Its been a beautiful Month full of content, and as I seat on my desk and stare at the blinking cursor I cant help but have a bitter-sweet moment and I am in my feels just a little bit. I remember the last week of November I had my planner and pencil all so pumped and excited for Blogmas No it was actually Vlogmas if am being Honest. I even had a Vlogmas Intro ready and everything. Planning Video content is Hard especially for 30 days straight. That means I needed to have a story (interesting enough at that) every single day. That may seem easy for a second, but mind you the story needs an Intro, a middle part and a conclusion. See, now let that sink in…

After I saw what my planner looked like. I had at most 15 interesting topics, and what was I going to do with the other 15? Because I needed this everyday. Not to mention, I took a Job offer, which means Blogging full-time was out of the Window. I usually get up at 5.30 every weekday, in order to be at work at 7:45 and I work all the way till 5:30 in the evening. With the crazy traffic in Dar-es-Salaam, I get home on average at 8-ish. Honestly I needed a doppelgänger to be able to stay sane and create content, edit and upload every single day. Not to mention staying consistent with my blog posts. Well I came to a fast realisation that, I was about to bite more than I could ever be able to chew. Let alone swallow and stay sane. I knew I had to Think and strategize fast.

Blogmas MARATHON 2017: The beginning

So I decided upon Blogmas, not that this platform comes second to mind. Blogging is my creative first child and my first love. And partaking in everyday theme writing felt like a breath of fresh air not only for the blog but also my creative side as a whole. If I could go back in time to re-examine my decision, I would definitely choose blogmas in a heartbeat, without second guessing and I have never been proud and happy with my decision-making like the way doing the blogmas Marathon felt like. That’s why The End of Blogmas Marathon 2017 is so heart breaking.

Blogmas MARATHON 2017: hOW I CAME UP WITH IDEAS

All I needed was a notebook, a pen and some creativity. I sat down with Monthly Planner, my notebook, (I still love the feel of paper and pen as opposed to digital note taking, I however do both) and started writing. How I came up with Ideas in my case, the advise or my 2 cents I would share would be:

• First and far most know your audience (Because let’s be honest, that’s who we write for)
• Since blogmas is a Theme related post, Stick to the Holiday theme.
• The post should be in line with one or more of the following (Entertain | Educate | Inform | all the above)
• Write down Ideas as soon as that idea bulb lights up.
• Have a Planner so that you time and space you post around, Example don’t have 3 food related post while you could have travel tips in between to break the monotony.
• Make sure you have fun or you will resent it.
• Be Creative, authentic, Engaging and let your personality thrive.
• Plan Ahead

Saving the best for last, Do your research,

See what people are searching on google.Yes, this is my secret not so secret tip. (if you take a minute to check out any of my posts, you will notice all my titles are intentional and search worthy!) In the beginning of my blogging journey I had the most ridiculous cute names for my title. That’s not a problem if you are trying to write an online journal. But if you’re looking to make an impact then writing about stuffs people search about will take you a long way. See the three examples below

• Entering the new years like a boss
• Celebrating New Years
• 20 Fun activities to do on New Years

The 3rd post just has a better ring to it and not to mention all forms of SEO juices. In turn reaching a lot of people (more views, discussion and traffic to your site) and creating a huge impact over all.

Blogmas MARATHON 2017: HOW I STAYED CONSISTENT

It’s defiantly clear at this point that am leading a double balance. I have a “Big-girl-tax-paying-job” on one end of a spectrum and I have my personal brand on the other opposite end of the spectrum. How on earth was I able to have full written content? (About 1500+ word count on average and 3000+ when am extra) every single day? Well here is the short answer Passion, Determination and a whole lot of Will power. I will be straight with you, it hasn’t been easy on God. There were about 5 instances I was about to say, “you know what? Fuck it!” But am so happy I searched deeper and found my will power and here I am Day 30 of my Blogmas Marathon.

It helped like a million times having my Editorial Calendar, Planning and writing the posts ahead. It’s the one thing that has helped me stay on top of my game. I did share a free Planner in the my very first post 50 Blogmas Ideas 2017 + a Free Blogmas Planner Template to help you lot and I have been an avid user of it. I will be talking more on How to stay consistent in the season finale of Blogging 101 on the first Friday of 2018.

Blogmas MARATHON 2017: TIME & SCHEDULING

If there is something that I discovered through out this Blogmas Marathon 2017 is that, schedule posting is something that would take you a long ass way. There was a point in time, I think during week 2 of Blogmas Marathon. Where I took consistency to a whole new level and I started having my post up and running at 8 on the dot. I learnt this From Sharon Mundia of This is Ess on her YouTube channel. She always had them up and going at 8 and I noticed she must be using the schedule posting. It’s a game changer. However in the last week I slacked and I have had my posts up in no particular order because I have been traveling and on the go every single day. So I worked with what life threw my way.

Blogmas MARATHON 2017: Lessons learnt

Well saying Blogmas Marathon 2017 has been a life changing  is totally an understatement. This has been an eye-opening experience and am so glad I was able to do it. In December to be precise because it has given me ideas and Lessons to take to my next year of Blogging for MissKymmiee Creatives. So in no particular order, the Lessons I Learnt.

• Consistency is possible
• Editorial Calender and Planner will take you a long way
• Blogmas Marathon is not a Joke.
• De-motivation will try you, and it might win if you let it.
• Creative Block reduces when you do daily writing
• I got to discover a whole new side of me.
• Self doubt will attack you constantly
• Nothing beats passion.

Blogmas MARATHON 2017: Will I do it again!

Fuck No! This was my initial thoughts when I was approaching day 5. There was a point I found myself thinking, Kymmiee Darling! Nobody Cares, but I didn’t let self-doubt stop me. I prevailed and 30 days down the Blogmas Marathon 2017 journey am so excited and still fuelled up and energetic to create more content. So as I end this years Marathon, am proud to say. “Will I do it? ABSO-FUCKEN-LUTELY! a million and one Yes! In a heartbeat with no doubt in my mind. However I will give it a spin of things. probably 25 Days of Christmas or 12 Days of Christmas but am in this for the long run.

There you have it Ladies and Gentlemen! My take on Blogmas Marathon 2017. Its been a glorious run and thank you for sticking with me till the End of time. As I sign out my Last post for Blogmas. Am even more grateful for the best views in my entire writing journey. This has been a dream come true, Thank you for all the love support and most importantly for believing in me. I will talk to you all real real soon! With that being said, I bid you A Happy and prosperous New Year 2018.