My Blogging Journey: Pivotal Moments During The First Three Years

October is a very special calendar month for me considering it is my web log-iversary! I striking publish on my first web log postal service three years agone, back when I was but looking for a place to write and share my thoughts.

I call up mentioning the idea of starting a web log to David when nosotros were on a long automobile ride. The idea had been floating around in my head for a while at that point, but it was just when I said the words out loud that I started thinking very seriously about it. I was nervous to fifty-fifty suggest the idea of blogging to anyone, even my own married man. After all, who would really want to read what I wrote? And what would I write virtually?

I am the girl who is always full of ideas, so I'chiliad not sure this particular idea was all that much of a surprise to David. Nosotros discussed information technology a fleck on our drive, and I couldn't get the thought our of my caput subsequently that.

I spent the following week obsessing over it. I had blogged off and on a bit before, but I wanted this web log to be different. I spent every evening subsequently work brainstorming topic ideas and web log names. I filled pages and pages of notebooks with my thoughts – my brain was on overdrive, to the point where I would be lying in bed at 3 a.thousand. scribbling ideas into my notebook. Something in me knew that this blog was going to be special, merely I had no idea what information technology would get or that I'd even still exist blogging 3 years subsequently.

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The Outset

Because I'thousand multi-passionate, I had a very difficult time narrowing down topic ideas. I finally settled on three general topics that were all themed around the concept of minor things being of import. I fix upwardly a complimentary blog and started writing about small towns, decorating our small apartment and a grab-all category that I termed "small moments that make life big." I dreamed up the perfect name, The Small Stuff Counts, which encompassed my focus on minor and also played on my last name, Counts. And that is how this blog was born.

I published the occasional web log postal service without any real rhyme or reason. If I had a free Saturday, I'd write nigh something on my mind. If I was feeling extra brave, I'd share a link on my personal Facebook page. But for the near part, I just kept my weblog to myself.

And and then I wrote a blog post that completely inverse the trajectory of my blog. In mid-November of 2013, I published a weblog post chosen 25 Signs Yous Grew Upward In A Pocket-sized Boondocks. It was one of those Buzzfeed-style list posts. A few friends shared it, which was heady–no one had done that earlier. So I got an email from the Huffington Mail service asking if they could share it on their web log. I was blown abroad and quickly agreed. I was on a high that entire calendar week as my web log post went viral. Weblog comments poured in, and I got hundreds of subscribers to my blog's RSS feed that week. I felt like I'd made the large leagues. I refreshed the WordPress app on my phone every few minutes to read the new comments, and the popularity of that i fiddling blog postal service was overwhelming.

After the initial shock of that viral blog post gear up in, I realized I really knew nothing about blogging. I was getting heaps of traffic, but I barely had any content on my blog at that point. I felt like I should be capitalizing on all of those visitors, but I had no idea how. And then I started researching blogging and found a few big bloggers that I began studying. I soon realized I had a lot to learn. This whole blogging business was a lot more sophisticated than I'd realized.

After Christmas 2013, that viral blog post died down and I was back to square i. Although that Huffington Post feature was incredible, I await dorsum on it now and wish it wouldn't accept happened, at least not then. I wasn't prepared for that influx of traffic in the least. In that location was no reason for those people to stay on my web log because I barely had anything else for them to read. I didn't even have a Facebook folio for my blog at the time, so there was no manner for people to follow me. Those readers weren't coming back considering I didn't know how to accomplish them. It was fun while information technology lasted, but when that traffic disappeared, I had nothing to show for it except ane web log post with over iii hundred comments.

Communicable The Blogging Bug

Although I now consider that viral web log mail service a missed opportunity, it was a catalyst for my long-term blog growth over the adjacent 3 years. I caught the blogging bug during the excitement of that viral post and haven't looked back since. I started learning equally much about blogging every bit I could. I read weblog post later web log post of tips.

I started to blog a bit more regularly and realized I loved to write well-nigh decorating and organizing the well-nigh. I narrowed my web log's focus and cut out the pocket-sized towns and small-scale moments types of posts. I eventually landed on the iii topics of home decor, DIY and arrangement, which is what I blog about today. I posted off and on that year and get a regular reader of several large blogs, which was a cracking teaching on how professional blogs operated.

About a year into blogging, I decided to become serious and make the transition to a self-hosted WordPress weblog, where I could customize the blueprint and potentially earn a few dollars from it downwardly the road. I holed upward in our apartment 1 snowy weekend, bought a cheap theme and taught myself how to ready hosting and transfer quondam blog posts to the new site. Although I miraculously managed to transfer all of my content, I had to let go of several hundred subscribers to my RSS feed–most all from that i viral blog postal service. If there was a fashion to contact them or consign that email listing, I had no idea at the fourth dimension. My research told me it was just a loss that came with the transition. Plus, I knew those people weren't interested in my new, more than focused topics. But similar virtually bloggers, I wish I would have invested in a cocky-hosted blog from the very beginning. I started yr 2 of blogging well-nigh from scratch, with a smattering of posts and zilch subscribers.

