When I decided to run the 30 Day Blog Challenge on this site, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Committing myself to hosting a blog challenge was kind of a last minute decision. I had intended to create this very challenge for a while, but in a different capacity. In fact, I had some of the content written for quite some time. I just never intended for it to be used as content on my blog. But when I came up with the idea one week before my ideal starting date, I knew I had to go for it.
Leading up to the first day of the challenge, I was worried I would fail. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to post for 30 consecutive days. But I had already committed myself to it and I couldn’t let my audience down, especially since so many people had signed up.
In the end, I deemed hosting a blog challenge to be a success. I enjoyed every second of it as I wrote those blog posts and emails and created graphics. The blog challenge did great things for both me and my blog. Here’s what I learned:
What I Learned from Hosting a Blog Challenge
- Having a theme helps you plan ahead. Hosting a blog challenge meant that all of my posts fell within one theme: blogging tips. I knew that every post had to fit within the challenge, which actually made it easier for me to come up with post ideas. Normally when I’d blog, I’d plan my editorial calendar around whichever post ideas I happened to have. There was no reasoning behind it. Now I’m inspired to treat my blog more like a magazine and have a theme every month to make planning my posts much easier.
- Passion is key. I’ve always known that , However, since I started in 2009, that passion has dwindled after years of writing about fashion and beauty. A while back I decided to change the direction of my site and start writing about different things. I wanted to write about blogging, social media, business, etc. This challenge reaffirmed that I made the right decision. Not once did writing the challenge posts feel like a chore (which is how it felt when I wrote about clothes and makeup).
- Your readers are the best accountability partners. When there’s someone that you don’t want to let down, it serves as the best motivation. While I didn’t have readers checking in to make sure I was writing my posts, I still didn’t want to let them down by missing a day! Because of my readers and everyone who signed up for the challenge, I made sure I worked hard to publish my posts each and every morning so they could count on seeing it. The amount of messages I got from people who said they were enjoying the challenge and appreciated the posts was also pretty inspiring.
- It’s a great way to grow your blog. Not only did hosting a blog challenge increase my traffic, but it grew my email list and increased engagement on the blog and social media.
