Back From Another Hiatus

Back from another long "holiday", sorry! Anybody missed me? I'm not sure anybody's been reading this anyway so it doesn't really matter. This is not like "the" blogs out there that people get excited about. Well, not yet but I want to see my blog going in that direction. I mean, who wouldn't? To grow and evolve and be like one of the blogs that people literally hunt down to read. A blog with a strong following. IT IS every blogger's dream, one of my ultimate goals, from my list of over a hundred. So. It might take a while and not without any boo-boos along the way...but I will get there. Eventually. One step at a time.

So, major flashback: Did I ever mention that I used to keep a journal where I do all my writing? I remember six notebooks, all filled, some going into detail, far too much detail and some, just out-of-the-blue ideas that I want to put into paper. All gone. I burned them right after I broke up with some jerk in college and he wasn't even mentioned there, not once. Those were stuff I wrote way before college. I don't know what got into me. Burning them when I could have kept them. Those were treasured memories from when I was young and full of childish hopes and dreams. I guess I burned them as a way to let go. Everything that is past (but definitely, not forgotten). Such a waste. That, ladies and gents, was when notebooks slash journal slash planners were sacred. The Internet was not even invented yet or it may have been but only very few people knew then that it exists. No one's got email and everybody and their granny have mobile phones with external antennas attached to them.

Now everything's gone digital. Blogging is the new norm and is real close to replacing journals. I know there still are a few pen-and-paper types, those who prefer to keep their private thoughts private. I came from that group of people only I made the switch. I knew then that going online is not going to be easy. There will be some laugh-out-loud moments I would not dare write about. There will be secrets I will have to keep secrets. There will be heartaches I have to keep to myself and not tell anybody about. Which leads to one question: What then can I write about as a fledgling blogger? There are so many topics to choose from. Makeup? I love makeup but I don't see myself writing about makeup everyday. Motherhood? I love it and I've gone through a lot being a WAHM but there are so many things about being one that I prefer to keep private. Gardening? I love gardening as well but I'm no expert. Cooking maybe? We have a big enough kitchen and it would be awesome to blog about what I cook for breakfast, lunch and dinner but then again, there are probably gazillion of cooking blogs out there. Is there anything new I can offer to readers in that department. What should I be writing about then that people will enjoy reading? More brainstorming later.

You know what they say, blogging is not blogging until you have people reading your blog and I intend for my blog to be out there. I actually have been trying my luck as a blogger for years so I'm way past newbie-ness. I have tried different ways to increase site traffic. I know more about what works and what doesn't now compared to when I first started. There is a learning curve there and I did learn quite a few tricks. One is to take blogging a bit more seriously if I want my blog to move forward. Taking it seriously means writing more consistently. Give them something of value to read. Take a look at my old blog. It used to be called odesk Success Stories. I did okay writing about my experiences as a work-from-home mom. I had readers sending me emails and requesting to get connected on Facebook. There were quite a few who wants me to feature them (I do interviews and feature their success story) but one day, oDesk decided they want to change their name and so they are now called Upwork. That either means I have to close my blog "oDesk Success Stories" and get a new name OR continue the blog, explain the change in name and move it to Wordpress. Either way, I will have to start over. Fat chance of me doing that.

The only other direction I see myself going is blogging full time here. The name is interesting enough. I can write about a variety of stuff, it being called 365 Slimming Days. I see it covering quite a good variety of topics: makeup, health, motherhood, working from home, cooking, even weight loss. This just used to be my "other" blog, now I see it becoming into my ONLY blog. So there. That's one brainstorming session less for me to do later.

My goal is for this blog to grow and gain some readers. For that to happen, I need to do three things. These are notes to self.

One: Write everyday.

Two: Write only when I feel like writing (and make sure to take breaks in between).

Three: Find MY voice. Write about what I like writing about and really mean it. Be a responsible blogger and think twice before hitting publish.

So that's it. See you again tonight.