Saturday, January 5, 2013

Growing my Blog, Growing my Heart

Hey Folks! Do I start every other post with salutation now? Oh well, I like it! Today I want to address where I am with the blog right now, or basically, a little recap of where 6 months of blogging has gotten me.

First off, I started this blog in July 2012. I had just finished a Multimedia Composition for course where one of my assignments was to keep a blog over the semester. I had to update the blog at least once a week, sometimes more. I got to choose any topic of my choice, for which I chose healthy living. I posted about doing Insanity for the first time, recipes, grocery shopping, and stuff like that. It was fun, but more than that - my professor showed me that blogging is a real media that people make jobs out of. Being an English Writing major, I always knew I wanted to write but I never knew how. Blogging gave me the how. So after my wedding in June when I got back, I took the plunge started my very own blog.

The first four months of blogging (July-November) were pretty stale for me. I was only blogging an average of about 9 posts per month. I always had ideas in my head for blog posts, but few of them ever came to fruition (which is so sad. Sorry blog posts I never wrote!). I wanted it in my head, but my reality wasn't making much happen.

But in December - just last month - everything kind of changed. My passion for writing and turning my every day life into blog posts grew something fierce. At first, it felt like a lot of effort. How many times do I have to break out my camera and then import pictures onto my computer, and then edit them? Ugh. How many hours do I have to spend formatting stuff and proof-reading? How many posts will I have that have zero comments? Groan. (If you've blogged for any amount of time, please tell me you feel my pain.) But it was all worth it because by the end of December, I had blogged twice as much in one month as I had in the last four, and my page views for the month was almost as much as I had had in four months as well. I saw a huge jump.

Obviously, the more dedicated I am to the blog, the more visitors and comments I get. It's not a hard equation to figure out. But because that "equation" has shown me the results I have now, I'm overjoyed and even more excited about blogging. But besides posting more and getting the hang of the take pictures, format pictures, write post, publish post to social media rhythm, the biggest factor in becoming more successful with my blog has been connecting with you guys. Yes, I know this is not a novel concept. You read it on every blog post about how to grow your blog. But I just have to attest to the fact that that tip is so true. It's the number one thing anybody can do: just connect!

Where Social Media Comes In

In the staler months of my blog, I was reluctant to use social media to my advantage. I have been a social media scrooge for a while now, wanting to quit it altogether and such. But when I ultimately decided I needed social media merely to grow the blog, and I started using it like I should, that's when I stopped disliking social media and I started seeing real results and relationships form. Just in the past two weeks or so, I feel I have really connected with some fellow bloggers. And maybe it's not a big deal to anyone else (or maybe it is), but I seriously feel a part of my heart growing for these people I'm encountering.

An example of this love is from some tweets that really made me smile this week from Caroline at The Trendy Trainer and Kacie at Savvy Sassy Me. Caroline's tweet was in response to me saying I hope to grow my blog as big as some of the "big bloggers" someday. Too sweet. Thank you, ladies for the encouragement!

Happy tweets :)

And as Kacie has said, just be yourself and you will find success. She posted a great post about being your self and how that simple idea has lead to her great success (yes, I think you are widly successful! Congrats on getting into Shape!). It's so simple and yet so many of us bloggers are kind of not ourselves because, well, this is the internet and it's scary, and what the heck is my blog supposed to be like anyway?! 

Anyway, with all this said, I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone I've been connecting with recently. Our connections mean a lot to me and I'm so glad to get to know other people doing what I do. And this list is in no particular order, it's just the order my bookmarks opened up ;)
I'm really excited about where this blog is going and how much it has the opporunity to grow - not only in terms of numbers and posts - but in terms of friends :) 

15 comments:

  1. Oh my lanta! You are seriously an AMAZING writer. I love your stype and the flow of your words (kind of random the things we notice and pick up on after blogging). I am happy to see you are embracing social media!!! That is SUCH a huge thing!!! It's a serious game changer. And you'll find it adds the personal edge to your presence as well as the "promotional" aspect. It's all about branding yourself; YOU ARE A BRAND. Love, love, love that we e-met! Keep doing your thing girlfriend! xoxo

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  2. P.S. I notice the "comment as" options do not include a URL/ID option. Do you have a way to enable that? That way, people who self-host don't have to use their Google + account. ;-) cough cough me cough

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    1. I think I know how to change what you're talking about (actually just changed it so "anyone" can comment, according to Blogger). I am actually soooo frustrated with my comments right now, as Blogger is so limited with comment options vs. Wordpress/other mediums. But hopefully I just fixed what you were talking about. Thanks for the help!

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  3. I know exactly how you feel. I started my blog in August, and it felt like a lot of work for very few readers. I've found that the more I have fun with it and write about what I find interesting, the more I enjoy having a blog. Slowly but surely I'm getting more readership. Social media has helped me a lot too, even though I haven't always been the biggest fan of it either. So, thanks for tweeting me in regards to this post! I've made a few connections and am definitely loving it so far. I hope to get to know you better in the future!

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    1. Glad you can relate :) It is a slow process for many bloggers, I think, but there's nothing wrong with that. Happy Blogging!

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  4. I have LOVED the support and friendliness of the blogging community! I started middle of October on a complete impulse since I read a lot of blogs anyway. This has definitely been a wonderful hobby.
    I'm a social media neglecter as well at the moment, but I am SO glad you found it to be very encouraging and positive. Maybe I'll take the leap one day!

    Thanks for the shout out!! :)

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    1. So glad to hear it! Social media was a hard one for me to get into, but the more I used it to connect with bloggers, the more its drawn me to cool connections. It's become meaningful now instead of a burden. Hopefully, if social media is something you want to explore, you can experience connections there too!

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  5. Thanks for the shoutout, girl! :)
    I've been blogging for over a year and a half and I finally feel like I'm starting to find my 'style.' You're absolutely right in putting aside what you think the blog (or you!) SHOULD be, and instead just BE YOU. Easier said than done, of course, but true! I've never specifically set out to make money from my blog, though someday that would be amazing!, but yes, the comments from readers mean the world to me every time!

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    1. You're welcome! It definitely takes time to find your own style, doesn't it? There are so many different styles of writing and blogs out there. Love your blog, girl!

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  6. I just found your blog and love it! Happy 2013-I look forward to reading more posts :)

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  7. I think every blogger gets what you mean! It's great that you've had so much success after only 6 months! I've been blogging for 2.5 years and it's still sometimes a struggle. Recently I've been getting more and more comments and pageviews, because I've been really working on connecting with other bloggers and growing my blog, but before this summer I barely got any comments ever. Like EVER. And I'd been blogging for so freaking long. I think it's awesome that you have such a passion for it, and I really do think you'll go far in the blogging world. Especially seeing that you've already been making great connections after such a short time. Good for you!!

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    1. Oh, thank you a bunch, Miranda! That's a looong time to be blogging! I'm amazed you've stuck with it for long. That's great that you've seen some growth on your blog lately. It's really all about connecting - but connecting takes work. Thanks for reaching out. Your blog is super cute!

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  8. You go girl! The beginning is tough, I know... but just remember you're doing this for YOU, because writing is what you love to do. Blog from your heart and the followers will follow. :)

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    1. Couldn't agree more. When I struggle or have negative thoughts, I just remember that THIS is what I love. And passions are always worth the effort :)

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