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Can Blog Burnout Be a Good Thing?

Posted Friday, October 24, 2008 by momscashblog | 22 Comments so far

I must admit that “blog burnout” was one of my biggest fears when I first bought MomsCashBlog and I’m sure other bloggers worry that they too could burn out some day and end up with a dead or inactive blog. All bloggers feel that pressure to perform and burn  out can happen to anyone. There are many reasons for a blogger to stop posting on a blog. Sometimes it starts with writer’s block, or just plain disinterest. A blog can also go inactive for personal reasons, with life taking priority over blogging. Then some bloggers make a conscious decision to leave one blog… making a name change, and a change in blog content and/or category that is more suited to their desires and land the “big one” in doing so. Maybe we shouldn’t think of blog burnout as a bad thing because in many cases it can be the push we need to take blogging in the right direction. Burnout can actually open your mind to new ideas, and that’s a very good thing!

StandOutBlogger is one blogger who’s known  for finding the positive lessons in life and he’s shown us by example that blog burnout can lead to success. At the very least, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and at the very most, it can catapult you into a new direction that is more intuned with your real “self.” I’ve been a follower of Tom since the days he ran the now inactive blog ThomasSinfield.com, (which, btw had a PageRank of 3 when he left it.) Thru email contact, I asked him a few questions about making the switch. I knew this could help other bloggers who are feeling burnt out and may be at a crossroads in deciding which direction they should go in the blogging world.

Tom The StandOutBlogger

“When I first started blogging about August last year I started blogging under my personal name. The blog ThomasSinfield.com, had about 180 subscribers before I started thinking about the longevity of my blogging career and how I wanted to be able to build assets-not just income. ThomasSinfield.com started to burn me out. I had no real posting direction and honestly didn’t really put that much thought into where I wanted the blog to go.

Over Christmas I had finished up my real estate traineeship and decided to leave the company I was working at. I took 3 months off work and that is when ThomasSinfield.com really started to take off. However in about February I started working as a builders laborer full-time and that is when I stopped blogging. I guess I struggled with the idea that I wanted to be a full-time blogger but I had a full-time job. During the period of trying to do both just before I stopped, I was probably getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night — which is probably the main cause of me burning out!

I just burnt out from trying to run too many projects and I literally stepped away from the internet for about a month. It was then that I realized that even though I had built this blog to a salable level I couldn’t sell my name.

Then in my time off I decided to create a brandable blog — and I sat down and thought about what I wanted it to become. What I realized was that no matter how big I built my blog, if I ever wanted to get out of blogging I would just have to stop, because there was no way I would be selling my name. This is why I decided to start a fresh with a new blog.

I have started approximately 10 blogs over the last year. ThomasSinfield.com and StandOutBlogger.com are the only ones that have lasted the test of time. I sold two of my blogs: entrepreneur-blog.com and incomediary.com, but both buyers seem to have run them into the ground! And the rest I started and just lost interest in it. Now I have decided to focus my efforts on StandOutBlogger.com as I aim to make it into something big.”

As you can see, it was a combination of things that caused Tom’s burnout but he used that as an opportunity to make a new “plan” to leave his namesake blog and become the StandOutBlogger. He could have just stopped blogging altogether, but he didn’t. Instead he thought it over and changed direction! Tom started the StandOutBlogger in May and soon afterwards had a PageRank of 3 with an average of over 300 unique visitors a day and about 180 subscribers. He has an Alexa rating of just over 112,000 and is constantly working on ways to improve both rank and rating. ThomasSinfield.com is still an inactive blog that has over 160 subscribers, even though he has not posted in about 3 months. Tom said he does not have any immediate plans for the blog at the moment, and he’s still not sure what he’s going to do with it.

The truth is that just because a blog is inactive, many people still read and enjoy some of them. Most readers don’t care when a post was posted, they’re just searching for information and if your blog has the info they are happy. Also, inactive blogs can be a  source of passive income if the content is good. Some bloggers say they’ve made more money with the blog while it was inactive than they did while it was active!

