Leah from Texas writes, “How do you stay consistent even in the tough times…when you’re not making money or enough money and you think maybe I should just get a different job…”
When you read the title of the post, I have no doubt it’ll come as a huge shock to you.
So many people see me as this massively successful single mom blogger who has it all together.
But the truth is, that I’m just like you. I go through ebbs and flows. I go through good blogging days and bad blogging days. I have success and failures. It’s all the same.
It doesn’t really MATTER how popular you are, sooner or later if you are a blogger, you WILL go through a time in your blogging career, when you want to walk away from it all. When you want to throw your hands up in the air and say, “I quit. I’m done.”
I’ve been blogging three years now and this is the first time I wanted to quit blogging.
I Wanted to Quit Blogging
Sometimes, blogging is so difficult. You want to reach people with your message and you feel stuck.
Like you’re spinning your wheels, not getting anywhere and the harder you try, the harder NOTHING WORKS.
You keep trying and trying and trying and trying, and NOTHING happens.
You get frustrated.
“Why am I even DOING this?” you say to yourself.
WHY do I pour out my heart and soul into something when sometimes it seems like I’d rather just crawl under a rock.
You’re embarrassed because you’re not seeing more success than you are.
Your blogging friends seem to have it so easy. They are flying and you’re barely crawling.
I know how you feel. Because I’ve gone through the same thing and I’ll let you know a secret, EVERY BLOGGER DOES! Sooner or later, every single blogger will feel like throwing in the towel, yes, even the ones who have seen massive success.
Everyone, my whole blogging career kept saying, “The money’s in the list.” “Your email list is the biggest asset you have as a blogger.”
But I didn’t listen. While I believed them, I didn’t care too much, to be honest.
See, bloggers seem to tell you that with the intention to make money off that email list. It’s this step by step process of what to do to get people to buy. And I’m all for making money. Been doing that 18 years online now and I sure as heck make good money blogging, but the POINT of an email list, at least to ME, doesn’t seem like it SHOULD BE about making money! It should be about getting to know your audience better, deeper, investing in them further than you can on your blog. Nurturing those ladies.
So to me, email lists with the purpose of getting a lot of sign ups, felt icky. So, what do you do when something feels icky? You don’t do it. I deleted over 20,000 email subscribers off my list and while I do have a good sized list, I hadn’t worked to get more email subscribers.
Then….IT HAPPENED.
Pinterest. Oh how I love Pinterest, but I changed up my URL structure. I KNEW very well that it would cost me a lot of traffic. But, to me, I felt it was important. I knew I’d start completely over, traffic-wise, on the blog. But I didn’t realize HOW much of an impact it would make. See, at my highest point, I was at 1.7 million pageviews a month and it dwindled down to, at my lowest point, 147,000 pageviews a month and I swear to you, it destroyed me. Between changing up my URL structure and Pinterest’s yearly slow season, I was dead in the water and I knew it.
I KNEW what I was doing was RIGHT. I KNEW I had to change that URL structure (I previously had dates in my URL’s). I KNEW it was exactly what God wanted me to do, but I didn’t realize how BAD it would hurt me. I figured, all would be fine. My site would carry through just fine. If not 1.7 million pageviews, maybe a million…or 750,000 at the least.
But that’s not what happened. Things weren’t fine! I cried. A lot! I’m not ashamed to admit that. I felt like everything I worked for, for YEARS, all went down the tubes and I had nothing left. I felt like a failure. When you see such great success and then, it’s all gone, it’s a hard pill to swallow!
I thought about walking away. About giving up blogging. Something I’d never considered before. All the sudden, I was wanting to just stop blogging. I thought about going back and selling on eBay, which is what I did to support my family as a single mom before I started blogging. “I could get back into it,” I told myself. Easy. I even started yard selling, collecting things to resell, as I’ve done for many years.
I was at my lowest point. And…I didn’t feel like I could tell anyone about it. Everyone sees me as this successful blogger. I didn’t wanna hurt anyone or let anyone down. So, I just secretly dealt with the pain.
One morning, I was praying. God convicted me of a few things and one of those things was the Phoenix bird. It’s a mythical creature that rises from the ashes. I didn’t know what it was, but many people tell me that my past reminds them of the Phoenix bird. I was homeless, at my worst point, not saved, and God saved me. I started reselling and then eventually blogging. Now, I’m doing extremely well and all of it is because of Christ.
But to be honest, I thought that was it. THAT was my story. It’s done.
But it’s not!
God’s not done, and He reminded my mind about the Phoenix bird and that I WOULD rise again. That He wants to make sure no one else, not even me, can get credit for what He was about to do. Things are about to blow up.
With that little bit of hope in my pocket, I started thinking about my options.
I had received an email from a friend. She was done. She was tired. “It’s so hard to balance everything,” she said. She blogs, raises kids, has a family, has to put dinner on the table every night, do housework, invest in her family, and everything is insane.
On top of everything else, she’s TRYING to make a side income to help her husband. To relieve some pressure off him, a noble pursuit, for SURE! But feeling exhausted and ready to drop, I heard the desperation in her words.
