A Blog of All Seasons

(I’ve doubled my word limit for this entry because it’s the blogs birthday!)

One year ago I added the blog to the website. Honestly, I wasn’t that excited to do it, didn’t think it would be worthwhile or overly interesting for a reader. It was an exercise to increase the visibility of the website but, twelve blogs later, I’m discovering something different. It has…

… made me focus.

Setting a mandate was a blessing and a curse. While it is useful to have set structure and list of objectives to achieve, it also means a lot of effort into each entry. I’ve mixed feeling about keeping it as although it makes it harder to sculpt each post, it prevents the entries from becoming a mundane, long winded prattle.

… made me web-minded.

The blog seems to have served its purpose in terms of website SEO. Since I began posting, my ranking appears to be improving. (You no longer have to flick to page 4 of Google’s search results to find me!) Many more of my images, particularly those in the blog, are appearing in image searches. Internet traffic isn’t as large as I would like, but this is probably due to the advertising that I don’t make. I’m very active on Twitter but need to do more with other social platforms.

… made me productive.

Controversially, I’m a huge believer in deadlines for creatives. If allowed, many of us will keep revisiting, revising and tweaking work until ‘perfect’ with the result of either submitting late or not at all. By consciously committing to creating at least one new blog, for a purpose, every month the result has improved many aspects of my professional practice. I am more focused, organised and engaged in the content.

… made me literate.

Creating a post a month has become a tiresome but welcome chore. I have had to decide what to write about and research it. Then write, compose and edit the text (Normal blogs are edited from 1500+ words down to 300) and finally consider if the content and tone are correct for an audience. Ultimately - it has made me exercise my literary skills.

… made me brave.

After years of maintaining a tiny online footprint, I made my first blog entry five years ago. I spent two weeks meticulously crafting 700 words and spent another two weeks worrying who would see it. These days, I’m trying to spread the word as far, wide and as loud as I can.

… made me plan.

Along with creating for Twitter, I must plan what the blog content will be in advance of writing it. I’ve found that if I don’t give myself an objective to write about, I spend the time procrastinating or even worse, spending a lot of time filling a page with useless ‘fluff’ text only having to delete it later. Knowing roughly what the subject focus will be keeps me aware of it a month before I have to begin writing it.

… made me organised.

Between the family, my ‘normal’ job and my studies - I've a very busy life. I’ve found that time is the most precious commodity I have. Organising that time to complete everything and still stay sane is one of the biggest challenges I face. But then, isn’t that the challenge that faces us all?

… made me decide

The whole reflective process has helped me decide to continue the blog entries for another year and see what happens. I’ve also decided to create an illustrated mandate link to place on the posts.

Bet you can’t guess what the next blog will be about? -I’m off to plan!