Since I am a person that likes to plan and have an outline, I decided that before the next post, there are a couple of house cleaning items that I would like to share with you.
#1 Schedule (Two Postings a Week – Wednesday and Sunday):
I’ve been told (well not actually told but inferred from other bloggers’ posts) that blog readers crave consistency, so I need to give the people what they want. ALL of my fans out there and commenters (0 at this point) demand nothing less! The people have spoken (well, actually no one at this point but isn’t dramatizing so much more fun)! Therefore, my first item of business is figuring out my estimated schedule of postings.
Originally, I was going to commit to one post a week. I figured 52 posts a year should be relatively sustainable for a beginning blogger, and a whole week to prepare each post would make sure that the content was high quality and meaningful. I still work 60 hours a week at a demanding corporate job, so my original thinking was to sand bag it a little – it’s always better to set a lower threshold and then over deliver, right? However, since my first post, I’ve been brainstorming non-stop and have come up with a whole list of ideas for articles and relevant topics (at least to me) that I can write about. The fun and excitement from the creativity of writing has lit a little fire under my 9 to 5 slogging ass. So, I’ve decided to up my game and commit to posting twice a week. I know, what have I done? I’ve gone from 52 posts to 104 in my first year? A 100% return on the readers’ investment! Who is this over achiever… hahaha. And who says house cleaning can’t be fun?
I’ve also decided to post on Wednesday and Sunday. No idea why I picked these days, but that’s what I’m sticking with. The goal is to post for an entire year with this schedule and then I’ll re-evaluate next September and see how the first year has gone. Booyam! Onto the next heading.
#2 Transparency:
This will be another topic for a separate post, but it is important that I say this upfront. When I’m reading a blog about personal finance or FI, transparency and trust are two of my most important issues. I need to believe in the credibility of the story teller. If that person is going to write about FI, then I need to be able trust what they are telling me is the truth, and I also think they should disclose if they are making money from me or through their blog (my personal opinion only). And don’t get me wrong, I am all for making money through advertising or affiliate links as additional cashflow (because I will be trying these in the future), but if that additional income is inconsistent with the story in the content, I find that misleading.
I know that many bloggers will disagree with me on this (and my perspective is coming from someone who has recently consumed a ton of different blogs from the reader’s point of view only), but I have found that once a blog begins to monetize itself, the relationship with the reader changes. It is no longer simply a personal transfer of sharing, but now a business/profit aspect has been introduced to the relationship. And again, there’s nothing wrong with that, but to deny it is naïve.
Plus, why all the secrets? Tell me about the side hustles. Educate me. I believe the better the transparency and disclosure, the more we can learn new insights and craft our own decisions.
So, for the sake of transparency, this blog is currently my personal blog. There is no advertising or affiliate links as of this writing. I make no money from you coming to this site – in actuality, I am losing money because it does cost me to run and back up this blog (more to come on this in a future post). I produce and manage this blog purely for entertainment, to learn, to write, to connect and to have fun and hopefully share my ideas and thoughts with a like-minded community.
However, if or when I ever do decide to try to monetize this blog for any reason, I will fully disclose any attempts to profit upfront. That is my guarantee to you. And as a disclaimer, I do reserve the right to change my opinion at any time… hahaha. (contradictory, I know… gotta sneak in the loophole).
So, if you think I am wrong or disagree, please let me know in the comments section below. I’d love the feedback.
See you on the flipside.
-Q-FI
Hey! As a fairly new blogger myself, I’d recommend posting 1x/week and scheduling out your additional posts for future weeks in case things get busy. You can always up the posting schedule later, but I’d recommend post 1x/week at first to get the feel for it, so you don’t burn out.
I started out feeling like I was brainstorming a ton, and then settled into 1x/week which works for me. 2 might work for you, but this early in the blog, I’d be wary of committing! 🙂
Good luck!
Jessica
Thanks for the comment and advice Jessica! You know, I thought about this a lot and agree with you. I was going to do the once a week post and ease in, but I figured the pressure of twice a week and a public commitment would hold me accountable and keep me motivated. But on the flip side it can also be a detriment and lead to burn out as you mentioned. I think I’ll keep trying the two a week and if it proves to be too much then I can always cut down.
I appreciate you sharing your blogging experience with me.
-Q-FI