In the month of November, my blog is going to be one year old. And, of all the adventures I’ve started in my life, my blog has definitely been one of the most rewarding. Hello, for those who do not know me, let me introduce myself. I am Zadi, a registered ultrasound technician with many years of experience, and mother of 2 boys. This year blogging has taught me so many things that I could not overlook sharing them with someone else. If you are here because you are thinking of having your own blog, keep reading until the end, because this information will benefit you, I am going to give you tips along the way to help you in the process. Ready? Let’s begin.
Things I’ve learned after 1 year blogging.
1. To start your blogging business, follow your dreams, heart, and have faith in your vision.
I know, is not easy, especially when you don’t know where or how to start. You should know that the most important thing you have to get yourself fully into this world of blogging is a genuine desire to help other people go through situations from which you have already learned something.
In my career as an Ultrasound tech, every day patients ask me about their health, or the ultrasound. I knew that my passion was there, adding the desire I had to be able to inform someone and guide other moms like me with the same problems. Follow your dreams and your heart. At some point you must start. Don’t stop to think and just get in action, success will come later.
2. Positivity will be your best friend for blogging.
Despite all the adversities in life. I always try to look at things with a positive look.
You will not be able to measure success, if you don’t start. Never let your fears be greater than your desire to help others.
Unfortunately, the success in this world of blogging is not quick or easy. There is something, known as the “learning curve”. When blogging you need to be consistent and persistent, and reinvent yourself as many times as possible, always keeping your readers in mind. Where I want to go with this point? The answer is that, you must prepare your mind to not give up, to give yourself time, and give your blog time to be heard. A positive mind will definitely be helpful in this process.
Sharing is caring!
3. Always willing to learn for blogging.
When I started my blog, I had no idea what blogging was. And if you have read other posts like this one, I am almost certain, that it is not the first time you hear this phrase.
And not!! It is not a cliché, it is very true.
Many bloggers (me included) knew nothing the day we started.
There are many ways to educate yourself to start blogging successfully.
There are courses or books that requires you to pay a fee or payment for them, and there are other cheaper and even free options to learn how to start blogging.
So far, I haven’t pay any courses( yet), but I have definitely use other ways to learn:
Here you have my favorite 2 free ways to learn the basics in case you don’t want to spend any money on the beginning of your journey.
1. Read on Pinterest, Posts about blogging from other bloggers with more experience than you.
2. Watch videos on YouTube for all the technical things about blogging. Literally, there are tons of videos on YouTube about blogging. My favorite channels are:
4. Blogging takes a lot of work.
Blogging can be a very lucrative business, in fact it is for many bloggers this days, but it is not easy.
If you start a blog with the idea of making money easy and fast, and you don’t have the passion to help others, you are NOT in the right place.
Definitely, when I started my blog, I didn’t know that a blog requires time, discipline, consistency and a lot of work. But I have to say that, after you start seeing results is very rewarding.
5. Don’t compare yourself with other bloggers.
Each of us has a motivation, a passion and a message to give. Staying out of comparisons with other bloggers will keep you focused on your own work and success.
6. Discipline generates results for blogging.
This point has a lot to do with the number 4. Behind the countless hours that I still have to spend on tailwind scheduling pins, and researching how to optimize my SEO, I can tell you that, discipline is extremely important to finally achieve success when it comes to start a blog, especially if you intend to treat a blog as a business.
7. Authenticity and honesty goes a long way.
In this year of blogging, I have learned that being authentic and honest has made it easier for me to meet amazing people. That relation and networking with other bloggers is very important, and that in order to communicate and establish a relationship with your readers on a more personal level you have to show yourself as you are. At the end of the day the most important thing is not how many followers or readers you have, but the quality of them.
8. My blog and I have changed a lot in the last year, and that’s ok.
That’s what life is all about, changing, evolving, reinventing yourself and looking for what works best. In this year, my blog went from being more educational, to connecting as a mother and professional with all my readers. Changes are necessary, don’t be afraid of them.
9. If you intend to grow exponentially, write for humans with problems, after all it is not about you, is about your readers.
Millions of people go to the Internet daily looking for answers to everyday problems such as: health, marriage, faith, parenting or financial.
A blog is precisely the space where people like me, write and share our own experiences, therefore solving and informing about those situations that others may need guidance and help is a must. This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned this past year, that helps me grow my blog.
10. Your first blog posts are going to suck, and guess what? that is ok too.
We all have to start at some pointe. I’ve been thinking about creating my blog for years before finally doing it. There are always people who are going to judge you, but you are going to find people who are going to help you as well. The most important thing is to grow, keep learning, lean on someone, if you find a mentor, and keep moving forward, and most importantly, keep believing in your dreams.
11. Success takes time.
If there is a lesson that I have learned well in this year blogging is that, success takes time. It is a learning process that undoubtedly has to happen. When I started my blog I thought that having a website was just designing it, and writing good posts for people to read. Well, I was very wrong. There is so much more behind that.
One of the most important lessons I learned is: Find out at least the basics of SEO. After having 80 posts written and published I have had to fix them because they lack proper keywords, or alt descriptions in the images, just to mention a few mistakes.
My advice to you: After deciding what your blog is going to be about, do a little research about keywords and learn the basics of SEO, then, go ahead and launch your blog, Little by little with knowledge, optimizations, learning and much dedication, success will come in time.
The later posts from my blog!!
All about labor and delivery, C-section and vaginal delivery.
How to build resilience in your kids.
Endometrial ablation, all you need to know.
Pelvic pain in women. Role of ultrasound diagnosing pelvic pain.
In conclusion.
The most important message of this post is that, blogging requires discipline, commitment and work. But it is one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. Creating a community is one of the biggest and most joyful benefits of having a blog.
Believing in my dream and the vision I have, is what has kept me strong in this year of blogging.
If this post was helpful to you, or you have learned something new, feel free to like it, and help me to share it.
Zadi, xo.
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