Learning Curve-6 Lessons from 6 Months of Blogging

As I stated in my last post, I am planning on changing things up here at Blooming Anomaly. I am planning on adding other topics besides gardening. One of these topics will be about blogging. Since this is my sixth month blogging, I would like to share with you 6 lessons from 6 months of blogging.

I forget how much time can fly when I’m busy. The first 6 months of my new blogging adventure have been crazy busy, to say the least. To celebrate this blogging milestone, I would like to share with you what I’ve learned so far.

I love challenging myself and blogging has definitely been a new endeavor for me. even though I do not consider myself computer savvy, I now know how to build a website from the ground up. I even got myself a job interview with these new blogging skills I’ve acquired.

Being a blogger has opened up a whole new wonderful world for me. I’ve learned a lot and have met many other hard working bloggers during these 6 months. Below are just a few of the things I’ve learned as a newbie blogger.

UPDATE: Check out what I’ve learned my first year blogging here!

Here are the 6 lessons I’ve learned from 6 months of blogging…

Take it One Day at a Time

There was so much to learn at first that it was overwhelming, but I tried to focus on getting a little done every day. Some days it was only a few minutes or an hour, but every little bit of time I spent starting my blog helped me going forward. I still apply this rule to this day and just like at the beginning, any time (no matter how small) spent on my blog is a little step forward.

Now, some people may be able to spend half or all their day blogging, which is great, but if you have one or several jobs like me, you have be realistic about how much time you can spend when you first get started blogging.

As you get in the swing of things, you’ll find out what works for you and what doesn’t. I usually interact with followers on social media in the evenings and blog on the weekends. This might change but for now it works for me.

Make Short and Long Term Goals

Making goals is very important. If you don’t make goals, you won’t get anywhere in life. Making blogging goals is very important since most bloggers start on their own and have no boss or income (at first) to keep them working.

As stated above, one of my short term goals is spending at least an hour or more a day blogging and interacting with others. I also try to post and interact with followers on my two strongest social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram, on a daily basis. On busy days I may only have time for one, but little progress is still progress.

Another short term goal I have is to write and post one blog a week. After doing extensive research I have found that the recommended posts to write a week are two to three. I would love to write more but at the moment one a week works for me.

Balance is very important when making goals as a blogger. I would love to write more blogs and be more active on all my social media sites, but to do what I want I would get no sleep, which would not help me  with my jobs. This is why I have the short term goals that I have above.

One of my long term goals is to gain a following on social media. This can’t happen overnight, so I just chip away at it every day. Some days I get more than others, but a little is still progress.

Another long term goal I have is to make money blogging. I know this has happened quicker for others, but since everyone sets their own pace with blogging, this will look different for others.

I have had so much fun blogging, learning from others and helping new bloggers out that I plan on continuing to do this, whether or not money is in the future for me.

Interact With Other Bloggers

I love socializing with others. Since I currently juggle several jobs socializing is more challenging these days, but blogging makes it possible. Its also important for making interactions and growing your audience.

I’ve heard that you can only succeed so far if you only rely on yourself. More people mean more brains, and more brains mean more ideas to work with and help you move forward. You can learn from each other and help other bloggers by involving others in your blogging endeavor.

I have joined blogging groups on Facebook, which has been a great resource for me as a new blogger. I have befriended new and veteran bloggers, and each has different pieces of advice to offer.

Another great reason to interact with bloggers is guest posts. You can offer to write a guest post for each other, which can drive traffic to your blog. All of these are win-win situations.

Social Media is Your Best Friend

I hope you have a real person as your best friend, but social media is very important in your success as a blogger. You can increase your followers by being active on all your social media platforms.

I spend most of my time posting and interacting with followers and people I follow. Since there are only 24 hours in a day, I only do this on my top two social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram.

When I first started blogging, I was advised to join at least Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus and start a Facebook page. I quickly found that keeping up on all of them was overwhelming.

Later on it was recommended to me to focus on at least one. I decided to choose Twitter, since at the time I had the most followers on there.  Instagram was used daily since its so easy to use and I was also building a following on there too.

I usually only post on all five right after I post a blog. I would love to be on all more frequently, but like mentioned above, its all about balance and knowing how much time I have to spend on blogging.

Spend Some Money

To be successful at blogging, I’ve taken some risks, such as spending some money on this new endeavor. Of course, everyone has a different amount on what they can spend.

There are some free blogging platforms out there, but to have more options available I chose to self host my WordPress blog on Bluehost. I highly recommend Bluehost if you choose to self host your blog. There are many perks to using Bluehost, including a very helpful online staff.

I’ve also paid to promote some posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I’ve done the promotions more out of curiosity to see how well they work on each social media platform and to compare how much interaction I received on them.

You don’t have to spend money to start a blog, but I do recommend it.

Webinars

I’ve gotten a lot of help with blogging by talking to other bloggers and joining blogging groups. I have also found it helpful to watch webinars. These are great tools that veteran bloggers use to promote their business. They are also FREE, which I love.

I would say that about half the webinars I have watched have not been useful, but the ones worth watching have been great and filled with many wonderful tools I have since implemented.

The webinars I have seen are free and only took an hour or so to watch. These handy videos are played live and the good ones offer tricks on how to improve your blogging skills.

6 Lessons from 6 Months of Blogging

I have learned many other useful tips in my 6 months of blogging. Every day I learn a little more and I’m sure I will keep learning more as another 6 months go by. Its been an adventure to say the least!

One word that keeps me going through all this is HUSTLE. Even if its just liking other follower’s posts on social media or writing a blog, I hustle every day. For me, blogging has consisted of baby steps, but they have gotten me this far.

I hope you enjoyed my 6 Lessons from 6 Months of Blogging. Let me know if you have anything to add to my list in the comments below!