We've talked about declaring email bankruptcy—you know, just hitting delete when you are totally derailed in your email management, there's no realistic way of keeping up and you get knots in your stomach every time you open your inbox.
Have you ever felt that way about your blog?
I've started (and quit) numerous blogs over the last 8 years of blogging. Mostly that's because I have too many ideas and not enough stick-to-it-ive-ness. But in several of those instances, I simply felt overwhelmed. The blog became a chore. It wasn't what I thought it would be. I lost my mojo. My passion fizzled. My interests changed. It was a burden, not a joy.
Maybe you're like a lot of bloggers who started a blog as a newbie, on a whim, but didn't get into a good rhythm until many months in. Sometimes it takes a while to really get a good "feel" for our niche and settle on the right topic. And then it's hard to know what to do with the blog that seems to be scattered all over the place.
Maybe you want nothing more than to start with a clean slate.
But what about your faithful readers? Maybe you have contributors that write for you that you don't want to let down either. I would never encourage you to continue doing something you dread just for the sake of others, but exiting gracefully is definitely something to shoot for.
Is it time to reinvent or completely ditch your blog?
If blogging no longer holds the excitement it once did and it's more of a "have to do" than a "get to do" for you, check out this post called How to End or Relaunch Your Blog Without Upsetting Your Readers.
I love the tips Stanford includes about preparing yourself for the change, communicating with your readers, learning from the experience and getting started again if you've got your sights set on starting a new blog.
What about you? Ever wanted to ditch your blog? Did you? If not, what kept you going?
Photo by eofsr.
As a new blogger, I've been following other bloggers in my niche. I was particularly interested in a newer blogger and emailed her. She was employing some techniques I was curious about and was very friendly and helpful when I emailed.
For the past couple of weeks, her blog has had the same post. This is making me wonder if she decided to ditch her blog (and if maybe her techniques really were NOT working for her). I guess I'm assuming that since she was trying to make money off her blog..and she's no longer updating it that maybe she was unsuccessful.
When people abandon their blogs, we're left to make our own conclusions. I think it would be nice for bloggers to post a status that explains their situation–and maybe redirect their readers to a similar blog. I think we feel like we're "friends" when we follow a blog and as such it's nice to know what's happening.
I think that even if you aren't well established
Ooops… didn't realize I didn't finish a sentence there… I guess I just meant to say that it's nice to know what happened, even if you're a new blogger and maybe don't have a big following yet!
Yes, I'm a blog ditcher. It took me a while to find my stride, but now I have two blogs that I truly enjoy, both in niches.
"blog ditcher" <–love it!
I am a blog ditcher too. I started blogging while my husband was in school and I really needed to make money. However, it quickly became a chore. Then I found a couple work at home opportunities and simply didn't have time to work, blog and run a household with two little ones, so I simply stopped blogging.
Like Cheryl said above, I *should* have left a note. Instead I just stopped blogging. After my husband finished school and found a job, I was able to quit my work-at-home jobs. Without the need to make money hanging over my head, I absolutely love blogging. I picked back up on the second blog that I "ditched" and the funny thing is, my readership has grown so much more quickly this time.
Though I don't plan to quit blogging again, if situations happen that force me to, I will try to follow your steps. Thanks so much Amy!
It's amazing how a fresh start can really go significantly better! I think sometimes an older blog weighs us down. It can be hard to change gears midstream. Glad to hear you're enjoying it now, Anna!
I began my blog as a hobby when my family began traveling fulltime in our RV. That phase of our life is over and we have gone through several transitions- the last one actually moving back to our home state- really threw me for a loop and I've had a really hard time figuring out where to go next. I don't want to ditch my blog, but I realized that actually settling someplace and feeling settled allowed me to focus on other interests that I have that don't necessarily fit with my traveling blog. I tried to "blog outside my niche" on my current blog but it didn't work so I started a new blog that allows me to be more creative while still blogging about some of the fun, family friendly and educational places we visit.
