How to Jump Back Into Blogging When You’ve Been Away for Awhile

Consider this post my re-entry into blogging. I have been away from it for awhile because life interevened.

I almost gave up – but I really love it and I had to give it another go.

It’s ironic that I blog about organization and the thing that kept me away from my site was that I needed to focus my time on organizing things in my life.

If you are in the same boat – whether it be with your blog or other projects in your life – you are not alone.

This is how I have dusted off my blog and plan to get back into the thick of things. You can follow the same framework with whatever you have been putting off.

Prioritize and Plan To Find Balance

One of the biggest drawbacks to running a blog is the time that it takes to create blog posts and all of the media that goes along with them.

Blogging takes a TON of time – especially if you are doing it all yourself.

This was the main reason that I stepped away – I was spending way too much time with too little results.

I was also ignoring many of my other responsibilities to my family and also myself.

So, I took a step back to my priorities in order.

At the end of the day, my health and well-being is the most important thing as well as spending time with my family.

If you are thinking of getting back into blogging – create a list of your priorities and plan out what your day is going to look like.

How much time will you spend on each of the following activities?

• working on your blog each day,
• exercising,
• making healthy meals,
• working at your full time job,
• spending quality time with family, and
• maintaining your home.

These are all important things that need to be done – and the last thing you want to do is stay up late into the night and wake up super early each morning – or you might just burn out.

Once You have blocked out your time for each day – plan what you will do in that time.

Create a Task List for Your Blogging Time

When it comes to blogging – the list of what you need to do is endless. It includes things like:

• writing blog posts,
• creating media – photos and videos,
• working on your email newsletter,
• building your list,
• sharing your content,
• responding to email,
• working with brands,
• creating projects or recipes etc.

This is why most larger blogs have teams – it really is too much work for just one person.

The key to not getting overwhelmed by all that you have to do is to create a solid plan for your blogging time – and stick to it!

If you are going to write posts – don’t get sidetracked by social media or email.

It also helps if you can create a solid plan for all the other things you need to squeeze into each day as well.

Get Help With Your Blog or Choose the Right Services

If you are blogging solo, like me, the next best thing to having a team is to use services that make your job a little easier.

As I re-enter the world of blogging, I took a hard look at the services that I use for things like:

• creating graphics,
• sending emails,
• blog hosting,
• collecting opt-ins,
• social sharing,
• and so much more.

I actually changed my email service provider back to ConvertKit because the ESP that I was using, while cheaper, had just made some changes to their platform that would make my job harder in the long run.

Here is a list of many of the blog tools that I use to run this blog.

Starting Over Might Not Be the Answer

Many times when you step away from your blog – it seems really tempting to scrap the whole thing and start fresh.

I’ve been there.

In some cases starting a new blog makes a lot of sense.

But if you have already put a lot of effort into your current, albeit dusty blog – it may be more worth your time to pick up where you left off.

For me, during my hiatus, I kept my WordPress up to date and my hosting current. I also have all the social media profiles set up, as well as themes and plugins that I pay for.

Basically, my blog is well established so starting over from scratch would be a huge investment of time.

Start Writing

Once you decide to get back into blogging – the major thing you need to do is start writing blog posts!

It’s easy to putz around in the admin of it – looking at services, updating some old content, etc.

But what your blog really needs is new content.

So sit down and start typing. If you are stuck just power through.

Ideally you would write your posts to focus on good SEO and keyword research. You might also worry about what your subscribers might think about your content.

However, worrying about all that stuff can be paralyzing.

When you start trying to please everyone else, you suddenly don’t know what to write about – so you stop.

I’m here to tell you – don’t stop.

This post is not typical of the content that I write on this website, but I wanted to share how I plan to start blogging again – and what made me stop in the first place.

So I sat down and started typing – this is the result.

Of course, I will pay attention to SEO and write about topics my readers are interested in for future posts. But when I’m feeling stuck, I will give that a second seat to getting new content out there.

Rekindle Your Email List

Like it or not, growing an email list is also a big part of blogging.

I always found that for me it was harder to send out a single email than to write 10 posts.

Not exaggerating.

So, the thought of reviving an old list was like pulling teeth.

During my blogging break, I did continue to collect new subscribers via the opt in forms on my site.

But I honestly had not sent out a newsletter in over 6 months.

Yesterday, I strengthened my resolve and sent out an email. Since it is summer, I pointed my readers to an older post about traveling light that I updated with new information.

Then I sat back and waited for rejection – because I was so afraid that everyone would unsubscribe.

Surprisingly, over thirty percent of my list opened my email – and less than one percent unsubscribed.

I couldn’t believe it – these are fabulous stats for me.

My takeaway is that I don’t need to provide earth shattering, mind blowing concepts in my weekly newsletters.

What people need are quick and actionable ideas that are relevant and helpful.

If you’d like to receive the Almost Practical Newsletter – simply click here to sign up!

Have Fun With It

At the end of the day, blogging should be fun – and with enough effort hopefully you will be like one of the bloggers in that article that make bank.

If you prioritize your outside responsibilities, create a daily plan for your blogging time, outsource what you can or use services that make blogging easier, and put in consistent effort you can get back into it without burning out.

Happy blogging!