It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging for a year now. Every time I add a post to the list on its category page I’d stop and say “Wow, that month already?”
I can remember last December when it was getting close to the wire and I had to decide to either start then or wait. I could have waited a couple more weeks or months but I knew if I didn’t start with the New Year it wouldn’t happen until the next one.
I already had my post schedule made and a few outlines done so I decide to make the jump.
Starting out I had about three years’ worth of weekly content to write about and had assigned one year of it to specific dates. That ended up working out well for me because there were some times when I would look at what I had scheduled for a certain week and decide I either didn’t want to write about it or didn’t want to share it yet.
It also helped keep me on track because some of my posts were written the morning I posted them. I remember at least once I went to post and realized I hadn’t finished writing it yet. Since I had already planned on posting them that day I already had any research I needed and a skeleton of what I would write already done.
I really should have written more ahead of time to be able to do more revisions. I had planned to do so but it rarely happened. So I would look at things a couple weeks after posting and notice something more I should have included.
Social Media
I’ve joined so many different things associated with social media. I joined Twitter and Pinterest right away because I expected to use them. I still use my personal Pinterest account but I don’t do much with my blog account, mainly because I’m not very good at making graphics. I’d use it more if I were sharing my own content there as well. Twitter had a bit of a learning curve but I still use it regularly.
I made a Facebook page on January 14th and forgot about it almost immediately. I remembered about it on April 8th and starting posting links to each post as it is published.
On March 3rd I finally worked up the courage to interact with another blogger. They had posted about blog statistics and after going back and forth for a few minutes I decided to respond. That was a good day. I’ve really enjoyed finding new blogs to follow through the WordPress Reader.
On March 11th I published my first post with Amazon Affiliates Program links to try to cover some of the costs of having my site. I ended up not using it very much and actually got removed from the program at one point for not having enough sales. I mostly just use it now when I link to things I have bought and would recommend.
I joined Ko-fi on April 9th. I had been considering it for a couple weeks as a possible way to offset website costs but was hesitant. After joining I realized I needed to post things on it. Since I am not good with graphic design I couldn’t think of anything to post so it kind of just sits there.
I joined Twuffer on April 10th to try to keep up with social media posts. I had been using Buffer since January 14th and it was nice but was too limited for how often I wanted to post to Twitter. On November 7th I made another switch and started using Hootsuite. I like it the most because I can schedule 30 posts with the free account and I like the user interface.
I tried Grammarly for a few posts in June but it seemed to take some of the feeling of me presenting the information out of the post for me. I did learn when to use “that” instead of “which” from it, though I haven’t necessarily implemented my new-found knowledge completely.
On September 19th I joined Instagram. I’m not really into sharing pictures of myself. I thought maybe if I joined Instagram it would motivate me to start sharing some, or at least to take pictures of things around me and share them. Then I realized there aren’t many things in my area worth taking pictures of.
I made my own subreddit on November 11th. I had made an account on January 16th but didn’t meet the requirements to create a subreddit so I eventually forgot I had even considered it. Then in November I remembered it was a things and I had met the requirements at that point. I still haven’t posted anything but my first blog post but I have more ready to add once I find the time.
Statistics
I couldn’t think of a good way to present statistics so it will basically just be some lists.
First Visitor By Country For My First Year
- December 28 (2018) – United States of America (4 visitors on my first day!)
- January 1 – China
- January 2 – India
- January 14 – Russia
- January 22 – Australia
- January 28 – Canada
- February 25 – United Kingdom
- April 6 – Italy and Brazil
- April 8 – Ireland
- April 18 – Turkey
- April 22 – Indonesia and Sweden
- April 29 – South Africa
- May 8 – Zambia
- May 21 – Nigeria
- May 25 – Poland
- June 7 – France
- June 24 – Germany and Ukraine
- July 11 – Malaysia
- July 22 – Qatar
- September 11 – Saudi Arabia
- September 16 – Portugal
- September 23 – Philippines
- September 30 – Greece
- October 23 – American Samoa
- December 3 – Austria, Finland, and Netherlands
- Total Countries In 2019: 30
Total Likes
- January 14th – I got my first like on a post for Why I Care About My Health
- March 12th – 10 total likes
- April 29th – 20 total likes – I had an emotional moment because I started to feel like I might be helping people by sharing my stories and ideas
- May 22nd – 50 total likes
- July 17th – 75 total likes
- September 30th – 100 total likes
- December 25th – 125 total likes
- Total Likes In 2019: 125
Followers
- January 15th – First follower
- March 12th – 10 followers
- May 14th – 20 followers
- June 10th – 30 followers
- July 22nd – 40 followers
- September 9th – 50 followers
- November 4th – 60 Followers
- Total Followers In 2019: 69
Looking Forward
I really enjoyed my first year blogging and I’ve learned so much. Not just from what I’ve written about but from reading other blogs. I even saw someone take a joke I made and repost it with slightly different wording. At first I was angry but then I realized I was on the right track with things because it was a joke made by an amateur that was reposted by a professional in their field.
I’m really looking forward to the next year. I’m considering changing the format of some things though. I’ve noticed the categories blend together sometimes, which makes sense, so I might consider just making them into one. I’ve got some other ideas I want to do with new categories, but they also blend into the others so I don’t have a firm plan yet.
I’ll keep the What I Want To Do This Month posts as the first post of every month. They have really helped me organize my thoughts and prioritize things I would actually have the means to try in the near future. I’m also going to start actually trying some new things this year. My first post for the New Year will actually be about something big I’m going to be trying during the coming year.
A Life, Ensnared 