Hello, and welcome back for another edition of “Creative Corner“!
If you’re new here, “Creative Corner” is a series on the blog where we have a little chat with all types of talented creatives and today’s guest is no exception.
Joining us is mental health blogger Unwanted Life. A man of mixed ethnicity (black and white) who’s struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts since primary school. He’s struggled with mental health since.
Although Unwanted Life may have come from a dark place, the intention is to turn that darkness into a beacon of light to help raise awareness and make people feel less unwanted. He believes that everyone deserves to be happy, and everyone deserves to get the support they need to be happy.
Unwanted Life also describes himself as a “man of mystery.
Keep reading to discover more about the blog – Unwanted Life as well as the “man of mystery” behind it.
What is the inspiration behind the title of your blog Unwanted Life?
The blog’s choice of name, which appears pessimistic (and to a large extent is born from a pessimistic place) isn’t entirely pessimistic. It was born from the personal trauma and abuse I endured growing up. The choice of name for my blog, Unwanted Life, was born from that trauma and abuse I endured.
Long before I created Unwanted Life, I wrote to help process my trauma, because my trauma stopped me from sleeping. And, for a while, I considered turning these writings into a book. The name I gave that book was ‘Life of an Unwanted Youth’ because I’d always felt unwanted. Plus I was still a young adult at the time.
I adapted my blog title to turn that darkness into a beacon of light to help people feel less unwanted.
When did you start blogging and why?
The first article went live on my blog on 14th January 2019. It started as a personal account of living with mental health.
I started blogging because I was looking for other ways I could help people while my declining health had forced me to give up my volunteer job as a recovery worker for a substance abuse charity.
During that time, I started my postgraduate degree but had to defer a year because I couldn’t find funding support.
With nothing to do with my time, I randomly came up with the idea of starting a mental health blog. I pitched this idea to my partner who was supportive of my efforts, so before I abandoned the idea like so many others I’ve had, I bought a self-hosting package and got to work on it.
Since starting my blog, it changed from a personal account of mental health into an invisible disabilities blog, so it could feature stuff like learning difficulties and other hidden disabilities, along with mental health and self-care. With my personal account only being a section in relevant articles.
What is the highlight of your blogging journey so far?
I guess that would be when someone submitted my site to the Mental Health Blog Awards; which was really nice. I don’t think I’ve ever been recommended for anything like that before, or since.
What do you think it takes to run a successful blog?
I’ll let you know when my blog becomes successful.
Honestly, I don’t know. I’m a long way off from being successful, so my advice would be patience and perseverance. Because it’ll take a long time to become successful, and most bloggers will give up within the first year.
How do you generate blog post ideas?
I don’t really do anything. I can get inspiration from anywhere at any time, and when I do, I make a note of it.
But if I was struggling for ideas, I’d look at what mental health and invisible disability events are scheduled for the year and write something for those.
I’ll also post questions asking people to recommend topics and conditions that aren’t talked about much to my social media accounts, which lead to me writing about how menopause can affect mental health and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS).
Which of your posts has been the most successful and what do you think made it as successful as it was?
The most successful article I have on Unwanted Life at the moment seems to be the one I wrote about anime, ‘How Anime Brings Mental Health Into The Mainstream’. That’s likely because anime is a really popular form of entertainment, it’s also something I love watching.
I even mention some of my favourite anime’s in that article.
Which one of your posts do you think deserves more views?
One of my longest and a personal favourites of mine was an article I wrote about positive psychology called, “Positive Psychology: The Theory And Its Interventions”.
I present positive psychology in great detail and outline several interventions that came from positive psychology that people can use as a form of self-care. I personally think it’s one of my best articles, but it’s barely visited or commented on.
How do you go about attracting new readers to your blog?
Hmmm, I guess I don’t overtly make the effort to find new readers.
Instead, I just use my social media accounts to post about my content and make sure my SEO is good so I can rank well on search engines.
I was also able to get my blog listed on Google News that helps find new readers, and I use a lot of research journals in my blog with APA references, which seems to bring traffic from Google Scholar.
Top blogging tip for new bloggers
Install an SEO plugin on day one!
It’s easier to make your blog attractive to search engines from day one rather than having to go back through your entire site at a later date to improve its SEO. Trust me, I had to do that, and it took ages to do.
Also, get your social media accounts up and running ASAP. Start engaging as much as possible to start building your potential audience. People won’t interact with your social media accounts or follow them if they’re inactive and don’t engage with other accounts.
Why should the readers subscribe to your blog?
Readers should subscribe to my blog if they’re interested in learning what I blog about and want an easy way to stay up to date with my content.
However, if you’d like to be nice, subscribe to my blog so I can increase my subscriber’s list which, one day, might help me secure more funding to keep the lights on at Unwanted Life.
Unwanted Life publishes new posts every Wednesday at 7 AM UK time. Subscribe to their blog to stay in the know.
Catch them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and support them on Ko-fi and purchase a few items from their shop.
Thank you for joining me and my wonderful guest Unwanted Life on the blog today. I’d love to hear your thoughts so please leave them in the comments.
You can find more creative interviews here!
Please subscribe if you’d like to hear more from me.
We may be closing out Blogtober but there’s still much more engaging content coming your way!
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