Why I regained my 'freedom' on note after feeling suffocated by my side-hustle blog

※ I want to reach these people with this article.
People who write blogs as a side hustle but have lost the fun because they are tied down by SEO.
People who want to earn money but feel like they can only write articles that read like instruction manuals.
People who are stuck in that state, wondering, 'How can I keep going?'

I will talk about how I, as a long-time blogger, regained the 'joy of writing' once again.

To you, I share the 'sense of laughing at failure' I learned from camping, and the 'joy of writing freely' that I reignited on note.

Camping is full of things that don't go as planned.
The firewood is damp and won't catch fire, and the charcoal is hard to light. When you finally strike a match with all your might, it snaps with a 'crack,' and your spirit breaks along with it.

While I'm desperately fanning the flames, the charcoal completely ignores me.

Meanwhile, the tent next door is having a great time, letting the delicious smell of grilled meat ride on the breeze. Plus, the 'sizzle' sound I hear makes me hungry. Things like that were common a few years ago.

But strangely enough, I could laugh at that, too.

Whether the firewood is damp, all the matches snap, or the rice I cooked has a hard core, I can just brush it off by saying, 'Well, that's camping.' In fact, vowing 'I'll definitely succeed next time' and repeating the same mistakes is what camping is all about.

But it wasn't like that for blogging.
The moment I laughed it off by saying, 'Well, it's just a blog,' the traffic would slowly dwindle. The god of SEO would mercilessly abandon my articles.

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✅️ When I sold my soul to the god of SEO

Back when I was blogging, for some reason, I was constantly tying myself up.

'Always include a photo for every heading'
'Cut out any unnecessary talk'
'Make sure to sprinkle in keywords'

No one told me to do it, but I created my own rules and choked myself with them. I was completely my own enemy.

What was the result?
The articles became more and more like instruction manuals.
I found myself writing down procedures that everyone knows, like 'When you arrive at the campsite, set up your tent,' just like an instruction manual.

And since I couldn't relax unless I included a photo for every heading, I would realize while writing, 'Oh, I didn't take a photo!' and I've even set up a fire pit in my room in the middle of the night to take pictures. No, I didn't light it! My wife would get mad at me, after all. But I was that pathologically convinced that 'if I don't have photos, I'll lose to SEO.'

What's even less funny is the rule to 'cut out unnecessary talk.'
Thanks to this, all my quirks and playful writing were cut out. Even if I thought, 'Oh, this might be funny' while writing, I would reject it myself, thinking it was 'unnecessary for SEO.' As a result, I mass-produced articles that neither the readers nor I myself could laugh at.

And the final straw was 'make sure to sprinkle in keywords.'
Keywords became more important than the writing, and I would unnaturally chant the mantra 'camping lantern recommended' over and over in the text.

But what came out wasn't a helpful article, but rather:
'A boring document that pandered to SEO.'

I don't know if it was recognized by readers, but I feel like it was recognized by the god of SEO.

✅️ The bonfire reignited on note

That was when I encountered note.

Honestly, I was surprised when I first tried it. No photos needed, no formatting needed, no need to worry about SEO. You just have to write.
'Wait, is that all I have to do?' I wrote while doubting it, and it felt more comfortable than I imagined.

No one gets angry if I write something silly; in fact, they might even grin. The very writing I had deleted as 'unnecessary for SEO' was a feast on note.

When I was blogging for SEO, I censored myself, and all that remained were bland instruction manuals. But note is the exact opposite; 'intentionally playful sentences' are not only allowed, but I even get reactions like, 'I resonated with that!' It's a complicated feeling—a mix of sadness and happiness—that my self-deprecating jokes get read more than the serious reviews I write.

Just as a bonfire can be lit again even after it goes out, my writing was reignited on note. I realized that it's the sentences that fly freely, like sparks from a bonfire, that are truly interesting.

Of course, if you focus on SEO, you get traffic from searches, and things look better with photos.
But the nice thing about note is that you don't have to make those mandatory. You don't have to chant SEO keyword spells. You don't have to go through the madness of lining up fire pits in your room in the middle of the night.

In short, it means 'not being tied down.' 'I am free!'

For me, note is a place where I can be free from SEO and decoration, and just mess around as I please.

✅️ How I use blogs and note differently

In the end, it's not like I've abandoned my blog.
I will continue to keep the blog as a pillar of my income. I'll think about SEO, write helpful reviews for readers, and build it up steadily. I get business inquiries, and there's stability in running multiple blogs. This is necessary, and I can't stop.

But if that's all I do, I feel suffocated. That's why I write freely on note. I can mess around, or I can laugh at my own failures. And if I can make even a little bit of money as a result of writing freely, that would be the best.

Both are important to me, and I can keep going because I have both.

✅️ Summary

Camping failures become funny stories, and blog failures become content.
My writing, which was charred by the fires of SEO, can be relit if I kindle it again on note.

So for now, I've decided to draw a line: 'Blog for serious stuff,' 'note for my quirky side.'

Just like rice that I messed up the cooking time for today, my articles are a bit undercooked too.
The phrasing might be clumsy, or the punchline might be off.
But well, I guess that's just part of my charm (lol).

Ultimately, if I can keep my income from the blog while writing freely on note, and that leads to income there too, that would be perfect. That's why I believe 'regaining the fun' is the shortest path to monetization.

＼ I've started a membership ／
I'm sharing writing tips and the reality of monetization on blogs and note exclusively for members. I'll talk about everything, including the 'behind-the-scenes' stuff I could never write in a free note.
If you want to 'know more deeply' or 'get results faster,' now is your chance. By signing up, the number of people your articles reach will also grow.
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