when is a blog not a blog?

simple:- when we no longer see it that way.

WARNING! long story coming at ya!

the biggest road block and writers block that I have been having with my blog, is that fact that my blog is… well… a blog.

a traditional blog roll/feed is very limited in it’s abilities for the consumer or reader to navigate and access everything that it contains easily, and that has really been holding me back with beginning and/or implementing all of the ideas that are being generated by being in this blogging intensive workshop that we’re all doing and that… is… so… frustrating… my recovering perfectionist-self is struggling big time. the anxiety is real my friends.

here, let me show you what I mean…

if you were to go to your local shopping district and visit a shop, say a bookshop, because it was recommended that you would find something that you really love there. would you then just head next door to the very next shop left on the street, say a bicycle shop and expect to find more good books to read? or say you went right instead of left and found a butcher, will you still find what you’re looking for there too?

side note: alliteration is a great strategy in teaching and learning, hence all the B’s. this is something that Stampin’ Up! uses well too, when naming their colours.

now you might think that this is a really stupid example, and that I’ve completely lost it (you’re not wrong really, but bear with me). how is it that I equate this with a blog? when you think about it, that’s exactly what happens when someone visits a blog. you land on a particular post (the bookshop), either by searching or being given the link and generally the only way off that post is via the navigation links at the end of the page (next/previous-newer/older) and a lot of the time either (or both) of those posts will have nothing to do with the one that you landed on (bicycles or butcher).

side note: I say generally, because there are some very clever people who are ahead of me in the lane and already know what I’ve just discovered!

see what I mean?

now I have started drafts for some of my cornerstone content and whilst I have finished some of the easier sections/posts, I can’t publish them because they don’t fit with the linear process of the way a blog feed/roll works and my recovering perfectionist-self wants the navigation links (next/previous-newer/older) to fit a certain way and that is just not happening if I publish everything as I finish writing it. My initial cornerstone content is to Learn Cardmaking and I really want it to be a learning journey for my reader, with one post leading directly to the next. however, because I haven’t finished writing the first step I can’t publish the second, third or fourth step in that journey because that bloody blog navigation would be so out of whack. neither can I write and publish any other content for the same reasons. Hello major road block, and many a sleepless night. until… those damn lightbulbs and mind explosions were rampant last night!!!

it is a wonder my husband was able to sleep with all the light and noise! lol

and so, this morning I did three things:

I removed any and all references and links to my blog feed/roll from my menus and website
I removed the navigation links from the bottom of my blog posts
I reconfigured and organised all of my categories and tags

here’s why…

silos and strategy!

let’s go back and use our three Bs to show you what I mean.

a website menu has three options: bookshop, bicycles and butcher. each one of these is a silo. on each of these silo pages, a concierge greets you with a welcome (because you should always use an introduction!), before handing you over to the traffic controller.

for our book silo, the traffic controller lets you know that you can find all the information about books here and directs you through it. he’ll tell you there are books by reader (children, teen, adult), genre (food, health, travel etc) ,there’s also fiction and non-fiction. he might also tell you that the bookshop has stationery and craft supplies, and tea/coffee paraphernalia (because a good cuppa is always needed when reading). each one of these sections is linked to various blog posts or articles. he will also remind you to swing by the counter and grab your free bookmark (lead magnet) before leaving.

the bicycles and butcher silos are exactly the same. bikes, skateboards, scooters, repairs, and accessories, and a free map of the local bike tracks. lamb, beef, pork, chicken, fresh or frozen meat, meat for pets, and free instructions or recipes on how to cook it all. I think you get the concept for how a silo is constructed now, right?

but consider what the blog feed for this website would look like, if this particular writer is publishing content for all of these silos! it would be a nightmare for anyone trying to navigate through the blog feed and post links to find just the info they were looking for on books – hence my use of completely unrelated content topics (the three Bs) to illustrate this fact and the importance of silos; and also why I have therefore removed both the blog feed and navigation links from my website.

my mindset explosion

moving forward, I am now going to strategically curate and intentionally plan ‘randomised links’ on each of my blog posts! ta da! lol

side note: again, probably not a new idea for those who are ahead of me in the lane!

I am going to include a ‘posts block’ at the end of my blog posts and strategically curate other individual post suggestions depending on the content being viewed to lead my readers further down my rabbit-hole based solely on that content.

for example – one post block will suggest other blog posts featuring the same stamp set. it won’t matter when these posts are published but they are included because they use the same stamp. I imagine if they are looking at this project that they will most likely own this particular stamp set.
additionally, a second post block will suggest other blog posts based on the technique this project uses. this is important if they don’t own the stamp set but came here looking at the technique specifically. and again, the publish date and where this blog post sits on the blog continuum is irrelevant.

no more ‘swinging next door’ and landing on completely irrelevant content now. it will all be strategically curated, intentionally planned albeit randomly, and indexed for ease of the readers access!

now to do all of this I have had to reconfigure and organise my categories and tags, because that is how I plan to curate and select the ‘random’ posts that will show in these mini feeds – what I’m calling mini silo extensions. I have simplified my categories because I am having them show in blog thumbnails and meta. then I will be making better use of tags in the backend because they are essentially hidden.

and finally, no one will see the standard blog feed navigation links on my cornerstone content learning journey posts, so I no longer have a road block to writing and publishing my material as I go.

it also means that I have been able to write and publish this blog post without fear of it being read by everyone. it is essentially ‘unlisted’ and inaccessible without the direct link (unless you go digging deep).

side note: yes, technically there will be some who will figure out or know the blog feed url and could see it that way, but seriously, who does that? and why?

and there you have it. my #bragflag #mindsetbreakthrough #icanseeclearlynowtheblogfogisgone – literally! lol