Happy blogging anniversary to me! As of this October, I have been blogging for ten years.
I. Can’t. Believe. It.
Even though I’ve been a Professional Organizer for seventeen years (which I find astounding) it’s equally as astounding to me that I have been blogging about organizing for a decade. That’s a loooong time.
In the past, I have started off these Blogging Anniversary Posts with a few lines on how I started blogging. The short story is that I took a blogging workshop at the NAPO Conference in 2009 and started my blog a few months later after dropping my then three year old off at preschool. That kid is now thirteen.
A few days ago, he walked into my home office as I was writing this post. He asked me what I was doing so I told him what I was writing about and how I started the Organized Artistry blog. He laughed when I said that I waited until he was in preschool to compose my first blog post in silence!
Besides talking out ‘how it all began,’ I use this post to hold myself accountable for the goals I set for myself and my blog. This year, it was challenging to keep up with my blog. I had some major family obligations to put my energy towards and I had made the decision to start a YouTube channel. The learning curve that came along with it ate up much of the time and brain power I often allotted to blogging.
My 2018-2019 goals were to blog 1x a month, use the blog template I created for myself, and add Canva generated/Pinterest worthy images to blog posts. How did I do?
Goals for 2018-2019
Blog 1x a Month
OK, I dropped the ball on this one. Family obligations kept me from blogging this summer. Family first! My goal was to get back to blogging this Fall (and here I am blogging!). Also, in the beginning of 2019, I was putting most of my writing abilities into scripting my YouTube videos and had little left ‘in the tank’ for blogging. I did though, use the blog template. It focused me and saved me hours of ‘thinking time’ when I had a rare moment to turn my ideas into a blog post.
Keep Using Canva to Update Images on Already Existing Blog Posts
Did it! And I’m continuing to do it. I created a list of blog posts that need a Canva generated/Pinterest worthy image and every few weeks I design one and upload it. This has allowed and will continue to allow me to generate traffic to my website via Pinterest.
Goals for 2019-2020
Blog 1x a month
I created a YouTube video script template for myself (much like my blogging template) and the writing of my video scripts are now more streamlined, leaving me more brain power for blogging. I’ll continue to use the blog post template I created for myself last year–it enables me to concentrate on the task and saves me time. Besides composing a monthly newsletter, I’m going to try my best to make sure I compose a monthly blog post.
Tweak and Update Existing Posts
When you’ve been blogging for ten years–that’s a whole lotta content to keep track of! Not all of it is as up to date and evergreen as I’d like. So, I’ll be going back in to those posts to create Canva generated/Pinterest worthy images, update the text, check links, and delete any that no longer serve my readers.
Consider a Pin Scheduler such as Tailwind.
Using Tailwind is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. My blog gets a ton of traffic from Pinterest. There are only so many hours in a day for me to be pinning to my boards. Believe me, if I could spend a few hours a day pinning, I’d be a happy girl but I have clients to organize and dinner to cook! I’ll be putting more thought into using Tailwind this year.
Create New and Relevant Content
Even after ten years of blogging, there are still a ton of topics that haven’t been written about! I keep a running list in Evernote (one of my favorite productivity apps) of organizing topics I’d like to blog about. I’ll be consulting that list as I jump back into blogging.
And guess what happened this past year?
Look on the right side of this blog page under the ‘Categories’ list. In January, I became a Superstar Blogger of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for taking part in 25+ Blog Carnivals! Big shout-out to Janet Barclay of Your Organizing Business who created the the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival as well as a space for us ‘Blogging Organizers’ on Facebook. 🙂
Ten years of blogging. Still. Can’t. Believe. It.
Happy 10th blogging anniversary to me!
Stacey is a Professional Organizer, Virtual Organizer, and Author in Bergen County, New Jersey specializing in home organizing, time, and paper management. She is the author of The Organized Bride’s Thank You Note Handbook: Let Systems and 101 Modern Sample Thank You Notes Take You From Overwhelmed to Organized.
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Wow – congratulations on 10 years Stacey! That is quite an accomplishment:) Blogging takes both discipline and self-grace. Your blog has offered readers wonderful content that they can use to improve their lives. What a wonderful gift to the world!
Thanks, Seana! I have found that it does take discipline–especially when ‘shiny new objects’ like making YouTube videos can be a distraction!
What an incredible accomplishment, Stacey! Congratulations on your 10-year blogiversary, 17 years as an organizer, and on becoming a #POBC Superstar Blogger!!!! You have so much to celebrate. I love how you set goals for yourself in a variety of categories and then adjusted and reset them as needed. You have your priorities straight. I always appreciate the perspective you bring to the table- humor, reality, and clarity. Plus, your blog has a lovely visual appeal that I especially appreciate.
I’m excited for you and what you’ll contribute in the coming decade. Congratulations again on this tremendous milestone!
Thank so much for your kind words, Linda! I’m celebrating my ten year ‘blogiversary’ by tweaking some posts and ramping up my SEO. Maybe I’ll even get myself a cupcake! 🙂
Congratulations, Stacey – both for your 10 year blogging anniversary and for becoming a POBC Superstar Blogger! Thanks so much for your participation and for helping spread the word about the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival.
Thanks for your well wishes! I could not have made it to my ten year ‘blogiversary’ without the forum you created for all of us Blogging Organizers and the support it has given me!
Congratulations on 10 years of blogging! That’s quite the accomplishment! I like your goals for 2019-2020. I’ve been blogging for 7 years, and using a Pin scheduler like Tailwind is also on my list of goals for the upcoming year.
Thanks, Nancy. I’ve read good things about Tailwind. I’d love to be able to schedule pins like I schedule Facebook posts. Maybe I’ll be writing about my experience with Tailwind in my eleventh anniversary blog post!
COngratulations on 10 years of blogging. Setting goals for the years made blogging much easier for me this year. This year I started with my first blogs and ungraded them to current standards. I am sure you have noticed how blogging has changed over 10 years.
Thanks, Julie. I have found that setting blogging goals for the year has helped to keep me focused–and blogging! Since starting in 2009, blogging has evolved into more than just the written word. Graphics and monetization now play a larger role than they did years ago. Who knows what the next ten years will bring to blogging?
Wow, you just made my day – thanks! I hope we can continue to support each other in this way for the next 10 years!