5 Things Motherhood Taught Me About Blogging

I’d like to say this post is brought to you by the laptop lifestyle, as in I’m sunning myself on some glamourous beach while I type away on my pretty little MacBook Pro. But, that’s hardly the case. The truth is this post is inspired by a morning power outage, a crazy-dark house, pouring rain and a toddler needing to be entertained. My green tea needed to be wine!

{Things aren’t always so picture perfect. Photo: Emily Piraino Photography}

It got me thinking how many of the same lessons I’ve learned being a mom also apply to blogging. You’re always “on” there’s always more to be done and sometimes it seems like a never-ending roller coaster! But then you have those wonderful moments where the sun shines through, your little snuggles you (or your readers start responding!) and you realize all your efforts were worth it after all. Here are 5 things motherhood taught me about blogging.

Motherhood Blogging Lessons

You Need To Be Flexible

There is nothing like motherhood to make you really understand the saying ‘just roll with it!” I consider myself a fairly flexible person, but there’s nothing like a skipped nap or early wake up to put me in a tizzy. Bottom line: you just gotta be flexible. And I mean that for both being a mommy and blogging.

If something happens in the news that would make a great last-minute blog post, slip it in and bump your planned post. If after reviewing your analytics at the end of the month you see what’s resonating with your readers is different than what you anticipated, you need to adapt accordingly. Don’t get stuck in your ways and fail to be flexible, your blog (and kids!) will thank you!

Patience is Everything

Babies are not born walking and talking, and despite what a lot of Internet gibberish might say, you are not going to have a million followers on your blog overnight. It takes a LONG time, and a lot of patience. Not to mention, a whole lot of trial and error! Nurture your blog like you would your child: put in the time, the dedication (and be patient!) and you’ll soon see it blossom.

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Done is Better Than Perfect

Does my kid eat organic fresh-cooked meals three times a day? Only in my dreams! I try my best but when it comes down to it, sometimes fish sticks save the day. Done is better than perfect, my friends, so don’t delay putting your stuff out into the world because you’re endlessly tweaking until it’s “perfect”. Am I suggesting you put out garbage? No way! Just don’t get caught up in the quest for perfection.

You might also like: 5 Blogging Rules Meant to Be Broken

It Takes a Village

If you don’t have mom friends, you’ll go crazy and feel lonely, and if you don’t make blog/business friends, you’ll go crazy and feel lonely! It takes a village, and there’s such a wonderful, supportive community out there to bounce ideas off of, vent to and help you grow. The more connections you make and the more you get involved in the community, the faster you’ll see results and make a few friends, too.

In fact, here’s a few Facebook groups to check out:

• Boss Moms
• Savvy Business Owners
• Blog + Bizz BFFs
• Being Boss
• *Female Entrepreneur Association
• *Secret Bloggers Business

For even more Facebook communities, Cath over at This Mama Learns has a fantastic resource guide on places to promote your post here.

*These last two are paid membership communities but I highly recommend them!

Reinventing is Essential

Now that I have a toddler, it boggles my mind how easily he gets bored. He has an entire room full of toys and the Best Traxxas RC Cars, how can it be possible?! Well, apparently it can and that’s when I need to get creative and reinvent. I’m talking about grabbing an existing toy and showing him a new way to play with it that suddenly opens him up to completely new ideas.

I want you to apply this same tactic to your blog: Reinventing posts that performed well is a great way to expose some of your older content to a new audience. Just brainstorm creative ways to put a fresh spin on it. Do this with some of your most popular posts and you’ll have loads of new blog post ideas.

You might also like: 7 Easy Lifestyle Blog Post Ideas

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Everyone wants to be an overnight sensation, but running a blog is a lot like being a mom: it takes patience, FLEXIBILITY, community, and for you to be kind to yourself, none of us are perfect!