Being a Blogger For A Year: What I’ve Learned

The date was January 29, 2019 when I finally wrote down my blogging goal: “Get my blog up & running.” At the time, I just bought my domain, brainstormed the perfect name for the blog, and had big dreams for what I wanted to write about. Next up on the agenda: Get the blog up, put together the details, and start writing. What I didn’t realize was the amount of work that went into creating a blog i.e. finding plugins that went with my theme, creating a header, learning SEO. *Big deep breath.* Yeah, I know. It was a lot! This week I’m going to reflect on my journey of being a blogger for a year and what I’ve learned.

Starting the Blog, Wait… Not Really

As I already mentioned, creating a blog is a lot of work especially if you don’t have previous experience. I didn’t even know where to begin, so I felt extremely overwhelmed. It seemed as though for every effort I put in, a barrier was placed in my way that I didn’t know how to solve. Even after googling everything, I was lost. On top of that, my work life became more time consuming. Between work and the blog, I was stretched thin.

Eventually, I stopped working on the blog. And for almost an entire year, I put it on the back burner. I just about gave up on it until the pandemic left me temporarily unemployed.

When the World Stopped, My Blog Began

Around this time last year, I was told by HR to stay home temporarily as the pandemic took off in full force. It was such a shock to not have to get up early every single morning and go to work. What was I going to do with my time? How was I going to stay productive? What did this mean for my identity? I talked a lot about my feelings, mental space, and experiences in the first post of my Covid-19 series.

One day, early on in my temporary unemployment, my mom reminded me about the blog. “Why don’t get your blog started?” Well, that’s a good point! With all the extra time on my hands, there was no reason not to give it a go.

And by the end of March, I published my first post: How to Get a Job You Enjoy After College. I was so proud to put myself out there. Especially since the fear of other people’s opinions of my work had stifled me so much in the past. Not any more! This girl suddenly sprout wings and was ready to fly.

Blogger Stress & Balance

As I started getting more emotionally involved with my blog and connecting with the writing community online, the stress of gaining views weighed on me. I took a Pinterest course, read a bunch of posts on SEO, and still found myself struggling to build my readership. I’ll admit it. I fell into the trap of comparing myself to other bloggers and questioned the value of my work.

It took chatting with someone close to me, to remember why I started blogging in the first place. It was never about the numbers, monetizing the blog, or becoming popular. My original goal with this blog was to create a safe place to have dialogue on vulnerable topics. I touch on this briefly in my Sunshine Blogger Award post. Remembering the purpose behind my blog helped me kick those negative thoughts to the curb.

I try to keep my partner’s words close to heart:

Keep on blogging because it’s something you love. The readers will come!”

Nowadays, I don’t stress about the numbers as much and that has taken a major weight off my back! If you’re a new blogger and you’re facing the similar number fatigue, just breathe! With experience and time, you’ll learn new ways to network and grow. You’ve got this!

Learning About Boundless Opportunities

When I was an undergrad in Creative Writing, the concept of getting a job as a writer seemed impossible. I was under the impression from all of my professors that the likelihood of being successful as a writer was close to slim and that most likely I would end up teaching English. While there’s nothing wrong with being a teacher, it wasn’t what I wanted. So I felt discouraged and disappointed. I regretted studying Creative Writing.

Fast forward a few years: I published my blog, got acquainted with many writers across the world, and finally discovered that everything I thought I knew about writing and potentially earning income was false. The world of writing is changing as technology is changing and as it turns out, there’s a big need for writers.

After creating content on my blog for just a few months, I came across freelance writing, which is boundless in opportunities. Because of my desire to expand my craft and make some income doing something I love, I thought I would explore the field. (Update: Upon publishing this post, most of the blog has been converted into a freelance writing site! Go head and have a look around. And hey, if you know of anyone who needs a writer, you can always send them my way!)

Writing Community Online

One of the most rewarding experiences so far has been connecting with the writing community. When the pandemic began, I felt lonely and isolated. Meeting these wonderful artists, poets, authors, and bloggers has really shined a light during a dark time for me.

I am forever grateful to the friends that I’ve met along the way, the support I’ve received, and their meaningful insight. What else can be said! I’m very thankful!

What Blogging Has Taught Me

Blogging has taught me how to articulate my thoughts more clearly, how to create content online, how to be more authentic to myself and what I stand for… I’ve learned the technical side of blogging: formatting blog posts, creating menus, designing featured images, bits and pieces of search engine optimization (SEO), writing meta descriptions… Basically I’ve learned a lot. But it’s only been a year and I still have much to learn.

Celebrating My 1 Year Blogging Anniversary

I want to conclude this reflection by saying that I’m just getting started. My plan moving forward is to continue to write on this blog and on other platforms including Medium.com. (In case you missed it, my first post about creating fair expectations is already published on Medium. You can read it here.) I also plan to explore freelance writing more, spruce up my LinkedIn, and start pitching to businesses. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time, but nobody ever said that growth was easy or comfortable. I want to continue pushing my boundaries, growing as a writer/blogger, and finding new adventures along the way.

If my journey sounds interesting to you, come along for the ride. You can subscribe to my email list for updates or follow me on any of my social medias. Either way, I’m happy to have you here!

Thanks for reading my reflection of my blogging journey!

Good luck on your journey,

Harumi