I'm also planning to relaunch my traveling blog since it took me a bit to really get back into the groove of things. It's currently getting a makeover and is in the process of moving to WordPress- something I've wanted to do since I attended the first Savvy Blogging Summit.
Thanks for sharing the article on relaunching your blog- it will be really helpful as I move forward.
I tried to blog outside my niche on my old blog too. Didn't work so well for me either.
I've done 2 things. I started out with my current blog writing about our family's fiance issues and how we were trying to overcome it. I quickly lost the passion for that and then started writing about other things in homemaking. I was going to ditch the blog and left it alone for about a month. And then realized what I wanted to write about and so I wrote a "cancelled farewell" post. Explaining to my few readers that I thought I was going to ditch the blog, but now I know my focus and hope they continue to stay with me. I redesigned it and started blogging more about my faith and being a wife and my readership grew very, very quickly. I knew I found my voice and niche and began to enjoy blogging. My other blog was a homeschool blog. I had 2 posts and a few readers and was not passionate about what I was writing. So I simply deleted the blog. I have other ideas now for blogs and once my current blog is completely settled I will probably start another one. Thanks for this post Amy. Nice to see that I am not the only one who has struggled with focus. I thought it was just me.
Oh my goodness I am the QUEEN of can't-find-her-focus!
LOL!! Well, you seem very focused now. LOVE your blog!!!! It has really helped me in so many ways. Thanks!
Amy,
Just wanted to say thanks for this post, this is such an important topic to many bloggers that are stuck and need direction with their blogs. Both you and Stanford have hit the nail on the head with this one!
Thanks, Lisa!
I needed this right now. I have two blogs (one hasn't even launched yet). I have come to terms that I started my first blog (and perhaps my new one) for the wrong reasons. Now that I have a new perspective, I'm trying to decide if it's worth the time to keep going.
I LOVE writing…so I want to keep going, but all the "extra" stuff is quite consuming of my energy.
Thanks for giving me some ideas
I have felt like this many times with my first blog until I found my style. I'm heading over to check out the link now so that I can no should this come up in the future.
Yes! I just wrote a post about this today. My usual features have become a huge chore and I just feel like I have begun to avoid it and my email. So glad I am not the only one. Thanks for this post!
I love blogging and I love that I am able to make extra money at it….but Yes some days it is a chore and I don't feel like doing it
Some days I do think…I work sooo hard at this and wish it was more than what it is but I keep chugging along because other days it's a blast and I love it! 
I've been living in "blog maintenance mode" for too long, and it's starting to drain me creatively. I've been considering selling one of my blogs in order to refocus my online activities. It's a decision that requires a LOT of prayer and reflection!
Focus? Oh, boy. I'm so all over the place it's not funny. But I have been thinking about this a lot. I don't want to ditch my blog, but I feel as if it is evolving in such a way that it might confuse people about its intent. I hope not. But as for my niche? I don't know what that is anymore… hmmm.
These helpful sentiments are worth questioning in my pursuit of my own "blogging" goals and success. Why is it that our society places monetary value on success and therefore I place it on myself? All the time I invest in writing, creating, and advertising my blog should be worth something to someone, right? Wrong because the market is saturated in my "niche" and one more blog can not be tolerated! I know this, yet I continue to "hunt" for more twitter/FB/google +/PIN followers when they are just not that into ME!
(I am only allowing myself to have a pity party for one minute,) and its OVER!
THanks so much and I am so proud of you!
I started my blog as a coupon blog, but quickly realized that it was not as easy as other bloggers made it look. It took a lot of time away from my family and I felt a lot of pressure and stress to "be like the joneses". While I didn't leave a note on the blog that I was not going to continue blogging, I did email other bloggers who were using some of my content each week to let them know that I had decided to stop blogging.
It was a hard decision to stop blogging, and a few months later I realized that I missed it. I wasn't sure if I should start over from square one or try to use what I already had. Instead of starting all over from scratch {which seemed daunting to me}, I decided to reinvent the blog I had already started. When I was ready to relaunch the site, I started with a post explaining the changes and while I did lose a few followers, I now have more followers and many more comments than I did with the coupon blog!
