As I write this first year recap of #createlounge, my weekly Twitter chat, I’m blinking away (happy) tears while searching for a word that accurately describes how I feel in this moment. I still haven’t found one.

All I know is that every Wednesday at 7 PM CT, magic happened.

What once started as my way to consistently meet and share experiences with fellow creatives has now grown into a thriving community making big waves in the creative space. You can almost hear our pulse every time we meet.

I created the chat after participating in various PR and social media related Twitter chats for a year and a half. I liked chatting with other PR professionals, but I lit up like a Christmas tree when I talked to creative bloggers and entrepreneurs.

As I shifted my brand to fit this audience, I searched for chats that were dedicated to these creatives. At the time, there were none. I saw a huge gap in the industry and I was anxious to fill it. After I graduated in December 2014, I started #createlounge the following January.

#createlounge was the first Twitter chat for creative bloggers and entrepreneurs.

Since its inception, there have been dozens of other great chats for creatives that have popped up, but I still think we do a unique thing at #createlounge. But before we touch on that, let’s start at the beginning.

As a special little throwback, here’s the first tweet about #createlounge ever. (Thank heavens we changed the visual after the first chat. *face palm*)

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WOO-HOO! I’m hosting a new Twitter chat #createlounge which begins on Jan. 7th at 7 PM CT! Let’s get creative! pic.twitter.com/GKdD2eZziJ

— Sindie (@kayla_hollatz) December 8, 2014

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First, let’s start with the stats.

While I often talk about my “names over numbers” approach to community building, I do believe numbers can help to show the growth and reach of a community. For readers who are data obsessed, this next section is for you.

• 52,091 total mentions
• 2,735 unique participants (with hundreds of regulars!)
• 127 million total impressions

(Please note all stats were taken from 1/1/2015 to 1/1/2016. There were 48 total chats as 2 were canceled for holidays and 2 for work conflicts.)

Also, it’s worthwhile to note 68% of the total mentions above were replies, meaning #createlounge is the highly engaging community I always dreamed it would be.

Of course, numbers don’t tell the real story, but stories and photos do.

Here are a few of our community “wins” after one year:

We’ve seen #createlounge members launch blogs and businesses

Being creative is tough. Whether you’re battling harsh criticism, crippling doubts, or falling prey into the comparison game, having a die-hard community of fierce creatives rallied around you can help you go from launchpad to take-off.

For Devan Danielle, the community at #createlounge was the big push she needed in order to launch her blog to complement her branding design business.

Here’s what she had to say about #createlounge:

“During my first #createlounge chat, not only was Kayla super welcoming, but the amazing community encouraged me to pick a launch date for my blog. Without that push, my blog probably still would not be up today! I owe a lot of my beginning blog engagement to Kayla and the lovely community she built.”

As a fun side note, since meeting Devan through #createlounge, we’ve become extremely close. Like text each other every day, how-did-I-ever-do-life-without-this-girl close.

I even took a road trip to see her last month to have a #GIRLBOSS weekend and envision what the next year could look like for #createlounge. Case in point: Twitter chats are an awesome place to find your business besties.

We’ve helped creatives step out of their comfort zones

Creativity is synonymous with boldness and courage. Being a creative means taking a leap of faith into the unknown and pushing fear aside. This is what we try to do every week at #createlounge.

After the quick rise of Periscope, many members expressed an interest in utilizing the new platform but were nervous about live video broadcasting. After hosting a chat on building your personal brand on Periscope, a few #createlounge members got the extra dose of courage they needed to do their first scope. This is just one example of how our community members are continually pushing past their doubts in order to make beautiful things happen.

We’ve grown an offline community

Nothing brings a smile to my face more than seeing photos and tweets from #createlounge members who grabbed a coffee or drink with someone they met locally through the chat. I guess we’ve become a friendship matchmaker! I’m more than okay with that.

I’ve been able to vastly grow my offline community in Minneapolis as well. Toward the end of 2015, I hosted a few casual dinners in order to meet more Minnesota natives that wandered into the chat. This group now endlessly inspires me and is my IRL cheerleading squad.

If you’re ever in Minneapolis, give me a holler. I’ll treat you to hot chocolate regardless of the season.

Most of all, we’ve connected creatives far beyond the chat hour

During our chat on the power of handwritten letters, many members tweeted “How cool would it be to have #createlounge pen pals?” and my answer was “Super, wicked cool.” We quickly made it happen! We paired creatives based on their niche so they could connect with like-minded creatives.

And now for a special thank you

If you’re reading this and have been a part of the #createlounge community, thank you for sharing your creative heart with us over the past year. It’s been an honor getting to know you every week. You are the light of #createlounge, the fuel that keeps us moving forward. A thousand times thank you.

The post One Year of #createlounge: The Stats and The Stories appeared first on Sindie.

It’s important to note that you can be a successful blogger without having quit your day job. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can rock both commitments if you know how to juggle blogging and working. Here are some tips to help you along the way.

It’s all in how you spend the time you have

Even though it would be great to have more than 24 hours in a day, it’s just not possible. Although you have a limited schedule with working a day job, there are things you can do to be sure the time spent on your blog is done in the most productive way possible.

Look at how you spend the hours you devote to your blog. Do you browse through other random blogs or scroll aimlessly through your social media feed? This can be majorly unproductive but we have all been guilty of this. It’s important to have an output for the time you spend on your blog. For example, turn the posts you read on other blogs into tweets to share with your audience. Then it’s valuable for you and your audience.

Tip: Define specific goals before doing any task and eliminate anything that could be a distraction. If you need to spend a half hour digging through your inbox, don’t reach for your phone to check your notifications every few minutes. If you block out an hour of time to learn from a keynote presentation posted on YouTube, don’t click on cat videos in the sidebar. Difficult, I know, but I believe your ability to stay focused.

Consistency is still important

Sure, a full-time blogger might have more time in their day to devote to content, but you still must create a consistent content schedule. Whether you post monthly, weekly, or daily, you must set the standard so your audience knows when to expect content.

A common misconception about blogging is that you have to publish content every day to be successful. It’s just not true. Your audience would rather have one great, actionable blog post a week than five “eh” posts. For me, I publish a blog post every Monday. It’s a schedule that works for me and my audience.

Tip: Look at the analytics of your blog. What days attract the most amount of traffic? What times to visitors come to read your posts? Data can be your best friend in finding when you should publish your content.

Stay committed to your audience

It doesn’t matter if you blog full-time or part-time: your audience is everything. I know part-time bloggers that have grown their blogs faster than full-time bloggers based only on how highly they value their audience.

It takes time to build a loyal community. Don’t expect to be an overnight success. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a dynamite following. Nurture your audience by investing time in them in any way that you can.

Tip: Rank these five things from most to least important: replying back to comments, emailing promptly, answering replies on social media, commenting on other blogs, and participating other online communities. Now when you have extra time, you’ll know where to focus your attention first.

BONUS tips from awesome part-time bloggers

Some of Wednesday night’s #createlounge participants had excellent tips on how to juggle a blog and full-time job. Here are five golden pieces of advice they had on the subject.

Emma Dahl: “Remember why you starting blogging in the first place and channel that.”

Jenna Arak: “1. Keep a running list of ideas 2. Write before work 3. Be kind to yourself”

Betsy Gettis: “Write ahead and schedule those posts out!”

Melanie Craft: “Use up every minute you can towards social media!”

Meredith Davis: “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Take breaks. Use your time wisely. Travel for inspiration.”

The post Balancing a Blog and Day Job appeared first on Sindie.