(Flickr – Kristina B)
Through February, I’m going to run a mini series of posts that I’m calling “Talk Shop Saturdays.” The idea is to share some of my thoughts on blogging and give bloggers an opportunity to chat about a variety of topics. I’m chosen to run these on Saturdays, when deal posting is generally slower. I’d love to know what you think about this idea! If you have topics you’d like to “talk shop” about, leave a comment or email me at angela @ thecouponproject dot com.
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When you start a blog, one thing that gets pounded into your head is how important it is to drive in traffic. So you dive in, commenting on other blogs, networking with bloggers, maybe dabbling with AdWords or Facebook ads, writing guest posts, and building strong content. This has definitely been my strategy in the four years since I launched this blog. But over time a contrary thought has occurred to me… “when do you decide you’ve got just about the right amount of traffic for you to manage?”
The Truth about Big Traffic
In the pursuit of big traffic, it seems to me that many bloggers don’t stop and consider what the cost will be of having all that traffic come to their site.
Let me share a story of my own to illustrate. At the end of my first year of blogging, I submitted a post for consideration to a number of top bloggers to share in my niche. And then, I promptly forgot about it and went to bed. You can imagine my surprise (and shock, quite frankly) when I logged on to check my stats and found I was getting upwards of 1,000 hits per hour to my site. This was more than I’d been getting in a single day. While it was exciting – I was quickly struck with another emotion – stress! My site quickly was flooded with comments, questions, and criticisms. I found that my site was being discussed in a forum and people were picking my site apart. I remember some people saying I was “just another one of those coupon mom blogs.” OUCH.
The truth is more traffic can mean proportionately more stress and responsibility. More ad revenue, yes – but more chances for your site (and you!) to receive criticism. More people depending on a high level of quality content. More pressure to deal with tech issues that may arise. More pressure to stay up on your niche and topic. If you’re not careful and deliberate about it, you can quickly find your life being consumed by your blog.
Where is your “enough?”
To be clear, I will still accept partnerships and opportunities to get my blog in front of new eyes and I’ll still work to push the limits of my creativity and professionalism in how I build my business. However, I’ve decided that running this blog at the expense of my family, my sanity, and my other interests in life is simply not worth it to me.
About a year ago, I was expressing my frustration to my dad in wanting to keep my blog growing and moving. His advice was perfect: “remember, Angela, you do not have to be the best.” And he’d be totally right. I don’t have to be the best at everything I do, but I can decide what my best is, and let it be.
Today I thought I’d give you a little inside peek to the choices I’ve made about “my enough:”
- My enough means I will reduce the amount of time spent working on evenings. I’ve shifted to working earlier in the day and when my kids are in school so I can have the evenings to engage with my family and even just relax. I’ve spent some time reading some really fantastic books and even been reading a few non-couponing blogs.
- My enough means I will reduce the amount of time spent working on the weekends so I can be with my family. This has meant I’ve no doubt sacrificed some weekend traffic, but my family is worth more than 500 or even 1,500 hits on a Saturday. I also feel energized coming into Monday because I’ve had some time to rest. Also, my house has started to get cleaner as I’ve made some clear work/home time separations.
- My enough means I will choose to make time for my friends. I’ve consciously made an effort to connect (and in some cases, reconnect) with friends. I’ve decided that participating at church events, special girls’ nights and my awesome book club is worth it. Friendships matter!
- My enough means being OK with not being the best. At the heart of it, I’ve learned to accept I won’t be the biggest coupon blogger out there, and that’s OK. My goal in running this blog is to be able to stay at home with my kids. I blog so I can stay home, and not the other way around. I’m also super blessed to be able to help support my contributor, Lori.
- My enough means setting a pace I can manage for the long haul. I post somewhere between 4-8 posts per day. By my niche’s standards, this is very light. But I refuse to commit to a breakneck pace of 20-30 posts per day. I would far prefer to focus on sharing quality posts than worrying about how to fill up my blog’s schedule for the day (particularly on those days when deals are few and far between!).
- My enough means working smarter, not harder. For example, for my Eating Healthy on a Budget series I enlisted the help of readers and brought on a guest post instead of writing all the content by myself. Bringing on Lori to help with coupon matchups helped free up considerable time for me to be with my family or develop additional content without being overwhelmed.
I hope that you won’t see what I’ve shared here as down-putting of me or my site. On the contrary! I’m extremely proud of what I’ve been able to create here and I fully believe I have a unique, important voice to contribute in the couponing space. I’m also fiercely proud of the intelligent, caring, and loyal community of folks that participate at this blog regularly. But I’ve also come to be content and appreciative of “my enough” – it’s definitely enough to keep my life busy and fulfilled, but not more than enough to where I’m overwhelmed and left spent.
If you blog – no matter the size of your blog – I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Have you taken the time to define your “enough?” If you feel overwhelmed, are there things you could do to back off or look for help?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I super love this post! One of the biggest draws for me to your site is that you are so down to earth and very open and honest with everything. (not to say other bloggers aren’t) I also really love that you don’t post a bajillion things in one day. I was following several coupon blogs for a few years and quite frankly, I’ve narrowed them down in the last year simply because I do not have time to read the overwhelming amount of posts that some people put out. Being blasted with deals left, right, and center is really stressful to me, so I appreciate the well thought out posts and I also really love finding recipes, gardening adventures, and other types of posts you make. Your blog really is one of my favorites! I hope you enjoy your time with your family and friends…I really love your list of “my enough means”….I think we can all learn something from it. Thanks, Angela!