Amy, thank you so much for writing this post. I started my blog in early November last year and have expended a tremendous amount of time and energy. Sadly, it seems as if the blog just isn't gaining traction. After reading this post, I feel like I can now give myself permission to move on and regroup. I have learned so many valuable lessons that can be applied should I ever decide to 'take the plunge' again. At least I can walk away knowing without a doubt that I gave it my all and gave it my best…and that is all anyone can do
Oh but Libby, it's only been a few months! It took me over a year to gain any significant traction. I understand it might be time to step back for a while, but don't give up too soon either.
I am a creative person by nature. I am also a real lame at following through once the original creative spark starts to fizzle. My blog is the first creative outlet I have stuck with and I am feeling good about it. Beauty is an extra but without taking care of that part of ourselves it seems to have a snowball effect on the rest of our life. I would love to gain more readers bc I love the interaction and I truly believe in what I share.
Networking is somewhat daunting and is the one part that keeps me on the fence. I love most of it, connecting with new people and reading other perspectives in life. On the other hand some of it almost feels like a bad episode of Mean Girls. You can just feel the catty, competition and envy in the air rather than support and well wishes. Anyone else feel that at times?
Angela, that is one reason I'm not too much into the social networking and so on. I don't want to get caught up in the cliques and cattiness. I'm not a big "groupie."
It can certainly be tricky to navigate. Sometimes I just have to shut everything off for a while, not get into the social media or reading other blogs and do my own thing. It's definitely not easy for me.
YES!! I actually did JUST declare 'blog bankruptcy' ! Since building my home-based business I have been having less and less time to produce content on my former 'hobby' blog that I started a few years ago.
I like starting blogs, but I've kept up with my coupons/deals blog longer than any of the others. It is time consuming, but I like that others are saving money too. Thanks for writing this post. I'm going to my first blogging conference next month to see if I want to continue in the niche that I'm in. I also just restarted my quilting blog. Wishing there were more time in the day. LOL.
Since I started my blog last summer, I've "reinvented" myself several times and have seriously contemplated giving it up more times than I can count. Mostly for the reasons you outlined in this post… I pushed myself to produce content but my heart wasn't in it because it became more work than "fun." It's funny how, once I got a job to bring in some income and no longer had to "worry" about the blog (even though it never made me a dime), I got more recognition. Suddenly, my page views increased (even though I committed the cardinal sin of blogging… I slacked off on posting).
I am enjoying myself and it provides a great creative outlet. I've also found that writing regularly helps me re-prioritize my personal goals… an added bonus!
To be able to blog without feeling pressured to make money or generate traffic—what a great place to be!
I haven't had an urge to ditch the blog completely, but I have had an urge to just take a break for a while. I enjoy sharing what I do and helping people, so that keeps me going. I do get writer's block sometimes, and it eats up a lot of time, but it's also a major creative outlet for me. My facebook community is generally pretty great, too (https://www.facebook.com/CommonSenseHome). I get a lot of positive feedback from there.
I think many of us start a blog to talk about something we enjoy, and then we feel pressured to make money with it. When that happens, we are so worried about SEO, keywords, marketing, networking – it takes the joy and becomes a chore.
I think many of us do struggle with that. I certainly have and do at times.
I've started (and quit) numerous blogs over the last 8 years of blogging. Mostly that's because I have too many ideas and not enough stick-to-it-ive-ness—SOOSOSOOS ME ME ME…
I have soosos many ideas in my head. I do know that when It becomes work that I need to take days off or just walk away. When I come back I can always be refreshed.
It really is amazing how even a day away totally "resets" me.
For me it is the other way around. I feel shot out of a cannon. I went live Nov 17th and just a few days back hit 100,000 pageviews. It has been unreal. But you made me think about maybe blog two. Hummmm….. for now it is full time on the first baby that grew up fast.
Sounds like a fun ride, Rene!!
I'm in the process of starting over. I stopped blogging months ago. I just got so bored with my own content. So, I decided to wait until I knew what I wanted to write about before starting another one.
Great post, thank you!
