Breaking all the blogging rules

I've never been much of a rebel, in fact I'm probably more of a goody two shoes who sticks to the rules, but when it comes to blogging it appears I'm breaking all the rules.

There are a number of blogging experts out there these days {trust me just Google, you'll find loads} and there are heaps of blogging courses, conferences, e-books, planners etc which will all give you an abundance of advice about how to become the next big blogger. I've attended conferences, bought planners and done quite a few online courses and webinars about blogging in the bid to improve my knowledge and try to be a better blogger. Sometimes I come away motivated and full of ideas, and then other times I come away disheartened.

You see it can be really overwhelming receiving loads of advice in a short period of time. Plus then I realise that no matter how much I want to implement all the ideas, I have a 2yr old at home with me 24/7 and she demands my attention about 95% of that time, so try as I might I will never be able to implement all the things {and will probably never make it big as a blogger, but that's totally ok}. Even though I'm not a big blogger, I do still have a relatively successful blog {if I do say so myself} so as much as its good practice to be super organised with blogging, it's also totally ok to not be. 

1. I don't have a specific niche

One of the most important things to have as a blogger is a niche, apparently. Because without a niche nobody will find your site and nobody will value your opinion etc, etc. You see the idea is to pick a specific interest category and become an expert in that topic then blog about it til the cows come home so the right people keep coming back to read your really informative posts. I don't doubt that would work well, especially if I was a food blogger or something, but I'm not.

I think its super hard to have a niche as a personal blogger, because in essence the only thing that all my posts have in common is me, and I'm multifaceted so my posts will naturally cover a number of topics. I write about what interests me or what's going on in my life at any point in time. Right now that involves posts about my daughter driving me crazy, cute things she says, our infertility journey the second time around and my photography challenge. If I happen to get pregnant again I will most likely write new pregnancy related posts as well. My interests are diverse and ever changing and not everyone is going to like everything about me and that's fine {thankyou to those of you who love me enough to keep coming back}.

2. I don't solve problems

Apparently before I write my posts I should ask myself if the topic is going to solve someone's problem. If it does it's good, if it doesn't apparently nobody will read it. My problem with this is that I don't know how to solve people's problems, because I'm not a psychologist. While I do occasionally write posts about my experience with traumatic situations, such as post natal depression, leaving my narcissistic husband and living life as a child of suicide; I write them so others who may be facing the same situations feel less alone. I don't write them to solve their problems. I write them to say hey I went through this shit experience and came out the other side and you most probably will too.

3. I forget to write down post ideas

I frequently come up with awesome post ideas and forget to write them down. Bad blogger. My problem is that I usually get post ideas as I'm falling asleep or when I'm in the shower, neither are the ideal time for creative genius to strike. 

4. I don't batch post

One of the most efficient ways to blog is to batch post and write a number of posts in one day. I really think the experts forgot to factor in the tiny human effect when coming up with this plan. I agree it makes total sense to knock out a bunch of posts in one sitting and then have free time for the rest of the week. I'm actually totally envious of people who manage to do it. I probably won't be one of those people until my small child goes to school. You see small children like being the centre of attention most of the day, and on top of that mine doesn't like to sleep until late at night, so the chances of me ever getting a decent block of time in which to sit down and write is pretty much zero.

5. I don't have a publishing schedule

Last year I had a publishing schedule and I published 4 blog posts per week, with certain posts scheduled for certain days. I'm not going to lie it was good having a plan of attack and knowing which posts to publish on which days, however, life caught up with me. I got burnt out and I was spending all my spare time trying to keep up with my schedule. That's when I knew it wasn't working for me and I had to cut back.

6. I don't have a dedicated area to blog

Obviously if I had a harmonious, well organised, quiet, bright and airy office in which to construct literary genius as I saw fit then my blog posts would be amazing. However, I have two major things going against me on this one, a toddler and a townhouse. The toddler ensures nothing is ever harmonious, well organised or quiet and the townhouse just means I don't have enough space for all my stuff, let alone an office. At the moment I blog on the couch with my laptop, usually late at night. It works for now.

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Sometimes you don't have to follow all the rules the experts tell you to follow and you can still be successful doing things your own way. Most of all its important to do things in a way that works for you and works with your lifestyle or you'll burn out. 

Do you follow a set of blogging rules?

Toni x