Sometimes Its Just Time

…to be completely honest with myself and you all.  I mentioned a while back that I would be doing a huge rebrand to New Mama Diaries, but haven’t gone into much detail about it.  For one, its because I’m still in the process of branding the new space and two, I haven’t wanted to let go of New Mama Diaries.  I’ve had this girl for nearly a year and a half, never even thinking I’d stick with her this long.  I’ve worked so hard to build her up, grow my readership, and create an authentic space for me to share my thoughts, experience, expertise, and so much more.  Over time, especially more so recently, I realized that I hadn’t really been doing that.

See, the thing is that I started New Mama Diaries simple as a way to chronicle my first pregnancy and write about impending motherhood.  I know I’ve said that many times before, but that’s really the only reason it was ever created.  I never ever set out to be a “mommy blogger” or “family blogger”, I just set out to blog about whatever was going on in my life as a new mama.  I came up with the name New Mama Diaries, because that’s exactly what this space was at the time, and it was the space I was in, mentally, physically, and emotionally and I loved it.  Truth be told, however, I never really liked the name, seriously, it just something I came up with off the top of my head one night, because many other names similar to it were already taken.  I was hyped up on starting a blog I didn’t think about the impact that the name of it would have, and didn’t at all possess any applied knowledge of branding at the time.  Nonetheless, I always thought to myself, one day that I’d have to change the name, it was inevitable, because I’m not going to be a new mom forever.  Even if I have more babies, I still won’t be a new mom…catch my drift?

NMD helped me get through not only my pregnancy, but so much more of what’s gone on in my life over the past year or so.  I’ve posted about everything from pregnancy, motherhood, babies, recipes, blog design tips, tutorials and how-to, and the list goes on and on and on.  You see, while all these things are great, my poor space kind of got all over the place.  While I’d love to label myself as a “lifestyle” blogger, I can’t really say that NMD represents that and I hate that!   It really irks me that I didn’t stay very focused with NMD.  Its like whatever came up, came out and I think that in the long run it didn’t help and in reality it limited me.  You’d think writing about everything would give you more range and that the possibilities are endless, but it does just the opposite.  Readers appreciate consistent and focused content, and as someone who consults others on the very thing, I’m not great at following my own advice.  One of the main reasons being that I was scared, so scared.

When I first became serious about graphic, web and blog design, as well as branding, I rarely posted on it here on NMD.  I didn’t because I felt I had to have two separate spaces, that they were mutually exclusive, and that the two couldn’t exist in one space.  Part of my rationale was that my readers wouldn’t appreciate my new endeavors and that they’d see it more as me trying to push my business and services on them.  I didn’t realize at the time that people would better appreciate me for staying true to myself and writing about what I was passionate about and being completely honest and open with them.  Instead, I did the exact opposite (again!) and was extremely vague and unintentional about it.  Yes, some of my posts every now and then talked about graphic or blog design or had a link to my shop, but I never went into detail and expounded on any of it.  All the while I really wanted to, but didn’t really know how to do it.  I should have just done it!  I think I would have saved myself so much trouble and time.  I also should have been telling you all what I could do for you, instead of reaching out to the rest of the world first.  I could kick myself for that now!

[Tweet “If Your Dreams Don’t Scare You, They Aren’t Big Enough”]

There were times that craziness was happening on the business front and I had nowhere to turn and tell you all about it, because I didn’t think I could…or should.  I should have realized that my business is a part of my life, a part of who I am now.  Just like my pregnancy was a part of who I was when I started NMD, graphic design, web design, and branding are a part of who I am now.  I no longer want to limit myself.  I want to write about what I’m passionate about and not let anything hold me back from doing so.  As I move forward with the rebrand and once its complete, I will still be sharing personal stories, tips, tricks, tutorials, and even the occasional recipe and such, but my content will be more focused.  No, the new space will not serve as an advertisement for my business or the services I provide, but I will be discussing them, as well as an array of topics that relate to them.  The reason why is because everything I’m doing now, from a business and services standpoint is to help people.  I feel I can better help you all and others by sharing what I know on these subjects, and from my perspective as a follower of Christ, wife, mother, and small business owner.  Its what I really want to do.

Stay tuned for part 2, in which I’ll lay out exactly what my intentions are for my rebrand and how I’ll be going about staying true to them.

Thanks so much for reading and I absolutely welcome any feedback you may have!  I sincerely hope you will stick around and join, or if your new jump aboard and ride this wave and new adventure with me.

Much love!