Welcome to the blog
This is my blog archive. My new writing lives on Substack.
Instagram, We Need To Talk
I’m sorry, but it’s not working. I’ve not wanted to admit it to myself, but it’s not been working for quite some time now. And something needs to change.
For months now, maybe even a year, I’ve been increasingly uninspired by my own Instagram posts. It’s not that I’ve grown tired of photography. No, it’s something else, and it’s taken me a long time to figure out what it is. But I think I’ve got it now. I’m tired of showing a polished surface, of being aspirational, and of the lack of realness. think I’ve got it now. I’m tired of showing a polished surface, of being aspirational, and of the lack of realness.
How To Design A Website That Feels Like Home
My first attempt at designing my own website was not pretty. You might look at my website now and think it looks nice and not quite believe me, but I’m telling you, it was ugly. It had a border at the top that looked like wood, on it was a logo involving a turquoise feather, and some of my headings were hot pink. It was a mess, but it was a website, and I used it for a couple of months before I redesigned it into something slightly better.
As a creative human sharing your work online, your website is your digital home. And it should feel like one - your own, comfy, cosy and beautifully decorated home. It should reflect who you are, and invite others to hang out and get to know you better. Your website is where everything comes together.
How To Start A Blog That Feels Like You
This is my 133rd blog post. Just writing that sentence makes me laugh a little. I can still vividly remember the fear I felt when I published my first blog post, how nervous I was of people reading what I had written. I felt exposed, which was scary but also pretty exhilarating. I was showing the real me, after all.
I have loved to write for as long as I’ve been able to. I always wanted to spend my life writing, somehow, and starting this blog was probably one of my best decisions. It has given me a way connect with other creatives, to explore ideas, to practice my writing, to reflect on my creative journey - and now to grow my creative business.
Blogging can be a wonderful medium for marketing, creative expression, connection and reflection. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve talked with a lot of creatives who are thinking of starting a blog. So I thought it would be a good time to dig into this topic and share some of the things I’ve learned from 5+ years of blogging.
Figuring Out Who Will Love What You Create
I was never one of the popular kids at school. But I had great friends and didn’t have to care very much about what everyone else thought of me. I hung out with my friends and as long as we got along, all was well.
Trying to build an audience, especially on social media, can feel like a popularity contest. You see the big ones with their thousands and thousands of followers, and you feel small and insignificant.
But in reality, building an audience for what you create is much more like finding those great friends. The ones who really get you, who are gladly paying attention and who will love what you create. To find those people, you first need to figure out who they are, and that’s what we are going to explore here.
Creating A Content Plan That Is Rooted In What You Want To Contribute To The World
If you regularly share your creativity with the world in a blog, podcast, newsletter, Youtube channel or another medium, I bet you’ve sometimes felt at a loss for ideas of what to create next. Perhaps you’ve also struggled to define exactly where to draw the line between the topics you touch upon, and those you don’t.
I’ve encountered these struggles many times myself, and over the years I’ve developed a method for filling my content plan with ideas I’m excited about and that feels true to what I want to share with the world. It’s also a way to regularly check in with the focus of my content, to see that I’m on the right track.
In this blog post, I’m sharing that method.
Why I'm Starting A Youtube Channel
If you’d told to me a year or two ago to start a Youtube channel, I would have laughed at you. Me, the awkward, introverted Swede with an accent I felt self-conscious about? On Youtube, where I never really felt at home? No no, I would have waved you away and went on with my life.
But things change, and here we are. My first video is up and I’m excited to say hello, hi, I’m Elin and I’m on Youtube. And today I want to share why I’ve decided to start the channel, because it’s not as simple as “it felt fun”, though there’s that too. I hope it can spark some thoughts about your own creative life, if you share your work online.
A Self-portrait Challenge To Show My Face More In My Photography
It was earlier this year, and I was scrolling through my pictures for one where I showed my face. I wanted to update the one I had on the start page here on my website, because I had a snowy one and it was already spring.
I scrolled and looked in folders. Eventually I had to conclude that no, I had barely taken any the past months, and the ones I had I was already using in some other part of the website.
It gave me pause. When had I stopped taking photos where I showed my face? I had used to do it without any hesitation. What had happened?
How I’m Building A Creative Business In My Own Slow Living Way
My creative work is a source of joy, calm and fulfillment in my life. As I build a creative business, I don’t ever want to lose that. I don’t want to fall trap to the idea that business has to be fast and hustly, or that a job needs to be hard and stressful.
Instead, I’m choosing a different way, one I call my own slow living way. I’m still in the beginning of my journey, just a little over three months in, but these first few months have really forced me to get clear on my values and define how I want to move forward in building my business. And that’s what I’m going to share today.