Saturday, October 11, 2014

where do I go from here?


I'm going to come right out and admit it, I'm having a bit of an identity crisis with my blog. At the beginning of the year I fell in love with all the shabby chic decorating blogs out there and I set up to be just like them, posting beautiful pictures of my home and all my decorating projects. What I didn't take into account was that I don't have very many decorating projects. Oops!  I don't tend to be one of those people who change things around in my house every few days or weeks so I quickly ran out of pictures to post.

Case in point - on top is a picture of my living room from the beginning of 2014.  And here's the way it looks now.


 I changed a couple of things after finishing a painting project but I don't anticipate that it will change again anytime soon except for the plants getting bigger.

I really admire the people who change everything up every month or two. I love looking at their vignettes, farmhouse tables and newly painted cabinets. I sigh with pleasure when I see before and after pictures. I just don't seem to have the inventory(or storage space) to recreate that and so my attempt at a decorating blog has not lived up to my expectations.

I could try a gardening blog but that would just make everybody sad, I fear. Pictures of barren, dry, parched earth surrounding sad, drooping plants probably wouldn't help in my attempts to attract new readers. I love the idea of gardening but I have not yet mastered putting those ideas into action.

I do intend to keep on painting pieces of furniture and I'll share before and after pictures of my projects from time to time but I don't think that's the blog identity that I'm looking for.

I'd love to turn this into a travel blog but to do that, I'd have to travel and that doesn't seem to be happening these days.

Ditto for restaurants.

How do blogs attract readers anyway? I do leave comments on blogs that I admire and I've tried pinning pictures from my blog on Pinterest but what do other people do?

I'm just so confused but I think it's all part of a larger problem - what do I want to be when I grow up?

Oh well, I hate leaving things on anything less than a positive note so here's a pretty picture from today's window-shopping adventure. I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.







9 comments:

  1. Jonni, I, too, have known the identity crisis with blogging. When I first started blogging (in 2006), I was a homeschooling mom on the road to adopt more children. I blogged about those things. Alas, my children finished high school and our adoption fell through, so my blog focus changed. For awhile I did a home decor/beautiful things kind of blog, but in the end, I realized I'm not that good with a camera. I'm a writer, really, and I prefer blogging in words, not pictures. (Photo-intensive blogs are not ones I regularly read, as they slow my computer down too much.) Also, some of the shabby chic/decor blogs make me discontent with my own possessions, so I've stopped reading them.

    I did a classic film blog for 3 years, and I still have it, though I'm not writing on it anymore. Magnolia Cottage was born in May with a desire to do home decor. My photography skills haven't changed, nor has my desire to be about writing, not photos. So, I decided that couldn't be my focus. Instead, I thought I would share my love of genealogy through family history. That didn't work either, as my extended family isn't comfortable with things like that being on the internet. That left me with another identity crisis. Now, I just blog here and there about anything I might like to write about.

    All that to say, I don't think you have to fit a particular niche with your blog. Just write about what you want to write about. Your readers will visit because they like YOU.

    Blogging has changed a lot in the 8+ years I've been at it. It has become very much a business, with everyone trying to grow their blog and get more followers. I've come to the place of realizing that, for me, less is more. I'd rather be friendly with a few regular readers than having hundreds whom I never interact with.

    Sorry for the long-winded comment. Bottom line, just be you!

    Love,
    Patti

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    1. Patti - thank you. You always make me feel so good, I'm glad we've met here in blogland. I can completely empathize with your comment about the decor blogs making you feel discontent with your possessions. I can feel that happening to me too...and I've never been that way. I love your blog and I loved your family stories. I hope you can continue that and find a way to balance the whole privacy issue. Thanks for visiting! xo jonni xo

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  2. Jonni, I get how blogging can be a lot of pressure! I love your writing style, and enjoy reading whatever you post. I think if you just post your thoughts about whatever is inspiring you at the moment and not stress about numbers or being like other blogs, you'll find your way! :)
    Susan
    p.s. I don't know if you know that you're a 'no reply' blogger...please email me directly from your email address at mustlovejunk@gmail.com-I want to ask you something-thanks! :)

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    1. Thank you Susan, I love reading your blog and I appreciate having you visit over here at my cottage!
      xo jonni xo

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  3. I just enjoy reading what's up in your life! I just plain lost the joy in blogging. What I want to talk about, I can't talk about with the world (not that the world was reading my blog) and I ran out of other ideas which is why I don't even bother linking my comments to my wordpress blog. There's nothing new there. Oh well. I only read a small handful of blogs anymore. Yours is one. :)

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    1. Laura, you know I love you and it means so much to me that you're out there reading. I miss your blog but I totally understand about not being to write what you really want to talk about. I'm going through a lot of that myself. What I *really* want to say...what's *really* on my mind is something that I can't share and that makes it hard to come up with other things to write about especially when I strive to make this a mostly positive place to be. Sigh. I wish Duke would keep writing his blog!

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  4. I think you should blog about whatever you want to blog about! As far as gaining followers and all that, it's an extremely hard thing to do these days as blogging is losing some popularity since Instagram started. I know so many bloggers who can no longer be bothered with all the work it takes to put up a blog post since IG is so much easier.

    I love looking back on my blog and seeing how our old apartment looked and certain trips we took or things we did etc. I've also let myself get a bit down once in a while seeing some of the amazing shabby chic blogs but I am also very inspired by them. We live in a rental apartment so I'm limited as to what I can do but I make the best of it:)

    I love reading your blog and, at least from an online perspective, you seem like such a good hearted and down to earth person:) And that you'd be tons of fun too! Just keep doing what you're doing and enjoying it!

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    1. Thank you for your sweet words. I really hope we get the chance to meet up in FL one day! I love the way you've decorated your apartment, you are one of my big inspirations. My place is a rental too so I know all about being limited in what you can do. I would love to paint my walls, get nice flooring (I hate the gray carpet in my house and don't even get me started on the vinyl in the kitchen) and just re-do everything but that's not in the cards at all.

      I do enjoy reading the shabby blogs and miss the ones that aren't around anymore. Do you know what happened to Tausha? She just disappeared months ago.

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    2. I know what you mean about the carpet! Will email you with Tausha's IG name:)

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