Happy Blogiversary, Baby!
Start a blog, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
I’m here to tell you it is … but there’s so much more to it than slapping a few paragraphs up on a website once a week. (Which is 100% what I thought it would be when I launched #NeverDoneWithFun last May.)
Twelve months, 152 published posts, and 2,118 published photos later, I’ve learned a few more things. I’m still by no means a blogging expert, but I am a seasoned mom — and let me tell you, the similarities between the first year of each are uncanny.
Whether you’re considering starting a blog yourself or you just want to see me in a tiara with frosting on my hands, keep reading for all the ways #NeverDoneWithFun is unequivocally my third baby. And raise a glass with me as I celebrate my blogiversary and surviving the ups and downs of the first year!
Special thanks to Becci Hethcoat Photography for designing a blogiversary cake smash session with me — what better way to celebrate a 1st birthday?!
How the First Year of Blogging is Just Like the First Year of Motherhood
1. You have no idea what you’re in for.
One year ago this month, after months of hard labor behind the scenes, the newborn #NeverDoneWithFun.com was born. And just like all first-time moms … I thought the hard work was behind me. I had built this! The hard part was over! Now let the fun begin. Right?? Well … right. But also, WRONG.
2. It requires A LOT of time, attention, and nourishment.
OK, not quiiiiite as much as breastfeeding an infant, but some days it will feel just as demanding. You’ll have hours and days when you’re chained to your phone or tethered to your laptop. You have to create content. Publish content. Promote content. Measure performance of content. Interact with others about their content, and yours. Growth is exponentially tied to how much time you can invest, especially as you’re building an audience and an archive of evergreen content. Someday you might be able to rest on your laurels but the first year is all about hustle.
3. And A LOT of photos.
I currently have 11,000 photos on my phone camera roll. A year ago, it was less than half that. You know how you painstakingly documented your baby’s first steps? Now you’re doing the same for every step-by-step tutorial, exciting experience and on-point outfit. Get comfortable with the camera, either behind it, in front of it, or both. A blog without pretty pictures is just Wikipedia minus the credibility.
Tip: Get yourself a cell phone with a great camera and the largest memory. A professional camera is great if you have it, but all my blog photos this year have been taken with my iPhone X.
4. There’s going to be a lot of sleepless nights …
Because when else can you write (and think!) except when the house is dark and quiet and everyone else is asleep? Some nights it’s pushing midnight when I finally click the Publish button, and I feel it the next morning like a hangover. Other bloggers set their alarms and get up early with the sun, to have an hour uninterrupted to get work done.
If you do anything else in your life besides blog (and let’s face it, everyone has to), your time is limited. I work full-time. I mom full-time. I blog part-time — and that means nights and weekends minus the overtime pay. Sleep is going to be sacrificed. Period. Get comfortable with that. Blogging and motherhood have shown me I can thrive on less sleep than I used to. I also drink a hell of a lot more coffee than I used to. This mom runs on caffeine and creativity.
5. …And a lot of second-guessing.
Are you even a blogger if you don’t sometimes squeeze your eyes shut tight and just press Publish? You’ll have moments where you put something personal out there, and suddenly it feels too personal. You’ll type comments you might later wish you hadn’t. I’ve never regretted a post, but I’ve spent a lot of time down the rabbit hole of second-guessing.
It’s like the nervous first-time mom who Googles literally every question that pops into her head and then pours over message boards of inexperts sharing their inexpert opinions. Nothing sends you down a rabbit hole of self-doubt faster than the insecurity born of inexperience. The good news is, your confidence grows with practice. So keep practicing and keep posting.
6. You’ll compare yourself to everyone else.
Inevitably, you’ll compare your own baby to others. Why isn’t mine growing as fast? Or walking yet? Or talking in sentences? Hers is prettier. Better dressed. Stronger or smarter. More color-coordinated.
