Not every post will be a hit

Hey there everyone!! 

I hope you’re all having a fantastic week so far? 

South Africa is experiencing a lot of grey and rain at the moment (I guess it’s at least making me not miss the weather in the UK so much) which is very unusual, but a small upside is we definitely needed the rain. Thankfully I have finished and submitted three of my papers (the relief is unbelievable). I just have one more summative essay left. However, procrastination, exhaustion and lack of motivation are really getting to me on this one … 

Anyway … I was really unsure what to write about today. I’ve been having some difficulty coming up with topics that I want to write about this year (I don’t think the university workload is helping), so I decided to look back through all my old posts. I got to see the ones that did well and the ones that didn’t, and that got me thinking about the post I did last weekend, which didn’t get many views or likes. 

Sadly, not every blog post will be a hit, but that doesn’t stop it from being painful or a bit disappointing. It happens with other work that we do too, not just blogs, where we can put lots of work into something and think that it is a really great piece, but for whatever reason, the response falls short of what you expected. 

When a blog doesn’t get the response you anticipate, it can really sting because it feels a bit like a personal rejection. And why wouldn’t it sting? It’s always hard putting your work out on display, whether it’s creative work in a public domain or an essay you’re submitting for school because as much as you could get positive feedback and a great response, there’s always the chance that maybe this time you didn’t do so well or get negative feedback. I know it hurts – so if you’ve ever gone through that then, believe me, I get it, and I’m sorry. I’m sending you a Bluetooth hug from my desk! 

The key thing to remember though is that even if your latest blog post isn’t a hit, or doesn’t get the response you hoped for, don’t let it ruin blogging for you. Things fluctuate, and maybe that day just wasn’t your day, but that doesn’t mean every post after that will be the same. I’m not saying you have to ignore the feeling that it hurts – absolutely not! Because it does hurt. But you can’t stay in that space forever so once you’ve processed those feelings, you need to pull yourself back up and sit back down in front of the keyboard. 

I’m not sure I’m qualified to offer any advice about this sort of thing because I’m a very small-scale blogger, but I’m going to share what helps me get through these moments. They’re not perfect, but they do help me when I feel like giving up and force me out of my little cocoon of tears and back to my laptop. 

1. Think about why it didn’t do so well. (Once you’re okay to do so, have a think and reread your post to maybe see why it didn’t do so well. If you can think of why it may not have been as successful as your last post, then you know what you need to change or how you can improve for your next post.) 
2. Compare it to other similar posts. (If you’ve written other similar posts, why not compare them to this one to see where it’s different, and maybe that’s the key to fixing things for the next post? Or, if that particular topic isn’t so popular on your blog, then you know for next time to choose a new topic.)
3. Turn a negative into a positive. (The other two sort of touch on this but a great way to move past situations like this is to try and turn a negative into a positive. Don’t think about it as you had a post that wasn’t so successful – rather think of it as an opportunity to learn and improve. Finding a way to see the bright side is so important to stop you from going into a spiral of doubt.) 
4. Try, try again. (The only real way to get past things like this is to swallow up the nerves and doubts that may have arisen, get back to the keyboard and keep going. Stuff happens, but you can’t give up just because you had one bad day or bad post and the only way to get your next good day or good post is to write another one, hit publish and see what happens.) 

I know it can be a really horrible feeling when your latest blog post feels like a flop, but the truth is there are going to be days like that, and the only way to move past them is, like I said, to get back at it and keep blogging once you’ve had time to process things. Have you ever had a blog post that didn’t get the response you hoped for? How did you get past it? 

Blogging is all about community (and I’m so sad that I haven’t had the time to be as active in it as I would like) so we’re all in this together, and I’m sure we’ve all had days where we’ve felt like this. Just know that, at least from my side, if you’re ever feeling down about blogging or anything else, you’re not alone and please feel free to reach out to me! It’s one of the things I absolutely adore about the blogging community – it just feels like everyone is always there to help one another so please don’t feel shy to reach out if you want/need it! 

Lots of love

Blondey on a Mission xxx