📍4 months into blogging: as a newbie girlie. here's how it's going!
chapters:
stats at 4 months
my experience
what HAS worked
what HAS NOT worked
my plan moving forward
final thoughts
SO, it's been a MINUTE since I have spoken to you guys and, as a new Blogger, you may be thinking "mhm that doesn't sound right...I mean shouldn't you be hustling and posting every spare minute of your free time?" WELL, let's get into how things have been going:
Real, girlie, and relatable: is what we will be getting into today, and how that co-exists with the narrative of the entrepreneurial, hustle of blogging until you're financially free, alongside a 9 to 5.
I'll start by revisiting the last time I updated you girls, which was when I wrote a post of my stats and experience only 2 months into my Blogging experience, which feels like AGES ago already wow.
I want to start doing these monthly updates more consistently so you can clearly track my personal progress, and how you may want to copy my strategies, or change them, so you can have a faster, smoother path to success in your own online business or blogging journey.
However, since then, it's been quite up and down and I'll be first starting by referring to my stats 4 months in (almost 5!), and then following the below guideline so you can skip to whatever interests you more :)
Google Analytics stats 4 months into blogging
my experience up to now (how it feels, what's changed, how I've balanced life alongside my blog business goals)
what has worked
what hasn't worked
my plan moving forward
stats at 4 months
I use Google Analytics for my stats (I must admit, I still don't quite understand the figures but I'm mostly looking at whether it's increasing or not, until I further better my knowledge).
I was quite discouraged but also un-phased to see the below figures:
18 users
65 event count
(screenshot below!!)
Discouraged because I truly care about my Blog, and want to see it succeed (however I know I need to be consistent before that starts happening), but also un-phased because I genuinely know my Blog will blow up; I just need to acquire the resources, skills and knowledge to get me there.
It's all about covering a solid foundation of my habits in establishing a content creation and marketing schedule monthly, so I can then build-on to level-up my game.
If you saw my stats 60 days in, the figures were way higher but I suspect it may be from my own use of going on the Blog? Let me know in the comments if that might be the case!
my experience
I have to say it has been a wild journey from about month 2 to month 4...😅
I'd say I had fixed goals for the second quarter of launching my blog, which was from July to September 2024 (I launched and started my journey at the start of April 2024, more on this here); with a breakdown of goals by each month, however, life threw some unexpected circumstances at me that completely threw me off my business goals. I'm sure quite a few of you can relate to me on this one.
I'm not excusing the lack of me showing up for my online business to be because of my capacity of juggling my personal life with my blog, but more-so seeing this as a strategy that was not going to work and that needs readjusting to be able to improve such capacity of balance.
What I had been doing up to now:
CONTENT SCHEDULE: Writing and scheduling content for my Blog the day before, weekend before, or week before (more on the quantity and strategy here)
MARKETING SCHEDULE: Creating and scheduling pins for my Pinterest the same way
SEO: writing what I think my community here wants to know/what I wanted to read about from other bloggers, looking into blog forums online to answer common questions, and using answerthepublic.com (more on doing SEO as a beginner here)
This resulted in:
not prepping my content ahead enough, so if anything unexpected or personal came up, my blog would have no posts published
no fixed schedule
inconsistent engagement on promotional social media platform
kind-of guessing on content to write about
not having a set plan as to the direction of my Blog for the month ahead
To put into fewer words, I have been approaching my blog business in a misguided way, without much direction, or fixed plan, which will only result in inconsistency, eventually.
Out of the 4 months of my Blog, there have been a solid 3 to 4 weeks where I have not posted at all, which is not ideal, but I am all for promoting our wellness and balance here too so best believe I definitely don't beat myself up about it (and I don't think you should either, if you resonate with this!).
But it does make me want to see how I can realign my business strategy to reflect a schedule that demonstrates direction, intention and commitment.
The answer to this all is: to have a schedule that works for you.
This one I am still testing out myself, however, one thing I have learnt and now know FOR SURE, that is, I need to have my content and marketing prepared IN ADVANCE, more than a week ahead of time.
