What a tough question. The trash or tweak question plagues most bloggers at one time or another. For good reason; this can be a pivotal decision in your online career.
Every day, bloggers face this question. Business seems dead.
Something is up. Something is off. Something does not feel right.
As I promote my online business burnout eBook I recall two specific chapters goading you to either trash or tweak your online business to avoid burnout. Doing one or the other energizes you. Or at least helps you to skip out on burning out.
I genuinely disliked my old blog, brand and business model nearly 5 years ago. I trashed it. Trashing it felt good. I felt a little scared but knew overall I made the right decision.
But since then, I progressively tweaked my blogging business through Blogging From Paradise. My blog evolved quite a bit over the years. I certainly had to make uncomfortable choices along the way to grow with change versus mindlessly going through change.
Freelance writing income played a chief role during my blog’s inception and early growth.
But I tired of the stream because I had outgrown the income channel.
Enter eBook. Gone was my freelance writing business. Tweaking. Adjusting. I never felt a need to trash Blogging From Paradise. At least, not yet.
Eventually, I could trash my current blogging business. Who knows? Life is change. Nothing lasts forever.
I am open to change, being flexible.
If you feel totally burned out now, it may be time to completely trash your blogging business income streams or maybe a tweak is in order.
Let’s see.
Trash
Does your blogging business model feel heavy, like a leaden weight?
Consider trashing the business model to create a new business model with fresh, fun income streams. Feeling weighed down signals something seems off. But if you feel anchored down terribly you need to strongly consider trashing your blogging business or your blog outright.
5 years ago, I made a solid freelance writing income but the work felt like…..work. I did not enjoy writing for clients.
I slowly disliked freelance writing more every week. I also spotted a red flag; some multi topic blogs where I placed my guest posts for clients had evolved into content mills.
Uh-Oh. I saw the writing on the wall and stopped freelance writing because I lost the desire to freelance and could see big changes ahead.
Sure enough, Matt Cutts banned guest posting for links and many freelancers had to find a new way to profit.
I had a few clients with high level, respected, trusted, single topic blogs but still moved on because I was sick and tired of freelance writing, even though I prospered through the channel.
I trashed it and felt better immediately.
Trash your blogging business model if you genuinely dislike working income streams.
Release the old, tired and worn out to make room for new, fresh and fun.
Make more money by releasing a losing proposition.
Let go what feels tired to allow in what feels invigorating, energizing and fun. Trash to find your new treasure.
Tweak
I enjoyed writing eBooks but my sales lagged. I wanted to continue promoting my eBooks.
I knew trashing this income stream would be foolish because I enjoyed writing and saw value in my reads. All I needed was a little tweak.
Turned out, I needed to tweak my blogging income model a tiny bit to promote my eBooks freely and persistently. That was it. That was the tweak. That was the tiny little change I needed to make in order to nudge my profits north.
Simply mentioning my eBooks more often through all I did online increased my blogging profits. Who knew?
Piece of cake, eh? Sometimes, you make a different, small adjustment, like lowering prices, raising prices, or even changing the pricing structure. Tweaks involve seemingly small changes that often turn out to yield significantly better results.
Tweak your business if it still feels fun to work but you know it’s time for an adjustment.
Sales may be flagging, or non-existent. Or you steadily see blogging profits but feel an intuitive nudge to do things a little bit differently.
Trust your gut. Adjust your business model to boost profits and to provide greater service to your readers.
Avoid Struggles and Burnout
You do not need to struggle terribly and burnout online.
Spend some time in quiet. Get out of your head. Get into your heart.
Figure out if you need to trash or tweak your blog. Sometimes you need to clean the blogging slate. Sometimes, making tiny adjustments makes a big difference.
Trash or tweak your current blogging business model for a breath of fresh blogging air.