It reminded me of me. I worked 80-120 hours a WEEK (yes, a week) for 3 1/2 LOOONNNNGGGG years! And with the change of my URL permastructure, my whole traffic system through Pinterest was gone. Everything I worked for, gone.
And then it hit me. Like a brick (I think it was God).
I’d been struggling on my blog because I lost my “why.” The reason that I do what I do. WHY do I blog? Is it for the numbers? The traffic? The money? No. It’s to serve others. And how can I best serve others NOW? With everywhere I’ve been and all the steps I’ve taken to get to where I am now, HOW could I serve you??? What is my “why”?
My “why” has always been to help moms be able to stay home with their kids. I’m a single mom. I make money from home and I feel if I can do it, as a single mom, surely other moms can, especially those who have family to count on.
But God is leading me toward teaching blogging, so for me, in my head, there was a huge disconnect.
I realized that I wasn’t being myself. I was trying to be like other bloggers (a complete hypocrite to myself who says always be yourself (I’m so sorry!)) Rather, I should just be myself. Do what I know is right for ME. If my blog fails, then it fails, but I can’t run it trying to be like other bloggers. Because my ideas, the way I blog is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than anyone else in my space online.
If I’m staying true to who I am, my blog will be different too, just as it has always been.
Slowly, I started to understand that I want to help women, like my friend, who are overwhelmed. Who feel like they have to be all and do all. We sort of have this martyr personality as moms, don’t we?! We just don’t want to let anyone down.
So, we work our guts out, until we are so tired we can’t see straight and everything is spinning all around us. We can’t figure out what we’re doing wrong. Why we’re not seeing the results we should.
Because there’s so much information out there that is free for bloggers and we think we have to do it all. Do blog posts, be good at SEO, at pictures, be on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram now, Snapchat now, Twitter here and every other social media out there. Write well so your content gets shared, and do all of these projects to earn money and learn affiliate marketing, and it’s a lot. It’s overwhelming.
In the last year of my blogging career, I have successfully gotten RID of a LOT of loose ends. I’ve said goodbye to everything but the bare bones. I’m investing my time in new places, like Instagram now, because I HAVE the time. I’m not working 80-120 hours a week. I’m working less, but my time is so much more consistent and free. I’ve let go of all the things the “experts” say we have to do, to be successful and just do what works for MY blog.
I’ve taken drastic measures, like getting completely off Facebook (gasp, right?!)
If you’re feeling tired, overwhelmed, beaten down and just plain drained emotionally and physically, I want to tell you there’s a better way!
I’ve learned a new way of doing things. I know what works and what doesn’t. I’ve built my blog back up again, and learning new ideas and lessons as I go.
You don’t HAVE to do EVERYTHING to make it as a successful blogger. In fact, all the noise that you’re doing now, is actually HINDERING your growth as a blogger!
Did you get that?! It’s hindering you! It’s time sucks here and there and you’ve got to stop! Not only for your own success, but for your own health and sanity. Because IT IS a lot.
After I realized that I want to help you weed through all the noise and clutter of online guck, so you can get where you want to go and super quick, I stopped wanting to quit blogging. Because I see the needs of bloggers. And it lines up with my passions. Isn’t that cool?!
You want to be more organized. GIRL…I can organize in my sleep. I love it. I have a blogging binder to get your blog on track and organized. Cut the clutter and keep records.
You need breath-taking photos for your blog and listen, you don’t want to PAY an arm and a leg for them. I get it. I sell my own stock photography at a fraction of the cost, because having gorgeous pictures is the ONLY way to GET traffic (obviously coupled with amazing content and a well mapped out blog of course).
You need a household binder to organize your home and life. I got you covered there too.
You need editorial calendars. Here’s what I use.
And most of all, you want to make money blogging and cut through the noise online. I’m developing a course, as we speak to help you grow super quick. To lavish on you my 18+ years of online and business experience and problem-solving skills. Because I KNOW exactly what it takes to be successful and how to get there FAST.
THAT’S my “why.” THAT’S why I blog, and that’s why I didn’t give up blogging when I wanted to. I‘m not done yet. GOD is not done with me and my friend, if you are thinking about giving up blogging, don’t! Because God’s not done with you yet EITHER. Just the fact that you are HERE, right now, reading this post, means that He’s not done with you. Because you have and will have all the resources you need in order to blog well and make a fantastic living, integrity in check. No icky stuff here, please!
And in case you’re wondering about the email list, I did start working it and am currently maintaining a growth rate of 8,000-12,000 new subscribers EVERY single month. BUT, I’m growing my list on my OWN TERMS, and for the RIGHT reasons…to serve and nurture, NOT to try to do some marketing scammy scheme of getting people’s money. I’m going to continue to stay true to who I am in everything I do.
Want more motivation? Here’s my post on how to motivate yourself when you want to give up.
Have you ever felt like giving up on blogging and if so, what did you do to continue? Do you feel overwhelmed and spinning, or do you have a good balance in your life? And most importantly, as a blogger, what is your BIGGEST NEED? What kind of resource can I do, to make your life a little easier, a little simpler, a little more organized? I want to help!
