This past July, I purchased the domain Celebrate Life. I wasn’t sure of the direction I was going to take with this site. I had no clue what I wanted to include on m About Page, and so I tossed something up and off I went. I did know that I wanted to get back into personal blogging. It’s something I’d taken a break from for almost two years. During that hiatus, I focused on growing my niche sites. They were monetized and starting to do well. Now those same sites are doing well monetarily. I felt I had the time to come create another personal blog. The thing is; I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do here on Celebrate Life? Imagine that… I never thought I would simply encounter a mental block writing about whatever the heck I wanted, but I did. With my niche sites, it’s easy. They’re focused on things I’m knowledgeable about; Mac technology, fitness, nutrition, it’s something I talk about a lot. The only difference part of my talking is done on websites.
In the beginning, Celebrate Life had me stumped. I didn’t know what direction I wanted to take here, so naturally I was experiencing a major writing block when I thought of my About Page.
Naturally avoiding updating my About Page, didn’t make it update itself. Shocking I know, running away from those temporary blocks makes them disappear, right? While the about page kept nagging me, I wrote here and I also immersed myself into some of the virtual communities I’d been involved with a few years back. Quite a few had left or slacked up on blog writing, but I was happy to see that some of the bloggers I enjoyed were still around.
Two bloggers I met while writing at my old blog…
- Megan Bayliss: Website developer and fair trade seller.
Reconnecting with Megan felt great, and always inspires me to do more with children. Megan Bayliss owns the site Imagine If. She’s a small business owner, website developer, fair trade seller, and child safety advocate. She’s such a nice person. I really enjoy reading her writings. If you have an RSS feed agregator you can subscribe to her RSS feed.
- Mike at Exit 78: Photographer and Ultimate road tripper
Checking in on Mike at Exit 78, I was happy to see he was still taking road trips, and sharing a bit of his adventures with his community. Through the stories he tells and the gorgeous photos he shares. He’s a nice man I enjoy reading what he writes. As a history buff, I always enjoy when Mike shares historical facts associated with some of the places they’ve visited throughout the USA. You can keep also keep up with Mike by subscribing to his RSS feed.
In hindsight, I should have left personal blogging in a different way. Perhaps even holding onto the domain with an occasional update. I simply had put over three years into my old personal blog and towards the end I wanted to take an extended break.
After a few weeks of getting back into the community aspects of blogging, It didn’t take me long to realize that my new site was actually going to be a recreation of my old personal blog. Imagine that, huh? Why didn’t I just go with that in the beginning? 😉 Well the mental fog related to the page has lifted, and I finally got around to updating the Celebrate Life About Page.
Question: Have you ever updated your About Me page?
I need to get around to updating my about page too, but I kind of hate talking about myself lol. I tried to just give a little glimpse of me without writing a book, because I really could. What do you think? How much is too much?
Hi @Wayne Howard,
I can relate, I don’t like talking about myself either, but I realize that people won’t know anything about me, if I’m not willing to share. How much is too much, I think it varies depending on the person. With my first personal blog, I dropped tidbits of my personal into my posts over the course of three years.
Finding a happy medium can be challenging; you might have to do what I did. Think about it, continue writing and eventually come back to that About page. It’s not going anywhere, and someday you should get around to updating it since it’s inviting your visitors to take a closer look at the writer behind the blog. It’s up to you to choose what you reveal 🙂
When I viewed the clicks on my site (via Google Analytics) I noticed my About me page received a high amount of clicks. I know it’s something I click on when visiting a site for the first time. 🙂
I don’t update mine unless something in it changes or I think of something I want to add or take out. Ie, mine says I’m almost 22, so I’ll change it in a few weeks to say that I am 22. I like to keep it current, but mostly consistent.
Heya @Amber, I mainly do minor updates too, I eventually know I’ll update to drive people to a specific category, post, or page. Internal linking on your about page is a great way to drive people to other areas of your site, and learn even more about you. 🙂
I have changed my About Me page four times in the last 2 years because my business keeps changing. My husband has been very sick and has not worked for 22 months. We bought a house, HAD to sell the house (at a HUGE loss) and I closed my child protection consultancy because I was too exhausted to work at high emotional capacity. I moved into doing personal development work, then went back to work as a manager of a therapeutic residential and am now back working for myself and doing my Masters degree in writing (a long held dream is to write full time).
It has taken a few months this time to settle into my new home business and decide which way to go. The secret Santa idea won over hands down because I can combine community development and child protection tenets with writing, selling fair trade products to assist women in developing countries and write my little heart out while having buckets of fun. I am happy and I am comfortable with my decision.
And as for being a nice person….we can only ever see that which already exists in our selves. Thank you, Moondancer, for being a wonderful person.
Mxxxxxxx
@Megan@secret Santa spirit of Christmas, Oh those had to be some challenging times, and I imagine stressful times too. I’ll definitely keep your family in my thoughts and prayers.
Oh that’s great that settling back into your home business. Sometimes it can take a while to decide exactly what avenue you want to pursue. I like the Secret Santa idea, it’s helpful on so many levels.
Thanks, I try to treat people how I wanted to be treated. Sure, at times that takes some effort since it requires interacrtion, but I believe it’s worth it. 🙂
I have changed my about Page once, but I really should update it again as I have a few things to add.
Heya @Rose,
With my older sites I do occasionally tweak them, when I want to post additional information, or perhaps point to a particular post. 🙂
It’s awful, but I don’t have an about me page yet!! I have been updating all the other info. pages on my site and, of course, the ‘about me’ page came up… quite frankly, i don’t like writing about myself like that…
Hey @Maira Grove,
I can relate, I really dislike talking about myself too. What helped me was thinking about myself as a visitor stopping by virtual home. Some visitors (like myself) are drawn to the about page. It’s the first place I stop, since I want to get a feel for the person behind the blog. An informative About Me page is extremely helpful since it gives me a better idea about the person, and hopefully they’re directing me to specific parts of their site too.
