In this blog, I discuss 6 lessons I’ve learned in my first 6 months of blogging. This is my first ever blog and it’s been a steep learning curve. This article is only a snippet of the lesson’s I’ve learned so far. Without making the post too long and in order to keep the title punchy, I’ve limited it to 6 lessons in 6 months. I’ll write a follow up to this blog post after I’ve completed my first 9 months of blogging.

 

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6 Lessons I’ve Learned In My First 6 Months Of Blogging

It’s been over 6 months since I launched my blog tolufrimpong.com. I can’t lie to you, there have been moments over the last 6 months that I’ve wanted to delete my blog and pretend it never happened! I’ve thought to myself, why did you start this? Who sent you? What’s your purpose in blogging? Why are you wasting your time?

It’s fair to say, I’ve had my fair share of highs and lows since launching the blog. But all in all, I don’t regret starting it and I’m committed to making this blog a success. I’ve learnt a lot about blogging over the last 6 months made many mistakes along the way. The purpose of this post is to share 6 lessons I’ve learned in my first 6 months of blogging so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did. If you’ve already made some of these mistakes at least you can find solace in knowing you’re not alone!

 

6 Lessons I’ve Learned In My First 6 Months Of Blogging 

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1)   It’s A Marathon Not a Sprint  

Becoming a blogger isn’t a sprint it’s definitely a marathon. Beware of any blogger that tells you otherwise! They’re selling you a dream. I bought this dream back in December when I first researched starting a blog. I thought that by 6 months into blogging I would have replaced my part-time income and be rolling in the dough! How wrong was I? Blogging definitely isn’t a get rich quick scheme; you need to be in it for the long-haul.  If you’re lazy, impatient and lack discipline blogging isn’t for you. This is arguably the hardest lesson that I’ve learned in my first 6 months of blogging.

 

6 Lessons I’ve Learned blogging

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2)   There Are No Shortcuts To Success

When I initially decided to launch a blog I went with the easier option of building my website on Wix. Wix boasts the ability to easily build a website within hours with no design experience required.  While it was quite simple to build the website in Wix, it was not good for building a blog website. It lacked the basic blog functions that you’d find in a WordPress blog. For example, the Wix blog doesn’t have the ability to respond to comments on your blog posts. After a week of hosting the blog on Wix, I quickly realised I’d made a mistake. I moved my website to WordPress and hosted it through BlueHost.

If you are looking to start a WordPress blog, then I would recommend using Bluehost for your hosting needs. Bluehost is a great web host. I say this with confidence having experienced the worst with Wix. It’s very affordable too, you can sign up for as little as £3.11 ($2.99) a month. If you sign up using my link, you’ll get your domain for free for the first year, a free SSL certificate and 1-click WordPress installation.

 

3)   Content Is King

Content is king. I’ve heard this said before and it definitely is the truth. When I decided to write this blog post I looked at my blog results from the last 6 months. The results show a clear correlation between the number of blog posts written and my traffic each month. My traffic levels from Jan-March was close to 1,000 per month, whereas April-June my traffic level was just over 600 a month. Jan-March I published an average of 6 posts a month, whereas April-June I only published one blog post a month. More frequent content equals more views and more opportunities for your blog posts to rank on Google.

 

6 Lessons I’ve Learned In My First 6 Months Of Blogging 

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4)   Be Consistent

If you want to be taken seriously, be consistent. I found my audience was a lot more engaged during the first few months of my blog being live. I attribute this to my consistent posting schedule. They knew when to expect to hear from me and could rely on me to deliver.

In addition, being consistent helps the creative juices flow. I work well under pressure and found my creative juices were forced to flow when I knew I had to publish a post on a particular date. Once I gave birth and took a break from posting, the pressure to publish frequent blog posts was off. I struggled to get back into the swing of writing blog posts. Since giving birth to my son in April, I’ve only published one blog post a month which is terrible! After publishing this blog, I’m committing to publishing at least one blog post a week.

 

6 Lessons I’ve Learned In My First 6 Months Of Blogging

 

5)   Don’t Put Yourself In A Box

This is something I have struggled with since launching my blog in January. I started this blog to share my journey to financial freedom by documenting all my money-saving tips and tricks and how I’m able to generate additional income.

If you read advice from all the expert blogs they’ll tell you to find your niche and be an expert in that niche. While I understand this, I refuse to put myself in a box. I’m not a one-trick pony, I have so many ideas that I want to share and refuse to be boxed in out of fear of stepping outside of my lane. This is my little area of the internet so I’ll use it to share content that I believe will be interesting and useful to my audience.

 

6)   Be Authentic

There is only one you – that’s your unique selling point. Don’t worry if there’s someone else doing it. They’ll never do it your way or bring what you have to the table. It’s so easy to be distracted by what other people are doing. You see other bloggers succeeding and want to emulate them. The problem is it won’t work for you. You won’t feel it and neither will your audience. Real recognises real, and your audience will tell if you’re trying to fake it till you make it. Just do what is in you and write from a place of authenticity and your tribe will come.

Since shifting my focus from what everyone else is doing and focussing on what I have to offer, my passion for writing and sharing content has been reignited. I’m just doing me – hopefully, you like and can relate to my content. If you don’t that’s fine too, you can’t please all the people all the time!

 

gummybear image

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To conclude, these are just a handful of lessons I’ve learned in my first 6 months of blogging. I could go on sharing more lessons, but if the post gets too long you won’t read it. If you’re considering starting a blog and enjoy writing I’d say go for it. However, if you’re looking to start one just to get rich then don’t waste your time. You’ll quit way before you see the fruits of your labour.

Proverbs 18:16 – A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men. I take solace from this scripture and will continue to cultivate my gifts.

 

 

 

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