One year of blogging – What have I learned?

My 1-year Blogaversary! One year of blogging man!
GUYS, I DID IT… I RENEWED MY BLOG FOR ANOTHER YEAR!

Can I just start by saying WOW! It’s my 1 year blogging anniversary. I have been blogging on and off since 2006. That’s 14 years my friends. I was 20 years old. I always said I wish I had stuck with it and taken it more seriously, but I know I was too young and immature to think this could be my career then. It was all about boys, my friends, and drinking.

Kinda glad I didn’t. I have read some of my old posts from Blogspot and let me tell you… they were not good. I know what I was trying to get across, but I went about it in all the wrong ways. Guys… I can’t believe it has been one year of blogging.

What Have I Learned?

Let us reflect on the past year and let you know some things I have learned as well as what is in store for Our Redonkulous Life. I have learned so much and I am still learning every day. In no particular order here are 10 things I have learned in my one year of blogging.

Every idea needs a plan

I have a book full of ideas for blog posts, but I won’t write any of them till I have an absolute plan for executing them. I learned this after the first month of blogging. Early on you could tell from my writing I had absolutely no plan and kinda just threw together a post. It doesn’t work that way. Now when I have an idea I think long and hard about what I want to touch on. What do I think are the most important parts. Once I am done writing a post I am already thinking about the next one and how I am going to go about writing about it.

Have a posting schedule

I always knew what days I was going to be posting and I thought that was it. No, no, no honey. It has to be the same day, same time, same everything. If you don’t it affects google and its algorithm. I did not know that till month 11 of blogging. Please learn from my mistake, and start from day one. Save yourself the hassle.

Also, this goes along with having a schedule for yourself which I kind of had, just not with the times. It wasn’t until month 11 I created a block schedule for my blog, not just my everyday life. I used a spreadsheet labeled it Sunday-Saturday across the top and 6a-11p down the left-hand side. On this sheet, I color coordinated the things I needed to do and what time I wanted to do them.

Why?

I did this so I wasn’t rushing every post day trying to get everything done. I got over that shit real quick. Once my schedule was done I screenshot it on the computer and put it as my desktop background. My schedule is the very first thing I see when I get on the computer and there is no confusion about what I should be doing that day.

The blogging community matters

I joined a lot of blogging groups but slowly removed myself from a lot of them. However, now that I have a schedule I might join a few more. If it wasn’t for these groups I wouldn’t have the traffic I had in the beginning. Being in these groups and reciprocating the daily posts, shares, comments, and repinning it is A LOT, but again so worth it. I will never take for granted the regular posters in the groups who have shared all my posts. I highly recommend Bloggers Supporting Each Other and Bloggers Support Bloggers

Plan ahead

PLAN AHEAD!! I cannot stress this enough. I mean you had me at lists when I first started blogging. If you have read some of my posts before you know I am a sucker for lists and stationary. I have a dry-erase calendar I use with little post-it notes and I plan out my content for the month on the days I am posting. I don’t use the calendar anymore because I can’t hang it up on my wall since I moved.

So now I just use a piece of paper and write the dates down. I look at events we ARE going to, events we WANT to go to. I also look at the national day today sight and see if there is anything that sticks out, that I might want to write a post about. I also look at things I have already done that I could share my point of view and opinion on if I think other people might be interested.

Always Learning

You will never be done learning while blogging. If you think you are done learning all you can, you are wrong. The way of blogging and social media is always changing. You need to make sure you are updated on that. I read and sign up for everything I can get to on my computer and in person. It never hurts to be able to educate someone who may have questions for you.

Guest Posts

Only one person did a guest post on my blog and I published a post on theirs. I would love to do it more or even collab on a series post with someone. It is a great way to get your name out there and a great way to make blogger friends along the way.

Don’t stretch yourself too thin

I am guilty of this. In the beginning, when I started my blog I told myself I am going to post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I will bust out post after post. That was way too much for someone just starting out. When I started my blog it was kind of a spur of the moment. I knew I wanted to start a blog, but I should have waited and written a good amount of posts first so I would have more content for the few readers who may have stumbled upon my site to read. 2 were written… one blog post and the home page.

What should I have done?

I should have had 9 posts written and that would have covered me for the first 3 weeks of blogging to keep up with the 3 times a week postings. Since I didn’t I switch to Wednesdays and Fridays. Then I came up with a schedule for Tuesdays and Fridays. Even 2 times a week was a lot for me. Now I have just opted for Fridays at 8a and my Newsletter goes out Saturday at 8a. I have given myself a schedule that doesn’t spread me out too thin. If I have time I will post on a Tuesday as a bonus blog for the week.

 One year of blogging

Don’t believe everything you read

I see so many posts on Pinterest that state “How I made 4,000 dollars within my first month of blogging”. There may be a 1 in a million chance that actually happened. They know new bloggers are going to read the post in its entirety like it’s the bible because they want to know how to do that. I, 100% do believe you should monetize your blog from the beginning, but just know you won’t make a lot of money.

Confidence in posting on social media

I am perfectly fine sharing things on my personal Facebook with Friends and Family, but I was never an avid Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest user. Blogging may be what I do and that involves sharing things in my personal life, but I am still a private person. I have never been comfortable sharing things on anything other than Facebook.

Starting this blog I realized people will want to see who is writing the things they are reading. I have eventually found myself wanting to post a picture of myself on Instagram and wanting people to follow me that I don’t know. I want to get to know you now. This blog has given me the confidence to post more pictures and do things out of my comfort zone.

Write about things you are proud of

If I could tell you one thing to do in your one year of blogging and this is the most important one of all. Earlier in the year, I could tell you I posted things I was on the fence about. Stooping to the level of just posting a blog that was just pictures and quotes, because it was easy. Slowly realized I am not proud of those. I don’t want the easy route, I want the long hours, constantly researching and making sure what I am saying is accurate, I want to be authentically me.

What do I want to write about?

I want to write about things that I myself would click to read. Some articles I am really proud of the reconnecting with a spouse, and all the posts about Personal Growth because those are things I am going through right now. I want all of you who are reading to follow along my journey and grow with me. I want to inspire you at any point in your life to be better and do better because you deserve the life you want.

That is what I have learned so far…

I hope you guys enjoyed this post about celebrating my one year of blogging. What is coming up in the world of Our Redonkulous Life… More adventures with the family. We moved to Tampa a month ago and have sooooo many places to explore. More Self Development. Another idea I have is a bread series I want to start… you know I have to redeem myself from my previous encounters with bread. I hope you guys stay with me and continue to support me and my blog. Let’s continue with one more year of blogging! I love you all and remember…

Until Next Time, Have a Good Day!