Ya…haven’t looked at it since I started my blog. Maybe some things may be outdated by now. Thanks for reminding…
boy oh boy dont remind me about updating my About Me page…I have to do it but first I need a really good blog template and to just go ahead and purchase a domain…..grumbles. then I would actually have to blog RELIGIOUSLY!
I don’t like my About page, but writing an appropriate one for what I do is a challenge. I don’t want to be too modest, because that’s actually lying. I don’t think anyone really does what I do online, and I’d be stupid to not comment on that uniqueness and what inspired it.
At the same time, it does look like there’s a certain elitism to what I’m saying, and I’m not terribly direct about regular things. No one could get a huge amount of personal details that we use to relate to each other from the blog, let alone the about page.
I dunno. I wish it were more down to earth. I wish I had just listed, say, songs and movies I like. But then again, I did do that with Blogger when I was there, and that conveyed nothing about what I actually write on the blog, or why.
@ashok, Why should you be modest? I think many of us have been raised to believe that talking about ourselves is wrong. Talking about your abilities, isn’t always bragging. How else will people get to know what you’re about? At times, I have to admit I’m guilty of not talking about my abilities either.
Your site is unique and that’s why I like it. I have only run across a handful of sites like yours. The one that really stands out in my mind still had a blog, but he converted it into a photo blog. I really miss his writings. My only regret is that you don’t write their more, but I can understand not being able to do that. I, at times, suffer from the same thing. Wanting to write, but not really having the time to devote to writing for my personal sites.
Have you checked outs sites like Good Read, I bet you would gain a strong group of followers there. I joined there a little while ago, but haven’t really become active yet. If you’re a book lover it’s definitely a nice place to hang out, list the books you’ve read, write reviews, and interact with others too and of course promote your site, by putting it in your profile. 😉
Ashok, Welcome back to the WWW. I figured you were busy in the real world since I didn’t see you on some of the sites we frequent. You were missed.
@Moondancer,
Tried Goodreads – the most powerful part of the site for me was book reviews. It was hard to get a network going.
One of the problems with being an “intellectual” is that everyone – esp. other intellectuals – thinks they’re better than you, and they actually get petty and jealous. I’m not saying this because “I’m so great,” far from it. I just couldn’t believe grown men and women were slinging some of the things they’ve said at me, and it took me a little while to realize exactly what was going on.
I’ll try Goodreads again: you know what you’re doing on here in terms of promotion. I’m experimenting with another site right now where things have a chance of going viral big-time. I’ll let you know how that works out. Like all things that have great potential, it’s pretty frustrating to get started and learn how it works.
Also – put this on Stumbleupon, delicious: just saying that in the hope that more people will add their voice to the crowd and this will go viral.
@ashok, That’s true… but you’ll find that in the majority of the niches out there. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. I pretty much ignore it, don’t change my game plan and keep it moving.
I see it often in the blogging about blogging or SEO type sites. People hoping others do bad, and they do well. What kind of nonsense is that? It’s not healthy. I cannot help but think that if they focused more on their goals, and how to go about attaining them. They would be a happier individual, and perhaps not turn some people off.
I finally got around to writing my “About Me” page a few months ago… a year or so after I started my blog. It also took me about that long to figure out what the purpose of my blog was. Once I got those two things squared away, the rest has come much more easily. Hope you’re able to define “who you are” and find focus for your blog.
Greetings @Ashley @ AP Freewriting,
Many thanks for stopping by my virtual home, the About me page, along with the actual domain name is something I’ve always struggled with. At times, I simply need to think how I want to write what I want to say. 🙂
A few weeks ago, I figured on the direction that I wanted to go with Celebrate Life, interestingly enough it will be a recreation of my old site.
My newest blog is still fairly new, but as new life events occur, I do update the about me page…I think outdated information won’t really tell readers “about me.” Right. great blog …I love it!
Hiya @Geek.Girl.Wife,
I have a love/hate relationship with new websites. I enjoy creating them, but sometimes I get stumped thinking of what I want to include in my about page. As the site develops, tend to go back to it and add or link to various items on my site.
For example, my newest website is about Apple technology, very tight niche focus there. It’s something I know a lot about, but I’m trying to think of the best approach to use, lol. I have created several pages on their already, I simply haven’t published them. 🙂
As a blogger if I find a blog that I really like I almost always peek at the ‘About’ page. Personal blogs, and even more business focused blogs are written by a person, so I like to be able to catch a glimpse of that person, read their story and make a connection. If you don’t keep your ‘About’ page updated, or heaven forbid, you don’t have one at all you’re missing out.
With that said, it might be time for me to give mine a little tweak. 😉 Great post & I really like your blog.
@Evelyn, I completely agree with you here, including an about page is a great way to let your readers know a little more about yourself. What you choose to reveal is up to you.
I really like your site too. I added it to my RSS feed when I stopped by a week ago.
Thanks much for the mention and nice words.
I looked at my about page for Exit78 and it’s up to date, for now, for as much as I want to share. Thanks for the reminder.
We’re currently in Wisconsin and will be at our daughters’ place tomorrow and several days afterward — actually camped near her, but we’ll be spending most of our time with her and our grandkids.
Hiya @Mike,
I’ll have to pop by your website, to check out more of those gorgeous photos. Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken numerous pictures. I imagine I’ll be posting some of them here.
It’s always nice to spend time with the family. Yesterday, several of our Florida relatives (my mothers siblings) stopped by our house. It was a great time hanging out, listening to their old stories, eating, and just being together.