25 Days of Blogmas 2018, Day 21
Blogmas Review or Rant?
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On the twenty-first day of Blogmas
my true love sent to me:
Day 21: A Blogmas Review for Thee
Day 20: Sunday Prepping
Day 19: Feel the Love
Day 18: Let’s go shopping
Day 17: Tips to Holiday Travel
Day 16: Meet Shanice
Day 15: Meet Lasonia
Day 14: Meet Erriel
Day 13: Meet Angeli
Day 12: Meet Javi
Day 11: Meet Girl on the Fly
Day 10: Meet Stephanie
Day 9: Meet Natasha
Day 8: Blogger Spotlight
Day 7: Never Ever
Day 6: New Years Resolutions
5 Favorite Things!!
Day 4: Stocking Stuffers
Day 3: Holiday Getaways
Day 2: All Things Advent
and a Posting Explaining to Thee!
If you’re new to the blog-life and still unsure about what Blogmas is, check out my inaugural Blogmas post “Blogmas 2018 Has Arrived” and catch up. Or you can always click on the link noted above “Posting Explaining to Thee” (Day 1 and my take on 12 Days of Christmas song). Either way, you’ll land on the 411 of this not so mysterious event.
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I raised my hand mid-November and proudly blasted on social media that this blogger would be participating in the Blogmas 2018 challenge. Little did I know what was waiting for me up ahead. The seemingly doable “come up with daily content for 25 days straight” didn’t scare me. So, what could possibly go wrong?
The Expectation
- Create amazing content
- Drive thought-provoking conversations, comments
- Sharpen writing skills
- Connect with my blogger community
- Have fun
- Improve Domain Authority (DA) – increase my blog’s relevance on the net, push that DA score up!
The Reality
- Christmassy content was varied and fun.
- Comments/likes slowly dwindled down after the first several posts. Interactions went from an average of 6 comments/likes in the beginning to absolutely nothing for Blogmas Day 19 and 20. Disappointing.
- Definitely wrote my butt off! Worked on my writing skills, relied less on Grammarly and went rouge! Now, if grammar/spelling are not your forte totally recommend using these guys, a free writing assistant that will help your posts shine!
- Connecting with the blogger community is one of the highlights to blogging. But, I’ll be honest. Sometimes it feels very one-sided. You’re on these threads with other bloggers who say, “leave a comment, I’ll return the favor” and well, let’s just say they’re going to be on Santa’s naughty list this year. #WherestheLove
- Truth be told, the fun ended a few days ago when I realized I was really just writing for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write but O M Gosh writing everyday is crazy. It’s a challenge to fit this into your normal daily activities: job, family, LIFE. Now, do this without an audience. Yep, not so fun. I’m a writer that wants to engage others in dialogue. And right now, all I’m hearing are the sounds of silence and it’s pretty lonely.
- My DA score. Let’s be honest. I don’t even know where to find that. So, totally clueless here. I downloaded the SEO Yoast plug-in this week – it seems really cool. Hope it works. Bottom line, my site views went up by 139 from November. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Feels mediocre.
The Review
There was no way to truly appreciate what Blogmas had in store for me. I mean, could I really understand what this involved without actually participating? Well, now I know.
Coming up with daily content for 25 days straight is work. No, wait. Let’s be real. You’re working on 25 days of content that you hope will elicit thought provoking conversations with your blogger community while juggling LIFE. Yeah, this is slightly more than “work” this is super-human girl-boss stuff. And I’m pooped.
The Recommendation
Two little words: never again!
This is an exhausting and solitary challenge that can push your stress levels through the roof, if you’re not careful. You’re balancing work, family, pets, hobbies AND writing everyday. You’re definitely sleeping less and something has to give… so be careful.
The big win was Blogmas Day 8, Blogger Spotlight. Getting to know 8 fabulous bloggers and featuring them during Blogmas Days 9-16 was truly the high point of this holiday writing frenzy. If you haven’t already, please check out their posts!
In the end, I don’t regret participating in Blogmas 2018. But, am I ready for it to be over? Absolutely! Are you a Blogmas survivor? Leave me a comment below, I’d absolutely love to hear from you!
Happy Holidays, Happy Blogmas!
(Pstt Don’t forget to subscribe so that you don’t miss any of my Blogmas stories)
Hey Grace, really admire that you tried Blogmas and stuck through it. Some bloggers don’t last that long. I didn’t even think about doing Blogmas myself. You may be drained by now but you can at least say you tried. Personally, I like your posts because they are so candid. Quality is definitely more important than quantity, in my opinion.
Ufff Natasha!!! I can’t believe it’s almost over and thank goodness ’cause I’m pooped… also running out of ideas LOL. You are so right – quality over quantity 🙂 Merry Christmas!!
Not sure if your comments are working?
This is my first time hearing about Blogmas. I must be a horrible blogger or I’m living under a rock.
It does sound like a lot of work. I’m lucky if I’m able to post a blog each month, let alone 25 days straight.
Hi there! Ughhhh soooooooo discovered that Askimet is spamming like 75% of my comments! Fortunately I caught this and now have created a filter so that I can see them. C R A Z Y! Butttt, I was only able to salvage 4 out of 9. 🙁 Any Who – Blogmas…. girl, go over to Twitter and # that bad boy. It’s a blogger ritual and is done every few months. There was one in October: bloctober or something like that. A lot of work! I’m ready for this to be done! 2 more contents and then I’m taking a week off!!!! LOL 🙂 Nice meeting you 🙂
This is the first time that I’m hearing about Blogmas. I’m a horrible blogger, clearly under a rock. Sounds like it’s a lot of work. I’m lucky if I update my blog once a month, let alone 25 days straight.