I have the same issues. I started my blog to educate people about saving money but there are SO many other people doing the same thing. As I find myself posting mostly recipes, I think it's time for a blog update. I also find keeping up with the social aspect very tiring. I barely have time to check my personal email everyday, let alone keep up with Twitter/Facebook! Thank you for this post….it got my wheels turning.
You're welcome, Ashleigh. Let us know if you come to any good conclusions!
I've done both. Ditch a blog that wasn't working out and refocused another blog. Matter of fact Im about to close off one blog that's taken me in a direction I thought I wanted to go, only to get there and realize I didn't want to be there after all. LOL. Im not working on the new blog that has the focus I really want. Lets see if that lasts
LOL, you sound like me! I love it that there's so much flexibility with blogging.
This is interesting, as I had twins in September and life has become significantly busier! I was able to blog while they were tiny (the first 2 months or so), and now I have no time to do what I started it as – plus like someone above said, there are so many deal/coupon blogs. I'm contemplating a change or stopping. I like the creative place it allows me to write/vent, etc, but don't know what focus I want it to have. It got to the point where I was just trying to make money – but the avenue that was doing it stopped and I realized I wasn't really using the content that I had started with. I also have another domain that has sat there for a year, with a specific topic, but I've kind of come out of the reason I decided to do that. I'm just in sort of a wait and pray kind of mode, because both blogs were started after specific prayers and situations. I guess I should at least leave an 'on hold' note or something…
Well that you are even contemplating blogging with two new twins is impressive! Oh man, having babies always threw me for a huge loop. My blogs collected a lot of dust during those years!
I sold my blog, and didn't tell my readers about it ahead of time.. I was planning on telling them when it was finalized but the new owners asked me not to, and asked me to keep blogging (and they would pay me). That was a big mistake, I get at least half a dozen emails a day, still, saying that they don't like the way my site is going and I should change it back. So then I have to explain that it's not mine anymore. :/ I feel like I betrayed them, but I needed the money to pay bills so I did what I had to do. *sigh* Sorry for rambling, but reader loyalty means so much to me and I still feel bad about selling it.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Sadie. I can see how that would be difficult. I completely understand about having to pay the bills! Would you say you're sad that you sold it at all or just that you didn't let your readers know ahead of time. I'm feelin' with ya.
I'm a blog-ditcher too. It has been almost four years since I began a blog called Modern Mommyhood. I stuck to it for several months. I was slowly gaining more and more readers and was even guest posting at some extremely popular blogs. But it got to be too much for me and it had to stop. Sometimes I think if I had only stuck with it – where would it be today? Life is always changing, but I am eager to get back into blogging. I am having a very hard time deciding what niche I should get into – there are too many ideas in my head and I just don't know where to start…or even what name to go with!
I have read through so many of these comments, and it's such an awesome feeling to know I'm not alone! I started a personal blog 4 years ago, but I had no idea what I was doing. Then, in July of last year, I ditched that one and started a more niche-directed blog. But the growth has been nonexistent. I wanted to stick it out for the entire year, but I'm so sick of writing for it I just had to stop. I wrote my farewell post a couple weeks ago.
I can honestly say a burden has been lifted since I quit, and now I have been really thinking about where my passions lie. I love blogging and don't want to stop, but I have to find a niche I will stick with and enjoy! Right now I am in the process of creating a book blog so I can still do reviews and share my love of books with others. I am also wavering on a money saving blog with a DIY twist. The only thing stopping me is an oversaturated niche, but I want to have fun with the blog, and I think I might be good at it. I should at least try, I guess!
I declared blog bankruptcy a couple of years ago. I ditched my old idea and went with a new one, which has been much more successful.
Awesome! I'm glad to hear you're already glad you made the move. All the best!
I'm a bit late to this post, I found it when doing some research about blogging, how often to blog, keeping it going etc. I'm here because I'm also a blog ditcher! Mainly due to time. I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to keep a blog going if they lost interest.
Anyway, good blog, keep up the good work, I'll be visiting again:)
Thanks for stopping by, Tracy!