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In life, most people only want to share the picture-perfect aspects of their experiences with others.
But the truth is, every unique journey has its challenges. Blogging is no different.
When I started blogging, I knew nothing about it. My journey has been messy and difficult, and I have no real success to show you. But I still think it’s important to share this journey with full honesty. I just finished my sixth month of blogging as a beginner blogger and I plan to stick with this challenge for an entire year before deciding what to do from there. This article is all about my sixth month of blogging, but if you’re curious about how my previous months went or want to know how I got started, you can check out my other posts here:
- What My First Month Blogging Looks Like
- Blogging Secrets: Know What the Second Month Looks Like
- Secrets of the Third Month Blogging: Encouragement to Beginner Bloggers
- The Authentic Journey of my Fourth Month Blogging
- Surprising Secrets of a Beginner’s Blog: Month Five
Who I am and why I started a blog
My name is Genesis, and I love to be an experimenter of life. I love to discover new things about myself and the world around me and I love to write about the things I’m learning so that others can benefit from it.
For four years, I had been a teacher in elementary schools around the world. I enjoyed so much about that part of my life, but some things didn’t feel like they were a good fit. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t living a life that was fully suited to who I am as a person. It became clear to me that my passion for writing was getting ignored due to the demanding nature of my teaching career. I decided that if I continued teaching it would mean completely letting go of my identity as a writer. I knew I couldn’t give up that part of myself and decided that I had to find a job that would allow me to use both my love of teaching and my love of writing.
And that’s where blogging comes in!
This beginner’s blog has become a way for me to teach others about things I value while having the opportunity to write every single day. It is a place of true joy, and I am determined to make this into something real and sustainable. I’m now six months in, and every day I feel more comfortable in the role.
Why am I sharing my progress?
Though I occasionally put stuff up about blogging, I don’t typically blog about blogging. So why go through the effort of sharing all of this with you? I have three main reasons why I choose to share my beginner blogging experience with others each month:
I want to live the life I advocate for.
Here at In Its Season, I talk a lot about the importance of being true to who you are and creating a life that reflects that. Everything that I write about on this blog has been something that I’ve tried or experienced myself at some point or another. I believe that it is important for me to believe in what I write about, and so I want to strive to be as authentic as possible in my own journey through the blogging world.
I want to share my progress so that people can see that the journey to authentic living is not an easy one, but it’s worth it in the end. It is important for me to share my struggles openly right now because it can be so easy to forget how hard the journey was once you finally make it. I want to be as honest as possible about what it’s like to run a beginner’s blog, sharing both the good and the bad sides of the process.
I want to motivate people who are currently struggling with failure.
Just like me, people around the world are trying to make their own path in life and are experiencing daily struggles of their own. Instead of hiding my failures and mistakes, I want to announce them to the world in the hopes that someone out there will read it and be encouraged that they’re not alone. Failure is a part of life, but it’s no reason to give up!
I want to show people how to celebrate the small steps they take towards their goals.
So many things feel impossible to achieve when you first start out, but that rarely ends up being true. Every day brings you one tiny step closer to your aim, but it can be hard to notice those steps, even in hindsight. I want to use these monthly blog reports as one possible way that you can reflect on your learning to make note of the small improvements you might be missing in the day-to-day routine.
My Setbacks and Successes This Month
My sixth month was extremely different from my other months thus far, simply because it was the first month that I took a vacation. For two full weeks in December, I didn’t touch my blog at all. For that reason, this report will look a little different, as I didn’t set any goals for myself or do any big jobs. It was a much quieter month all in all.
Success: I finally saw some growth in my email list!
I’m so glad that I’ve made the switch to ConvertKit because their platform makes it incredibly easy to make great templates for emails, sign-up templates, and landing pages. They also have free training that helps me feel comfortable working with the platform.
Over the Christmas break, some of my freebies got downloaded and I was able to welcome some new people to the email list! I was excited about this for two reasons. The first is that I was happy to finally see my freebies getting some use. The second is that I finally have a group of people to connect with on a weekly basis! I love to send out encouraging messages and helpful resources, and I am thankful to finally have a solid group of people to encourage! If any of my subscriber friends are reading this, please know that I am so thankful for you!
