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The short answer: a lot. When we started we had a solid plan, plenty of ideas, brewing excitement and a little anxiety. What we didn't have was experience. We were navigating unchartered territory last year, but we were (and still are) thrilled to create this online space together!
Content! Content! Content!
We quickly learned how important it is to be organized and prompt when it comes to planning, developing and executing content and deadlines. We try to plan our topics and themes a few months in advance (and make appropriate changes when needed). We want to feature diverse topics that are important to our community, but are also relevant to the time of year or current events. We have especially enjoyed working with guest writers and leaning on their expertise on topics outside of our experience and education.
Based on feedback and traffic to our social media accounts and website, we have a better understanding of what the And She Writes community wants from us. We are always looking for feedback so please connect with us via email or Instgram. We want to hear from you!
Consistency is Key
This first year we had at least three posts featured each week on the blog. It was important to us that we have consistent communication and become a reliable outlet for fun, thoughtful and relatable content. We took this same approach with our social media accounts. We wanted to be out there to connect with our readers and other online communities.
We are proud we never missed a post deadline, which was a huge feat! We both worked mostly from home with our kids completing remote learning. We also managed to hold it together during sickness, busy work and life events, vacations and moving. As we've gotten more experience, we add social media shares and extra posts when it seems important! We're hoping we can keep this track record in year two!
Growing Your Community Takes Patience
In order to share our favorite tips through our Tuesday Morning Tidy or great books through Top Shelf posts, there must be readers on the other end. That's you! But it has taken over a year to reach 1,000+ followers on social channels, and that's okay. We're enjoying the process of growing our community, and we hope the increased engagement and presence on social media has kept good information appearing on your feeds! Our subscriber list keeps growing, and it's fortifying to know that people are reading and enjoying what we share each week.
Challenging Ourselves
We love a good challenge! This is something that comes naturally to both of us--we love to challenge ourselves to achieve new goals and reach outside of our comfort zones. Sometimes it's not so easy to write our Monday Musings, and that's OKAY. We both love writing, and And She Writes has given us both the challenge and accountability to pursue that avenue of interest.
Looking to the Future
We are excited to share all that is to come post-pandemic, including:
Travel
Great Books
Home Updates and DIY
Tips and Tricks for Working Parents
Reflections on Current Events
Fun Products
And more! So, thank you for being a part of this growing community. We look forward to another great year of And She Writes!