My First Month of Blogging – The Ups and Downs

If you choose to start blogging, you will realize that it can be one of the most rewarding things you can do.  But, at the same time, it is also one of the most frustrating.  The first month of blogging is full of these ups and downs.

I should clarify that this was my first “live” month of the blog.  Before I had gone live, I had spent at least 1-2 months planning what it would look like and trying to get the theme set up.  All of the technical stuff was a little overwhelming, but now that I am one month into it, I can tell that it is getting easier and that I have self-taught myself quite a bit of stuff.

The first live month was stressful.  I am not going to lie.  There were a lot of emotions that go into making a blog.  Here are just a few of the things you will go through:

No Visitors

You finally get a few posts out there, and then realize your next problem.  You need to get people to come and visit your blog.  They don’t just magically appear.  This was very difficult for me and then it just brings on a lot of questions on whether this is the thing you want to put all your energy into.

When you finally get your first authentic visitor or two, you will be ecstatic.  And then your visitors will start to grown and might start seeing an average of 5-10 every day.  But then you have a day where you only have 2 visitor and you wonder, what is going one.

That is traffic for you.  It continuously goes up and down.  And as time goes by, you might start to see patterns in when your visitors come.  This is the time you need to start using the analytics to optimize those patterns.  I still am working on that aspect.

Creating Content

It will be exhilarating to finally put your first post together and send it into the world.   You will create a few more posts and then you might realize that you want to change how you put those articles out.  I went from thinking I wanted a journal blog, to then realizing that people don’t want to just read your journey.  They want you to help them solve problems and to learn.  It is about blending the two that makes it a great blog for others to come to.  So now, I write completely different then I did in the first month.

There is ALWAYS something more you should be doing.

Creating content, marketing, creating images, updating your website, changing the theme or logo, writing guest posts, monetization, commenting on other blogs, creating relationships.  The list goes on and on.  And I felt like I was starting at the very beginning in each of these categories.  It was overwhelming to say the least, and still is.  I look at all the amazing bloggers and the great things that they are doing and I wonder, what in the world?  How do they do it?  Well, for one thing, most have been doing this for awhile.  It took them time to learn as well.  And once you take the time to learn a concept, you have grown and it gets that much simpler the next time you want to do it.

Take Your Time

This is not a race.  You need time to do everything and learn it well, so that you don’t have to go back and redo everything.  Most of my time this month has been learning.  I have had to spend hours researching how to make a pin for Pinterest, how to use Tailwind, what SEO is and how I should at least be aware of it as I continue to write posts.  Take the time to learn.  Slow down and don’t put so much pressure on having a superstar blog right at the beginning.  I am hoping that this blog will become popular, and they say you have to be patient.  So, I am going to be patient and hopefully will see some growth in the weeks or months to come.

Start Making Connections

My main focus to start making connections was Twitter.  I have found this to be a supportive culture.  I have actually grown from zero followers to over 200 in the first month.  I think this is great.  Most of my followers currently are other bloggers.  I followed them and they follow me back.  My next move will be to start growing my following outside of the circle of other bloggers. 

You Will Want To Quit

I can’t even tell you how many times I doubted whether I should be doing this or not.  My own self-doubts are my biggest struggle.  It comes down to fear.  The fear that what I am saying isn’t good enough or that I am going to fail is strong.  I just have to keep telling myself to give it time and see what comes of it. 

You Will Find Great Joy In Blogging

The first month is also one of great pride.  You may have been frustrated by learning all the tech and getting your website up and running, but you should be proud of publishing your first few posts.  You have already made it farther than so many others. 

My blog has brought me so much satisfaction and also made me feel like I am being productive and helping others.  So watch out world, there is more of this to come!