Sarah and I have been blogging for a long time. We started back in the 2000s. Neither of us makes much money from it (in my case, nothing directly, and The SHU Box just runs a few ads through an ad network, which mostly covers her hosting costs). But it’s been a fun hobby. So this episode of Best of Both Worlds talks about our blogging experiences, and what’s involved in keeping a long-term narrative blog.
We talk about some of our biggest impact posts. Sarah noted that about three years ago she posted that she was thinking of starting a podcast. She got an amazing number of positive comments, both on her blog and privately, suggesting there might be a market. I emailed asking if she might be interested in starting a podcast together, and thus Best of Both Worlds was born!
In terms of “post it and you never know what might happen,” I will vote for a post I wrote in spring 2016 that mentioned I was about to share the results from logging my time for a year. Somehow that post made it to an editor at the New York Times, who asked if I might like to write about the results for them. I did. They featured the essay on the cover of the Sunday Review section, and that led the folks at TED to reach out about doing a TED talk that fall.
Oh, and if you want to read the Dear Mrs. Patton post, there’s the link.
I really admire Sarah’s current blogging streak, which hits 100 days today. This is on top of her full time job and everything else. I have basically needed every time management tip I’ve ever written about to stay afloat these last few months with a newborn and then managing the other four kids’ home schooling and constant presence. You know me, and I’ll never say “I don’t have time.” I will say that blogging, like my physical fitness, has fallen down the priority list. I’m managing to post about the podcast, maybe about my weekend, and one other essay per week. But I know babies grow up, and even if the world has moved on to posting what would be blog posts on Instagram, I kind of like having my own site.
Please give the episode a listen. And go congratulate Sarah on hitting Day 100.
I still prefer a blog post to Instagram, which I find too distracting if I’m not careful. I hope you keep it up :).
@Griffin – thanks, I’m going to try to!
Love reading your blog, Laura!
@Emily- thanks, I appreciate it!
Funny, I just stumbled across the blog I kept while studying abroad 14 years ago, and it was crazy to read through the posts. I couldn’t get past the number of events that I simply didn’t remember. Like at all – reading what I wrote didn’t trigger any memories. As I was reading, I kept thinking this must have happened because I wouldn’t have written this if it didn’t, right?
I also blog and sometimes wonder if it’s worth keeping it up as I get way fewer comments than I used to. But I do like the ritual of sitting down to write and it’s nice to have moments of life captured in words – especially my first pregnancy/son’s birth. I’m pregnant again and it’s fun to read the posts and compare the 2 pregnancies.
I actually met some of my best friends through blogging. I started blogging in 2008 and while I had good friends, I didn’t have a lot of friends who had similar interests to me (running and reading). I’ve been in the wedding of 2 girls I met through blogging and consider them some of my best friends. They typically know more about what is going on in my life than my IRL college friends. It was nice to be able to connect with people who had similar interests/views on life without any geographical constraints. There is just something special about baring your soul through a blog – you get to know people differently. My blogging is different now that I’m married (to a very private person) so I don’t write many soul-baring posts! But I still share the ups and downs of life.
@Lisa – congrats on the pregnancy! So wonderful to hear – I hope it’s going well!
I think this was the episode where the Q&A had some book recommendations. What were they? Thanks!