Guest post: PoojaG (blogging & Niches)

Hello Everyone, I would have said good night, but I don’t want anyone to fall asleep to this post. LOL. 

No original piece today from me, I have a special guest. 

I’ve met PoojaG months ago, I enjoyed her post because of her positive vibes, good character and friendly demeanor, not to mention the fact I have come to find out we have more in common than I would have ever thought. She has been one of my more supportive followers who has essentially been able to share feedback, ideas, advice and inspiration for both myself and her readers. I appreciate her quality of work and all her content, it is because of her content that I had asked her if she would be available to do a guest post for my blog, I thought this particular topic would come natural to her & I was right! she did an amazing job with this piece and I hope it helps beginner bloggers as well as those who want to venture out and write. 

Some of you may have a difference of opinion on this subject matter, but I believe it is important as a blogger and writer to explore your options in the beginning to decide what niche you want to take on and put on display for others to read, watch, look at, etc. I find that I was a rare breed and kind of knew what I wanted to write about because of being in the profession/field, but many writers/bloggers don’t necessary know and sometimes it can be overwhelming to try to figure out what to write about and why and how to catch someone’s attention. No one’s topic is better than any other, some are more “popular” than others but honestly, those tend to be harder to write about because most people already have made their opinions on it before taking a look at your work. I know in fact that when I see how many people on WordPress write about Fitness/health, that I am not the only one and indeed many people probably already have speculation in what I will write about because they have read many other blogs whom speak on the same topics. I know my niche is Fitness/health and one point I wanted to have multiple niches, but decided it would be just as easy to focus on one and hope for the best. Many times it is those who step outside the box that reap the benefits and I have to admit that PoojaG certainly reaped the benefits and successfully made a blog page that entertain more than 1 niche. 

Please give PoojaG a warm welcome, as she shares her take on having a blog page dedicated to more than one niche:

Starting And Managing A Blog That Incorporates Multiple Topics

The reason most people start a blog is because they have something to share with the world whether it’s art, writing, photography, pictures of your cat or something else. And if you are one of those people who want to have a blog which includes more than one topic this post is for you.

When I first began my blog I was absolutely obsessed with psychology (which I still am) and I knew I wanted to write about psychology. However after I started writing about psychology as fun as it was I started reading other people’s blogs that were about other things and I started wanting to blog about other hobbies and interests of mine. So along with writing about psychology I started writing some book reviews and got a pretty good response. Then I started writing poetry again and decided to share some of it with my followers and I got an awesome response. Along the way I decided that I didn’t want to have a blog about just one particular topic (psychology) but I also didn’t want my blog to be a mess and I wanted my followers to know what to expect from my blog. I knew I wanted to do something inspirational so I decided to do motivational Monday and I knew I wanted to write poetry so I decided to write that every Friday. However, I also wanted to write about a bunch of other topics as well as let my readers know what was going on with me but I knew I didn’t have time to blog every day so I left Wednesday open to write whatever I felt like that week. 

My advice if you’re just starting out a blog is that don’t put too much on your plate and don’t take on too much. Don’t start out by writing every day but instead take it slowly. Even if you know exactly what you want to write about because over time there will be changes on your blog which is inevitable. You will start reading other people’s blogs and get some amazing ideas for your own blog plus you might want to blog about other topics than what you planned so leave some days open to write about other things.

Also if you know you are going to blog about multiple topics when you start out remember to keep your blog neat. Don’t write random topics on random days even though doing that sounds a lot more appealing especially when you’re a lazy person like I am. Make sure you allocate a certain day for a certain topic and one or two days to random topics you may want to talk about that week. This way your followers will know what to expect on certain days instead of always being lost. Unlike blogs with only one topic you also need to have a bunch of categories to make it easier to for the reader to find exactly what they are looking for instead of being lost and giving up on your blog.

Another thing you should remember when you have multiple topics on your blog is that it is harder to keep up with than a blog dealing with just one. Not only should you be regular with all the topics you choose to write about but you also need to make sure you spend enough time perfecting each of them. Remember not to spend too much time on just one topic and neglect another because your readers will notice. Plus make sure you follow other blogs with similar topics to just kind of get ideas and motivation. And in my opinion just follow as many blogs as you can whether they have similar topics or not. As long as you’re interested in their blog follow it because you never know you may end up learning a lot from them.

 

I definitely think there can be blogs with too many topics/niches. Even though I think it’s a great idea to have a lot of different topics on your blog sometimes however people do end up having way too many and can’t handle it themselves. I think have as many topics as you can handle rather than having a lot but then messing them up.