Resist the comparisons. Their pace is not your pace. Focus on your own growth and forget about what “everyone else” is doing. To paraphrase Rachel Hollis, don’t let the inevitable comparisons become growing pains that steal your joy.
7. You’ll feel like you’re failing.
There will be many moments when you question why you decided to do this in the first place and wonder if it’s worth it. You’ll feel discouraged. You’ll be convinced you’re doing it all wrong. You might want to quit, or run away. We’ve all been there.
Although it’s uncomfortable, I truly believe it’s part of the process. If you got it all right right from the get-go, you’d never be able to learn from your mistakes. So embrace the missteps and figure out how to go forward in a better way than you started. That’s where real growth as a mom and a blogger happens.
8. It might test your marriage…
I’m pretty sure Instagram husbands are a social media myth. After all, if bloggers’ husbands wanted to take photos endlessly, with the multiple retakes required to get it “just right”, they’d probably be blogging too.
#DoneWithDaddy has rolled his eyes at me more often these past 365 days than I remember in the rest of our relationship together. The flatlays with the props drive him bat-shit crazy. Capturing every step of a recipe or a project or an experience annoys him to no end.
And real talk: The amount of time I spend on my phone cuts into the time we have together. Just like first-time dads often feel neglected after baby comes along, #instahusbands may feel the same way. It’s a delicate dance between nourishing a baby blog and not neglecting the rest of your family.
Tip: Set hard limits on the amount of time you’ll spend on blog projects. Put down your phone and be present with your family for moments every single day — even if it means you miss capturing one small blog-worthy moment.
9. …And the strength of your social life.
Again with the time management issue. There will be days when you want to go out with girlfriends or even just text them back, but you’ve got a sponsored blog post that needs to be published. There are only so many hours in a day, and there will be hard choices. You might miss out on some things from your former life in pursuit of the new life (#bloglife, anyway) that you’re building.
10. Your non-blogger friends just won’t quite “get it.”
Your true friends will support you and encourage you and be your biggest cheerleaders. They’ll follow you and like your posts and comment sometimes and maybe even share them — but they’ll still be a little bit puzzled by the whole thing. And they definitely won’t understand why you’re not making thousands your first month. It can’t be that hard! How can it be so time-consuming? Why don’t you have more followers? Are you even making any money yet?
Tip: Save the nitty-gritty shop talk for your blogger friends. They’ll be excited about your new Amazon affiliate option, Instagram algorithm speculation, or Pinterest growth technique. Spare your non-blogger friends that, but don’t be afraid to tell them how they can support you. Not everyone realizes that clicks, comments, likes, shares, and saves go a long way to growing a baby blog. Blogging, like motherhood, takes a village — accept the help and support when it’s offered!
11. You’ll get unreasonably excited about every little milestone…
Like, ahem, your one-year blogiversary. Or your first sponsored post. First regram. First influencer event. First affiliate link commission — who cares if it’s $4.22 from Amazon and it’ll take you a whole year more before you actually get a pay out?? These milestones feel just as important as when your baby coos, rolls over, finds her feet, sits up, and takes her first steps. Celebrate them!
12. …And unnecessarily distraught over unfollows or negative comments.
Lesson learned this year: You cannot take everyone’s comments to heart. The people who criticize or unfollow aren’t your tribe anyway. So take a swig of that champagne to fortify yourself and move along. Motherhood teaches you to develop a thicker skin and let other people’s opinions roll right off your back. Blogging is the same. Don’t let other people’s negativity ruin your mojo.
13. You’ll get advice from everywhere …
The blogger learning curve is steep — from tech to marketing, get ready to take self-taught to the next level. Luckily, there are so many (free!) resources out there to help. Hello, Googling things like “how to beat the Insta algorithm” and Pinning “I made $4,000 my first 6 months blogging.” Do your research. Connect with other bloggers on social media and ask questions. Learn from their successes and mistakes. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, so network and connect and share. You’ve learned some of your very best mom hacks from other mamas. Do the same with blogging. It’s why you started blogging in the first place, isn’t it?
