On keeping blogging as my secret thing that I do and blaming content success on the algorithm
Welcome to the Perfect Manifesto Sunday Reflections.
This post is inspired by the week note format that many professionals use to reflect on their working week, except in these reflections I’ll be sharing various observations from all parts of my life, covering a range of topics, in short snippets that don’t quite justify fitting a full post.
As covered in the name, I’ll be putting these out every Sunday I feel inclined to put down my thoughts.
It’s a blog heavy one this week…
What if I’m discovered?
My first Sunday reflections brought up feeling I’d not felt for a while – a fear to press publish.
When I first decided to do this, the idea of my reflections was to reflect on one or two personal experiences for the week, in a free flowing exercise where I’d just let my thoughts hit the page.
It’s probably this free flowing format that created this fear, my thoughts were pretty unfiltered and I began to worry if I published these experiences, would friends and family not take it in the spirit intended as lessons learnt, but rather be offended by it?
Ever since I decided to start a blog this has been my little private thing, not because I wanted to use that as an excuse to bitch and moan about others, but just to have that little creative outlet that’s just for me.
In short of a month, I’ll have been writing this blog for over ten years, and only a handful of people realise I do this. Would I ever tell people what I do in my spare time? Parents, best friends, old friends?
Maybe, though my fear is that they’d stumble on some old post, or off hand comment from long ago about incidents that are water under the bridge, that serve nothing but to open old wounds if discovered.
The algorithm didn’t like my post
I came across a TikTok video from popular YouTuber MrBeast talking about the platforms algorithm, where he said:
“The algorithm didn’t like that video? No, the audience didn’t like that video.”
Mr Beast Explains the Youtube Algorithm in 30 Seconds #mrbeast #coffee… | TikTok
This viewpoint perfectly sums up the journey I’ve come to with blogging.
Around four/five years ago I decided this was the time whether my blog was going to make or break in terms of growing a big audience, so I went all in with researching the tips and tricks that would get my posts more views, and help increase my subscribers.
From spamming Pinterest with 12 images a day, to trying to understand the dark arts of SEO, to over obsessing over bullshit like where my DA score was at I was willing to try it all.
My efforts began getting consumed focusing on these time consuming marketing tasks, and the minor returns I got from these tedious jobs, just weren’t worth it when it was sacrificing time from what I came here to do in the first place – write!
So now when posting I’m not thinking about algorithm conspiracies, I’m focusing on writing about things I enjoy, taking pride in my outputs, and hoping other people get something out of it too.
Thank you for reading
Wishing you the best in your success
James @Perfect Manifesto
Perfect Manifesto 
My family know I have a blog, but the thrill of reading what I write soon disappeared. Not because they were bored with what I wrote but because hardly any of them said anything about it anymore. I occasionally get asked, ‘Are you still blogging, Hugh?’ or How’s the blog going, Hugh?’ That tells me which family members are no longer reading my blog.
Likewise, I blog for enjoyment rather than trying to get my posts to go viral. Yes, it’s nice when I see posts getting views, but it’s the readers leaving genuine comments and who want to talk that I do it for. Plus, those people who don’t want to leave a comment but who occasionally tell me they enjoy reading my posts.
We must have started blogging around the same time, James. My first post went live on 12th February 2014, but it took me a few weeks to get the courage to click the ‘publish’ button. That post has long gone, but I remember it was all about ‘lists.’
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That’s interesting- my wife knows I blog, she read a lot of my posts at first, and will check in now and again (I know that because she’ll say something like “That was an interesting post you wrote about…”
Other people I showed were one and done, one person who seemed extremely interested in my writing I sent a link, and he never said anything again about it!
It’s nice getting comments, especially when they are sincere and trying to contribute to the conversation (rather than doing with intention you’ll return the favour). I’m always grateful to those people, if I didn’t get any I don’t think I’d quit blogging, but it’s encouraged me to keep consistent knowing people are out there!
Yes we did, can’t quite believe it’s ten years first starting. Still remember looking at my new blog thinking I needed to post more so it didn’t look as empty, now there are posts I don’t even remember writing!
I decided I wanted to ‘write more’ in January, and it took me a week to realise a blog was the best way to achieve that, bit of planning, bit of building up courage and the rest is history!
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Sincere comments that somebody wants to add to the discussion are the comments I appreciate the most, James. I’m done with short dead-end comments, but we already discussed that.
I don’t mind that family and friends do not read my blog or only read it occasionally. But I will keep at it as long as those sincere and genuine comments come in and I still enjoy blogging.
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