Image by cseeman via Flickr
I have a guest post up on the Yakezie today, titled “Gain Time And Money Through Outsourcing And Trade”. It’s about the advantages we all gain when we trade with each other and specialize at the things we are good at and enjoy.
When I started out blogging, I was taking care of everything myself. I was writing 2-3 posts a week, submitting to carnivals, writing up weekend editions, guest posts, hosting carnivals, etc…. I was working a full-time job, and I had school on the side for at least half of the time, so the bit of time I had left was split in many different ways.
There’ve been a few points when I nearly approached burnout in my short blogging career. I remember seeing the visitor count and subscriber count stay stagnant, day after day, and I remember being stuck at PR 0 for the longest time when Google wasn’t making updates! It was a little frustrating to see, and I wondered why I was spending so much time on something that didn’t seem to be going anywhere.
One of the reasons I was approaching burnout is because I simply had too many tasks on my plate. There are parts of blogging that I really enjoy, such as writing and interacting with the readers, but I’ll be honest with you: I’d rather listen to screeching nails on a blackboard than submit my posts to a bunch of carnivals, week after week after week. I simply find it a chore, and it’s when you don’t enjoy something that you are at risk of burnout.
Read more: Gain Time And Money Through Outsourcing And Trade
It was a great post that I would recommend everyone reading.
I’m glad that you enjoyed the post and I appreciate the compliments!
Kevin – Thanks for so much for your perspective on this topic. I completely understand. Obviously, I just came back from a 6.5 month hiatus. Although the details surrounding my prolonged departure are more complicated than simply being overwhelmed, fatigue did play a role in it.
It seemed even longer than that… I remember looking forward to your posts and epic roundups. I’m glad to see you back!
Well, you are in next room / on the next level.
However, for me it is still hard to grasp on how people could write several times a week, i.e. you have to be very educated / knowledgeable to do it. On quite a few blogs, the articles are hardly readable /impersonal.
You are one of the rare exceptions I enjoy reading on regular basis. Please keep up good work. I will contribute to stimulate the progress.
Thanks, that feedback means a lot to me! For me personally it is not that easy to write that often, but a small break always leaves me feeling recharged and able to get back into it. What really helps is getting thoughtful comments from readers — I think that is the biggest push for me. It’s what makes the writing enjoyable, month after month and now going into the years.
I embarked on outsourcing about 6 months ago and it has taken off so much pressure. I too was approaching burn out and I did not like that feeling. I am much less stressed about the blog although I still feel some pressure to keep up with everything.
I’m glad that it’s been working out for you! Just the carnivals alone took a lot of pressure off of me, too.
Luckily I we have a partnership where our strengths compliment each other and we don’t have to outsource, yet we are both able to pick up the slack when the other needs a break!
A good partnership is hard to find and a very valuable thing indeed. My partnership with the gf is the most valuable asset that I have. 🙂
This is a remarkable blog. I agree that through outsourcing you can gain time and money. This is based on my experience
Thanks, YFS!