Things I’ve Learned in My First Months Blogging

As I step into my fourth month since the launch of this blog I wanted to take a little time to reflect on my thoughts around it. Three months granted is not a lot of time but I thought it would be good to check in with my readers and myself. I can look back in a year and see how my thoughts compare to how I felt in the early stages. It’s been a roller coaster but so fun.

I am in Love

With words that is lol. I have always loved writing poems and stories. I started journaling at a young age as well and was such a book lover. Being able to make someone feel things just from my words is something that is important to me. These words that I am choosing to share with the world are important to me. I take my time with what I’m writing; it gives me such a feeling of accomplishment. It has honestly been one of the most satisfying hobbies I have embarked on in quite some time. I never thought of myself as creative in any way but I have shocked myself. I am using my love of words in a way I never imagined I would – to create something that is beautiful and that is mine.

Blogging is hard work

I have enjoyed every minute of creating this site, but it has not been easy. Watching my favorites influencers that mainly blog and create a social media following make it seem so glamourous. It takes so much time for me to write, edit and design my posts. Then on top of that I have to promote my content as well which is difficult. I’ve put a lot of hours into this already and my page is still nowhere near where I want it to be. I have done everything design wise myself, with no knowledge. And yes anyone can build a site these days but let me tell you I am tech challenged. My site is literally basic function and is not how I want it to aesthetically look however it is working for me right now and it will only get better as I go along.

Don’t let first day numbers go to your head…

When I launched my blog back in May I had over 200 visitors that day, which to me was a big deal. I was so nervous that I would have only 1 person (my mama) interested in what I was doing. But to know that many people whether it was family, friends or a random person took the time out to even click my link made me feel very grateful and loved. I was honestly feeling myself.

…Because second day/week numbers will quickly humble you

The next day I didn’t even have half as many visitors to my site. Understandably so, I only started my site with 2 only posts and dropped them the same day. And the first day it was something new so I know I generated a lot of traffic from family wanting to support. I had committed at the time to posting on a particular day and that’s what I did my first few weeks so there wasn’t much content there.

As soon as you get your schedule down life will happen

As I’ve posted about in a previous blog I had rough June/July so my posting schedule was completely knocked off. When I first started this I told myself that I wanted to post twice a week. HA! Between working full time and trying to have a life that is just not doable for me currently. I dropped down to once a week and now every other week until I really have hit my sweet spot with juggling it all. Trying to balance my schedule is hard! Time management is difficult but necessary when trying to achieve goals and progress forward in general, and at almost 30 I am still working on my time management skills. I am in the crucial time of trying to build a following and the way I do that is consistency. So I am committed to finding a groove that works for me and adjusting where necessary.

Not everyone will feel inclined to interact

I have had so many people tell me that they are reading my material. But I don’t have a lot of people commenting and engaging in dialogue with what I’m writing. I think it is such a YouTube driven world these days that people are more apt to watch a video and comment than to read and comment. Nothing is wrong with that at all, but I would like to delve deeper into why people don’t feel the need to comment and increase that interaction.

You aren’t going to make money right away or maybe ever

I have spent money to create my blog and I am at humble beginnings. I debated myself on this before I even started whether I should just start on a free site first to see how things go. But I made the commitment to invest money from the beginning – to show myself that I am in it to see this thing through. I felt that strongly about starting this blog. I wasn’t doing it for money and I’m still not, although a return on investment would be pretty awesome. I am doing this for an outlet for myself and hopefully for others who share a similar story in any way.

Support for your content will come in unexpected ways

Let me start by saying this: not everyone is going to support you like you think they will and that is just the honest truth. I think anyone that is a creative or entrepreneur can probably speak to that. On the other hand you will get support from people you never thought you would which is very much so welcomed and appreciated.

This isn’t everything and I figure once I’m deeper in I will do a more in depth reflection. This might become a series where I can share my growing pains as well insight on what I’m learning. I hope you continue to tune is as The Plush Life continues to grow! I appreciate all the support thus far and look forward to sharing much more!