I think the biggest advantage of writing a blog with multiple topics is that you don’t limit yourself to just one thing in particular but rather your blog is more open to a bunch of different ideas and topics. I think it’s perfect for someone who isn’t totally sure what they want to write about and want to try out a bunch of different things. It’s also great for someone who wants to write about a bunch of different things but doesn’t want to start more than one blog. It’s great for someone who, like me, is a little indecisive and wants to share a lot of interests on one blog and wants to add different ideas or topics each week.

I think the hardest part is that unlike blogs focused on a single topic, blogs with multiple topics have to post more often if they want to cover all the topics and I’ll admit it does take quite a bit of effort and it does sometimes feel like a bit of work. When you have just one topic you can post as often as every day or as scarcely as once a week but when you have many topics you have to post at least twice a week so no topic is neglected.

Plus when you have a blog covering many things you are bound to get some negative comments. What I personally do is ignore the really harsh ones and reply to the ones which give you some negative criticism.

I don’t think having a blog with just one topic has ever crossed my mind since I started the blog. Like I said before I did start it wanting to write mainly about psychology but even then I knew I would eventually write about other things too depending on what kind of response it got. Now that I have the perfect routine for now where I blog three times a week I really don’t think about changing my blog and making it about just one topic because it would never work for me. I think for a blog like mine having a certain day for each topic works out great and also gives me some time to write and edit.

So, this was my first guest post and I really hope everyone enjoyed it and I just want to really thank Shay-lon for giving me this opportunity. I really love her blog and writing on it is such an amazing chance for me! It would be awesome if you took some time to also check out my blog called lifesfinewhine and if you liked reading this post don’t forget to like it, share it and let us know your thoughts in the comments below! 

Personal training: Helping a Friend Day Nine (Late post at 11pm at night)

personal-training

Hello wonderful bloggers!

I apologize for the late post, I left my house to hang with a friend thinking I would be home in time to write more and follow up on comments, but I was wrong, it is currently 11 at night and I am not writing this post. This might be something you get used to from me, if my schedule becomes to be overwhelming, otherwise this could be a rare event that happens whenever I stay out past my bedtime 😛

Nonetheless, today’s workout with John:

Warm-up:

Dynamic stretches:

  • Frankies
  • Walking knee to chest
  • side bends, 15 reps

Workout Session:

  • Step up circuit- 30 minutes, with a 1 minute stop and go (again this is harder to explain without showing you)
  • stationary bike- 15 minutes, level 5 resistance, RMPS 70-80 (although mine were 90 and above) 
  • Step ups circuit- 15 minutes 

Cool down:

  • Walk 2 laps around the gym

 

Overall John did well, this time around he said he felt the difference in the level 5 versus the level 4 on the bike, but he still managed to do very well, with keeping his RPMs above 70, which is more than I thought he would do. The step ups went fairly well, he kept up with my pace and made to sure to keep hydrated throughout the workout. He didn’t complain of ankle pain today, he said he thinks it was the shoes he was wearing, so that is good news. We didn’t talk about his eating habits again, I need to remember to speak with him about it within the next week at the very least. Overall our workout was very proactive, tomorrow his sister should be joining us again, since I have yet to sit down and speak with her one-on-one, she will just jump in where you we take off and we will adjust things as we go. Hopefully within the next week, I will have the chance to actually sit down with her. 

My calve pain is going away slowly but surely, tomorrow, I will take it easy again with my lower body resistance training and see what happens with it, we will have an earlier workout day tomorrow so this means I should be in bed catching up with my sleep about now. Hopefully tomorrow’s workout goes over just as well.

Your fitness blogger,

Shay-lon xoxox

The 3 day Quote Challenge- day three

3 Day Quote Challenge

Thank you my dear blogger friend PoojaG for nominating me for this challenge once again, you have been an awesome blogger and continue to find amazing words of inspiration for your audience. I hope all of you have had the chance to keep up with her blog post for this 3 day quote challenge, her quotes have been fun to read and very meaningful. 

Rules to be followed:

  • 3 quotes each day
  • 3 nominees to be nominated (no repetition!)
  • Thank the person who nominated you
  • Inform the nominees

My quotes for today are:

  1. “Success is a lousy teacher.  It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose” -Bill Gates
  2. “Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines” – Robert H. Schuller
  3. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” – Thomas Paine 

My nominees:

  1. Tosha Michelle
  2. reallifestylex
  3. DanielWallDammit

Hope you have enjoyed my quotes! feel free to share. 

 

Might have another blogger interview next week :)

Hello everyone!

I wanted to keep everyone update on my life as far as my writing, work, goals, etc. 

I have some good news I want to share with all of you and hopefully all of you will be just as excited to hear it. 

