I've been blogging for quite a few years now. I love it. I think of my blog as my business, but 2014 has shown me that I pretty much suck at business.
Yeah... I know, right? But it's true. However, I am dedicated to learning and becoming better. Writing? Oh, I'm great at that. And social media? You would think it was created with me in mind. I can spend hours every day doing both things... and I do. But not in a productive, dedicated way.
Truth #1: When you don't focus on your money, or your time... the lack of focus shows up in your wallet. Lack of focus means lots of air and not a lot of coins.
I like coins. And while I enjoy air because breathing is well... pretty important... I don't like air in my bank account or my wallet. All of this air and lack of focus means that my holiday spending budget is minimal. *blink* Okay... less than minimal. It's non-existent. That gives me the sads.
Truth #2: As I prepare for the new year, I am focusing intently on my business and learning even more about blogging than I knew was possible.
When you don't know what you don't know... learning is amazing and overwhelming. In the course of the past two months, I have sat on a few webinars with amazing bloggers who are like me but not like me. Like me in that they are young, black and blogging full-time. Unlike me in that, they're making a killing from this.
Real dollars.
Spendable coins.
They LOVE what they do and they handle their blogs (their businesses) well. They are actually adding great value to the world. So that got me to thinking... I love what I do. I add value to the world. But I'm not making the income that I should be. That MUST change. I'm plotting new things and that will be reflected in how the posts look and what I post about.
I am still a breast cancer blogger. I will always be a breast cancer blogger. But I am also a lifestyle blogger... and what that means is that my blog will become more about the lifestyle of a single gal, breast cancer survivor and not solely focused on the disease. The ambiguity of who I am as a blogger has led to my stalling as a business.
Truth #3: The lack of clarity about who I am as a blogger and a businesswoman has led me to a dead end.
Breast cancer is a devastating disease. It affects you physically, emotionally and financially. I have finally given myself permission to resume my life and to go for my dreams. In the new year, I'm going to detail the steps I've taken to move from feeling sorry for myself and guilty about surviving breast cancer... to being a dynamic speaker, author and profitable blogger.
* Y'all see me speaking it into existence?! Yaaaaassss honey! *
Thinking about how much I'm not able to spend at Christmas got me thinking about all the ways I've been failing at blogging. Blogging does not have to be about money for everyone... but for me, it is a failure to put myself out there as a full-time blogger and not bring in full-time money. The change is underway and already I've been seeing results from my work.
Truth #4: Panicking over finances, anxiety attacks that render me immobile and unable to fulfill my obligations, sustaining fears over things I cannot control while abdicating my responsibility over the things that I can control... has to stop.
The recent suicide of a businesswoman, whose products I use and love, hurt my feelings. While I don't know what led to her death, I do know that depression is real and I have been depressed and suicidal. I refuse to go back there and I refuse to over-think this blogging business.
I can do this. I can. It is time for me to put some wins on the board and coins in my purse.
I am not huge on over-spending at Christmas. But next year, I want to be able to do more than this year. What about you? How are you doing this holiday season?
PS. I do plan to Amazon my way through the next week or so. They are soooo amazing with their ability to get packages to their destination super-fast during the holiday. And I have run across a few last minute gift ideas that I would really love to have. Wait until you see my last minute gift list. It is a hoot!!
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