On January 19, 2019, I pressed “publish” to kaylielongley.com. Cue: jumping up and down on my kitchen’s linoleum floor, countless calls between my brother and me as its server shut down, and tons of edits to my homepage… that’s still a work in progress, thank you very much.
At the time of writing, it’s almost six months since that blustery Saturday. After restoring the server in March, I’ve written every Sunday for four months. And that make me proud. There’s a few things I’ve learned along the way.
Life and content can act as a feedback loop.
I was initially scared to share everything and used guides to process everything I’ve done, instead of vulnerably living in the moment. A shift in my writing came when I wrote my midnight gym routine post. There’s a filter between doing and thinking, and then reacting by writing, and then choosing what to publish. I think a lot of writers struggle to straddle that line of personal versus public sharing. Even now, that’s why so much of my pages are bare of imagery. Or why I only have one picture that doesn’t really show my face (intentionally).
And now as I’m considering sharing this website to my social platforms, I’m a little nervous because these folks’ relationships to me aren’t based on product or service but just curiosity of what they know and don’t know about me (thanks for being here if Facebook or LinkedIn sent you). Will my readership change? Will my friends’ perception(s) of me change, too? Do I care, since I’ve owned this url for a while, but now I’ve made these people come less organically than search? What’s their motivation?
this is my site, so i make the rules.
In “real” life, I’m a marketer. I’ve created my share of content, for service and professional work. While I’ve applied principles like using headers to break down text or choosing keywords to direct the content, but writing as Kaylie, for Kaylie (and you!) is a different process.
My older articles share seemingly endless pointers, but now I’ve tried to focus on 3 key lessons for each post. This isn’t me being strict. I see it as a structure of consistency. The thoughts are clearer, while providing opportunity for later posts if I still have more thoughts on the topic. I could call this an editorial guide, but it’s more like me choosing what I’m comfortable saying and how.
Publishing is less scary when goals are known.
This website serves so many purposes:
- It keeps me writing every week. Even though it’s MY website, it is for the world. That provides a sense of external accountability, internalized. Currently, I’m the only one writing these weekly posts. I’m the one who has to turn my rambles into coherent thoughts. I write, edit, and publish.
- It helps me work toward my 19 for 2019 goals. Not only do these provide a source of motivation to live a good life, it helps direct the content, too. I’m proud to have finally written about “exploring” last week. There’s so much I want to do, online and off. Even though this is still yet untapped content, that just means I have more work to do!
- This site helps others reach their goals, too. Yes, the core service of the website it to help people reach their creative goals, but even if you don’t want someone to help shape up your schedule (or resume or project), then you can at least take inspiration by my posts, categorized by goal.
So, 6 months, 3 lessons, and much more to come! How can I help you flourish in these next 6 months? What have you learned about life and yourself? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for being here.