One mistake could cost you everything.
It did for me.
My misstep cost me
thousands of blog readers and a side income of about $450/month in ads and sponsored posts.
Keep reading to find out what happened so you donât make the same mistake.
When I first stumbled upon blogging over nine years ago, I knew blogging would be my next personal adventure.
I have a love of writing that runs deep through my veins, and I was already setting my alarm clock for 5am every morning (yikes!) to spend two to three hours immersed in writing before leaving for my day job as a family therapist.
I craved a way to get my writing in front of people. Blogging seemed like the best answer.
Because I was planning my wedding at the time, I started a blog about weddings, sharing color palettes, DIY ideas, and more.
All you once-upon-a-time brides know that you canât use at least 95% of the fun ideas you come across while planning your own wedding.
You only toss one bouquet. You only slice into one wedding cake. You only slide one wedding band onto your spouseâs finger.
I thought a wedding planning blog would allow me to do something I loved (writing) while sharing all the ideas I couldnât use for my wedding.
It seemed like the easiest, most logical topic.
But, I made a ginormous mistake that cost me over three years of work: I didnât think long-term.
[Tweet ""Not thinking long-term cost me over 3yrs of hard work." @blacksburgbelle"]
I didnât think about the fact that once I got hitched, I wouldnât want to be submerged in the world of bridesmaid chignons, lace versus tulle, and cathedral-length veils.
All I considered was the presentâwhat currently excited me. And, just like that, I set myself up for failure.
To be fair, I never thought Iâd grow a readership in the thousands. I imagined my mom would be my only loyal reader.
And, I really had no clue that CEOs and marketing managers of other wedding businesses would contact me, wanting to pay me to put ads on my blogâs sidebar. That wasnât really a thing when I started.
But, Iâm sure things wouldâve been different for me if only I had done one thing: gotten clear on my long-term goals.
If I had considered what I wanted to accomplish with my blog two or three years down the line, I doubt I wouldâve started a blog about weddings.
I squandered away roughly 3,280 hours building a blog I grew to resent and eventually closed down. (Good gracious, that makes me nauseous.)
It wasnât a complete waste, because I learned a ton about blogging. But, I couldâve built a blog that I still love today if Iâd thought things through.
You might be thinking, âOf course you shouldâve thought about the long-term.â
[Tweet ""Want to build a successful blog? Get clear on your long-term goals." @blacksburgbelle"]
But, many of us make this same mistake every single day.
How many of us make jumbled business decisions without having a strategic plan or vision for what we really want our businesses and lives to look like?
How many of us build businesses we end up resenting?
How many of us wish someone wouldâve sat us down and told us to get clear on what we want the next few years to look like before we go any further?
Well, Iâm being that person for you.
Iâm on a mission to help you avoid spending thousands of hours on a business you give up on in a few years or even worse, get stuck in because itâs your only source of income.
You need a thought-out plan.
When you have a muddy vision, youâll always feel like youâre flailing.
Thatâs why I created a workbook that you can download and print for FREE just by RSVPing for my upcoming CreativeLive class, Double Your Followers with Creative Marketing.
The workbook,
Your Dream Life and Business, will help you clarify what your dream business really looks like, what your ideal day would be, what your dream workspace is, and more.
And, I challenge you to get your right brain involved, because creatives do their best work (and thinking) when they get creative.
RSVP and join the hundreds of others whoâve already downloaded their free âYour Dream Life and Businessâ workbook right here.