Six months afterward, a big blogger I had been following released an ebook all about blogging. Abby's book, Building A Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook, was a complete impulse purchase. I had never bought an ebook before. At that point, the only money I'd spent on my weblog was for hosting and a $40 theme. Little did I know, reading Abby'due south book would become a pivotal moment in my weblog's growth.

I looked back to run into when I purchased Edifice A Framework. It was June xv, 2015, which was only sixteen months ago. I had a few days off of work that calendar week, and I used that time to read all 200+ pages of Abby'southward book. Although I had been Googling blogging tips for a while at that point, her volume was the outset blogging education I paid for. It was at this point in my blogging journey when I really decided to jump in with both anxiety and began working similar crazy to improve as a blogger.

Abby poured everything she knew about blogging into that volume, and I was blown away by the amount of information. I was too excited about the potential of my weblog. I could make coin from this affair? People might actually follow me on Facebook? I needed long images for Pinterest? I had a lot of learning to practise.

I started following Abby's advice and strategies, and my blog speedily grew into a customs where hundreds and then thousands of readers came each month.. Investing in Building A Framework changed the trajectory of my web log. Without information technology, I might still exist blogging periodically because I love to write, but I would never accept gotten to this point in my blogging journey. I simply had no idea what was possible.

Finding Community

When I first hit publish, I was naive. I thought a weblog was a place where I could share my pictures and thoughts, something I could do while hiding backside my computer screen. I may have come up across a web log post hither and at that place, just I had never even followed a blogger before I started blogging. Fifty-fifty though I felt like I had an awesome plan in the showtime, I had no real idea what this blogging matter was all nigh.

As I started taking blogging more than seriously and focused on providing value in my posts, I realized how much I dearest to teach. I began writing web log posts with the mindset of being helpful to my readers, rather than only sharing my projects. This mindset shift helped my web log begin to steadily grow, and I started to attract loyal readers. It was crazy to think that anyone wanted to learn from me and read what I wrote.

I began connecting with my readers through blog posts, social media, and my email newsletter. Getting to know them and hearing about their struggles fueled my desire to continue to grow this little blog of mine. I loved the fact that I was creating a customs, and I was determined to keep growing it and then I could help even more than people. In fact, I received the loveliest comment from a reader just a few days ago:

[blockquote source="Sarah"]Now I'g inspired! Thank you and then much for this post and for writing this blog. Your planning methods and tips accept been the merely manner that has Ever worked for me. I love you lot so much! And you lot have the same colour tastes every bit me too which is so perfect! ? Happy autumn![/blockquote]

Sarah's annotate fabricated so happy and reminded me how blessed I am to have this web log customs. It's comments like hers that light me upwards and make blogging so rewarding. The more I began connecting with readers, the more energy I poured into this blog.

In addition to growing a community of readers, I started interacting with other bloggers, specially through a Facebook group for people that had read Building A Framework. I began interacting with the group and nosotros helped answer each other's questions. I discovered other blogger Facebook groups and joined some of them, too. When I started this blog, I had no idea an entire community of bloggers existed out there in blogland. It was fascinating to me, and very exciting to connect with other bloggers.

Through participation in those groups, I began developing a network of blogger friends. For the beginning time in my life, I felt like I had found my people. I got to know other women who shared my passion for all things home and creativity. I met driven women with an entrepreneurial streak who were turning their hobby blogs into online businesses.

Last winter, I formed a small tribe of blogger friends that were in a similar identify in their blogging journey. These ladies take speedily became practiced friends. We ask questions, confide in 1 another, promote each other's piece of work, and gloat achievements. I've learned so much from each of them, and I'thou grateful for finding this group of blog friends. Community is an incredible matter.

Learning From The Experts

I caught the blogging bug 3 years ago, and it has only gotten stronger since. One lesson I've learned in the last three years is the importance of investing in yourself, your passions and your business. And yep, I exercise treat this blog like a business concern now – more on that in a fleck. There are many blogging resources out in that location, and it tin can exist hard to effigy out which of the "experts" are worth learning from. I've been careful about where I spent my money and who I acquire from. If you are a blogger or are considering starting a blog, these books and courses have all helped me tremendously.

