reason for writing my blog was to improve
blogging,  writing

100 days blogging, what I have learnt

20th January 2019 /

I started my blog in October 2018,  100 days later, today, I am exhausted. I would not recommend blogging for 100 days straight but it has honestly been quite an experience.

As I submitted my first blog post, Saturday morning, I did not expect to put as much work into it as I have. I also did not expect to read as many fantastic blogs and meet (virtually) as many lovely bloggers.

My reason for writing my blog was to improve and develop my writing. Having started writing a novel and feeling a bit lost with it I thought blogging might help. I also considered that if I had people following and reading my blog then my name will already be known if I ever do get my book finished and published.

Since starting my blog my Facebook page has grown and there are people actually reading my writing. Before I had to force my husband to read it and then any criticism of it was just based on his opinion.

I enjoyed it so much that in December I decided to go self hosted with Lyrical host and I would highly recommend them.

I have learnt in the last few days that people have many different reasons for starting a blog. I have been looking at my progress and then reading others on Pinterest. I have now realised that I should not be comparing, I have blogging friends who simply blog for the community and friendship, they have no interest in making money from it.

Talking to a lady on one of the many Facebook groups about my blog, I was advised it will not make money as it is not giving anything to the reader. Now maybe this depends on the reader. If someone is wanting to read poetry or a story they are possibly not asking Google. They will possibly be searching in the Word Press reader just like I have done.

The same lady also said that she would not be interested in any of my Pinterest pins due to the images being to personal. Interesting feedback and yes I think she was right. I am now learning Canva and using that for my pins rather then pinning straight from my blog. I’ve also realised that the posts that might make money need to be separate from the others as they are maybe the ones that someone might save.

What I have learnt
1. I have written some posts that are more giving to the reader and I will continue to in an effort to monetise. see,

15 ideas to help keep your kids entertained

What is the point in writing a blog? why do I do it?

My garden world in Winter

Then purely more selling if interested.

Amazon Kindle fire deals

Amazon kindle e readers

Amazon deals and Alexa enabled devices for the smart home

Christmas / birthday present ideas

2. I started my blog to write and I will continue to write. I enjoy writing poetry and writing short stories, I also enjoy the community and friendship. There are many blogs out there that are purely for the community aspect and so many are so enjoyable to read. I am not going to list any here as you know who you are.

Here is some of my fiction writing and poetry.

Short stories

The worst day of my life

A fork in the road

Just one of those days

Poetry

The mystical city

The mannequin and the slippers poetry

The world of blog

3. I started writing about my children but, I am thinking that I cannot continue writing about them daily. So, I will still write about them but not every day.

4. I have also learnt the importance of making the time to visit other peoples blogs, blogging is a huge community and a good one. Also if you do not visit other people they might never find you and you might then miss out on a good connection and possible friendship.

5. Here are my stats on day 100, most of these numbers are Facebook and the WordPress reader. However, I have had a few visits directed from Google and Bing and other wordpress blog sites that I have posted to.

As 17.20pm today 20/01/2019

Views –

October 2018 – 727 views

November 2018 – 946 views

December 2018 – 1000 views (I have a feeling this is more 1033 views then the figures add up).

January 2019 – 861 views

Views Total – 3567 views

Visitors Total – 1511 visitors

Stats 2018

101 posts, 451 comments, 77385 words

Stats 2019

24 posts (now 25), 119 comments, 11472 words

Word Total – 88857 words

Yes without blogging I could have completed my book.

Aim for this year

1. To master SEO (Search engine optimisation) I am slowly getting my head around it and have about 50 posts still to work back through.
2. To look again at my Pinterest account. People tend to repin from my other blogs and posts board rather then my own. However last night someone I do not know saved one of my more helping posts with a canva vertical image.
3. I need to make a schedule of when I am posting and maybe ideas of what to write about.  Keeping up with my poetry and short stories plus the kids.
4. I need to continue writing my book. I recently found Chapter buzz and then submitted my Secret time warp story to it, in an effort to maybe turn that into a book as well, one day.

5. I also need to make time to read more.  Blogging daily has meant hardly any reading.  I bought myself a Kindle at Christmas and I have hardly looked at it.

So on with the blog and thankyou to all of you who have helped, followed and supported me and answered all my questions. I really appreciate  all your help and friendship.

