I’m sure everyone has made their resolutions and one word themes (click here for my one word theme for 2015) for the new year and by now we’ve all realized how hard it is to keep those promises to ourselves. I know I’m struggling. Along with my hopes and dreams for myself and my business, there’s one thing I said I was going to do this year that I have not been good at and purposely avoided it all last year: blogging. Yes, it’s true. For some reason, I find blogging very challenging. There’s the photos, the plug-ins for the blog, the optimization, blog themes, outlining the blog post…you get the idea. See this photo? That’s EXACTLY how I feel when I just think about blogging. But, I know I need to do it and it’s a great tool for my business. Knowing that I would never choose to do this consistently on my own, I started looking for some help.

Enter the 2015 January Ultimate Blog Challenge. This isn’t my first time doing this challenge or my second or third. Believe it or not, this is my SEVENTH time doing this challenge and I have NEVER completed it! How’s that for consistency? Seriously, why would I pick a challenge to keep me consistent on something that’s hard for me to do and I’ve already failed at it? Good question. This time around, I’m really dedicated to finishing. Also, I did a couple of things beforehand to prepare myself for success.

1. Prepared weekly blog themes ahead of time
The week before the challenge, I started thinking about weekly blog themes that would make it easier for me to outline and write my blog posts. So far, I’ve come up with Fab Five Friday which showcases my top 5 resources, tools, and tips that make running your online business easier and get you more clients. Another blogging theme is Military Spouse Business Stories which features a more personal side of me as a military spouse business owner.

2. Write and outline in batches
I started scheduling 2 hour blocks at 3 times a week for outlining and drafting blog posts. This allowed me to get multiple blog posts done and schedule them. That way, I’m not staring at my computer every day wondering what I’m going to write and how I’m going to write it.

3. Reading other participants’ blogs to get more ideas
I do read and comment on other people’s blogs during the challenge, but this time I’ve been purposely looking at other blogs that have to do with my industry or things that I like. This has really helped me come up with other blog post ideas that I may not have thought of, that could go really well with some of the blog themes I’ve picked.

So, what business tasks are you avoiding in 2015? Comment below and let me know! I’d love to hear it. Also, if you know you want to start blogging more for your business, join me in the Ultimate Blog Challenge! So far, I’ve been keeping up and this time, I just might finish!