I appreciate your comments, Krista! Sometimes it can be challenging when you’re looking at what a lot of others are doing and think, “hmmmm. I’ve made a different choice, is it the right one?” Over time, I have only grown more & more confident in the content choices I’ve made here at the blog. It’s wonderful hearing from readers like yourself that recognize those choices & appreciate them.
Thanks for dropping a line!
(My blog is a personal journal of sorts, not public in anyway. ) But as I blog reader, I wanted to comment. I love your blog! I love the series. I love your hoesty and openness. I love reading about things from someone that is doing it, not just reading it in a book. I too like that you do not post 20 things everyday. I follow about 6 blogs that I read daily and the one thing I notice that is different about yours is that you take time to comment back to people.
Thank you for the advice, tips and things to think about. We know that that you care about us as readers, but we also know that your family and self need to come first!
Keep it as it is!
Thank you for sharing that, Emilie! I really love getting comments & emails and it’s nice to be able to personally respond to many of them.
Angela, this is a great post! I agree with Krista and Emilie that it is open, honest and very real. As a super newbie (who is still trying to find her niche) it makes me feel better. While I haven’t thought much about driving traffic to my site it is great advice to be careful about what I do. I only read about three blogs and yours is a favorite…can’t wait for next Saturdays “Talk Shop”!
Catina
Thanks Catina! Let me know if you have any ideas ever.
Just so you know – I’ve written a LOT in the past about blogging and you can find those posts at my blogging category:
http://thecouponproject.com/category/blogging
I blogged for many years (2003-2009ish) – was never a “big blogger” but I quit because I began to live my life in terms of my blog…thinking constantly “how will I tell this story” and taking pictures for the sake of the blog vs making family memories. I would write a post that I thought was really great, clever, funny, etc. and then when I wouldn’t get many comments on it I would doubt my abilities – when the whole purpose should have been just documenting life.
I’ve recently thought about picking the blog back up because I do miss having that history documented but it’s always a tough challenge to balance the “enough” as you said.
I think what you’ve described is a very common trap for bloggers to get into! I know I’ve definitely gotten to that place too.
While I think inspiration can be drawn anywhere, I do think there are things that are better left unblogged. I also get that not everyone is going to care to read a blow-by-blow account of a weekend getaway, my daughter’s dance recital, or my son’s soccer season.
I also love your point about feeling we’re not good if no one comments. That could truly be a post topic unto itself. I might have to bookmark that one away for another day.
I have to say, one of my favorite things about your blog (besides the fact that you promote healthy eating and highlight deals likewise) is that you don’t over-post. I get “blog burnout” when a blog posts more than 10 times a day- I can’t read all that! Ha. So count me as someone who appreciates the amount of posts you make.
I appreciate the validation, Candra!
One piece of advice I’d give to new bloggers: be careful what you promise your readers! If you say you’re going to do X number of posts, find all the best deals, post this every Tuesday and that every Thursday – you might find you’ve just over-committed yourself. I’m speaking partially from observation, but mostly from experience. I can think of several instances where I got way in over my head by announcing to my readers some sort of post or series schedule only to find I ran out of steam a few months (or even weeks!) later.
Best to promise small, and then over deliver than the other way around.
I will definitely INHALE this series…I think one of my biggest challenges as a newbie is finding my niche (in addition to balancing it all.) I thought I wanted to do a coupon/deals type blog and even though I love sharing deals I find and teaching my friends and family to coupon, I really see my blog becoming more of a “hub” thay connects couponers and non-profits as well as highlighting some of my other passions (i.e. getting organized, balancing a full-time job, getting/staying out of debt)…whew! The list is endless…so…..finding your niche would be a “talk shop” I’d love to hear your thoughts on. Its probably why I like your blog so much…its diverse.
I love your blog Angela and I respect you taking time for your family. I work from home and know its a challenge to be in the moment with your family and not thinking about work. I too was following many different blogs and just got overwhelmed with 20 different blogs telling me about the same deals. Yours is just one of three blogs I read now. I love your sense of humor and your stories. Keep up the good work on your timeline!
I don’t think you have any idea how influential you’ve been! Not to add pressure, my comment is to encourage you to continue doing just what you’re doing because your enough is a ton. You’ve hanged my life for the better, that’s for sure. You taught me how to live ultra frugally when my family’s financial life depended on it. We came out of tough times stronger and more confident in our abilities. Now that we aren’t just scraping by, we are investing in a big beautiful organic garden. You have been so influential in our decisions and I’ll always be so grateful to you for that.
As a follow Blogger and someone with a strong drive to succeed and compete, I’ve been really surprised by my attitude about my blog. I document my diy adventures and have about 200 followers. I blog in bursts, maybe maintaining posts every other day for a month or two then getting caught up in a big project or family needs and might not post for a few weeks. I’ve learned to accept that. My goals aren’t monetary related at all, merely a way to share my projects and hopefully inspire a few people. It took some real pondering to accept that about my blogging and I’m glad I arrived at my own enough. I still love it when a post really does well though, it’s fun to watch the stats soar.
It’s amazing how much I can relate to this post. It’s been a couple of years now since I started my blog. I had always wanted one because I love writing but at the same time I wanted it to be about something that I was passionate and knowledgeable about. I can’t tell you how many times the thought has entered my mind that I should just quit but then I always get that rare and random email thanking me for my blog that they stumbled on. It reminds me that even though it’s exhausting and time consuming I still love it and feel that something would be missing without it.
It’s definitely been a learning process. Sometimes I still feel defeated when I’m surpassed by a mediocre blog because they have a hundred giveaways going on at once, or because they are able to devote so much more time to advertising than I am.
This is much longer than I intended. Basically, thank you for this. It’s so comforting to read coming from a blogger that I know and respect. I will definitely look forward to more from you about blogging.