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42 Comments

  • Heather

    20th January 2019 at 7:07 pm Reply

    Congratulations Marian that is a fantastic achievement and massive undertaking. It’s great that you’ve learned so much from the experience that you can take away from it too!

  • rachaelstray

    21st January 2019 at 10:26 am Reply

    Are you still planning on blogging every day? When I first started I posted ad hoc and sometimes in short bursts which was too erratic. I found having a schedule of posting twice a week usually on the same two days works really well for me. I still promote older posts across my social media platforms on the days I don’t have a new post out but working full time and blogging and trying to fit in life too is hard work! It sounds like you’ve learnt a lot in just 100 days though!

    • Just muddling through life

      21st January 2019 at 4:30 pm Reply

      Thanks, yes I’m exhausted, every night is too much. I’m now trying to plan and fit in time somewhere for novel writing.. yes it is a lot of work.

    • Just muddling through life

      22nd January 2019 at 10:40 am Reply

      Some people Stevie make thousands, was reading earlier of a lady charging 10 000 for one post… she is a finance blogger and a millionaire. Me if I made an extra £20.00 a month I would be happy, £200.00 extra very happy, £2000 extra, I would be very lucky. Blogging is hard work and at the end of the day I aspire to be a fiction writer not a finance expert. Thankyou Stevie.

  • leannelc

    23rd January 2019 at 8:24 am Reply

    Congrats on your 100 days – I’ve been pounding away for 4.5 years – but certainly not every day. I chose to blog for the love of it, rather than selling my soul to make a few $$ – it’s hard to be authentic if you are chasing the dollars. Some do it well, others just look like a hodge podge of amazon links that they’re hoping people will click on. I hope you find the right balance and don’t lose the joy of blogging while you’re striving to achieve so much so quickly. For me it’s definitely about community and connection – I earn my $$ in a 9-5 job so I can blog about whatever I like – and I like to keep it personal 🙂

    • Just muddling through life

      23rd January 2019 at 12:23 pm Reply

      Thankyou, yes it is hard to get the balance right between relaxing and enjoying it and making money.. I hope I don’t look like a Hodge podge of links.. I was dubious of Google adsense because of adverts and unwanted pop ups. I’m hoping that I can continue to enjoy writing it whilst make a little bit of money. I’m never going to make thousands.. I know that. Thankyou.

  • debrapurdykong

    28th January 2019 at 2:49 am Reply

    Wow, I admire you for writing 100 blogs in as many days. I couldn’t imagine doing it. One blog per week is enough for me, bu I’m not interesting in making money from it. Just sharing thoughts and connecting with others 🙂

    • Just muddling through life

      28th January 2019 at 7:01 am Reply

      Thankyou, I’m not making a penny really at the moment. But I am enjoying sharing my thoughts and connecting with others. Blogging has been a great experience!

  • Image Earth Travel

    29th January 2019 at 11:09 am Reply

    Wow, I’m exhausted just reading everything you’ve achieved in 100 days and your stats are amazing! I’m obviously not doing enough with my blog.

    SEO is a fluid science that and is like shifting sands – the rules seems to change every few months, so if you work it out, let me know! 😉

    I try and write 4 to 5 blogs in the first week of each month then schedule these to post weekly, which has worked for me, but after reading your post, maybe isn’t enough. I finished designing and building my photography site, which I made live before Christmas so this took loads of time. I have around 31 countries to load up yet so it’s a work in progress.

    This all takes so much time and wonder that if I was working, if I’d have time to do everything or whether I’d be more efficient at everything.

    • Just muddling through life

      29th January 2019 at 11:40 am Reply

      Thank you! Blogging is a lot of work.. I think now it is trying to balance everything. Blogging daily was crazy. You are being sensible!

      SEO is confusing and alt tags.. the need for keyphrases which a lot of my posts don’t really have. I get excited if a post is found by bing or google.

      Your site is lovely, lots of work! wow sounds like you are very busy!

      I work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday but now Tuesday, Friday, weekends and evenings when i’m not sorting kids out or helping with home work or doing housework im on my blog.. or writing.. I now need to make time to step back and read a book and relax. and play more with the kids.. just struggling to get the balance right.

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