Hi Everyone!

Today is a big deal for me.  It is the one year anniversary (Blogaversary if you will) of my very first post on Entirely Kristen! That’s right, my happy little corner of the internet turns one today!

To celebrate this I fully intend on making cookies with my daughter and having a little party!  However, on here, I wanted to share with you 10 Life Lessons I learned this past year thanks to blogging.

10 Things I learned Blogging

1. It’s never to late to try again.

If you were around for that very first post you know that Entirely Kristen wasn’t my first blog.  It was a significant re-branding and re-start of my first blog (that is still near and dear to my heart) called Come Save Away.

When I first started blogging I wanted to have a coupon blog, and I did, and it was surprisingly successful.  After a difficult delivery and an even more difficult time when my newborn was hospitalized I stopped everything all together.  The mom card pulled rank over blogger as I sat in the hospital praying my daughter would be able to make it home.  All of those experiences changed me to my very core.  Once I decided I wanted to start blogging again, I also decided to change up everything.  The look, the name, the content, I basically wanted to completely re-shuffle the deck!

2. Who Needs a Niche Anyways?

This was my problem that continued to hold me back at first. Once I decided I wanted to start blogging again it took me a while to actually pull the trigger because all the “experts” tell you to Niche down or find your Niche.  You know what I now say to that? Screw it! I’ve always been one who prefers to take the road less traveled, and I told myself, you don’t need a niche.  If you want to have a lifestyle blog, then blog about all things that encompass that.  I can tell you right now, there’s more than one niche to life, so I see no problem in deviating from the “norm” of the blogging world and just blogging about everything that interest you!

3. Blogging is Hard Work!

As I write this I can almost hear all the other bloggers of the world agreeing with me.  Many don’t realize what goes into a blog.  They see the finished product and that’s it.  But let me tell you, it’s hard work!  You have to plan out topics, take photos, write posts, share on social media sites (which is a whole other thing in and of itself).  It’s sleepless nights figuring out how to code these things called “widgets” so your blog looks pretty.  It’s coming up with a cohesive brand and sticking to it.  It’s just hard work, but it’s something that is totally worth it.  I enjoy it more than I ever thought I would.

4. Invest in Yourself!

I made the decision early on to self host my blog.  Which means nothing to most people, but it was a big deal to me.  This part of the post contains affiliate links.  While I did have to invest in a better hosting site it was worth it because it gave me complete control over everything!  Investing in yourself goes with anything in life, not just blogging.  Spend the time investing in yourself and it will never be a bad investment!

5. Ignore the Naysayers!

Whenever I say “I’m a blogger” (or “Youtuber” or “Influencer”) most look at me sideways.  As if I just started speaking in jibberish, it’s usually accompanied with an eye-roll.  Yet, here I am, still chugging along, finding success in the blogging world.  If someone can’t support your dreams then just ignore them.  I always remember this quote (but have no idea who said it) “You could be the juiciest peach in the world, there is always going to be someone who doesn’t like peaches.”

6. Never Stop Learning

I didn’t go to school for programming, I actually have 2 degrees that have nothing to do with anything even related to computers (Economics and a JD in Law).  I’ve taught myself everything about blogging.  I’ve learned Google is your friend.  If you don’t know something I guarantee someone out there does and they more than likely wrote a post about it!  I taught myself how to write posts, what these “Widgets” were, social media promotion, how to edit YouTube videos, and everything in-between.  Even earlier this week I was up early every day trying to figure out how to write CSS code so I could get the look I want for my blog subscribe button!

Which you should totally subscribe to by the way ….

Subscribe to Never Miss a Post

 

7. You can Actually Make Money Blogging

Before I hit publish on my first post I knew all about making passive income from blogging.  Right from the beginning I was utilizing sidebar ads and affiliate links while I was building my audience.   As I started to get more of a following this turned into product reviews which eventually turned into paid brand partnerships.  It’s never too early to treat your blog like a business, just don’t expect it to happen overnight (see #3 above!).

8. You Miss Every Chance You Don’t Take

This was a big one for me prior to starting blogging.  I would always see successful Bloggers out there and wanted so badly to be one of them.  I finally asked myself: “Well, why not?”  It’s like they say, you never know until you try and you miss every chance you don’t take.  There was a lot of back and forth before I decided to get out of my own way and start something that was completely for me.  I quickly adopted the theory that ‘someone has to be able to do it, why can’t that someone be me?’ and I never looked back.  Now, here I am, one full year later and I couldn’t be happier.

9. Avoid the Comparison Trap

Now-a-days (sheesh, do I sound old when I say that or what!?) it is so easy to compare your life to others.  From the very start of this I decided to NOT do that with blogging if I was going to blog.  There are always bloggers who publish income reports (which I find super helpful) but I always remember that I am my own person and this blog is it’s own thing.  No two things are alike and I can’t compare my outcome to others, because success is a subjective thing.  Success can mean one thing to me and something completely different to you.  Learn from others, but know you shouldn’t compare your life to them.  Trust me, I don’t go around posting my pile of laundry that needs to be folded to my Instagram but that doesn’t mean it’s not there!

10. Roll With the Punches

It’s like that song by Thomas Rhett – Life Changes! Sometimes things fall into place perfectly, and sometimes it a takes a lot of effort.  Just remember to be flexible and roll with the punches.  That goes for well beyond blogging too.   After all it’s like my favorite line in the song says “you make your plans and you hear God laughing.”  Trust me – I understand that even more so now that our happy little accident is due in March. (Can’t wait to meet you little guy!)