5 years of blogging - the things I never knew!!

When I started my blog just over 5 years ago, I am not really sure what I expected. I had a small seed of an idea in my head of creating somewhere to share my parenting experiences and helping others with their purchase decisions, but that was about as far as it went. I had no real plans for the future, no expectations of where it would lead, and no idea the huge learning curve that stood before me. Fast forward to 2018, and the blog has now become a bit of an addiction – one that I couldn’t stop now even if I wanted to. For me, blogging is my therapy, the outlet for my thoughts, my venting board and my outlet into the world.

There are however some things that I did NOT know when I started blogging – some good, some bad, and some downright ugly. Here’s five things I have learnt about blogging, some of which came as a bit of a surprise.

Blogging can be, and is for many, a legitimate long term career choice – Whilst I am not a full time blogger (and am unlikely to ever make that full step), there are many very successful bloggers who do so as their career. When I first started, I had absolutely no idea that there was a potential source of income from a blog, no clue about advertising, affiliate incomes or sponsored posts. It was all an alien prospect. In the last five years I have taken my blog from a small hobby into a part time income for me and my family, and I am so proud of how far it has come. I have also watched many fellow bloggers take that step into full time blogging, handing in their notice at a job that they hated or had no passion for, and completely followed their dreams. Blogging has opened up so many avenues for so many people, and allowed them to have a career around their family commitments – enabling them to work hard and support their familiies, but still be at home to great their children at the school gates. I think this is amazing.
Statistics will be forever imprinted on your brain – as fun as it can be watching your stats (hopefully) grow month on month; it can become a little addictive. Whether it’s your social media followings, the dreaded follow/unfollow, your monthly stats, your Tots Ranking or the holy grail that is Domain Authority, blogging is a statisticians dream. At times it is easy to get a bit bogged down in the data, and I find I enjoy writing a lot more when I ignore the numbers and focus on just doing what I enjoy – however, this is easier said than done, as many campaigns are social following dependent. I always seem to be chasing the next milestone, the next landmark, the next achievement within fingers reach. I set myself annual blogging goals as I like to have something to work towards, and this generally keeps me on track!
People can be mean. This probably isn’t actually that unsurprising, but I never expected people’s opinions to be so strong. I guess when you decide to share the intricate details of your life on the internet you are opening yourself up to a bit of a backlash, but I have had some really awful comment at times. The worst negativity I had was when The Sun newspaper shared one of my posts – To the Waiter who Disciplined My Child. It was a controversial perspective I appreciate, and I guess it was always going to entice debate, but ouch, some of the comments really stung. After a while you learn to ignore the trolls, but it doesn’t make their words hurt any less. That said, I have also received some amazing comments of support and advice from my readers, particularly around Neve’s Dietitian Journey and the troubles we have had with her eating. It just goes to show that in times of need, most parents really do look out for each other, and genuinely want to help.
Bloggers, particularly parenting bloggers – are part of a huge social community. – and can be incredibly supportive of each other’s journey. As with most friendship groups, there can be some cliques, but generally, overall, I have made some amazing new friends and ‘colleagues’ via my blog. One group in particular have become very close friends over the last 2 years or so, with us chatting on WhatsApp pretty much every single day. Their support has extended far beyond just the blog – they have become sounding boards and support givers on pretty much every aspect of my life. When we meet at blogging conferences and social events it is like we have known each other for years, and for that I am truly grateful. I can’t wait to see a few of them at BlogOn X this weekend!
Blogging enhances your CV – I have learnt so many new skills over the last 5 years, most of which are very transferable and have proved to be extremely useful in my day job. I never imagined the day that I would be writing out HTML code, building WordPress websites on my own, creating visual designs in Canva, become confident across all social media channels, or learn the odd marketing strategy or two. I’ve now got a long list of blogging skills to add to my CV and it has definitely been enhanced as a result.