I’ve had a few readers ask me how I organize the digital files for my blog posts and today, I’m sharing my process. I strongly believe that staying organized digitally is just as important as keeping your physical space tidy. There’s nothing worse than falling down the rabbit hole of lost files, digging though old folders and hard drives that you inadvertently labeled “stuff” and “sort later” without a second thought years before!

Because I run two different blogs, having a system in place keeps me mentally focused and reminds me of what to post when. And, if I need to pull images and assets from old posts, I can find them in mere seconds.

Here’s a summary of my organizational structure:

1. I keep one master folder on my computer labeled BLOG.

2. Inside that folder, I have subfolders that are sorted by year (I’ve actively been running this blog since 2007 so that’s A LOT of content).

3. Inside each year, I have folders for each post I’ve ever done titled by date and description. For instance, my Link Love column from February 5th is labeled 02052014_LINKLOVE.

Inside each post folder, I have a few things:

4. Final JPEGS, edited and ready to go for that post.

5. A text document of the post.

6. An assets folder where I keep the original raw images, layered PSDs and any visual research I did for the post.

That’s it! While my system might not be a perfect match for you, hopefully it inspires you to get organized when it comes to your content. And, it seems that I’m on a roll this week when it comes to whipping digital assets into shape. If you run a creative business, you may also enjoy this post over at Branch about how we keep our client files organized.

It’s your turn: Do you have any tips, tricks or systems that you use for keeping your digital assets sorted?

Is your about page conveying the story that you want it to? And more importantly, is it resonating with your readers? Mine wasn’t.

Up until a year ago, I never realized the power an about page held. Mine was decent on the surface but internally, I knew it was lacking across the board. For many of us, talking about ourselves and playing up our strengths in tidy little paragraphs can seem downright weird. Instead of coming across as proud and well-earned, it can feel more like flat-out boasting. And for the most part, none of us want to be that person. Yet, I knew that after launching Branch in September, it was time to own who I was and get over the awkwardness of talking about myself. I carefully tightened up my bio once again, mostly outlining my professional accomplishments.

Then, something happened — eerily similar emails kept popping into my inbox from new readers. A large chunk of my blog’s traffic is from creatives who are in college or entering their first professional jobs and they were essentially asking me, “How’d you do it?” They wanted to know how I’d gotten to where I am now but when I read back through my newly slick bio, it was leaving a lot out. It may have focused heavily on my accomplishments and been high on aspiration but the details of how I got from point A to B had been cut.

When it comes to your about page, there’s nothing wrong with being polished and professional but looking back, I feel like I’d fallen victim to the the marketing and PR machine — I am constantly absorbing the stories of people I admire in magazines and the intros usually focus on the present and how wonderful their existence is right now. Very rarely do they pull back the curtain and share their ups and downs, their personal struggles and their biggest failures along the way. And if we’re being honest, this missing piece is what we want to hear most because it’s what makes them human and relatable.

As I sat with my bio a little longer, I realized how many misconceptions I’d built up. In a way, I took it for granted that most of my readers had been with me for the long haul, since way back in 2007 when I launched this incarnation of my blog. Every few months, I’d been polishing up my about page to reflect the current me but not talking about any of the details of how I evolved and became who I am. I was stripping out the old and slipping in the new. I was missing the big picture: we don’t just become who we want to be overnight; a whole lot happens in between. Our past heavily influences our present and we shouldn’t discount that.

Think about your own About page: if a reader is dropping in now and just discovering you, they’ll see something very different than if they’ve been following you for a few years. We all have to start somewhere and I am guilty of clicking into a fabulous about page or portfolio and thinking, “I’ll never be good as them.” But then, sometimes I unearth glimpses of a creative’s past and realize that they’re just like me. They had to start somewhere.

About pages are incredibly powerful and if you don’t take the time to tell your own story, chances are that no one else will, either. It’s up to us as bloggers to own our stories and to get comfortable with sharing them. After all, our personal experiences are what differentiate us from everyone else. I’m still reworking my about page to be the best it can possibly be but in the meantime, it’s already an improvement from where it was. Baby steps.

How do you feel about your about page? Is it conveying what you want it to? Is it resonating with your readers?

Photos: Made U Look Photography.
View more Blog Log columns here.

This summer, as I scanned through my RSS reader, I noticed some of my favorite blogs being overtaken by a sense of malaise. In part, it may have been a case of wanting to escape from the screen to enjoy the nice weather but I sensed something more than that under the surface.

At this point, we’ve collectively reached a moment where blogging has been around long enough that there’s a bit of a “been there, done that” mentality. And because of that, there’s a natural shift taking place.

When I first started blogging, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest didn’t exist yet — blogs were the place for breaking news and new discoveries. Now, all that information hits social media at a dizzying speed. Photo shoots are sneak peeked and teased up sometimes weeks before their big blog debuts. Some of that magic of settling into a new corner of the web and soaking up something you’ve never been seen before has been lost. Where does that leave blogging?

I’m all for embracing the new, especially when it comes to social media platforms. But at the same time, I still believe that blogs have their place and always will.

I’ve always thought of social media and blogging in these terms: Social media is meant for sharing snippets of your work and life while blogs are the place to showcase the full story. In a way, interacting on social media is the equivalent of a quick coffee date. You’re making small talk, feeling things out and getting glimpses inside a person’s world. But with blogging, you’re taking it to the next level. Blogging is about inviting someone into your living room for a deeper conversation. They have the opportunity to dig in and really find out what you’re all about.

Creatives and business owners email me all the time, asking me if they should have a blog. My response is always an enthusiastic yes, definitely! Especially if you’re just starting out, blogs are the ideal vehicle to build trust when it comes to your brand. They are the space where you can open up and share your work and life on a deeper level. While that’s just my opinion, social media trends come and go. And if you choose to put all of your eggs in one basket, especially when it comes to getting the word out about your business, you run the risk of hitting some rough patches. I’ve always felt that having a blog to anchor your brand for the long haul as people move on and explore new social media platforms is a safe bet.

When it comes to blogging, I still do so regularly because I genuinely love it and besides that, blogging indirectly supports my design business. It’s as simple as that. But, feelings and focuses do shift. It’s always good to occasionally step back and ask yourself if the effort you’re putting into your blog, business and hobbies are worth it and decide if it’s time to make some changes.

I want to know: Why do you choose to blog? Is it as a creative outlet, to promote your business or for some other reason?