So we’ve made it to the end of blogtober and the first word that springs to mind is ‘phew’. This post is going to be a bit rambly, a bit ranty and a bit all over the place, as we’ve reached the end of October and probably my most active blogging month ever since the beginning, I have a lot of thoughts about blogging right now and about my own blog and just about how things are going that I’d like to write down and get off my chest. This post won’t be all miserable and ranty, I’ll try and include some good points, too.
First up, blogtober. Wow. This was my first month I’ve taken part in a month-long blogging challenge and my motivation and attitude towards it definitely varied as the month went on. I felt I was pretty organised – having scheduled half of the month before October even began. All my posts were scheduled in advance and at no point did I whack one out on the day. If that was the case, my posts would have been pretty dire! And I wouldn’t have been able to complete it in a million years had I not scheduled so far in advance. I admire anyone that’s taken part in blogtober and actually posted on the day.
My personal feelings towards my posts this month have been good. I think I’ve had a good mix of everything; books, personal posts, product reviews, Disney, mental health, lists and random bits and pieces thrown in. It’s times like these I’m glad I don’t just blog about one thing because again, I’d never have been able to complete it if I did. About halfway through I did reach a bit of a standstill with blog post ideas. All my good ones had been taken up at the beginning of the month so I had a bit of a freak out but thankfully, inspiration miraculously struck and I managed to come up with enough decent ideas to fill up the remainder of the month. My person favourite posts of mine this month have been:
Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
How Books and Book Blogging Saved Me
Embracing Formula 1 History at Donington Museum
7 Things We All Need to Stop Apologising For
So overall, I think blogtober went well. I probably could have commented on some more blogtober posts from other people but alas, life got in the way and I’ve been quite busy. I did comment on more posts than I usually do though so that’s a step in the right direction and something I can continue to work on. I’m relieved it’s over and I’m not sure I would do a month-long blogging challenge again. It’s hard work and a lot of extra stress but I am so, so proud of myself for completing it.
So… With blogtober out the way, we’re back to business as usual with blogging. I will probably try and post every other day but that may change or there will probably be days that get missed due to whatever. Laziness. Probably. One thing I noticed with blogtober which isn’t exclusive to that month alone is that, with my blog anyway, more posts do not equate to higher stats. Monthly page views in particularly. My MPV haven’t been bad this month, but they haven’t’ been my best ever. Which is what I was naively hoping for, you know, having posted every freaking day. That just goes to show that it really is quality over quantity but that also brings up the question, is my quality good enough? Do I need to up the ante here? What can I do to change this?
I find page views so difficult, but interaction on my posts has more often than not, been really good. I absolutely love getting comments and chatting to my readers and most of the time, the comments are better than the post itself! I’m proud I’ve managed to build up a network and a place where people feel like they can comment and leave their thoughts and opinions without being judged and knowing they will get a response and that their comment is appreciated. My followers are just the best ever and I recently hit 1,700 unique blog followers which is mental!
So whilst all that is good and dandy, I do have some negatives I’d like to talk about. I’ve been blogging for over 3 and a half years now and whilst I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and how much my blog has grown, right now, I feel like I’m at a bit of a standstill. I don’t know whether this is the bloody page views problem talking again but I’m not sure where to go from here. What do I need to do to take it that bit further? What else would I need to do to earn a part-time income from my blog? I just don’t know. If someone would enlighten me, that’d be greaaaat. I did have one last thing I wanted to mention but I don’t feel it’s the right time to do it and/or feel like I might get punched for doing so. This may just be something that annoys me in private until I burst.