Hey y’all!  I’m always so fascinated by the kinds of questions I get about The Curious Cowgirl Blog.  One question that pops up quite a bit, is….what exactly does it take to complete each Blog Post?  Great question!  Today, I’m lifting the veil on Creating Curious Cowgirl Blog Posts!

Creating Curious Cowgirl Blog Posts Step 1:  Take a Trip

Since becoming a Travel Blogger, I for SURE have a very different set of eyes than I did prior to creating The Curious Cowgirl.  Now, wherever I go, I am 100% thinking about what Y’ALL might want to know.  I’m thinking about what a walk down Madison Ave for a first timer to New York might be like.  Or what is the most intimidating part of picking a restaurant in Rome, and I try to put myself in the shoes of my readers, and soak up all the details!  I try to anticipate the challenges, and make note of all the solutions.  With eyes and brain wide open, a three-day weekend in NYC can yield endless post topics!  I also take a zillion pictures, so that I have lots of choices for whatever posts I end up writing.

And, my precious husband Will, takes a TON of pictures of me.  I really don’t like to be the subject, and he’s found ways to bring out a natural smile every time…he’s VERY patient.

Creating Curious Cowgirl Blog Posts Step 2:  Pictures Become Stories

Lately, I utilize the time on the return flight to go through every single picture I’ve taken, and begin to make lists of posts I can write, using the pictures in my phone as my inspiration.  I also take the time to edit every single picture I keep.  I use two photo editing apps on my phone.  I always use Afterlight to adjust the brightness, enhance color, etc.  Sometimes I also use Retouch, which allows me to edit out stuff I don’t want in my pics, like a fire alarm on the wall of a museum behind a sculpture, or a pile of trash on the street in front of a store I want to talk about.  By the time I land, I have several Blog post ideas outlined, and all my pictures edited and ready to go!

Before Editing…..

After Editing….

I also keep a calendar of planned Blog posts….right now I have plans for posts through the end of October.  I allow myself the freedom to move posts around, but a calendar is important, as at times, the timeliness of a post is important.  It’s no good for me to write a post about an exhibit at a museum, and then publish it after the exhibit closes, right?

Creating Curious Cowgirl Blog Posts Step 3:  Write the Post

As you all know, I publish a new post three days a week.  I try to write at least two posts over the weekend, as each posts takes 2-3 hours for me to completely write.  I spend a great deal of time writing, editing, fact-checking, and linking to other information-rich sites.  I want to deliver to my readers posts that are worthy of the five minutes you are giving me to read what I have written.  Fluff just does not cut it, for The Curious Cowgirl.

Completing a post also includes taking my pictures from my phone through two more steps.  I take my pictures to Canva, a free web site that allows me to resize pictures to fit the size requirements of my Blog, as well as my Facebook Page, my Instagram, and my Pinterest account…all of which are linked to my Blog.  I also take my pictures through Tiny jpeg, so that their size is as small as possible, while maintaining good resolution.

Whew!  Post is done, and it’s delivered to you via Mail Chimp, which sends out my newsletter on M, W, F to my mailing list!  Thanks for being on my list, y’all!

Creating Curious Cowgirl Blog Posts Step 4:  Facebook and Instagram

My Blog automatically sends my post to The Curious Cowgirl Facebook page.  I have to edit the text a tiny bit there, add some hash tags…you know…Social Media stuff.  There’s quite a few folks who have discovered me on Facebook, which is very fun!

I also share my Blog posts in several Facebook Groups that are niche specific…for example New York, or Family Travel, or Italy….I have found that I can be very helpful to folks in those groups who have questions about traveling to places I deeply know, like Rome, Paris, and NYC.  It’s fun to see a question about, say, traveling to NYC at Christmas, and then be able to answer that question with a link to a few Blog posts I have written.  Aren’t we all so grateful to get a travel question answered by someone who REALLY has “been there done that!”

I also promote my latest Blog post on Instagram.  Instagram is such a vibrant community, and I have found LOTS of new followers there, as well as discovering other Bloggers I enjoy following.

Creating Curious Cowgirl Blog Posts Step 5:  Pinterest

The Curious Cowgirl has a Pinterest, and I have several Boards there for you to enjoy, and each is geographically organized, so a Board about Italy, a Board about NYC, etc.  Not only do I “pin” images that will take you to my Blog, but I contribute to several Group Boards, where many people share their “pins”….it’s fun to see ALL the varied topics that Bloggers are writing about!  If you can dream it up, I promise there’s a Blogger out there talking about it!

And…..I think that’s it.  Now, it’s time to start the process all over again and get the next Blog post ready for y’all to enjoy.

And trust me, I get joy from every single step…my heart, my mind, my education, my history, my dreams, my aspirations….all go into every single thing I do.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking this travel journey with me!

xoxo