Building A Framework

Reading Building A Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook and participating in the Facebook group was a turning point for me in my blogging journey. It was a great first purchase, and Abby knows what she's talking about. I similar her straightforward and conversational teaching style, and I admire the way she's grown her blog into a thriving business. The book is super helpful and the video lessons are awesome.

Aristocracy Blog Academy

The second investment in my blogging education was a much heftier dollar amount, but i I exercise not regret in the least. Before this twelvemonth, I enrolled in Elite Blog Academy. The form is not cheap, only the monthly payment program made it within achieve for me, and I decided the investment would be worth it. I've learned much from the form this yr, and it is then comprehensive that I will go on to go back through information technology again and again. It has helped me create a strong foundation for my blog and make, and I'm also learning how to transition this hobby web log into a full-fledged business that I hope will brainstorm to earn a healthy side income for my family in the next year. Elite Web log Academy merely opens upwardly for new students once per year, but you lot tin can bring together the waiting list at present and become instant access to the "7 Surefire Means to Heave Your Blog Income Overnight" ebook.

Volume Boss

The third blogging resource I purchased was Volume Dominate, a course specifically designed to teach bloggers how to write and self-publish an ebook. Publishing a book is a huge goal of mine, and I'm getting close to making information technology a reality thanks to this course. It is very in-depth and has guided me through every footstep of the book-writing and launch process. The Book Boss course is by Abby and Donnie, the couple behind Building A Framework. They have turned Abby's hobby web log into a full-time career for both of them, and they've done it primarily through the success of their ebooks. Their story is so inspiring to me, and they have become two of my become-to experts on all things blogging.

Blogging has become a huge part of my life and investing in my teaching as a blogger always pays off for me. Blogging is ever-changing, and information technology'due south impossible to continue upward with all of the changes and strategies out there. That's why I make information technology a signal to invest in resource created past experienced bloggers who have mastered a item aspect of blogging. Blog education never ends, regardless of where yous are at in your blogging journey.

Turning My Web log Into A Business organisation

My blog has grown substantially this yr, and I frequently get asked if you lot tin brand money from a web log. The reply is yes, you tin. I know many bigger bloggers who are making full-time incomes and others who are earning healthy side incomes. My own web log makes some money right at present, but I've reinvested all of the income back into the weblog at this point. Blogging success rarely happens overnight, but if y'all are willing to put in the time and have a passion for sharing your cognition with the world, it tin can become profitable over time. For me, it's non all about the coin (although that's a nice bonus). This blog has get a fulfilling style for me to share my voice and connect with people from effectually the world.

I will warn y'all that blogging is addictive! What started as a creative outlet has morphed into a rapidly growing blog, ane that I have lofty goals of turning into a business. I suppose information technology'due south already become a business since it does generate a fiddling money hither and there. Only my dreams are much bigger than that. Last December, I fix some huge goals for my blog in 2016–or and so I idea. I've already surpassed virtually of those goals, nearly notably my monthly page views which are now triple what I had written on my goal canvass (pinch me now!).

My side by side goal – the biggest yet – is to publish an ebook. Writing a volume is a goal I've had most of my life, and one that's shut to coming to fruition. And in addition to reaching my goals, my ebook is going to be a helpful resource for then many people. I can inappreciably await to share more and get it into your hands!

I am working hard to grow this blog and make it helpful to you and others. It is overwhelming at times, simply I enjoy information technology so much. Many people dream of existence full-time bloggers, and I won't lie – that's certainly something I call up about at times. But right at present, my goal is to continue to grow this blog into a side business that tin can contribute to our family's income. I don't have the luxury of being a full-fourth dimension blogger, so my growth is going to have longer than some, and that'southward okay. I have so many ideas and dreams for this blog that I could easily piece of work on it all day every 24-hour interval if I had the take a chance. My blogging journey is far from over, and I'g grateful to you for beingness a part of it.

Thank you for reading my words and supporting my blogging journey. This blog wouldn't exist anything without date and encouragement from web log readers like you. I truly mean that. Blogging has become a huge passion of mine and a large role of my life, and I tin can inappreciably await to see how it evolves and grows in the coming twelvemonth and beyond.

I know this is a different topic than I normally discuss with you, but I hope information technology inspired y'all in some way. If you've been peckish a creative outlet, blogging may exist simply what yous're looking for. Having a weblog is a wonderful hobby, and who knows? Y'all may catch the blogging problems simply like I did 😉 If yous accept any questions nigh blogging, exit them in the comments or email me at emily@smallstuffcounts.com.

Cheers for beingness a function of my blogging journeying,

This mail service contains affiliate links for your convenience. All opinions of insanely helpful web log resource are 100% my own. For more data, run across my disclosure.

Salvage

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