So I started blogging just over 3 months ago, and what a whirlwind it has been so far and this is only the start! So I thought I would share my experiences of my first 3 months of blogging, and what a steep learning curve it has been.

Blogging: My First 3 Months

I wanted to start a blog for years, but just never had the time or inclination to just go for it.  Over the Christmas period I was between jobs, and ploughed my energy into cooking, creating and crafting things for Christmas. I realised how much I enjoyed being creative, and wanted to find an outlet to document my successes (and fails!), and give more of a purpose to my re-established hobbies.

I was due  to go back to work part time in January, so it seemed to be a good time to start.  I did my research and read loads of blogs and tutorials on how to start, and on January 1st 2016 my blog was born.

The first thing I did was decide on a name. I already had the idea that I wanted to blog about trying to achieve domestic bliss, that would encompass all my hobbies and my most important pastime of being a mum. So I googled variations on that to see what was available and came up with Blissful Domestication. Whilst I’m aware it’s not the catchiest of names, I thought it would allow me to take the blog in any direction.

I decided to go self-hosted straight away and invest some money into my new past time. Everything I read suggested to go with WordPress. I had no idea what this was or where to start, but I chose a hosting company that supported it.  I spent the entire weekend building a little website, and wrote my first blog, and set up a Facebook page and new Twitter account to support it.

I had no idea at the time that I had just used a basic web builder program and had not opted for the WordPress option, but I happily plodded along and was quite pleased of my little space on the internet.  I started posting some of my recipes, and enjoyed putting the posts together and baking lots (so was James!) in order to get the pictures.

Twitter took some getting used to, I really didn’t understand it at first, I had no idea what these linky things were that people kept tweeting about it, but by the end of January I had 100 followers and felt like I was finally getting the hang of it. Unfortunately at this time I also realised the limitations of my website, and after contacting my hosting company discovered that in order to use WordPress I would need to start my blogging website from scratch, so I bit the bullet and went with it.

As a complete technophobe, I found WordPress extremely daunting at first, it took me hours to find out how to access my dashboard! After a very frustrating weekend of starring at a computer screen, crying, and spending hours on live technical support I got the basics up and running and reposted some of my original blogs.

February was a better month.  I definitely had got the hang of twitter, and followers sored from 100 to over 1000. I posted my first ‘mummy blog’, about my relationship with my tummy, something I’d wanted to write for years, and was amazed when it started to receive comments. I joined my first linky, and discovered how easy it was, so started linking up with more. I really started to enjoy blogging, and if i’m honest it took over my life a little bit. I was literally happy dancing when I had my first subscriber than wasn’t related to me!

March started off well, I still had a massive enthusiasm for my blog and spent every spare minute I could on it. I started using Instagram more, and literally started taking pictures all the time. I was approached by Brtish Military Fitness about being part of their Spring Into Action campaign and, as I believed in the ethos of getting kids outside and playing, I agreed. I was so excited by it, and the fact that this could be the start of bigger things to come.  Towards the end of the month I wasn’t able to post as consistently as before due to work and other life commitments, but this is something I need to work on to get the blog/life balance right. The month was finished off by receiving nominations in the MADS awards for best new blog, and best craft blog which was a nice cherry on top of the last 3 months.

So what do the next 3 months hold? Who knows? I’ve just ranked #1289 in the TOTS100 chart, not bad for just 3 months, but this is definitely something I want to improve on. I also want to post more consistently, and continue to build my audiences on Facebook and Twitter and use Instagram more. I’ve just invested in some artwork for my blog and social media channels, and I love the new look. Maybe I’ll even try a vlog? Whatever the next 3 months of blogging holds, I just want to enjoy the ride!