So if you feel like you’re burning out, or if you’re blog just isn’t cutting it for you (maybe you think you chose the wrong niche or name) don’t think of it as a sign of failure… Instead, it could be a signal for you to make a change!  In life a ”burnout” or  ”crisis” usually leads to better things because it makes us take action. If something isn’t working for you then try something else until you get it right.

Thanks Tom, for taking the time to answer all of my questions, and for giving us inspiration! (btw, I have saved some for other posts!)


Comments
Steve October 24th, 2008 (6:22 pm)
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Good advice. It took me many years to realize how important it is to listen to that voice within. In our society we stigmatize burn out and equate it with failure. Let us not forget that a burn out leads to a new beginning. It is natures way of saying “do something different”. Even if you quit you are moving forward if that’s not where you were meant to be. Success is when you feel good about what you are doing. Always listen to the voice within, others opinions of you should not matter if you are doing the right thing.

MLRebecca October 24th, 2008 (7:31 pm)
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I never really thought that being burned out on a blog could be a positive thing. I’ve definitely felt burned out by blogs I’ve run in the past, but in hindsight, I realize it’s just as you mentioned: my disinterest with my blogs led me to more creative ideas and greater opportunities. Thanks for helping me to realize this. Great post!

John Searching for the Big One October 24th, 2008 (11:04 pm)
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Great post. Napoleon Hill said that the best way to succeed is to fail – some people will start a blog, get disillusioned with it and give up blogging altogether. Others just start again and again until they find a style that suits them.
Thanks for your kind comments on my most recent post btw.

Tushar Dhoot October 25th, 2008 (1:32 am)
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Nice post. A lot of people are really afraid of the brain drain or writers block.

I myself blogged about some techniques to get rid of it and use your creativity to the full potential.

Check it out:

Blogging Tips

ZK@Internet Marketing Blog October 25th, 2008 (5:50 pm)
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Nice post, its one of the biggest fear when you start any business, not only blogging . Thats where the passion will kick in…Blog only what you are passionate about…

Shafar October 26th, 2008 (5:17 pm)
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I’m still afraid of Blog Burnout!! Because sometimes I’m not able to concentrate on my blogging. So usually try to schedule more posts if I’m gonna busy coming days.
(Now I’m busy with my semester exams!)

Meme October 26th, 2008 (8:08 pm)
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Wonderful thought inspiring post! Could it be that burn-out is the positive side of being in a rut? I, for one, worked proudly at the same job for over 30 years. It wasn’t until I left that career that I realized how much more there is to life. Maybe if I could have recognized burn-out for what it was ( a hint that “enough is enough”) I would have gotten on with new possibilities sooner… Thank goodness it is never too late. Thanks for the post. Meme

JJ - Moms Cash Blog October 27th, 2008 (1:45 am)
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I appreciate all of the great, insightful comments.

Shafar, I still worry about Blog BurnOut too, but after talking to StandOutBlogger and seeing these comments I think maybe it’s part of the blogging process and not the end of the world. lol. Good luck with your exams! (I know you’ll do great.)

Blog for Beginners October 27th, 2008 (8:41 am)
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I second Rebecca. I never thought that burnout can lead to opening up another hidden opportunity. Personally, I think you need to have the passion in everything you do, without it everything will fall apart eventually. Anyway, it’s just part and parcel of the game and I do agree that changing one niche could be a positive thing to do.

Yan

Jackie October 27th, 2008 (1:57 pm)
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Hi JJ,

I just love how real you are. That alone will keep people comming back. I haven’t been around for a while for many of the reasons you just posted. Things are looking up though! Today I am at your site to find out where I should go to purchase a dot com name!

