We all go through both hectic and quiet periods with our blogs. Some months, right from the get-go, we’ve got emails flying in about collaborations or offers to review products. Our stats are banging, interaction is great and we’re generally just loving life. And other months, it’s quite the opposite. So today we’re going to look at how to keep busy during quiet blogging months
We’ve all been there. I have. And it sucks. But it’s important to remember that it’s probably not your fault. The blogging industry certainly goes through waves of activity and more often than not, when I’m having a quiet month, I’ll see other bloggers mention on social media that they are too. I mean, it sucks for both of us but it’s nice to know I’m not alone.
It can definitely be a bit disheartening and annoying. Not to mention a little worrying when you rely on money you make through your blog to pay for things. But the important thing to remember is that it won’t be like this forever, especially if you continue to work hard and tomorrow, next week or next month could be completely different.
When I go through quiet periods with my blog where my inbox resembles that of tumbleweed, I always try and keep a level head. But sometimes, it does get to me. And I mean REALLY get to me. I don’t think it matters how long you’ve been blogging or if you’re a full-time or a part-time blogger, it’s absolutely okay to feel negatively affected by quiet blogging months.
That said, there are plenty of things you can do to keep yourself busy and motivated and I’m highlighted 8 things in this blog post to help you, if you’re going through a quiet period as well.
Here’s how to keep busy during quiet blogging months:
Update or create your media kit
When working with brands it’s good to have an effective media kit handy to send out. If you’ve neglected your media kit or don’t yet have one at all, now would be a good time to carve out some time to focus on creating one or updating it! Check out my post about how I created a free and attractive media kit with some tips on what to include in yours!
Spring clean your blog
Now is also a good time to give your blog a little TLC as well. If things are on the quiet front, you’ll have more time to tend to your blog like you’d tend to your garden on a slow Spring afternoon. All those little jobs you’ve been putting off… get them done! Stuck? Here are some suggestions!
Research and make a list of brands you want to pitch to…
Just because brands aren’t coming to you right now, doesn’t mean you can’t go to them! Dream big, make a list of all the brands you’d love to work with and potentially pitch to. Categorize them and research the appropriate email to send your pitch to (and the name of the PR person, if you can!)
…then pitch to them!
Why the heck not? You’ll never know until you try. Pick out some of your favourites, write up a banging pitch and go haywire on that send button. You can pick up my Beginners Guide To Pitching To Brands for just £7, which contains all my insider tips and tricks for successful pitching, as well as real life pitching examples and templates for you to use!
Set some short and long term blogging goals
Now is a good time to sit back, reflect and have a little think about your blog and where you want to go with it. Busy months are fan-bloody-tastic. But they rarely give us time to reflect. So sit down with a pen and paper (not your phone!) and write up some short and long term blogging goals for yourself.
Where would you like to be in 1 or 5 years? Who would you have liked to work with in that time? What direction do you want your blog to go in? All those scary questions!
Brainstorm blog content for the next month
A great thing to do – that I like to do the most – when I’m thinking about how to keep busy during quiet blogging months is to brainstorm, plan and create new, incredible content for the upcoming months ahead. You have more time than ever to put into your content right now so make it count! Stuck for ideas? Here are some blog post ideas to help you out:
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Make a plan and research something you’d like to create
If quiet times stress you out (yep) then it might be worth spending these times researching alternative ways to avoid them, going forward or extra ways to make money blogging when the sponsored post opportunities are on the slow side.
Do you excel in an area of blogging that you could create an informative eBook about and sell? Are you in a position to start offering advertising packages to other bloggers? Or think even bigger than that in terms of offering coaching or another type of service!
Try and not let it get to you
And finally, you gotta look after you and mentally, these quiet periods can really get to you. It’s easy enough to say “don’t let it get to you” but just try and remember that there’s a 99% chance it’s not your fault and that other bloggers are probably going through the same sort of drought. Keep yourself occupied, work on your plan and have faith that things will turn around. They always do!
I hope this post gave you some good ideas for how to keep busy during quiet blogging months. If you’re going through a quiet blogging month right now, I’m sorry to hear that and I hope it picks up for you soon! In the meantime, try focusing on some of these tasks to help keep the motivation and creativity high!