Keep It #Simple - A Blog Renewal

Everyone who works in social media knows that it's difficult to get traction on Facebook pages these days without paying for ads. And anyone who knows me (IRL or through the blog) knows that my Scotch-Irish heritage makes me too cheap to ever pay Facebook to push my post. So, naturally, this puts me at an impasse with the social media giant.

However, I keep using my Busy Nothings page because I've never been good at doing short blog posts. I'm too wordy, wanting to get it just right, while Facebook offers a faster way to do shorter posts, add an image, and get people to see it. For example, yesterday I did a quick post about this necklace that once belonged to my grandmother. For some reason it struck the elusive sweet spot and people started liking, sharing, and commenting. In less than 24-hours my post had almost 2,900 views. Do you know how many views my last blog post had? 58. {crickets} While the blog is an echo chamber, Facebook is a community. Lesson: No one wants to click twice.

Short and sweet, with the right content. This is the sweet spot that I dream of hitting more often, not just on Facebook, but here on the blog as well. With five kids to feed, clothe, and shuttle around, plus my work as a freelance writer and editor, my aspirations of writing a book, and my personal goal of still managing to read 50 books this year, my time is spread thin. "Like butter scraped over too much bread," as Bilbo Baggins said. If I want to continue blogging (and I do) then I need to learn how to keep it simple. Don't use 50 words when 6 will do (for example, Seth Godin).

So today is the beginning of a new writing plan, something that fits in with my ongoing desire for simplified minimalism in everything - from my kitchen pantry to my blog. Keep it simple. Life is already full of busy nothings, so perhaps it's time for me to add something a little more substantial to the mix. I've been blogging for 10 years, and it's time to figure out exactly what I want to say. Will you come along to see what changes? I hope so. But if not... I'll see you on Facebook.