Blogging Mistakes And Accomplishments Within First Year

My Rodes On The Road blog journey this past year has been a roller coaster ride, especially since I don’t consider myself competent in this arena at all! I have my abilities and talents but not in the field of technology. But I love to write and share my opinion on my family’s experiences in our travels. I thought love was enough! You write and hit publish, and that’s it. But it’s not! It takes a lot of work and time to learn the blogging world and learn how to grow your blog.

This one year journey hasn’t been an easy road for me since learning the ins and outs of blogging is totally out of my comfort zone. I’ve had to learn so many things just about writing, never mind learning proper grammar usage in English, which is not my native language. I am so lucky to have a mother-in-law and sister-in-law who are into writing. Every writer needs an editor. Especially since I am doubly challenged with my language barrier I am fortunate that my inlaws have the patience to edit my work and teach me if I need be.

I’m so thankful for my mother-in-law as she encouraged me to keep going. I came to a crossroads at the end of last year. I either had to quit blogging or spend money to go to the next level. It was my mother-in-law’s input that convinced my hubby to get behind me as I to try to make my blog a profitable business. Since my hubby’s expertise is in web creation his work has made this blog better for our followers. Without his full support, I wouldn’t be able to do this as I am already exhausted in trying to be active on social media, plan what to write, and at the same time read a lot and learn from others. 

1st- 6th Month Blogging Journey

1. First Month

• I read a lot! I didn’t do much research ahead of time so I was flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak. Days and nights I was on the computer all the time. So much so it frustrated my kids and hubby. I left the computer only long enough to eat myself and feed them. I tried to deliver an article 2-3 times a week, but nobody read them because I was not active on social media yet. I only shared my blog with family and friends.
• We set up our Search Engine Optimization ( SEO) after 4 weeks of blogging. I continued writing the way I write. But I became paranoid as to why all there are so many red bullets and I didn’t know how to make them green. I then decided to start posting just once a week. That gave me more time to read and go back and review the older articles that I had already published. It took me two days to re-write the article and three rewrites of old published articles to learn how to write so as not to cause red flags with SEO.

2. Second Month

• I am still working day and night on my older posts so I can finish them all. The first FB group I joined is The Business Of Blogging. One of the admins posted that the Tourism Office in Mexico was looking for a new blogger that would help them create content. To be considered for the position, they made a deadline to submit an article to them by March 8, 2019. Even though I was new at blogging, I did my research and tried my luck.
• We purchased the premium Grammarly — $100 for a one-year subscription. It helped me know where to put commas and periods.

3. Third Month

• I finally finished rewriting my older posts and the head of the Hip Traveler contacted me about the shortlisted opportunity to travel in Mexico as a content creator. He asked me to apply and fill out the information on the website, make an account there and be part of the Hip Traveler group.
• I found another group on FB called Start A Money Making Blog. I discovered the group through reading a blogger post. She recommended joining this group to help you as a blogger. Through them, I learned I needed to retrieve my Twitter account password and transfer my Pinterest and IG personal account into a business account. This group also provides a new blogger with a month-by-month checklist of things to do to help find one’s niche in the field of blogging.
  

4. Fourth Month

• Erin told me that she included my blog site for the Liebster Award nomination.
• We got our Amazon affiliate link.

5. Fifth Month

• In my first month on Twitter, I got 1K followers, my Instagram is growing, and my Facebook is slowly growing with the support of other bloggers and writers.

6. Sixth Month

• We got nominated for a Bloggers Award by Kaci Venture. We are grateful that Kaci included us in her nomination for this award.
• Google finally accepted our application for Google Ads that my hubby had worked on.

Having all these accomplishments in the first six months made all my hard work at the beginning worth it. I am thankful for everyone who helped me get my name out there. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it on social media. Growing your presence on social media is hard, especially if you’re new to the industry. But everyone is kind enough to help one another and let the other bloggers know we exist.

7th — 12th Month Blogging Journey

7.  7th- 9th Month

• I continued to learn about blogging and was nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award by Kez and nominated for a Sunshine Award by three different bloggers.
• I was able to meet my goals for these months but I slowed down as we were sick during this time of year. However, I still managed to get my name out there.