As you can see it's been a bit rough to find where I stand when it comes to a workflow and schedule that works for me, which has definitely shown directly through my blog consistency. However, it's all about learning, and I mean, if we REALLY think about it, of course it's going to be hard!
We were not born blogging, and knowing how to juggle all these life things in as girlie in our 20s; we're doing above and beyond the average person who has the 9 to 5 alone to concern themselves with. Of course it's not going to be easy, and that's why it's also normal to not have everything down-pat and consistent from the get-go, so no point being harsh on yourself.
Make sure you look after yourself, figure out whatever you need to, in your personal life, so that you can then show up as your best, most authentic self to your blogging community.
Nonetheless, my self-belief that this blog will set me and my loved ones financially free has not weakened once, in my whole journey. I genuinely believe it, and I know I will become that person more and more, as I learn and evolve, so that I can take my blog o those heights, and beyond.
In my journey, you all know I will share with my every move so you can take what you want from it and get your own financial freedom also! There's space for us all, and more!
what HAS worked
Okay, so now that you have a set foundation of my current stats and experience, this far, I'm going to go straight to the point into what has and what hasn't worked these past 4 months. No matter how up and down the journey has been, there are always things that work!
not being too strict on myself with posting; has allowed me to really prioritise my self-care and so, when I did show up for my blog, my cup was even fuller, and my creative juices were over-flowing because of it. Not having a fixed schedule aided my creativity.
seo! Looking at questions people have been asking in online forums, has given me perspective as to what you may all want to know about on my blog (besides my own wants)
having pre-made Pins with my Branding; makes it easy to edit and promote on Pinterest which reduces time whilst still looking aesthetic, and ensuring my blog is getting traffic somewhere
testing different content schedules; whether it's batching content for the 2 weeks ahead, writing and posting on the day, or the weekend before; I have tried a bit of each, and by testing I have seen how it FEELS in each of the strategies and which one sits right with me (definitely the batching content ahead of time; walking outside with all the confidence and ease knowing my blog is working for me as I live out my 20s)
willingness to look at any failures or imperfections as opportunities to learn and improve; instead of being hard on myself, I honestly just never am. Instead, I look at what can be done better so I have better balance in life, whilst still ensuring I am working towards my dream life this blog will provide me with in the future. Really and truly every failure or imperfection in the way you approach your online business is just an opportunity to build another block of growth for you to step onto, levelling everything up with you, including your Blog success. (I think I'll be doing a blog post diving deeper into this one soon,for now I have one targeting fear as an entrepreneur if that moves you!).
self-confidence. ALWAYS. Scratch that, if you take anything from this section, let this be the number 1 thing that has worked and will always work in my (and anyone else's) favour!!! Having that self-belief instilled in you that your blog will do well regardless, because you know you'll figure it out, and become that person who will take it there, is an ultimate sense of ease and peace that is unexplainable. Even with inconsistency, and being quite directionless with my strategy for now, that doesn't sway my conviction because it's meant to be, it's set. The same way I didn't know how to set-up a Blog, but I made it happen, and here I am; the same will happen with every other building block of growth and success to come my way.
There could be a few more, but I'd say these are the main elements that have worked for me in blogging 4 months in, and that I plan to keep going or strengthening even more as a I progress in my entrepreneurial journey.
The only one I will alter (you'll see why in the next section) is the " not being too strict on myself with posting" but I have found a sweet-spot solution for that.
