I posted this comment on my personal Facebook page (Matt Browne) yesterday:
“I’m thinking about getting rid of our Hoot ‘n Annie and Little Browne Facebook pages. Instead of spending the time updating 3 different FB handles I would just do this one. We’ve been downsizing in life with stuff and bills and all that, now I want to attack the things that absorb so much of my time. I look at all the non financial stuff as mental or emotional debt…and I don’t like debt. Time to do an audit. Any thoughts?”
And the response was more than what I expected. As of right now it only had 29 “Likes” but if you include all of my responses to people there were 116 comments. Granted, some of those comments were goofy and playing around but still, that’s a fair amount.
So here’s the deal, it’s really hard to take care of two full time blogs and my personal blog that I have now neglected for far too long. In addition, I take care of 8 social media handles on sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Instagram that are mine or ours…like Hoot n Annie and Little Browne. In addition to these I take care of at least three other handles on a regular, consistent, or full time basis…these are ones that I do for others and receive payment for. At times there are some others but I am not counting those since they are not regular.
This has really soaked up a lot of my time because I spend so much time researching, finding things to post, and interacting with people on each of those. In addition to all of that I write anywhere from 15 to 25 blog posts per month and that’s aside from the writing I do just to write. Oh ya, I also have a painting company and work from home 4 days per week to take care of Sammy boy.
I say none of this out of being negative or complaining, I just finally realized that I’ve been too busy. Annie, Sammy, and making money are my priorities. Without a doubt I will continue this blog and the Little Browne blog because I absolutely love both of them and what they stand for. I am also massively appreciative of the community of people we have built around each of them…you guys are nothing but awesome.
My thought has been to streamline and continue our movement of minimalism. We’ve been doing things to make more money and spend less, use what we have instead of consuming more, and just trying to really simplify any and everything that we can…it feels amazing. Part of this minimizing needs to include going over our time, our mental state, and our overall happiness…the same way you would go over your expenditures. Sure, there is financial debt, but there is also emotional debt.
I have made no final decisions but I am still thinking that shutting down the Hoot n Annie and Little Browne Facebook pages would be a good move, as well as the Hoot n Annie Twitter handle. Annie and I would continue to post on our own personal pages so anyone that is not following us personally could feel free to friend us. Again, no final decision has been made but every second of my day, and yours, is important. There is so much information being thrown at us every single day and I not only want to better spend my time but I also don’t want our information or story to get lost in the abyss. I don’t want to be part of the overload of information on you or myself.
More free time would allow me to spend more time writing which is what I love to do, and more time writing means I will get better at it and it will help me on my little journey of finding out who the hell I am and what my world is all about. Thanks again to those that gave advice on Facebook last night in regards to my comment, it was awesome. We shall see what final decisions will be made here in the next 30 days. Thanks again folks, I love all the conversation, thoughts, and ideas that go back and forth. Cheers!!
Have you ever done an audit on your time and made adjustments?
In my humble opinion you need to do what is right for you for Annie and for Sammy. Go with your gut. I enjoy you and your blogs immensely but I also know how important quality time with your family is so do what is best for you and your family 🙂
You rock, Jo. Thank you. The blog has been an amazing project and I look forward to more of it. The social media side of it is getting a bit busy! 🙂
I feel your pain. We are posting FBs and blogs for each site we manage. But in our case, I don’t think it would make sense to consolidate to one page, Access Publishing, it has much less traffic and interaction than http://www.slovisitorsguide.com or http://www.centralcoastactive.com for example. The HootnAnnie brand is your personality (and Annies’s) so that should work pretty well. I say go for it. Do you use hoot suite or anything to streamline?
Scott, I primarily use Tweetdeck but I do have Hootsuite on deck if need be. I guess each scenario has different nuances, so each has to do what’s best for their situation. Just weird to think about letting go of stuff that I have put so much time in on. 🙂
For what it’s worth, I seldom go on Facebook now. I find it’s to time consuming and irriitating to keep up with format and other changes. I do enjoy this blog and check your website daily.
Gary, I hear ya. And I really appreciate the support. I haven’t made a final decision yet but I’m leaning heavily toward getting rid of the branded FB pages. Cheers!!
