6 months have passed since I started work on This Curvy Life! It doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you work on something every day and are passionate about it, time seems to be much slower and oh so valuable. So during this time, I should have learned something right? Most of these apply to life in general if you are not a blogger so keep reading my love! Here are a ten things I learned that I wish I knew day 1 of blogging…
1. You can’t plan everything, so just start. I waited a few months before launching the site (It still has not officially launched). I wanted to have x amount of posts and while I met that goal it is not crucial. Start sharing because your blog is going to evolve because your voice will change as you become more comfortable with the new extension of yourself.
2. You will need a community to help you feel supported and that group may not be your friends. If your friends don’t blog it will be difficult for them to understand what you are doing. You will spend more time explaining than discussing. You will need blogger friends. Try to find some, if it is the fellow bloggers who comment on your IG posts, ppl you meet at blogging events, or if you join a fb group. That community is pretty supportive and you will find a blogger tribe there. I wanna give a shout out to mine. I adore them! Hey boos! Konnichiwacosmetics Designsxstudio Cecily and allll my girls from the Blog & Insta Squad. There are so many of you guys, I would be tagging all night. Just know I appreciate each one of you.
3. There are no quick answers or quality shortcuts. I keep hearing ppl ask on forums, “How do I get 10,000 followers on IG how do I get x amount of views on my blog”. Trust, there are ways to skip the line but, you have to put the work in to get a quality product or following. Work. Keep blogging, be consistent, use your authentic voice, interact with your followers, research the resources. Keep working and they will find you.
Keep working and you will get results
4. Be happy with the journey. We all want a big result but do your best to appreciate the strength and focus it takes to even successfully start. Many will start with you, and I promise you a good 50% of them are gone 6 months in. So appreciate that you started and stayed up long nights and wrote 80 million posts, captions, hashtags and fulfilled promises to check out fellow blogs and comment (I call it blogger homework). This is you laying your foundation for your empire! Do you want it built on those packing styrafoam thingies or do you want it built on bricks? Bricks that you laid and you know its ready to hold you up? Appreciate each brick you are laying.
5. Use your authentic voice. A blog missing a personality is mad boring. Noone wants to see 80 posts without a sense of you or your true view of things. Be yourself and write each post to your reader who is your friend in your head. This will help them see you. It will bring them back.
6. Be consistent. Post at minimum 3 times a week. IG post 5 times a week minimum. Consistency builds your audience.
7. Be clear about what you want and then keep some things to yourself. I made “blogger friends” with a few girls that I started looking up too. They asked me about things I wanted to do and then started doing them when I shared my ideas. They did not respect how much time it took to think of them and come up with an idea to market them. So don’t idealize people or give them to much credit. People are still human. Yes they will take your ideas. You may have to keep some to yourself, no matter how friendly people are. Know your worth, execute your ideas, and if someone borrows from you later, you are doing something right.
8. Don’t waste money. Everyone is an expert these days and offering a free class leading to a fee. I would say some of the best resources do not come from these bigger bloggers. My favorite resources are Jump Into Monday and Love Sarah Coaching both give a different perspective. Jump into Monday is the what to do and Sarah gives you the guidance on executing it.
9. Use life’s distractions to help shape your blog. I started the blog and about 1.5 months in I got a puppy. This puppy had me in instant struggle mode, so I wrote about it. That post is STILL my most popular on the blog. It helps that she is mad cute but I was really myself in that post and I found more of my voice. The struggle can reveal your strength.
I was so exhausted but had to share my new life
10. Don’t forget to take a break. If you are applying everything in this list, I know you are tired. Take a break sometimes and reflect on where you started. Then when you are refreshed, come back and tell us about your break. I bet your readers will love to hear appreciate you sharing. Because we are here to hear from you.
Welp those are my pointers for now. I want to thank you and all the readers that are checking this out for visiting the blog and helping me find an outlet to share my thoughts and concerns. I adore this blog and you inspire me each day to keep going. In celebration, I went out to one of my fave spots (Bread and Butterfly) for a little champagne and brunch. So I will share some pics from that and some from this cool journey! Can’t wait to write this every 6 months going forward.
My first photography attempt for the blog
My first blogger step and repeat. I was sooo excited and had no idea how to pose lol
My first draft of my logo. Took 8 revisions to get it right
There are so many others, but I will save them for the 1 year celebration! YAY for 6 months of This Curvy Life!
xo Danie
Such great tips Danie! You are amazing and so inspiring!
What a great post to put it all perspective! Finding your why , consistency, putting it on paper!
Wonderful and inspiring things that you’ve learnt 🙂 Congrats on your 6-month blogoversary!
Author
Thanks so much, I appreciate the encouragement
congrats on the continuance of your blog and keep it up! Very nice tips for those entering the blogosphere 🙂
xx
lau
I like your blog and your style 🙂 My blog is about 6 months old as well. I can feel overwhelmed by all of the things I am “supposed to do,” while still holding down a separate full-time job. I have to remind myself I started the blog just for fun, and it should stay fun!
Author
Thanks so much doll and Congratualations on your 6 months I am gonna find your blog so we can grow together. We might have to be blogger boos especially since we both love travel 🙂
omg love this. I relate to a lot of what you’ve said. My blog is super casual and at the end of the day, I’m just trying to have fun. I can’t take it or myself too seriously. Besides, I have a day job to do! haha. Love your work and what you’re doing. Keep going! I can’t wait to see the progress you’ve made in another 6 months!
Author
I agree. It has to be fun as well or you won’t want to do it. Thanks so much for your comment and encouragement 🙂
You speak the truth and only the truth! Love your natural writing Danielle. Keep up the good work, you deserve your success!
This is awesome! I agree with you on all of these but I really struggle with consistency as I also seem to run out of time… :/ I have to improve that for sure.
Congrats girl! 😉
Tadeja
Such a beautiful post, very inspirative xo
Love everything, specially the last one – don’t forget to take a break. That is sometimes the most important.
Congratulations on 6 months!!!! What an accomplishment! And thank you for sharing your insights.
Congratulations! I love getting to look at other bloggers’ achievements, really awesome advice too!
Thank you for sharing this! I’m a brand new Blogger too so I need all the help I can get. P.S. I LOVE YOUR PUPPY!
Author
Awww thanks doll check out the Blogger POV section. I have a few more posts to share with you 🙂
Congrats on 6 months. These are great tips
Being consistent and clear are the keys, I think. And hey, congratulations, you’ve created a beautiful page and some gorgeous content in just couple months. My first blog wasn’t even close to your quality after first 6 months. Keep going, girl, you’re doing great here! 🙂
Congratulations! So many pearls of wisdom – especially about evolving and finding your authentic voice. I love how much your committment shines through. Now to read that puppy post!
Well done on 6 months! You’re completely right with all these points, and I’ve been following you on Bloglovin for a wee bit now, I always really enjoy your posts though don’t comment as much as I should. I’ll start changing that from now x
Author
Thanks so much for checking them out! I appreciate it very much. And thanks for following me. Thats so nice 🙂
Happy 6 months blogging. Blogging has taught me also so much. It’s a great way of developing yourself.
Congratulations for your 6months blogging journey. Keep it going. Inspiring article.