susan earlam ~ horror author

Hello, hello, is this thing still on?

A change is as good as a rest they say. I’ve really changed direction, become less commercial, was I ever?

I don’t sell anything tangible, the world doesn’t need anymore stuff. I’ve virtually stopped working with brands because of this. I’m not here to sell products. I’m here to write, to communicate, to share experiences and to connect. Always from an authentic place.

Somewhere along the line, blogging became influencing and then you didn’t need to blog at all, you could just be an influencer.

I’m not saying that all influencers and/or bloggers are inauthentic, they aren’t. But, some are, and its the differentiation between the two, that I see is tricky for people not in the industry. Anyway, I think the industry is changing again and people who are inauthentic will be found out, a case in point is the recent outing of a certain racist midwife. On that topic, this blog post is brilliant, and from a PR company, Why I’m no longer working in the influencer industry.

SIDE NOTE- When I’ve worked with brands in the past it was always genuine, I loved the brand’s heritage, or would’ve bought the item or service anyway. Much of my work helped me decorate my home and I’m grateful for that time and opportunity. And I might still say yes to the occasional thing, but this would be the exception and not the norm.

I’m not buying much stuff these days. As a family we are slowly changing our lifestyle. Consumerism is killing the world we live in and I wont be a part of pushing that on anyone, I try to be much more considered when I do buy stuff. I’ve also had my head buried in writing a book which has changed me as a person, it has made me more Me.

It’s the creative process of writing that draws me back to blogging. I’ve built a successful blog and now I’m building on my base here to reach publication in a different medium, a novel. I truly wouldn’t be where I am without this blog and it is an essential part of my path for which I’m grateful. It has brought me to the place I’m at now, of creating with fiction.

Someone in fact said to me the other day that I was a bad influence for making them want to write a book… And HELLO, that is magic, and for me, a brilliant thing to be influencing people to to do.

I’ll be celebrating my 10 year blogging anniversary in February 2020, and having been around the blogosphere since 2010, watched the rise of the “influencer” and skirted around it myself, and despite all the above, I still love blogging! I’ve never been a Yes person, and have always said No to 90% of the offers I get in my inbox. Now, I’ve literally gone back to my roots and gone full circle…

I’ve moved back over to WordPress.com, I’m no longer self hosted.

My hosting renewal bill would be £128 at the end of December and tbh, apart from not making as much money as previous years via this space (for the reasons above) I don’t really need all the bells and whistles, the customisation, the worry and maintenance that comes with a self hosted site. I’ve gone with the Personal plan at WordPress.com which is costing me £36- it exactly suits my needs, and there’s no stress about someone hacking into my site etc. Although, I still would recommend Siteground as a host, if you are looking for someone. I just don’t need all that jazz any more.

I also want to say Thank You, some of you have been with me for a long time. Most of my old blog posts are still here, just type into the Search bar what you are looking for. I can still Pin things to Pinterest and will still be on social media.

What this switch is giving me is more money in my pocket and less head-space taken up with blog maintenance. Which means I can focus on writing my fiction and sharing here when I fancy too. I’ve got around forty Draft posts that just need tinkering with, so I’m not going anywhere.

Hope you like the new look, if you’ve read this far through my rambling then have a gold star!

If you are inspired by this kind of Downsizing, the resource I used to do it is here; How to Migrate from a Self-Hosted WordPress Site to WordPress.com