Last Updated on February 3, 2025 by The Smetz Files
Two years of simple musings of a small town mom.
The Smetz Files turns two years old this week.
February 8th marks the second anniversary that I hit ‘publish’ on my personal blog!
Here are key things I have learned in two years of blogging.
Niche Down
This somewhat happened organically for me. My blog features my simple musings of a small town mom, mostly centered around my mom experiences.
Read how I organized my content below.
Naturally, momming my kids is a key feature of my posts. And right now my kids are active in all manner of youth sports. So, I niched down to more youth sports content.
I’m not mad about it!
Practices, games, team events are the main focus in our lives currently and well, we tend to lean into what we know!
All kidding aside, the blogging advice I read suggested niching down helps. And it’s been cool to connect with other moms doing the sports mom shuffle.
Which leads me to my next key learning…
Connect with Supportive Others
Connecting with other moms was an original goal of mine when I began blogging. Writing about my mom experiences was cathartic and I really appreciated early readers commenting, connecting, and supporting my creative endeavors.
It’s been helpful to connect with other writers and learn more about their work, how they approach their writing, and just learning from their experiences.
Through this process I found a whole world of sports mom content creators who provide great perspective and insights into raising athletic kids.
Plus, I appreciate the levity and humor you can exchange with fellow sports moms in the thick of managing crazy schedules, figuring out meal times, and making sure you know every laundry trick available to get dirty uniforms clean in less than 12 hours!
I’ve always found collaboration a meaningful part of my work, and blogging is no exception.
Lean into Vulnerability
I tend to struggle with this aspect the most, but leaning into my vulnerability has been a key learning over the last two years of sharing my personal writing for public consumption.
While I have certainly niched down and tended to focus primarily on my role as a sports mom to two active tweens, I’ve maintained the Smetz Files and written from the other content pillars as well.
Most notably I’ve written about loving a young stroke survivor through invisible struggles and what that entails. Because I was willing to be vulnerable, I’ve found other people who have experienced medical events that shaped their family in ways they hadn’t imagined.
Sometimes it’s easy to write what you know and keep it on the surface. Other times I find writing about the real life, not just Instagram worthy moments are especially powerful.
Raising tweens is not always glamorous. So, while I’ve learned it’s good to lean into my vulnerability, it’s still an aspect I can work to improve.
Finally…
Expand Opportunities
Last year, one of my blogging goals was to broaden my readership and find opportunities to expand my writing endeavors. I worked to publish pieces beyond the blog as part of my goal to connect with other writers.
Expanding my writing opportunities has been rewarding and I’m continually looking for ways to grow and develop in new creative directions.
This is the next place I want to focus attention. In the next year of the Smetz Files, I want to venture forward and seek new creative ways to share my writing.
Stay tuned to see which direction I take!
Unanticipated Benefits
Part of sharing my writing with others has been an act of faith in the face of timidity. Truly the best, yet most unanticipated part of blogging has been making new friends.
Some regular readers have become great friends. We’ve supported each other’s small businesses, cheered on each other’s kids from afar, and shared one another’s work.
All this to say, if you’re thinking about blogging and sharing your writing with the world, do it! Let me know so I can read and follow along!
Thanks for reading,
Smetz
Follow along for updated content and more simple musings of a small town mom.
