Hello June // Blog Updates
As I explained earlier this week, May was a pretty important month and it directly influenced this blog! I’m excited to announce a few new things and share my June TRY THREE NEW THINGS.
ONE // I will no longer be accepting sponsors or ads on my sidebar. While I was SO blessed with my March, April, and May sponsors…I’ve decided that it’s not really for me. I found that after opening to Show + Tell to sponsors, I started to dislike blogging. The reason? I felt like I had to blog. I remember one night laying in bed thinking, “Crap I have no idea what I should blog about tomorrow,” but blogging anyways because I felt like I needed to. I didn’t want to slack off and — in turn– allow my readership to decline. My lovely sponsors paid money to advertise here and I took that very seriously. I also wanted to give each sponsor a monthly highlight. I considered lumping all my sponsors into one highlight post but that didn’t feel right either. And so, after three months, I decided to drop the entire concept. I feel free and excited to blog in June (I actually have the entire month already planned) and I want all my past sponsors to know that their support still means the world to me. I plan to highlight a few shops or blogs every now and then via graphics and/or posts.
TWO // I’m excited to be bringing Sonya on board to guest blog on Show + Tell twice a month! Sonya is a friend I met online awhile ago and I admire her as an artist, a mother and a basically love everything that she touches. This year I’ve started contributing and blogging for Weapons of Mass Creation, Piece of Chic, 20 Best Twenty, SavvySexySocial, Arena District, and an occasional guest post here and there. That takes up a lot of time and realized it would be fun to bring in a new voice and take a couple posts off my plate a month. I hope that as Show + Tell grows, I can hire on a few other guest bloggers…so if you ever have a great idea please share!
THREE // Last but not least, I’m excited to share the three new things that I’ll be trying in June!
- I plan on making my own camera straps — glamorous yet timeless.
- I will be making and bottling my own natural cleaners for our apartment (inspired by Young House Love).
- I am going to visit 3 new towns/cities in Ohio (Cleveland being one of them next weekend) and plan on documenting them via film AND video so keep an eye out.
It’s been a long time coming but I’m seriously excited to be blogging again. Planning out my posts for the month of June was a great start because I will be able to feel more in control and not be scrambling for content. I do plan on hosting giveaways but will probably limit it to two per month. The criteria will be limited to products that I would buy myself! As a blogger, I’ve really learned that you need to learn by making mistakes and trying out new things. Welcome June and I hope to see you all on Monday where I’ll be talking about what it’s like being a business owner and I’ll be giving away one of my favorite business books.
A Consideration
A weekly email where I share things that made me stop and consider. Never sponsored, no affiliate links.
Comments (27)
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isn’t it funny that we’re the most inspired when we don’t feel like we have to be?
i’m excited for your new additions to the blog!
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Sounds like you’ve done a lot of thinking about all of this, and it totally makes sense. It’s all about making the right choices for you! I’m excited to read Sonya’s posts too.
(Side note: Can I join in and do the camera strap project with you?)
Also, as for planning the month of June out, I’m also back on the track. I feel like I fell off the bandwagon and I’ve been scrambling to put posts together. I don’t know if it shows, but it definitely feels that way to me—and it’s very stressful. It feels good to have a better grasp on June, especially with vacations!
Can’t wait to hear all about WMC. I wish I could go!
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We can definitely make the camera straps together. I’m going to start looking for material and fabric next weekend if you want to join!!!
And yes I plan on re-capping WMC the following Tuesday! Soooo excited.
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Oh bummer! Well I’ll be posting the DIY the next week so we can still make more together (after I figured out the details).
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I’m really glad to read about your experience with sponsors. I’ve been exploring different ad options and hesitate to move forward because of just what you’ve experienced. I also know how much work it is to recruit, show value, and collect payment from sponsors. Maybe blogging as a personal platform is worth it in and of itself.
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Yes I definitely believe now that I will always blog because of personal enjoyment and leave the money making to design :) thanks for the comment, Rachel!
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Really interesting to hear your perspective on sponsorship. As a new blog (Jan of this year) I planned on waiting more time to build up my readership before starting a sponsorship program. But I may reconsider…it may take the joy out of blogging for me. You bring up some great points.
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I’m glad the post was helpful! The amount that I was making just wasn’t worth the changes it brought to blogging :( I still want to support and feature blogs and companies that I love but I want to do it in my own time. Thanks for commenting :)
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Good call on stopping sponsorship; I’m sure you’ll enjoy the whole blogging process a lot more knowing that this space is truly (and uniquely) yours to do what you want, when you want. :)
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Couldn’t agree more!! It’s crazy that I had been blogging for three years and it wasn’t until I opened it up for sponsorship that I started to dislike it.
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Congrats on the new direction with the blog. I’m excited to see all of the additions and very happy that you’re giddy about blogging again :)
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Danielle E
Three cities in Ohio?? DO tell!
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Well I’ll be in Cleveland all next weekend and I still haven’t decided on the other two! I’ll be in Toledo in July so I’m thinking maybe Cincinnati and then a smaller town. Any recs? :)
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Thank you for sharing this! It’s inspiring to see that you took a step back and are feeling more rejuvenated :). I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for June. I hope you’ll still be doing photo contests, though! I am still sad to have missed the last one and have been looking forward to the next.
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Hi Lindsay! Yes I’ll be picking up and hosting a photo challenge in September so stay tuned :)
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I’m SO excited for a report about Weapons. It sounds incredible! i’ve been reading all the posts spotlights on designers, etc. What a fantastic idea.
Also congrats on your decisions about the blog! Looking forward to seeing the direction it goes.-
Thanks Steph!! I can’t WAIT to hear all the speakers at WMC fest and recap it all next week.
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First, thx for 411 re:sponsors. Think a lot of peeps need to know what happens on the day after you take a few ads – lotta responsibility.
Second, am also headed to Cleveland this wkend for wmcfest. pretty excited. taking 9-yr-old Cloud Nothings/Tad Carpenter fan along. Cant wait to see your photos/recaps.
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Glad you appreciated the post. And maybe we’ll connect this weekend in Cleveland! I’m pretty excited.
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Looking forward to these camera straps! Definitely something I have my eye on lately!
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I really enjoyed this post and your thoughts on sponsoring. I think I would feel like that too, uninspired because I felt like I HAD to blog. I appreciated your perspective. I also love the idea of the regular guest poster. I had some guests on my blog last month during my blog party and it was so much fun! A familiar topic can grow in leaps and bounds when you get other people’s thoughts on it. :)
Glad I found your blog. :)-
Yes! Guest posters are so fun. They bring a new voice to your space and free up your time a bit! Thanks for the comment :)
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Jessica R
Congratulations on new direction, exciting ideas and a refreshed look on life and blogging :)