I’ve been blogging for two and a half years now, but ironically, these days I’m feeling like a babe in the woods.

Looking back, I’d say I’ve achieved a measure of blogging success - if you measure that success in terms of money. I make a good part-time income from my blogging (including the freelance blogging that I do) and I know that for many bloggers, this is a serious metric when it comes to measuring success.

But the thing is, I seem to be moving in a different direction than most bloggers. Most bloggers are moving towards finding financial success with their blogs, while I have blogs that make money, but I’m moving towards developing blogs that speak to my passions.

Eventually these new blogs of mine will make money - I’ve been around long enough to know that time does make a difference online, whether it’s websites or blogs, especially when I combine that time-in-existence with what I know about monetizing sites. But for these blogs, I’ve taken money out of the equation for now.

So I sit here, feeling very strange - a seasoned blogger who’s also very much a newbie tackling a new-to-her type of blogging, with all the social and networking aspects that that implies.

(I think that maybe a post entitled “What’s a Shy Blogger to Do?” is due to be written soon.)

One of the things that I’m finding a bit challenging right now is finding my voice on my new blogs.

Can a Blogger be a Private Person?

I am essentially a very private person - when I began blogging at my Internet Marketing blog over two years ago, I couldn’t even bring myself to use my full name, and ended up blogging using my initials. (By which I am still known - another complication, this going by two names business).

I do think, though, that you can be a blogger while still being rather private about your personal life.

But here’s the challenge that I’m facing right now.

My Best “Voice” is a More Personal Voice

When I’m at my best with my writing, I’m doing it from a gut level. It’s not that I’m talking about my private life, it’s that when I write about something that I know or that I’m exploring, I attain my best writing when I put myself into it fully.

It’s something that I’ve been resisting. I have been trying to stay professional in my blog posts at my new blogs, and it’s not that easy. The writing isn’t as smooth as normal. I feel strange.

What I really want to do most when I blog, is share. And it seems to me that I am most effective at sharing when I inject who I am into my writing.

I can write professionally, as an expert - I’ve been freelancing as a writer for years now, and in my freelance articles, I do this all the time. It’s very much a matter of fact, this approach.

But it doesn’t seem to work as well for me when I’m blogging. When I’m too professional, it’s like something is missing.

Being Personal and Professional at the Same Time

Today, I came across a post called “Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes” written by Nneka at Balanced Life Center about the changes she is implementing, both in her blog and in her life.

Her opening paragraph really caught my eye:

“They” say that you aren’t supposed to talk about yourself if you want to grow your blog readership. Today I’m breaking the rule.

And then she goes on to write one of the most beautiful posts I’ve ever read on her blog, which I’ve been following for a while now.

While she might have thought she was delving into the personal, to me her post felt like the perfect blend of personal and professional.

Her word for this year is “foundation”. My word for this year, in my personal life, has been “authenticity”.

After reading her post, it occurred to me that perhaps my word for the year is applicable to both my personal life, and my professional life as a blogger.

I am on my way to truly finding my voice on my new blogs, I think. It will be a challenge, grappling with being more open than I’ve ever been, while at the same time, staying the professional me that is still very much me.

But finally, I feel like I have a true sense of direction.