KITC 2016 Year in Review: Is Blogging Dead?

As 2016 winds down, I’ve been doing some reflecting and goal setting. I’m a believer that you don’t have to wait until January 1st to set some big ass goals, but I do like to take this time of year to take a step back and think about what’s gone well, what I want to improve upon and what I want to accomplish in the year to come.

Later this week I’ll touch upon my less blogging focused goals from this past year. Today, though, I wanted to take the time to reflect on the past year of Kayla in the City and blogging. I love reading other blogger’s end of year business recaps and thought I’d do the same. Plus my two cents on where blogging is heading in 2017…

A year ago this time, I wanted to be a full time fitness blogger more than anything. Turning Kayla in the City into more of a business was at the core of my goals for 2016.

I was frustrated. As much as blogging is a labor of love, and I also can’t deny that at times it can be a labor. It takes time to create good, engaging content. Time was something I didn’t have with a full time job. But obviously I needed a full time job because I gotta pay the bills…

I had this gross jealousy towards those who were blogging full time, many of whom started blogging way after me. I wanted to be them. Yes partially because I had a romanticized view of what life is like as a full time blogger (lounging around all day in pajamas? Yes please!) But also because there is nothing I love more than sitting down at my computer and blogging. I genuinely love writing.

And isn’t it the dream to make money doing what you love to do?

I’m not a full time blogger now, by any means but…

I made more money thanks to blogging and instagram in the last year than my previous four years of blogging, combined.

This is thanks to a combination of things:

// I got better at “pitching” myself. Asking for money is scary and awkward and sometimes unpleasant. But if you don’t ask, you’ll never get it.

I also feel fortunate that a few partnerships came my way this year that money was always in the conversation. That certainly makes negotiating easier…

Personal branding has a lot to do with becoming a successful entrepreneur. If the people you are networking with have an image of you that they know and trust, then negotiations and partnerships become easier, allowing you to make money doing what you love.

A number of entrepreneurs on social media, like Chance Welton, stress on the importance of focusing on your work and building your brand, which can speed up the process of becoming an independent businessperson. When you are confident about yourself, a lot can be accomplished.
 

// I stopped stressing about the numbers. I’m not a big blogger by any means. Okay and the struggle of getting my traffic numbers up is very, very, very, real. Why does it feel like pulling teeth more often than not!?

While I may not have the biggest numbers to offer brands I work with, I can still offer top notch, quality content and a small but mighty audience.

 

// I’ve spent a lot of time refining my voice. Oh god did it really take me five fucking years to find my blogging voice!?!?!

I want this blog to reflect the way I really talk– I am a sometimes foul mouthed chick with a Valley Girl accent. Sorry for all the cursing, grandma.

But beyond my love of dropping F-Bombs left and right, I’ve learned to get really fucking real and vulnerable. And those are the posts that get shared.

 

// I found my tribe. I feel so freaking fortunate to have connected with so many incredible bloggers and influencers in the last year and it’s certainly help me build my business. We are not in competition with one another and instead should use our platforms to support and promote others.

 

And trust me, it’s not all about the money. I certainly didn’t start Kayla in the City as a means to make money. But it doesn’t suck to get paid to do something you’re already pouring your heart and soul into.

2016 is also the year I stopped thinking of myself solely as a “fitness blogger”

I had been thinking about rebranding and relaunching my blog for sometime and finally bit the bullet and did it this year. While there’s still some tweaking to be done, I feel my blog more accurate portrays me and what I do now than it previously did.

The truth is, I got burned out on talking about fitness because I didn’t have a ton to say on the matter anymore. My fitness routine had become, well, a routine. Trying new classes every week didn’t thrill me the way it used to.

Obviously fitness is still the focus this blog in many ways, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I use the term fitness blogger for SEO purposes. But in this past year especially I’ve expanded my content to include a lot more.

I used to think eating my kale and working out 6 days a week was enough to make me both happy and healthy. Kale + Working Out = Happy Kayla.

But I started feeling like there was more to the puzzle that I was missing.

