram, more curated, organized, and succinct.
If you, like me, miss the more casual days of blogging, I hope you’ll also subscribe on Substack to get it sent straight to your inbox. I’ll still be seeing you around here. But I probably can’t commit to three posts a week, because I’m already stretched a little thin.
Subscribe to my Substack here.
