Branding Realizations + Pau Pursues Passion's 3rd Blog Relaunch

Personal branding - Pau Pursues Passion

Hey, guys! I’m back! I’ve been away for around 2 months, mostly to reevaluate what I want to happen with this blog. At one point, quitting this whole endeavor sounded tempting. I didn’t know where to go, didn’t know what to do, and the blog didn’t feel right. Trying to address the concern, I thoroughly researched about a couple of things and thought about them some more: 

1. What if I migrate to Wordpress and get my own web-hosting? Will that make things feel a little more ~legit~?

2. Squarespace. Some of the blogs I follow are hosted on Squarespace and the whole drag-and-drop thing sounded appealing plus, again, it feels a little more ~legit~.

3. What type of content calendars are there? Do I want to keep up an actual planner or do things digitally?

4. My blog traffic isn’t so good. What’s the point in all of this???????

See how cluttered my thoughts were?

Then, it hit me: I was too focused on the planning stage that I had no more energy left when it came to the actual implementation. I was too focused on how to prettify my journal, my planner, or anything else that would be worthy of posting, that I ended up not posting anything at all. I wanted something pretty, something that looked so professional and legit, that I forgot the key essential aspect of blogging: content is king. Some months ago, I wrote about wishing I persevered throughout the years. That blog post became a good reminder to not give up on this now.

So, without further ado, let me speak about this blog again and share a bit of its history along with key lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Pau Castillo | Pau Persues Passion | Personal Branding

Be at peace with your branding and domain name.  

I can't stress this enough. Think it through, think about what you can deliver. Initially, this blog held the domain name whypauwrites.com and it was supposed to be a blog about all the reasons why I write. It was a clever excuse of having a specific yet general niche because, at the end of the day, there are a hell lot of things I write about. The ironic thing about it was that it was also about my art journey, journaling endeavors, and a bunch of other stuff. So what was the blog about, really? Writing? Art? Travel? It was a mix of so many things cowering behind the idea that they're all about why I write.

Here's another conflicting thing: even back then, the blog name has been "Pau Pursues Passion" (coming from a random hashtag I came up with on New Year's Eve 2017) and it became confusing with the domain name. My boyfriend and some of my friends thought, at the time, my blog was already paupursuespassion.com. It was around March when I purchased a new domain name and connected it to this blog prior to relaunching it the second time. 

A few personal key takeaways about personal branding:

1. Know what you can contribute, know your skills, and know what you can put out there. Brainstorm a name, a term, or a short combination of words that would encompass everything.

2. Make sure you have room for growth. Let's take "Why Pau Writes" as an example. What if someday, writing would no longer be the only thing I can do / I can offer? What if someday, I can share something else? Try to come up with a name or a brand that's general enough to adjust in time but specific enough that you find meaning in it. 

3. Your personal branding is your main compass in this crazy digital journey. Make sure it's leading you to where you want to be and you're at ease when following it. Make sure it's a part of you, make sure it speaks about you.


Discover your blogging and personal growth along the way.

I was too excited to launch the blog and go right at it. At the time, I greatly looked forward to engagement, to traffic, clicks, and pageviews. And because those things became my main driving force, it (unfortunately) became the only thing that mattered. I wrote about things that I knew would get me clicks and views even if they were no longer in line with my brand. I ended with a scattered blog and still no long-term improvement with my statistics. 

It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to not get things right the first time, the second time, or the third time as long as you keep on learning along the way and applying what you learned. In line with what I said about personal branding, having a stable one will lead to lesser discouragements because I'm sure you'd want to continue improving something you're passionate about even if the results wouldn't be immediate. Just keep on being you, keep on doing your thing, keep on growing, and keep on keeping on! 

(PS: I will be writing more about my blogging and branding journey as it happens. I hope you guys will tune in for that!) 

Make a home out of your blog.

Pau Pursues Passion - Homepage | theme by Odd Themes
Legenda Theme for Blogger by Odd Themes

Your blog is your own little personal space in the entirety of this crazy digital world. Think of it as your room or your apartment/condo unit. Just like how you'd look forward to coming home to neat and personalized space, you'd also be excited about maintaining a blog that feels home. For the first time since this blog's "whypauwrites.com" days, this blog finally feels right.

A tip: find a theme you really like, a theme that suits what you want to happen, and be willing to spend for it. This may not sound ideal the first time, but this was how I achieved having the blog look and feel right. With free versions, I can't do much. It's as if my brand had to adjust with the limited features available but by shelling out a certain amount, I got to have what I wanted for my blog and I got professional help with it! Purchasing a template also gave me the chance to fully own it by removing footer credits. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't credit the wonderful people behind this work of art!

With that said, I'd like to do a simple shoutout:

Thank you SO MUCH to Ceyron Louis of Odd Themes for the theme and for the help with all the installation and personalizing! The patience and willingness to make my requests possible were superb. 

For Blogger users, head over to oddthemes.com and check out all the wonderful themes they have! Whether it's for your personal blog, your portfolio, or your business, I'm sure you'd find something suitable for you. They offer excellent customer service so if you've set a budget for setting up your blog, I assure you that purchasing their "template + installation" package is worth every penny. We Blogger users get to save on web hosting anyway, so having a little splurge on the appearance of our blog wouldn't hurt. Trust me, when your blog feels right, you'd be even more motivated. 

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With all of those things said and done, let me welcome you once again to Pau Pursues Passion: a blog where I share my creative lifestyle, my passion journeys, and everything in between. 

I'm Pau Castillo of Pau Pursues Passion, currently a digital marketing specialist / content creator pursuing passions. :)

Keep pursuing passions,

  

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