“Man, this is great! I’m going to make this daily blog permanent!”
That’s how I felt during week one of my daily blog experiment.
We’re now officially two weeks in, and things are quite a bit different from the first week.
The biggest difference is that during the second week I’ve been traveling through Alberta, and have had very little time to write or promote the posts here.
Can you blame me for putting some work on the backburner for a little while?
And for someone who travels a lot, it makes me wonder about the longevity of doing things this way.
That said, in two weeks of blogging daily, I’ve had some realizations and things I’ve learned that I figured I’d share with you.
This might be helpful if you’ve ever considered doing something like this yourself.
1) A backlog of content is a must
Before I started on September 1st, I already had a little backlog of finished posts and half written drafts to go off of to make things a bit easier.
During week one, having that backlog gave me all the confidence in the world that I could sustain this amount of content.
But then I hit the road.
Now we’re almost entirely out of backlogged content, and it puts that much more pressure on the daily writing.
In writing, the ratio that feels right is I should be trying to write 2 pieces of content for every one posted. That’s my goal on any given day. But when you’re posting daily, that means a ton of writing.
Obviously, you can’t do this every day, but building up that backlog of to-be-published work is crucial to making this successful long term.
I’m curious to see how I do with this once I’m back at home next week.
2) Promotion is More Necessary than Ever
When I wrote the commodity post, I emailed it out to my list. Doing this, got a ton of comments, emails, and engagement.
Same goes for the Hi, My Name is Sean post.
And to a lesser extent the post about the photo on my desk.
While gone this week, as a conscious experiment I didn’t email anything out. And because of that engagement is lower, and views are much lower.
The initial boost of the email or other promotion is extremely beneficial when trying to get traction for a piece of content.
If you’re writing daily, I’m not sure how to go about promoting so much content – and I feel like some really good stuff ends up getting lost because of it.
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3) With more writing comes more ideas
For years I’ve struggled to figure out what to write about here.
Why?
Because I feel like I’d already done the same things every way I possibly could.
Now because I’ve given myself permission to get outside of the “box” and to write more about the things I’m currently interested in (like this), not only am I enjoying the writing more, but I’m more creative and have more ideas in the process.
If you’re ever struggling for ideas, creativity, or figuring out what content to create – just start creating. Write about anything, and you’ll be amazed at how the ideas start to flow more easily.
In nearly a decade of blogging, this has continually proved true – and this month has been no different.
4) I can’t tell how Google is liking the regular posting schedule
I’ve been trying to figure out if posting every day is helping or hurting our SEO on the site.
On the one hand, in SEMrush our visibility for the key terms we’re tracking has been steadily increasing since we started:
The visibility for the key terms we’re tracking for Location Rebel
Yet on the other, it seems like for some of our tougher to rank for, more niche terms, we’re seeing a decline.
It makes me wonder if a broader focus of the content that isn’t so targeted is watering down what we offer. Basically, like an anti hub and spoke issue.
The goal of all this has not been SEO, but considering most of our traffic comes from search it’s definitely something to consider.
5) The balance between personal and professional still isn’t clear
I’m still working to find the balance between making this a personal blog full of me, stories about my life, and my interests.
OR making it more of a traditional marketing/online business website.
The pendulum may be swinging too far the other way as I work to regain my voice, but this idea is something that will be on the top of my mind during the rest of the month as I consider the future of the blog.
The Next Two Weeks
I’m excited for the next two weeks because for as much as this trip to Alberta has been a blast, it’s very much gotten me out of every healthy routine (work, writing, exercise, diet) that I felt like I’d been making some progress on.
This place is beyond spectacular.
I’m excited to devote more time to writing, and to jump back into the lifestyle business stuff while still retaining that personal element.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about the daily blog and how you feel about it? Have you enjoyed it? Is it too much? Too off topic? Drop a comment below and let me know.
Want help building a lifestyle business of your own? That’s what I’m here for!
Sean Ogle
Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
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I love your blog and I am following a couple of years already. But for me having to read a new article on daily basis is just as stressfull as for you to write it. Instead of a backlog of written content some days I had a backlog of content to read which resulted in that I just skimmed some articles instead of read them properly. I really was thinking some times “When will that guy finally take a break again” 🙂 For me weekly articles are a perfect timespan. That isnt as overwhelming and still continuous enough for not to be forgeted.
Hey again Sean,
Sorry for the barrage of comments. I’m in Sunday procrastination mode and just got your email with all your new posts.
I just wanted to say that even though it seems like there is a lot of uncertainty in how your project is affecting your site/business/direction, I still think it’s a huge step forward (even if the metrics say otherwise).
Why? Because you’ll never know unless you try. Numbers might go down. But you can get them back up. It’s not permanent. What’s important is the fact that you’re getting yourself out of a rut.
Keep up the great work! I admire what you’re doing!
Mitch
Thanks Mitch! Never apologize for comments, I love to see them 🙂
100% agree. Frankly, doing this was more for me than anything else. I needed a kickstart to get back in the habit of writing and that is exactly what this has done – so it’s been a great step in the right direction!
I have been following your blog for a couple of years now, and have to say I like the mix of personal with business. It is a lifestyle business after all!
I am enjoying your insights coming from this daily writing experiment, but I have to admit, I don’t read the blog daily but rather binge on a few entries at a time.
I think it is important to keep our tools of the trade like writing well oiled/maintained, so a daily writing practice is advised. But this doesn’t necessarily have to be publication of a blog, it could be in the form of journaling, thoughtful comments on blogs of people you want to connect with; emailing thoughtful posts to friends, family, etc. As well as writing backlog blogs. The main thing is being authentically engaged with your craft on a regular basis, right?