Hello everyone! While I still can’t believe my blog has been live for over a year (can someone please tell me where that time went?) I thought I would share some of the things I’ve learned about blogging. I feel like I should start out by saying that after a year, I still don’t feel like an expert. But, I have read a TON about blogging in the past year, and have learned so much about my hobby!
Be Consistent
When I decided to start this blog, I knew I wanted to start out by posting once a week on Wednesdays, and the post goes up at 6am. It has worked great for me. I know exactly how much time I have to work on a post and have developed a routine. Plus, my audience knows exactly what to expect. In my social media profiles, I say when post will be published to reinforce it. The week of the blog’s birthday I put up 2 posts and sent out a newsletter (which you should sign up for below), and I felt like I was going non-stop. It made me realize how happy I am with the balance I have now. If you are starting a blog, don’t set the bar higher than you can reach, unless you are committed to making it happen. Don’t say you are going to post 5 days a week unless you know that you can get it done!
It’s a slow process
Don’t rush yourself. It takes a lot of work to keep up a blog, social media, and everything else. You aren’t going to suddenly have 1 million pageviews overnight. And that’s okay! Trust me, you probably don’t want 1 million people looking at your first post. Yes there are bloggers out there making thousands of dollars in a month, but they’ve most likely been blogging for a very long time. Blogging isn’t a get rich quick thing, it takes a lot of time. Focus on where you want your blog to be, and don’t compare yourself or your blog to others.
there is always room for improvement
It’s true- I always feel like my job is never done, there is always something to be done! In my notebook, I keep a list of things to do, update old posts, add an About Me section to the sidebar, and so many other things! I know that if I commit to working a bit at a time I’ll be happy, but there is always more that can be done. I know that I’ll never be “done” learning, and if you are starting a blog, you should accept that fact too!
remember- it’s yours!
I really do think it’s important to not compare yourself to others. Create goals and focus on what you want to achieve for yourself. Take advice from others, but don’t take it too seriously. It will be different if you are creating a business (you want to take that seriously). I am writing this blog for me, so I’m not going to let others tell me what to do with it. I will take suggestions of course, but not let something I created become dictated by someone else. In my tea talk post, I explained a little about this.
Schedule in advance, but be open to change
This is such an important point for me. I generally brainstorm months worth of posts in advance and put them into my planner, but definitely change my mind from time to time! I tend to look at the types of posts because I do a mixture of “personal” posts and Disney themed posts, and I try to strike a balance between the two. But sometimes I get an idea and run with it, so some things get pushed back. For example, last week’s post I was really excited about, so it went straight into the schedule! Currently I have posts planned through the end of the year, and have a notebook for anything A Disney Obsession related. I keep a list of post ideas and video ideas, then when I have about a month of posts left in the schedule, I sit down to brainstorm. Personally I like knowing that I have a lot of material to cover, and find scheduling works for me. Especially when you are getting started, create a schedule for your posts! If you run out of ideas, go back and update an old post, and make sure to let everyone know it’s been updated!
host a giveaway, asap!
Oh how I wish I had known this a year ago. I recently hosted my first giveaway, and I couldn’t believe how much traffic it brought to my blog! I was completely blown away. While I think it has a little to do with what you are giving away, I think it attracts readers in a big way. I hope to host more giveaways in the future!
Don’t forget social media!
It is so easy to get caught up in all of the things you have to balance when owning a blog, but social media is really important. I think the platform that you choose to focus on will depend on the type of blog you have, but you definitely need to post regularly to get anywhere. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not on social media as much as I should be, but it is something I want to work on. For me, Instagram is the platform I tend to post to the most (and that’s still not even a lot). For Facebook and Twitter, I use Hootsuite to schedule posts. Wednesday mornings when the blog goes up, I schedule a post for the early afternoon and know that it is taken care of. I’ve tried to make it part of a routine so it’s second nature and I won’t forget! Speaking of which are you following me on social media? You should be! All my social media links are at the top of the sidebar 
I hope you have enjoyed some tips and tricks I’ve learned in the past year! I have learned so much from reading other blogs so I figured I would return the favour!
Let me know if you’d like to see more of the behind the scenes process behind the blog, if you find those things interesting! If you have a blog, what is the most important thing you have learned? Let me know in the comments!
Thank you so much for reading, and supporting my hobby!