Setback: Traffic went way down over the holidays
I’ll be honest, this didn’t actually feel like much of a setback because I was expecting it. But it still counts as something a little less than ideal. When I had first started my blogging research, I had heard from a lot of bloggers that December usually sees a dip in visitors. It makes perfect sense- everyone is busy prepping for Christmas and visiting family. No one has the time or interest in reading up on their usual sites. Even in the blogging community, it seemed that most people stopped working in December. Additionally, I wasn’t posting anything new for two whole weeks, so I was not surprised to see a dip in my own traffic.
Success: I had my first collaboration!
I had an extremely exciting moment this month, and that was because I finally got to connect and collaborate with another blogger! A couple of months before this, I met Christine from Suitcase Sloth through a networking group on Facebook. I was overjoyed to receive an invitation from her to work together on a blog post. We wrote an article sharing 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Your Best Self, and honestly, it was such a great experience! She did an amazing job pulling together our ideas and turning them into one beautiful post! I really hope that I will have the pleasure of working with her again in the future.
Success: I learned how to rest guilt-free
The biggest challenge this month was definitely trying to get myself to simply take a break from my blog. I felt like, because I was a beginner, I was going to suffer some serious losses by ignoring my blog for two weeks. However, when I actually committed to the break, I found that it made little difference in my blog’s performance and now I can return rested and full of fresh ideas! This experience was extremely helpful for my future, as I can take breaks later on without feeling guilty!
The results
Traffic Report
As expected, my traffic slowed quite a bit this month, but the session duration and bounce rate remained consistent. It was not a surprise, considering most bloggers seem to experience this drop in December.
Top Referrals
For the first time ever, I got some referrals from the Yahoo search engine, so I was pretty happy about that! Otherwise, things have stayed pretty much the same.
Top 5 Posts
The information has stayed pretty predictable in this area. People are still super into anything that has to do with routines and other ways to improve your life. It makes me so happy because I absolutely love writing about it:
- How to Prepare for Next Month Like a Boss! 15 Monthly To-Do List Ideas
- How to Use Your Phone With Intention and Purpose
- Morning Pages: How to Clear Your Mind for a Better Day
- How to Make Your Winter Mornings Easier and Cozier
- Morning Brainwash: How to Start Your Day Right
Income
I had nothing new to add to this during the month of December. I hope to start moving towards affiliate work this month!
Expenses
This was another free month! Things have been going smoothly, and the stuff that I don’t know yet has a lot of free educational material that I am using before spending any money for more in-depth lessons.
Total Expenses: $0
Where the blog is headed
Much like the previous month, I have finally been starting to wrap my head around what I want the blog to look like. I have a better idea of the kind of categories I want and how I want to organize the site as a whole. My mission statement is getting more clear, and I’m finally feeling a bit more clarity in this area.
Of course, there’s still so much I still need to consider. One problem I’ve been having is that I have a wide range of things I am itching to write about, but I know that it often isn’t recommended to create a blog that has a broad niche. As risky as it may be, I don’t think I’m going to be listening to that advice. I want to be able to talk about everything I’m passionate about and hopeful people will want to read it. I think that if I organize my site well enough, my broad subject matter might not prove to be a problem at all. Here’s hoping!
My thoughts about my fifth month with a beginner’s blog
This month was quite an easy month for me, especially considering the fact that I wasn’t working for half of it. Because of the break I took, I was able to experience what it was like to stop progressing. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that nothing much changed at all! Pinterest doesn’t mess with my profile, Google doesn’t drop me, and people still visit the site. My work doesn’t fall apart at the seams if I choose to take a moment for myself. This was extremely important for me to understand, as it will allow me to take breaks in the future without feeling worried that everything will lay in ruins upon my return.
Now that I’m six months in, my biggest concern is that I will start to feel discouraged by the lack of growth in the future. Since the very first day of starting In Its Season, I have worried about what I will do if my blog doesn’t go anywhere. What if I put all that work in and I fail? How will I deal if no one visits the blog? What if it turns out I’m a bad writer?
Up until now, I’ve been able to reassure myself that a lack of success is common- many people quit after six months. But the 6-12 month period is a mystery to me. I don’t know what is normal to expect, and I am afraid that these next few months will be discouraging. I pray that will not be the case, but if it is, you will be sure to know about it in the next blogging report!
