Question: How do you stay motivated? Whether it be the fact that many people read your posts or if it's a personal accomplishment when you post, that would be pretty insightful. I'd like to know since honestly, I can see myself being really into it at the beginning and then slowly abandoning it since other things get in the way or I just become lazy, ha. Thanks again! - Megan
Answer: Staying motivated is one of the hardest parts of blogging. It's the number one reason why blogs don't become successful and never go anywhere. It's the old saying, "You'll never fail if you never stop trying", right? For me personally, I'm a dedicated person. I'm almost at competition with myself... to constantly be better than I was yesterday, or last month, or last year.
Personal story: (via Tieka of Selective Potential) "When I was in high school... I was the worst student ever. I had to take summer classes to graduate, I always skipped class and was at every Saturday class, I even received in-school suspension for skipping so often! I hated my classes and didn't really like anyone I went to school with. I even overheard the high school dean say that I would never get into college! Well, lo and behold, I graduated from my first choice art school, graduated with the studio excellence award and landed the most amazing graphic design career ever. I'm one dedicated girl; I just couldn't motivate myself with something I wasn't passionate about.
And my second example is... my weight. I was 35+ pounds overweight. I felt awful about myself.. and I'm sure you all know the story, I worked my #!@ off to lose that weight. I was so dedicated and obsessed. And same with my blog... I'm so dedicated to and obsessed with my blog. It's a huge part of my life."
Dedication leads to motivation.
If you aren't dedicated to your blog, you'll lose motivation. That's why it's so important to blog only about things you are passionate about. If you find yourself saying to yourself, "Ugh, I don't feel like doing a blog post tonight" or "I'm just sick of my blog" or finding other excuses or reasons to not blog, you're probably not dedicated enough to it! My personal advice would be... follow what you love to do. Don't blog because you want sponsors, or fame, or popularity, or whatever, just blog because you love it. If you feel like blogging is a chore, blogging probably isn't for you. There are so many girls out there who are so passionate about blogging that you'll be blown out of the water by the ones who are truly dedicated. It's just the simple fact of life.
Simple tips for motivation:
- Keep your blog on a schedule
- Give yourself things to look forward to in your blog like a fun new feature or a trip to document!
- Try something new like a new hat or accessory you wouldn't normally try, a new photo effect, a new place for pictures, a lipstick color, anything new!
- Read other blogs! My biggest motivateion
- Go to conferences or take online e-courses!
- Attend blogger meet-ups in your area
- Most important? Be passionate about your content.
Even if you don't consider yourself a competitive person you still have to be a little bit competitive. There are hundreds of girls out there doing the same thing you are doing. You have to observe other blogs. What are other bloggers doing? What are bloggers doing that I don't like? What are bloggers doing that I do like? What are things I can do that are unique that other bloggers aren't doing? It's just like running a business. Businesses are always scoping out their competition and making sure they are staying up with the game. You just have to make sure you never let jealousy get in the way of your unique personality. It's not fun if you're jealous all the time, but it is healthy to have a little bit of competitive drive!
