I'm excited to announce the official re-brand of my blog; now going by the lovely name of "Sage & Serendipity"!
The journey to Sage & Serendipity has been long and full
of surprises. When I first set out to take my blog to the next level, I only
had a vague concept of wanting to transform the space. I knew I wanted my own
domain, to clean up the overall look of the blog, and make some changes to
better present my content. I had a ton of ideas but was overwhelmed with the
to-do list that would turn all of those ideas into reality.
I've been lucky enough to have the
help of a fantastic friend, Stephanie. She's got a great grasp on what it takes
to write a meaningful blog and is full of ideas on every single aspect that
goes into creating a site. One of the first things we talked about was the idea
of creating a brand, and this has been the key driver in transforming my blog.
I LOVE the concept of branding. I am by no means a pro at creating a personal brand, but I'm extremely interested in the topic and have experienced the process of branding in several different settings throughout my career and personal life. Basically as a blogger you are your brand. Of course when you write a blog post you are representing your personal brand. But with social media whenever you tweet, post on facebook, snap a pic for Instagram, etc. and share that information as an extension of your identify as a blogger that item is representing your personal brand as well. Therefore a key to successful branding is to streamline your content so that your followers know what they are getting when they turn to you.
I worked with Stephanie to develop
content areas for my blog. I really wanted to restructure what it is that I’m
writing about and of course think about how these posts will provide value to
you, the reader. I looked at my past few months of blogging and developed a
post plan to better configure my blog. You can see these areas on the new site: Chicago,
Work Life, Food and Travel. I feel that all of these items represent who I am
and in turn are a good summation of what you can expect when you turn to Sage
& Serendipity.
This brings up another topic to touch
on: my blog name change! I did not originally set out to “re-create the wheel”
with a new moniker. But as I looked at the elements of this re-brand, I
realized that I wanted to better capture my purpose as a blogger and the best
way to do so was to launch under a new name. I love alliterations and wanted a
name that was a bit more whimsical. Sage is my favorite herb and I grow it
every summer as a part of my little herb garden. It also is used to describe
someone possessing knowledge, judgment, and experience, which is inherent in
blogging. Serendipity is defined as the phenomenon of finding valuable or
agreeable things not sought for, or more simply a pleasant surprise. I am a
firm believer in karma, fate, and the concept of everything happens for a
reason. I’ve always loved the idea of serendipity (my AIM screen name in middle
school was “Serendipity”) and it became a frontrunner early on in the blog name
brainstorming process. I love it and hope you do too: Sage & Serendipity!
I
still consider myself a novice blogger and this space is very much a work in
progress. But nonetheless I am excited to move forward with my new brand. Thank
you to those who are making the transition with me from Windy City Living! My editorial calendar is just
bursting with topics to share with you and I can’t wait to get started!
