The A Dot blog started in 2015 when our office of 5 employees had the idea of creating an outlet where we could share our personal experiences and journeys regarding all things business— the good, the bad and the ugly— on topics such as entrepreneurship, technology, marketing, recruitment, self-care and more. Fast forward to today: we now have over 15 blog contributors, over 470 posts, and a whopping 2.45 million views!

Since inception, I personally have written more than 100 blogs! While I don’t call myself a blogger by any means, I have learned a few things along the way of my A Dot journey:

1. You can find inspiration anywhere: Believe it or not, the most difficult part of blogging for me hasn’t been figuring out what to write about, it’s the time requirement itself (more on that later). So how have I come up with the topics I’ve written about so far? I write what I know about: marketing, social media, self care, long term care, etcetera. Tweets, books, Facebook posts, movies, news articles, personal experiences, podcasts and more have all been sources of inspiration for me. If I discover a topic I am passionate about, I think of a way to try to turn it into a blog.
2. It’s time consuming. There have been a number of times that I have sat down at my desk in the morning, written my to-do list in my planner and opened a new Word Document to get some content down and an email, phone call, or conversation will pull me in another direction. The truth is, we are all busy. We just really need to make the effort to set aside some time to get it done… just like we do with so many other tasks and projects that we undertake. Once I am finally able to plug in, block out distractions and put my fingertips to keyboard, I am able to type out a blog in 45 minutes or less.
3. Creativity isn’t key. When we first thought about the idea of a company blog, many, including myself, were reluctant. While I am typically a very creative person, and enjoy creative writing, I was worried I just wouldn’t have anything to talk about that people would actually care to read. I was wrong. If you write what you are passionate and/or knowledgable about and are your authentic self, chances are you will create something pretty great that people enjoy reading.
4. We’re our own worst critics. As the VP of Marketing, one of my responsibilities for a very long time was to receive and edit blog submissions for The A Dot. One common pattern that I noticed when receiving those submissions? Most contributors attached their blog file and typed something along the lines of the following in the body of their email: “Here’s my blog…not sure if it’s that great” “Here goes nothing…” “Edit whatever you need to in order to make it better.” Know what I felt after reading those submissions? Inspired for reading content that was uplifting, appreciative for learning something new about a topic that I initially knew nothing about, and proud that I work with some pretty amazing people! Don’t be so hard on yourself. No one is expecting you to write like Margaret Atwood. If you have a voice and an opinion on a topic, tips and tricks to make life easier, or a motivating story to share with others, people will read it.
5. It’s fun. I don’t mean this in the sense that I am always overjoyed when I write. What I’m saying is that it’s a great way to document certain times in your life, your business, and/or your career. When I look back at certain posts my coworkers and I have made in 2015, I  get goosebumps reading how far we’ve come together as a team and just how much I have grown both personally and professionally.
6. It’s a great marketing tool. There have been so many instances where members of our community and industry have let our team know that they read our blogs and reference back specifically to certain posts. Even if we don’t have one of the biggest blogs out there, we still have over 2.45 million views from over 85 countries! People around the globe have seen a glimpse of our little A Dot. How freakin’ cool is that?