My Personal Goals
Last month, I decided to change gears with my goals because I felt they were too far beyond what I could control. I decided to monitor and record those things without setting goals.
Now I am making goals for things that I will actually set out to learn and do myself.
This month is mainly themed around getting myself back into a routine. I don’t have any huge goals in mind, but they are enough to kickstart the year and get me motivated.
Here’s what I’m aiming to achieve this month:
I want to put one new affiliate link on my site.
Now that I’ve got the hang of things, I need to start finding ways to make money from it. Affiliate marketing is a good place to start, so I hope to incorporate one into my site this month.
I want to integrate my new blog categories.
Last month, I was finally getting some clear ideas on how I wanted to categorize my posts, so this month I want to organize them a little better so that when I re-structure the site, everything looks crisp.
I want to develop a better understanding of SEO.
Right now I have a basic understanding of Search Engine Optimization. However, I want to learn more so that I can rank on Google as well as Pinterest. This will require taking classes and learning more about SEO best practices.
I want to use my own photos as often as possible.
I have recently started to use my own photos in my blog posts and some of my Pinterest pins. In the future, I really hope to make this a consistent thing that I can do. One benefit I’ve noticed is that I was able to get more personal when I started to share my own personal photos and I want to continue that trend. However, I recognize that I am not great at photography and I only have a phone to use to take pictures, so it’s not ideal. But you’ve gotta start somewhere, right?
Blogging resources I would recommend
You can see that I’m not a blogging expert, yet. I’m still in the baby stages of learning how to do it. But there are a few resources that I have tested out and found to be extremely helpful! I want to share the ones that have helped me a lot in my blogging journey so that you don’t have to waste time trying to find the best resources alone.
(Please note that I am an affiliate for these three programs, so I do make a small commission on purchases you make through these links. However, I want to make it clear that I would never recommend something that I don’t use and appreciate myself. I truly love these three resources and believe that you would benefit from using them, as well!)
Resource #1: ConvertKit
I would recommend ConvertKit to anyone looking to build a mailing list. Not only is it easier to use, but the support offered to you as a creator is just so helpful! They offer weekly workshops to help you grow as a creator, concerts and inspirational stories to watch, free templates, community networking, and one-on-one support. Honestly, I have nothing but good things to say about them!
If you’re looking to grow a mailing list, you should sign up for ConvertKit.
Resource #2: Legal Pages Bundle
After quite a bit of research, it was clear to me that Amira’s Legal Bundle was the most cost-effective way to protect myself fully on my blog. Within one day, I had purchased the bundle, customized it, and placed it on my site.
Amira’s bundle makes me feel so much safer about my blog, and I want you to have the same thing!
If you are a freelancer or a blogger, then don’t hesitate to buy Amira’s Legal Bundle. It is the best use of your money and time to get her help!
Related Post: Where to get the Best Legal Bundle for your Blog
Resource #3: Divi WordPress theme
I opted for Divi because it promised a lot of customization without having to know all of the coding lingo.
Now, I want to be candid with you and explain that, for me, the learning curve was still really tough. Additionally, a lot of the customization I wanted ended up slowing down my site enough that I had to sacrifice beauty for functionality.
I might not recommend this theme to everyone, but I would recommend it to beginner bloggers like me.
I really appreciate the personal support I get from them and that is the main reason why I would recommend their product for you. Though my more experienced future self might move on to a new theme eventually, I couldn’t have asked for a better beginner theme!
If you want to try Divi out for yourself, you can check out their products here!
Conclusion
I hope that this journey of a beginner’s blog can encourage you today to chase your own dreams, whatever they may be! If you are starting a blog, you have a good idea of what to expect if you read my posts about it. And if you are starting a different project, like a big New Year’s Resolution or a creative project, then this applies to you, too! Even if you don’t notice it, you are making small steps towards your goal every day. Take time to notice those small improvements and you will feel more encouraged by what you might be able to do a month from now!
What goals are you reaching for this month? What are you learning that you can celebrate today? Tell me about it in the comments. Are you in the process of starting your own beginner’s blog? I’d love to hear from you!
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