I understand that you need to do what is best to make your life more manageable. I rely on your HnA facebook page to update me on your blog posts and I enjoy reading about your experiences and adventures. I have already sent you a friend request on FB in the event that you close your HnA facebook page. Just don’t get rid of this blog!
Pat, thanks for the thoughts. And thanks for following along on this thing. I definitely have no reason to quit the blog…just thinking of ways to streamline the rest of the process. It seems I get busier and busier rather than caught up…LOL. Thank you again, and I accepted the friend request!! 🙂
Great points, Matt! You’ve put into writing exactly what I’ve been thinking about all the time I spend on social media, so seems like an audit of my own is in order.
Katy, so glad to see you, we need to hang out sometime! Yes, lately I have wondered why we only audit our finances (and some don’t even do that) but never audit our time, our mental state, or emotional side. I think all aspects of life need to be looked at to make sure we are truly on a better path each day. Cheers!
I agree 100% with Jo, follow your heart and do what’s best for you and your family. Alway’s put them first and everything else will follow. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, your feelings, your knowledge and your life with us. We appreciate you.
Duncan, I really appreciate it. And I love sharing Paso Robles and our lives with those that are interested and I love hearing about everyone else if and when they are willing to share. It’s one heck of a journey! 🙂
Hi,
I love Hoot ‘n Annie for all of your information about wine and especially my beloved Paso Robles area. I would have never followed any of your other blogs, Facebook or whatever. I am one of your older followers…but REFUSE to Facebook. If you give up this blog, sayonara, adios, bye yall. I have enjoyed learning more about your family and Paso. I know myself and am sure I will not not follow your other blogs. Just glad I got to read about the baby’s being born and start his life in the Paso wine country. Good luck. I have enjoyed the ride with you all. April Showers from TX
April, there is no way we are giving up the blog! I love writing about this area and sharing it with everyone. So, you aren’t getting rid of us!! 🙂 I REALLY appreciate your support…thank you thank you thank you!!!
I have a personal facebook page, an additional page for my food and wine lifestyle blog, as well as one for my photography website. Each of these is unique and “branded” differently and although I don’t find it too hard to post on each separately, I realize you are doing way more than most of us by handling posts on Twitter, Google Plus, etc. and I can only imagine that it gets overwhelming at times. But the bottom line for me is that not all of the people that I’m facebook friends with necessarily “like” each of my other two pages (some do, some don’t, and some are a combination). I also have some people following me on my two website pages that I’m not “friends” with. I guess the bottom line for me is that I personally feel: Keep ‘Em Separated.
Good info, Elizabeth!! My other thought when I came up with this, devils advocate, is that as a human I have many interests just like we all do. I know people that aren’t into the biz or branding side of FB but on their personal page they post about cigars, beer, and cars or maybe they post about computers, flowers, and their baby…my thought was that we’re allowed to have many interests yet, in the world of social media it seems we’re supposed to separate those things out. Tough choice, not decided in what I want to do but I am me and me is wine, beer, baby Sammy, Annie, travel, food, Paso Robles, etc. Who knows…it’s an interesting problem to have. 🙂
Important thinking here, Matt. I can relate, it does take quite a bit of time to maintain an active presence in all these places. Prioritizing makes a lot of sense. In my case, I try to step back and clarify which things are core to important goals, and which are more for fun (which for me is more the cooking stuff). Sometimes I have more time for the fun stuff and can do more with it but I go through phases where I need to be OK with having the activity be lower.
David, thanks for your thoughts. I totally agree. I have tried to build HnA and even Little Browne as brands in a sense. HnA is definitely something I have tried to build to the point where I can make money from it…I absolutely love Paso Robles, the wine and food scene here, and the people…so I love writing about it. We shall see. I thin the blog is more important than having the social media handles for HnA. I would still share all the HnA stuff via my own handles. Prioritizing is definitely the goal right now. 🙂
Let me know what you decide to do. I love reading all the things you share with us.
Tim, I have no intention on giving up this blog, I really enjoy it. The Facebook page for Hoot n Annie may disappear but I still have my Facebook page and all that. Just trying to see where my time is best spent but I/ we really do enjoy doing this!! Thanks for the support!! 🙂