A Blogging Birthday Celebration and an Elevator Pitch

How do you celebrate a blogging birthday?! Well I was thinking a nice cake from M&S but they didn’t have anything I wanted. So I decided on the next best thing… Party Rings! They remind me of birthdays and celebrations gone by. Possibly my favourite biscuit. Maybe. 

Apart from eating sweet treats, the other thing we are very good at doing on a birthday or anniversary is look back, look forward, and think about what you are doing and what might be next on the agenda.

It was five years ago today that I first wrote Splodz Blogz (the photo on the left was taken just a few days before that.). Time really does fly! It has gone from a completely personal blog all about my bucket list and photographs, to a very busy review blog that involved me trying out all kinds of things, to something somewhere in the middle where it’s all about my experiences with some relevant reviews thrown in. In the time since I started writing I’ve done all kinds of things – I’ve done a skydive and a bungee jump, been on motorcycle tours in the USA, Ireland, France and a massive memorial ride around Great Britain, completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and the London Moonwalk, tried Fly Boarding and ice climbing, learnt to surf and even gave blood. And that’s just for starters!!

I must say thank you to everyone to completed my reader survey in December, I really appreciate the time you took to tell me what you think. What you had to say was very interesting. The main thing I learnt was that you are all different! It was interesting (and eye-opening) to see how you ranked the different categories of posts here on Splodz Blogz. The varied opinions and comments have all been very useful and I will be using some of your ideas during this year – I’ve already reintroduced my Sunday Soliloquy feature and hope you’ll engage by commenting with your thoughts each week. You may also see your bucket list suggestions featured on here pretty soon, too – watch this space on that one, there’s a significant update coming soon.

At the start of this year I enrolled on a blogging e-course run by Elizabeth over at Rosalilium and Awesome Wave (two great blogs you should check out, by the way). I have decided that 2015 will be the year Splodz Blogz will become something I am really proud of, and I thought that while I could let this happen organically I would rather give myself a bit of a kick start and do something structured to make sure of it – and I know I have a lot to learn. I’m five lessons in and already I have made some big steps, I think, in moving things forward. You may not see lots of obvious changes but hopefully you will look back in a few months and realise what I’ve been up to.

Why am I telling you this? Well a very wise person once said to me that the best way to make yourself accountable is to tell some important people what you are planning; so this is me saying out loud that I want you to love Splodz Blogz, and to keep coming back to read my new articles because you’re interested and inspired by them.

Doing one of my favourite things… enjoying the scenery.

I thought I would also share my blog’s new elevator pitch with you. This was my homework for lesson four of the e-course and it really got me thinking not only about my blog but also about myself. An elevator pitch in the world of business and marketing is a short, sharp 30-second proposition designed to succinctly describe the business and its core objectives. I might not be trying to sell anything, but I thought it provided a concise overview of what my blog is about. Call it my mission, if you like.

So here it is…

Life is all about the journey.

It’s no good just waiting to get to our destination, we have to make the most of the travelling.

What started off as a bucket list has become a desire to encourage others to make the most of their lives by experiencing what life has to offer and creating memories that last a lifetime.

Splodz Blogz is about demonstrating how that is possible, documenting the things I get up to in-between the day job and other commitments, working through my ever-expanding ‘to try’ list (suggestions always welcome!).

My blog is about the experiences, told in a personal, honest and friendly way with a hint of cheerfulness thrown in for good measure.

I want to inspire you to make the most of your time by encouraging you to try new things and have a good time on your journey through life.

Me and my bike in Scotland. 

However you came across Splodz Blogz I’m so pleased you stopped by. I hope you will follow my ramblings throughout the coming year (bloglovin is a good option) and will let me know what you think every now and again. If you have any suggestions for my bucket list (or ‘to try’ list) then make sure you tell me – I am always looking for new ideas, whatever they might be, and ways to make those ideas happen. And if there is something you want to know about me or any of the activities I get up to, then please ask. You can find me via email or over on twitter, facebook and instagram.

Anyway, time for a cuppa and another handful of those Party Rings…

Zoe x