Shafar October 27th, 2008 (5:38 pm)
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Hi JJ, I’m glad that I got the valuable wishes from JJ of MomsCashBlog to do best in my exams!! Thanks a lot! :)

(Saw your comments in my blog, don’t know what is wrong with your email. My Feedburner Email Subscription is still working well. If the problem persists with your current email, I recommend you to subscribe with any other active email address.)

Keep in Touch
Shafar

JJ - Moms Cash Blog October 27th, 2008 (6:14 pm)
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Hey Jackie.. It’s sooo good to see you back! .. and I’m glad things are looking up for you. Your personal life should always be your top priority. If you’re looking to buy domain names, I recommend GoDaddy… They are having a special right now. I’ll send you an e-mail. :)

Hi Shafar… It might be Internet Explorer that’s the problem, so I’ll try to subscribe to your RSS thru Firefox. :) Thanks for getting back to me.

JJ - Moms Cash Blog October 27th, 2008 (6:22 pm)
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Hey guys… If you’re getting a lot of “operation aborted” messages, I heard that Microsoft is having some trouble with Internet Explorer, so it’s suggested you use “Firefox” until it’s over. (most blogs work best when using Firefox anyways!)

Trisha October 27th, 2008 (7:14 pm)
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Hey can anyone tell me how to use this Firefox, I’m having trouble on the internet. I’m getting those aborted messages too.BTW great post.

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[...] Hey can anyone tell me how to use this Firefox , I’m having trouble on the internet. I’m getting those aborted messages too.BTW great post.Comment on Can Blog Burnout Be a Good Thing? by Trisha [...]

JJ - Moms Cash Blog October 27th, 2008 (9:38 pm)
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Trisha, Just go to Firefox.com to download. It is very easy. I’ve been told that ALL blogs will load better if you use the Firefox browser.

Ze October 28th, 2008 (4:15 am)
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Hi JJ!

I’m a newcomer to your blog in recent weeks. You’ve got a great blog here. In fact, I was toying with the idea of starting a blog of my own and I put it off and put it off until my husband came across your site and showed it to me. After reading different articles on your blog I got motivated and inspired to take the plunge!!! I’d rather try and fail then never try and forever wonder. :)

Part of my hesitation was what you’re talking about…bloggers block. I was really scared that I wouldn’t know what to write or that I would do great for a while and then just run out of ideas. Now I see that it’s part of something most bloggers go through or will go through at some point. Now I’m not so afraid and if it happens I won’t panic. Thanks for a great post!

mominator.com

JJ - Moms Cash Blog October 28th, 2008 (5:13 pm)
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Hi Ze, Glad you decided to take the plunge and remember don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just do what you can and enjoy the process. No one is sitting there waiting for you to post… if they are then they have a problem, not you. and I like that term, bloggers block! LOL.. (why didn’t I think of that?)

whateverebay October 31st, 2008 (5:39 am)
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Outstanding! Great job, JJ. Its been so busy here lately, that when I have time to blog I am lost…. Blog Burn out? think so….. Taking a break this weekend to come back stronger!!! :)

Tricia November 1st, 2008 (6:11 pm)
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I have the opposite of bloggers block. I find that the more I write, the more ideas I have and the more time I spend writing. But I worry that my current obsession with blogging will quickly lead to burnout.

So, it is good to know that my current blog is not my one and only shot at getting it right. (Especially since I’ve already made many mistakes.)

Thanks for the insight.

Tom - StandOutBlogger.com November 9th, 2008 (2:04 am)
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Hi JJ!

Thanks for the interview! It was fun to do and made me think alot about my blogging. And it turned out great :D

Matt Hayden December 1st, 2008 (2:04 pm)
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I have had a similar experience. I’ve started a few blogs over the years. And I found that I simply couldn’t keep them all going at once. So I let some of them go.

But I have still kept a few. Even though I post to them only rarely, I can’t seem to kill them off entirely! So I just “keep them alive” by posting every now and then. I figure that if I just keep going with them at a reasonable pace they will draw in some traffic, helping to keep my profile up, and I can use the material on them for books one day.

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