  1. I spoke with a fellow fitness blogger and we are expecting to do a collaboration this month that should be finished by the end of October. It will have something to do with fitness/health & will definitely be worth the wait. It is very exciting.  She reached out to me on social media and wanted to do something different and invited me to work with her on it, we spoke via phone and decided what we kind of want to do, and agreed on some topics and are in the making of creating something fun for our audience! Many of you probably already follow her blog, gojenbefit, if you don’t, take a look at it, she has some good content to offer 🙂
  2. I have not heard back from the editor as of yet, so it should be this week or next, I still have one more article due that needs done by the 27th, so pretty soon I will be working on that article. Busy, busy.
  3. I am still studying for my CPT exam, not fun but needs done so I am prepared. 
  4. I have two guest bloggers who will soon be turning in their articles to me to be posted on my site. Be on the lookout for them, they will be awesome! 
  5. I have not done my pitch yet for the editor of Muscle & Fitness magazine, but I am trying to make some time in doing that as well, since he did offer me to send him more, I will take advantage of this 
  6. I have contacted a fellow blogger who many of you know and asked if he would allow me to do an interview and/or present a blog post to be featured on his page and he has gotten back with me on the idea and I believe next week we will be setting up an interview via skype. I am hoping it makes his radio talk show, that would be awesome, but if not, I still think it is awesome I get this opportunity! I am very nervous and excited all in one. Hopefully he doesn’t throw me any curve balls, LOL. I will and I am sure he will let everyone know when the video gets posted 😀 be on the lookout for that as well!
  7. I have been receiving many positive emails from some of you and I would like to say thank you! it is always awesome when I can wake up and read your emails! love it. 
  8. Follow me on social media, if you would like, I am active on all of them (yeah I don’t know how I manage it either) lol.  but love connecting with everyone in various ways.
  9. Thank you for the continued support on my Youtube videos, I know I can be a goof many times, but everything I tell you has some form of meaning to it. I do plan on making more videos besides on Monday’s but right now, my schedule is full most days, but I will let everyone know when I decide to add more videos and on what days. I am looking at starting “Topic Tuesdays” – yes I did make this clever idea up, lol so be on the lookout when I announce my first Topic Tuesday video. 
  10. Finally, I want to let everyone know, I apologize if I don’t always get to your new post “on time” or if I don’t seem like I venture to your page often enough, I really honestly try to make it to your page with the time I do have, I am not the fastest reader in the world, so when I do venture.. reading each post takes me time and that is why sometimes I don’t make it back to your page for days or weeks at a time. In an event you want me to look at a particular post and leave feedback, let me know.. I don’t mind, I try to at least read and like what I like, if I don’t like it, I don’t pretend I do. LOL or I haven’t read it yet. 
  11. If you want to be a guest post on my blog, you are more than welcome to contact me and give me the scoop in what you want to write and if I like it, cool, if not, we shall tweak it or I keep it real and tell ya it isn’t a good fit, but no worries I am very chill:) If you want me to pick out a topic for you, I do that too. it just means more work for me. LOL. Also, I can guest post for others, if you want me as a guest post or interview, contact me, and we can talk about it. 
  12. As far as collaborations, if you want to collaborate with me on something, that is cool too! I am always open to work together on a project with people! 

Don’t hold me accountable for this semi-long post, lol. My life isn’t all daisies, I just left out the disasters . haha. 

Your fitness blogger,

Shay-lon xoxo

Personal Training: Helping a Friend day eight

personal-training

Hello bloggers!

Today was another day at the gym with John, although his sibling did not make it today :/ But from what he told me, she will be in later this evening and perhaps meet with me Thursday. I am happy she is considering getting another gym membership at the gym we attend, it will definitely help motivate her! 

Today our workout was the same exact workout as yesterday, the only thing I noticed different today was John was reducing his speed on the treadmill today when yesterday he had not. I asked him about it and he mentioned that both his ankles hurt today for whatever reason and today felt like it was a harder day. After the workout, he said his ankles weren’t hurting anymore, but I am hoping this isn’t a serious issue, if so, we may need to consider other options. With this being said, I don’t think he is ready to do 4.0 for 45 minutes all the way through yet, until I know more about his ankles, and until I can trust that he is starting to increase cardiovascular wise, which I do look for. I think his ankle situation is fine though, considering he wasn’t worried about it and he has had soreness before and it went away fine. I will be sure to keep a keen eye on him during the exercises. 

John mentioned how he needs to work on his eating habits, which hopefully he has a plan set in place, I didn’t have a chance to speak to him about it in depth because he had places to go, but tomorrow I am hoping we will so he can get on track with that as well. I want him to see results and build confidence within himself.  We shall see what tomorrow consist of, we are having day nine tomorrow, wish him luck! 

Your fitness blogger,

Shay-lon xoxo

P.S my right calf still hurts, and I haven’t done any weight training on it, to prevent further injury, not sure what is wrong with it, but hopefully it heals 100 percent within the next couple of days, if not, I am not going to be a happy camper.