what HAS NOT worked
Of course, as with anything, there are things that haven't really worked:
being too relaxed at times, in not setting a fixed content schedule that then results in no posts for weeks due to no allocated time for content creating for the blog
not having images for my blog posts (I know this one is a crucial one to help my blog look more aesthetic, and just make you all want to read-on for longer) but is something I haven't done since start of my blog, that I think would make a huge difference, even to my brand identity and how I want you all to perceive this space as
not sticking to my monthly or quarterly goals, so much so that I kind of forgot the plot of what I wanted to have accomplished by September (which I'm not there yet but I'm focused on establishing the foundation first: a schedule)
my work environment; this one is one that can go easily un-noticed but that can completely transform your energy and drive to write blog posts, and create that content. For example, if you are working from home, be mindful of how you're setting yourself up. There have been times I've just starting writing blog posts wrapped up in a blanket, with TV on the background, in my pyjamas, which is not bad if that works for you. But for me, that signals to my body, that it is time to sleep! I need a cute outfit on, I need to be sat at a desk, I need to be hydrating with some fresh water, I need brightness, and sometimes, it just helps to go to a café and romanticise the whole experience instead! It feels so much more motivating to work in a cute coffeeshop, specially when you have that social influence of everyone else around you working too. Kind-of reminds me of study days in university; the whole romanticised aesthetic of studying, but on an elevated boss girl level of us creating our own dream life and path, through blogging!
my plan moving forward
It's clear to see what needs to be changed, and what needs to stay, to align with our online business goals of blogging success, so it can help to lay this out even for yourself, to be able to inform you on how to improve your systems.
Good systems will result in good outcomes, so don't overlook this!
In my personal plan, moving forward, this is what I am going to focus on:
establishing and sticking to a fixed content schedule (for me: writing and scheduling content AT LEAST 2 weeks ahead of time my sweet-spot solution so I can still allow myself the space and no pressure to let my creativity flow, creating quality posts)
optimal work environments (only working from home if I feel disciplined to not cave into habits that will sway me away from what I need to do that day + working from cafés)
having monthly goals as my primary focus (instead of focusing more on the quarter, I want to have my main priority be the current month so that things feel more achievable but also in-more perspective, since I can only achieve quarterly goals if the monthly goals go as planned. I still aim to have quarterly goals, but as a more loose and specific goal, whilst my monthly goals will be smaller, and more significant in the direction my blog will take)
treating myself for my consistency (this will help me reinforce the habit, but also is a super cute and wholesome way of celebrating my growth and accomplishing the foundations of my future dream life. Because your dream life will only happen in your future if you take the necessary steps today!)
These will all help establish a routine that will allow me some extra time in the month to be able to do little bits, like optimising the website more, or levelling up my aesthetic with images, or self-educating to become better in my craft so you can have the best blogging experience.
Therefore, now it's all about allocating the time for this in my month, which is the key for me in making sure it all happens.
For now, I am starting by creating content so I can schedule for beginning of September onwards. I have 1 week until September 2024 so it gives me some time to work ahead so I can go into September and autumn of 2024 with consistency and all of the best habits down-pat into my routine!
final thoughts
I hope this has felt as real as what you expected, or beyond, because at the end of the day, on the other side of your screen is a girl just like you, in her 20s, with a big dream, and with big confidence she will make it, and to do so, it all starts now.
Find what works for you, and be mindful so that you make decisions that work in your favour and benefit the dream life you want to live. It won't be perfect, but if you get better 1% each day, by the end of the year you will be way ahead of the game, and that will be your new normal.
Keep levelling up queen and don't get thrown off if you have been inconsistent with your blogging game too, shift your focus more onto why that has been, so then we can be more actionable and intentional with what we can do about it.
Thank you for joining me, as always, girlies and check out my other blog posts covering all things blogging, making money online, and just being a girl in her 20s doing it all. ♡
Own your Womanhood. Own your Time.
♡
I’ll be logging updates throughout this whole journey as a mother-to-be, working to be an entrepreneur, but to also still preserve the girlhood within, to try and be her best self, and live her happiest life, so keep-up with me through the blog!
I release a new blog post every Friday at 1pm! (UK-time)
Let me know if you’re in a similar headspace (pregnant or not), being in our 20s is confusing, and taking control of our story is the only way we can take ownership of our happiness and live out our dream life.
I document my unwanted pregnancy journey at 25, taking control of my narrative, figuring out being a girl in my 20s, chasing my dream life, and conquering my boss babe dream of becoming a self-employed, entrepreneur / Blogger!