My approach to wellness is a bit more holistic now, but not in the hippie dippie let’s drink some kombucha and sage our apartments kind of way.

I’ve just learned to acknowledge that it’s all far more interconnected. My previous unhappiness at work was filtering into other aspects of my life and making me ultimately feel like crap. As I’ve started teaching yoga more and started living out my entrepreneurial dreams with Holistic Happening, it influences what I write about these days.

I’ll always be a fitness blogger. I can only go so long without talking about fitness in some way, shape or form 🙂 but now I talk about a whole lot more like my new found love of acupuncture and how tidying up my apartment actually did change my life.

So did I hit my metric goals for the year?

Yes and no and sort of.

One of my goals for 2016 was to hit 5,000 followers on instagram. A small feat for many, but what felt like a huge feat for this gal. Last week it happened. It’s funny because I actually forgot about this goal I set back in January and rediscovered it in an old notebook earlier this month.

My traffic grew by 50% in the last year, which isn’t too shabby considering my blog was down for a full month during the redesign.

I tend to get stressed out about traffic — why aren’t my numbers higher?! Were they higher last year!? Actually taking a second to see that yes, my numbers are higher now than they previously were, is a nice reminder that sometimes it’s hard to see the progress but there’s still progress.

I’ve seen a HUGE shift, though, in 2016 from blogging to microblogging on instagram.

Events that used to be chock full of bloggers are now dominated by fitness instagrammers. For me personally, I’ve certainly put a lot of effort into instagram in the last year. I know I’ve also inadvertently changed how I share content because of that. Nowadays I’ll post something on instagram that previously would’ve been a full, devoted blog post.

When I started blogging in 2011, the internet was a different beast. Social media was already a thing, but we found and consumed information in a slightly different way.

Even I read less blogs now than I used to. Partially because I have less time these days (hellooooooo grad school!) but also because there is SO much content out there to consume now. It’s overwhelming!

From a business standpoint, I’ve started getting approached about more and more instagram-only campaigns which have nothing to do with my blog.

With less people reading blogs and more turning to instagram, I do wonder if old school blogging is dead… or on it’s way to being dead.

There will always be the population of us that love reading blogs more so than short, quippy, captions on instagram. Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

I definitely have those moments of why do I bother blogging if instagram is where the money and views are these days?

At the end of the day I love writing. I love love love sitting at my desk, poring over word choice and rereading sentences to make sure each one sounds like me. I hope this genuine love of writing comes through in my posts.

It’s also important, though, to roll with the punches and embrace the changes in blogging.

What comes next?

Oh boy, there’s SO much I want to do with this space.

Expanding what wellness can mean. In addition to still posting fitness class reviews and fitness focused posts, I want to continue to expand the definition of “healthy” and “wellness” to include things beyond eating kale and exercising. Hello sleep, mediation, mindfulness, balance and relationships.

More yoga videos. I’m in the process of developing a signature class for Holistic Happening combining yoga and strength (what else do you expect from a personal trainer that now teaches yoga!) and can’t wait to share the work outs with you here as well.

Social media tidbits and learnings from grad school. Having a strong social media presence is important these days — whether you’re a blogger like me, fitness instructor, graphic designer, or whatever. I look forward to sharing content on this topic, especially considering it’s what I’m getting a master’s degree in 🙂

My experience building a business from the ground up. I love reading and learning from other entrepreneurs and plan on sharing more and more about the process of building out Holistic Happening as a business.

Some cooking. This blog will NEVER be a food blog, because let’s be honest I SUCK at cooking. By making it a goal to share more recipes, though, it will in turn force me to cook more. And you’ll know these recipes will be super easy to recreate because my cooking skillz are limited.

More personal posts. At the end of the day, the content that does best are the posts where I say screw SEO, I’m just gonna talk from the heart about what I feel like talking about.

Lastly, thank you ALL for supporting this here blog and me. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to connect with each and every one of you.

Your turn: I’d love to hear from you about what you’d like to see more (or less!) of on KITC in 2017. Don’t be shy and feel free to say “hi” over email as well — kaylainthecity@gmail.com.