Note to readers: Kate and I are about to hit our three year anniversary of our blog- and this is our 401st blog post! Who knew we had so much to write about 🙂 I’m renewing my subscription with Blue Host for another three years (yikes!) so I guess we’ll keep going until we don’t have anything else to say. I hope you guys are enjoying hearing what we are up to. It’s been fun to have something new during and post pandemic. Here’s to three more years! 🙂
One year ago today, Kate and I published our first blog post- all about my efforts to create our at-home gym after our local gym closed due to the pandemic. And here we are a year later- the one year anniversary of our blog! It’s been a really fun journey, and I hope we are just getting started.
I started a lot of new hobbies during COVID- from learning how to use a slow cooker to diving deep into Japanese stationery. Kate has also gone through a lot of changes- a new house, lots of renovations, a new neighborhood and routines. We’ve both tried to make the best of COVID times, even managing a few vacations despite it all. And our blog has tracked our adventures along the way.
And the blog itself has been a new hobby. While Kate has been a big contributor in terms of content, I’ve been on point for managing the site and publishing the content. It’s been a huge learning experience! From how to use WordPress to learning more about SEO (search engine optimization), I am happy to see how much we have accomplished over this past year.
Where we are today
And our readership has grown over the past months as well. We’re up to about 500 unique visitors a month, with a lot coming from Instagram and search engines (maybe I’m getting better at SEO!)
We’ve published every 2-3 days on average- for a total of 167 posts in a year. We’ve made a bit of money through the Amazon affiliate program (and learned the rules of disclosure along the way.) We published our first Youtube video.
Perhaps most importantly, for me, we chronicled, in a slightly sanitized way, what the past year has been like in COVID times. Restrictions, face masks, adapting to life at home have all been themes or undercurrents in many of our posts. I hope that we can look back on these posts and remember what this crazy time was like.
There have been some bumps along the way
Just from a technical perspective, I’ve had to learn a lot. From editing and shrinking photos to using tools to make the blog more readable, I have come a long way in a year. But there have been a few challenges along the way too. Not that Kate and I were expecting to become rich off blogging, but just breaking even hasn’t happened yet. And I have a better appreciation of the tension that a lot of famous bloggers have, between authentic content and pushing affiliate links in post after post. We’re not willing to compromise on that; if we link to something, it’s something we’ve tried and love.
And although we haven’t run out of topics to write about, taking the time to write and publish posts 3 times a week takes some planning. And despite all the advice, I can’t say we’ve stayed strictly on our topic of exploring life in California. We’ve strayed at times, and I’m not entirely sorry for that. Part of the reason this blog has lasted for a year is that we’re both engaged in what we post.
What’s next for our blog?
As the world (and California) reopens, I think you’ll see our horizons, and posts, expand- far beyond that first post in my garage home gym 🙂 That said, I am enjoying exploring some of my personal passions- like stationery and personal finance. I like to think I’m bringing my unique viewpoint of a Gen X woman living in California to those topics. So even if the topic isn’t explicitly California focused, please know that living in the Golden State informs everything we do!
…some closing thoughts as we start a new year
I’d encourage you to consider creating a blog as well. It does take some time and money but you too can be celebrating the one year anniversary of your blog if you start today.
Who knows what the next year will hold? Kate and I are excited to see, and tell you all about it. And before you know it, we’ll be past the one year anniversary of our blog, and on to the second!
Congratulations on the Third Anniversary of the blog! Fascinating and informative content. I’m happy for you both! All best for the next three years — and beyond!