8. 10th – 12th Month

• Twitter wasn’t working for me properly from October to early January. I don’t know exactly what happened but I wasn’t very active during those months as we were sickly. I was glad people kept tagging me and I could still read messages. I can’t see most of the people I communicate and interact with. Twitter only shows me a couple of people, maybe five each time. It was annoying. But I continued to keep going and trying to communicate with others based on conversations I am tagged into. 
• I paid more attention to my Pinterest account and made pins to my old articles that didn’t have pins yet. I was also busy updating some of the old articles to make them relevant for the year 2020.
• Before our one year blogging anniversary in January, I took a class called “Business of Blogging Blast Off.” I wanted to end our 1st year more knowledgable and get a good start on another year with new skills.  We paid $425 for this class. It was expensive but worth it. For those who want to do a blog, I recommend getting the class right in the beginning to save you time. This class will give you a step by step guide on how to set up your blog right from the very beginning. 
• I received The Versatile Blogger Award from Nilakshi of Merakimusings. I am honored to be called a versatile blogger. This is my fifth award of this kind and the seventh award I’ve received as a blogger. 
• My social media continued to grow I was able to hit 4K in Twitter before our first-year anniversary date and my Pinterest grew from 3K- 50K. Instagram and Facebook have a slower growth rate but at least the numbers are increasing.
• I found and joined more blogging communities so as to expand and grow more in my niche and increase traffic to my page. I’m glad I did. It is exhausting to try to market from one page to another but seeing the growth makes it worth the effort.

Articles That Related To The Topic Above:

• Quintana Roo State In Mexico/ Things To Do and See 2019
• Rodes On The Road Got Nominated For The Liebster Award 2019
• Rodes On The Road Got Nominated For Bloggers Recognition Award
• Sunshine Blogger Award Nomination: Are We An Inspiring Page?
• Gracefully Versatile Award 2019 For Rodes On The Road
• Mystery Blogger Award Nomination

I gave my two cents of advice to new bloggers in the above links of my blogger’s awards. Please check them out. You’ll get more ideas on how to start a blog and avoid the same mistakes I made.

Blogging Needs

Web Developer

• If you don’t know how to set up a self-hosted blog and need to have a developer to help you with the technical side, it will cost P 15,000 in the Philippines for a small amount of work. I heard from other bloggers they have to spend at least $3,000 to hire a developer to build their site. Since Nate is a Senior Web Developer we don’t need to hire one. If you need someone to help you with your website, Nate accepts a freelance work for $75 per hour.
• The domain name cost varies from $10 – $15 per year it depends on the host site.

Logos and Design

• An all-inclusive package of logo and design of the website costs less than $2,000.
• If you decide to purchase the logo separately, it varies from $10- $100. If you choose to buy the ready-made theme, there are lots to choose from and prices range from $39- $100. It depends on what you want.

Legal Services

• Before the end of 2019, we decided to purchase legal services from a lawyer who blogs about legal matters. She helps educate bloggers about legal matters in the industry. She is knowledgeable in this field.

Blog Expenses

• Grammarly premium subscription costs $ 139.95 annually.
  
• A ready-made theme costs $49. We requested a change in our color theme which cost $30 more.
• We spent $49 for our first logo and then we paid $55 for our customized logo later. Give serious consideration to your logo. A customized logo for your business is better than buying a ready-made one. A customized logo makes your business name stand out amongst a field of too many ready-made logos.
• Our domain name “Rodes On The Road” costs $10 per year.
• We spent money on Facebook to boost our post to get more engagement and a wider audience. It costs $1 per day, $10 for seven days.
• I marketed our page on Pinterest and spent $69 for that.
• Legal Templates for Sweepstakes, Independent Contractor Contract, and Sponsored Posts Contract cost a total of $247.

Summary

Please be aware that there are free ways to start a blog. It depends on your purpose in starting one.  Are you doing it to journal your thoughts? Are you doing it to help others and at the same time earn money from it? Every business needs capital, so you have to plan for it and know what you are willing to invest both financially and mentally. If you need more detailed information about the cost of building a website, click here.

Bloggers are very supportive of each other. They’re the best people to hang out with! Everyone is happy to share their knowledge and expertise in whatever field they are in.

Disclaimer: Check the prices with your supplier and provider as costs can vary. I arrived at these numbers from my own experience plus information from other bloggers. Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through them, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps cover the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support!