14. …But the best advice is to do you.
There are countless other blogs that write about the same topics you do. But no one else will write about those same topics with your unique perspective. Embrace your authentic self and trust your instincts. Don’t try to copy what you see others doing, even if they’re wildly successful. The one key thing your baby blog needs in order to thrive is YOU. You might be surprised at how everything falls into place when you listen to what your heart is telling you instead of what your (overloaded, sleep-deprived) brain is screaming.
15. You’ll find your niche.
Somewhere amid the Googling and Pinning and filtering and hashtags, you’ll find exactly what you want to write about: Family. Food. Fitness. Motherhood. All of the above. Write what you’re passionate about, and the ideas and posts and words just flow.
16. You’ll find your voice.
Likewise, the more you write, the easier it will be. It might take time to find your style, but slowly but surely, your voice will emerge and your readers will connect with it. Don’t be afraid to try new things, but stay true to who you are. That’s when your content will really start to shine.
17. You’ll find your tribe.
And they’ll find you. An occasional Like or comment will turn into DMs or emails and you’ll discover a whole network of amazing creative professionals you never would have found any other way. Connect with your readers. Forge friendships across Internet space and time. Join engagement groups. Some of my best blogger friends have been made this way, and those amazing ladies have my back like no other. Trolls? Not when you have a fierce community at the ready to defend you and make you laugh while they’re doing it.
18. If you’re not having fun, you’re doing something wrong.
Sure, there will always be growing pains and phases where you’re frustrated, overtired, or burned out. That’s #bloglife, just like #momlife. But blogging, whether it’s a full-time business, a part-time creative outlet, or a side hustle combination of both, is a project of passion. My threshold from the very beginning has been this: I’ll keep doing what I’m doing as long as I’m having fun. So far, I’m #neverdone… 😉
In the spirit of fun, I did a cake smash to celebrate this blogiversary, just like every mom does for her little’s first birthday nowadays. It’s fitting on so many levels … if you follow me, you know that I believe in celebrating everything, preferably with cake and champagne and glitter. That’s exactly what I did, and loved every minute and every detail.
The cake smash of my dreams courtesy of the incredibly talented Becci Hethcoat Photography. She had the unique ability to translate my vision into reality and make me feel completely comfortable in front of the camera from the moment I pulled on my (um, semi see-through) tutu. More photos coming to the blog later this month with my guide to creating a perfect adult cake smash of your own!
19. You’ll feel more fulfilled and connected than ever before.
Simply put: I am busier than ever before. I multitask with the best of them. I plan weeks in advance (uh, sometimes — I should really make that a priority). I drink more coffee. I get less sleep.
But I do it all because what started as a creative outlet has transformed how I feel about myself. I have work that I actually look forward to doing. Even when I’m stressing out or overwhelmed because my vision has spiraled (and it always does), there’s a sense of peace and fulfillment that comes with it. I have a purpose and a platform, no matter how small. I feel connected to this community I’m growing one reader at a time.
20. And so you’ll push through the hard weeks and celebrate the weeks where everything clicks, because at the end of the day (or the very late night), you love the life and the baby blog you’ve created — and you can’t wait to see what’s coming next.
Every new mama learns it: The first year is unquestionably tough. But it’s also so incredibly rewarding to watch this little thing that you’ve created yourself grow and change and become its own personality. That perfect combination of love and pride that only a mother can feel is what makes the hard days and the sleepless nights and all the frustrations worth it. Keep going. You didn’t come this far only to come this far — and neither did I.
Thank you to every single one of you who has read, followed along, liked or commented here, on Instagram, on Facebook, or Pinterest. I can’t say it enough: This year wouldn’t have been fulfilling without all of you, and I’m grateful every day. If this is what can be accomplished in one year — I look forward to what the second year will bring (let’s just hope it’s not tantrums or growing pains!)
What would you like to see this year from #NeverDoneWithFun? Shout out in the comments below or find me on social media and let me know!
