I Need A Break, But I’ll Be Back

I Need A Break, But I’ll Be Back

For the last four years, week after week, I’ve worked passionately to maintain a high-quality blog and I’m still not short on topics about cultural differences between Germany, France, and the US. Month after month, the audience of the Cross Border Blog has grown to nearly 10,000 readers. My content has been relayed in several media outlets and shared thousands of times on social media. Now, in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking for a while about connecting this blog with my consulting jobs.

Blogging is not a hobby for me

It was the tool I decided to develop when I moved to the US five years ago. I was a marketing professional for over 20 years who had to reinvent herself in the birth country of marketing. In the first place, I wanted to let professionals know me and build my own brand awareness. It worked almost immediately: a few months after launching the Cross Border Blog, I was invited to be a guest speaker at the EuroChambers of Minneapolis. Then, I was invited to contribute to a French online media outlet. Since 2016, I’ve trained expats on social media and intercultural skills.

But, at the same time, I’ve kept on pursuing my consulting jobs and managing the ups and downs of my family of 7. Summers have always been quieter in terms of jobs and blogging, since dealing with 5 children for 11 long weeks is exceptionally demanding. To me, summer means freaking out about the lack of time for writing good posts!

Last week’s post is proof of this. The title is boring, and the content isn’t clear. Did I want to say that Americans are very self-centered and thus pretend to be World Champion in everything? Or, is it about the importance of soccer in Germany? Suffice to say, it’s hard to focus on work when children are around.

The Cross Border Blog needs a break

I write this post from sunny Washington state where we spent a week, exchanging our home in Bethesda, MD, for one in Seattle. For the last days, I’ve grown more and more frustrated, knowing that I would not follow my editorial calendar. (The topic was weird facts about France, like how you can marry a dead person or get a medal for raising several children with dignity!).

When I talked with my husband this morning, I realized that pausing my writing until September will give me time to focus on the next step for the blog. The content will stay the same, but I want to add functionalities and start making money from it. Don’t worry, the Cross Border Blog is free of advertising and will stay this way. I’d like to incorporate training, webinars, and other stuff around my actual consulting job.

If you miss me badly, you can still get a glimpse of my life by following my hobby blog. On Jasmine’s blog, I share from time to time where I am and what I’m doing–not much text, more pictures, and no proofreading or editing. Imagine I’m speaking with a French-German accent when you read the articles!

Thank you and see you back in September.