Combining Your Passions and Talents to Create High-Quality Content

By Rachel Loehner

If you think about what inspired you to start blogging, the clear answer for most pet bloggers would likely be their pets. And that’s no different for me. My cats inspired me to start Three Chatty Cats a little over two years ago.

To go a step further, I’d say that it’s my combined passion for cats, writing and photography that inspired my blog. But are those three passions enough to sustain a blog? Perhaps not. So, let’s go one level deeper…

While my core passions lit the internal spark to create a blog, it’s really my interests, skills and innate talents combined with those passions that truly allow me to create high-quality content for Three Chatty Cats. 

If you look at your own blogging journey, perhaps you’ll find it’s the same for you.

Passion Leads the Way

Let’s take a look at passions first, since that’s what usually drives a blogger to start in the first place. My passions are writing, photography and cats.

Dexter, Oliver and Sophie—the Three Chatty Cats

Writing

As far back as I can remember (which pretty much gets me to elementary school), I’ve always been a writer and storyteller. In fact, my bachelor’s degree is in film, emphasis screenwriting (super useful, amiright?). Since I’ve graduated, I’ve continued to write in some form or another.

Photography

Much like writing, my fondness for photography has been with me for quite some time. And like writing, I’ve gained photography skills throughout various avenues in my life. In high school, I was on the yearbook staff as the photography editor. This was my first official experience with using a “real” camera and learning how to compose a shot.

Fun tidbit: This was back in the day when we had to develop the film ourselves in a darkroom. It’s a skill I don’t use on the blog, but an interesting experience nonetheless.

The Cats (of course!)

It’s clear that I have a passion for anything cat-related. I’ve even adopted two new cats since starting Three Chatty Cats (Woodrow and Harley are offended that it hasn’t been re-branded to Five Chatty Cats).

Passion Leads the Way, But Talents Sustain the Blog

So, we’ve looked at the passions that inspired me to start blogging. But what allows me to create high-quality content on a consistent basis?

When I delved deeper and did a bit of self-reflection (how introspective of me), I realized the answer was my interests, skills and innate talents.

For me, what it boils down to is that I need to use what I have at my disposal and what I have a natural affinity for to be consistent in producing high-quality content.

What Keeps You Motivated?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on staying motivated in regard to blogging. For me, keeping motivated resulted in an evolution of my blog.

When I first started Three Chatty Cats, I quickly gravitated toward highlighting rescue groups, foster parents, and anyone doing their part to help cats, which in a sense labeled Three Chatty Cats as a cause blog. But finding rescue groups and new people to feature…and then relying on them to respond and send in photos…and then writing and editing everything for three posts a week…well, it was tiring! Blogging fatigue quickly set in.

Woodrow perfects the “blogging fatigue” face. 

So, that’s when I started incorporating posts about my own cats more, and even started writing in their voices sometimes. Ultimately, I found my focus shifting toward my original inspiration—my own cats.

Please head over to Three Chatty Cats to read Rachel’s full article, “Combining Your Passions and Talents to Create High-Quality Content.”

Rachel Loehner is the human typist behind Three Chatty Cats, an award-winning blog that offers readers “A bit of entertainment, a dash of awareness and a whole bunch of vocal cats!” For her regular 9 to 5 job, Rachel has the pleasure of working from home, surrounded by her cats. For the past 10 years, she has worked for a software company where she is currently Director, Client Services. Rachel is a Professional Member of the Cat Writers’ Association and a blogging ambassador and volunteer for both Best Friends Animal Society and The Jackson Galaxy Project, A Signature Program of GreaterGood.org.