BIG PLANS FOR THE BLOG

After enjoying my baby and our family and the holiday season and taking a few weeks off from blogging (and enduring one scary, close call with my laptop and a spilled cup of water), I'm finally back and I've got some big announcements!

A serious lack of motivation for blogging up and smacked me in the face a couple months ago. It became something of a chore, and the idea of spending hours upon hours of time putting together giveaways and trying fruitlessly to gain followers on all the various social media platforms that I don't even use became dreaded and daunting. I spent a lot of time considering the path my blog has taken since my first post five years ago, and it has absolutely evolved, as all things do. I've gone down various roads with it - writing just for myself, finally convincing a small audience of friends and family to read, working hard to gain a larger following but only gaining readers who were interested in giveaways instead of content. It all felt kind of fake. Then when Henry was born, I realized I didn't have time in my life for fake.

This break from blogging has been amazing. It's given me time and perspective to decide what to do with this blog. I knew I didn't want to do sponsorship with other blogs anymore. I knew I was not, would never be, and finally decided I never wanted to be a fashion blogger (more on this later). I knew I wanted a new design. I knew I wanted to refocus my content. And I knew I wanted to turn this into a stay-at-home job.

But how do you turn blogging into a job without sponsorship? I thought hard about it, and decided to affiliate. It's spare change most of the time, but I don't have to write posts about bloggers I don't know or try to recommend products I don't love. From now on, this blog's focus will be on family and home. I'm really excited about this new motivation. After all, the funnest time to blog is when you are totally authentic, and my authentic life is now wholly about home and family.

So I've shifted gears. I've rebranded. The Framed Lady, now a "home and happiness blog," complete with a redesign that I did by myself (!). I won't be doing advertising for other blogs anymore. Instead, my ads will be primarily affiliate links for products and businesses I support. My posts will be on stuff in my life. No more sponsored posts or group giveaways. I can't wait to get started and share all my ideas. I have a whole new motivation for it. For my home and family. For my life.

I hope this new year gives you as much excitement as it gives me!