I’ve been blogging since the mid-2000’s when blogging was relatively new. Most were online journals where you could follow someone’s process through a health or personal situation. It was a dairy that everyone could participate in.
A good friend, who was also my Bible Study instructor, encouraged me to start one. It was an extremely difficult season that I was going through and making it public scared me to death. It wasn’t till we participated in Beth Moore’s re-taping of Breaking Free in New Orleans that something changed. I saw blogging as an opportunity to reach people who had gone through much of the same problems as I had.
It was the beginning of the writing career I have now. An article I submitted to Lifeway’s Journal for Women was published a year later. That opened up many more doors. My blog started as an outlet for healing the inner wounds I had carried for so long. It gave me the confidence to pursue writing for magazines and web content.
I’ve had several blogs before settling on the one I have now, and it is very possible that this will evolve as well. A few of those included:
Chapters of Hope ~ Mainly an online diary of childhood abuse and what I found that helped.
Writers Connection ~ Devoted to my love of writing and writers.
Bookends ~ I reviewed books that I received while attending writing conferences and those who contacted me that needed a little help in promotion.
There were a couple of others, some I did with a few friends. If you read through the archives of this blog, you’ll see much of the same type of content. I have a flow chart that I use for my weekly posts. Each is a different category, but all are things that I enjoy writing about or feel compelled to share.
Here’s a breakdown of my blogging schedule:
UPDATE:
(I no longer keep this schedule as you may find with time, what you blog about will evolve and change. Getting a general idea of what you want to blog about each time – whether you blog once or twice or three times a week – will help you become more organized & prepared and less frustrated.)
1st Thursday ~ Author interview or book review
2nd Thursday ~ Blogging or Writing 101
3rd Thursday ~ Health
4th Thursday ~ Family, Faith, Focus ~ My stories
5th Thursday ~ Moving On, relocating and travel
UPDATE:
(I schedule blog posts a month in advance, usually once or twice a month I write all my posts. The next week, I will take the same approach and create a month’s worth of newsletters).
Starting a blog can be intimidating. Some of the questions I would ask are:
- What do I write about?
- Will anyone read it?
- What will I name it?
- How do I promote it or get people to follow me?
- Why am I doing this?
- How do I make it look professional?
These are some of the very same things you will face. I believe the most important question is: Why do you want to start a blog?
Here are my 5 Reasons to start a blog.
- BLOGGING INCREASES WRITING SKILLS
- BLOGGING BUILDS CONFIDENCE
- BLOGGING PROVIDES FOCUS
- BLOGGING DEVELOPS CONSISTENCY
- BLOGGING CONNECTS LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE
So… What are you waiting for?
#startwhereyouare #dowhatyoucan #usewhatyouhave #cindymjones #praticalfaith #confidentwomanalmanac #movingforward
Also published on Medium.
I love feedback!