Do you know what today is? It's our anniversary, anniversary. (singing) Yes, it's madammozell.com's 6 month anniversary. We have been live for 6 months. Crazy how fast time flies.I remember the day I hit that publish button and shared with the world something I was sooooo passionate about. I was scared to see how people would react to what interests me but surprisingly all the feedback was positive. I consider this site my creative space for me to share with everyone, things, and people that I find of interest. This site has opened up doors for me in ways I can't imagine. It has taught me to be true to who I am, being vulnerable is okay, and sharing my struggles with my readers is what makes me, me. I learned I never know who's going through the same thing and might find my post just what they needed to get through. I have also been able to work on my writing skills and was blessed to land a gig as a contributor to a music website. (thanks to this site) I always ask myself what if I kept making those excuses for reasons not to launch because I had them for days. I wouldn't have been blessed with some of these amazing opportunities I have received so far and I know there are plenty more to come. Below I listed some of the 6 things I learned during my first 6 months as a blogger. Check them out below.
1. Consistency is key.
When I first started off I was as consistent as I could be. Eventually, that consistency died down. I would lose my motivation every now and then so keeping the consistency didn't seem very important to me. Let's just say when the consistency died down, I could tell through my website views. I wasn't really writing so people had no reason to visit my site. Numbers were on a wave and as a new blogger in my head numbers meant everything. ( that's discussed later in the post) I learned early on if you aren't being consistent people start to lose interest. You tend to see results with consistency. So #1 thing with anything you are creating, CONSISTENCY is KEY!
2. Start! no matter what.
My original launch date was March 7, then I switched it to March 8 and then April 17. I was literally all over the place and making excuses on why I shouldn't launch. Why I should wait and get more content, better pictures, literally every excuse I had it.
Procrastination killed the creative. (ME) I would start and then stop when it came to writing post. I eventually got tired of my excuses and family asking me when I was launching. I then got it together and started setting up days to take photos, scheduling interviews and really giving my all to this site. Honestly, I wasn't ready the day I launched but I told myself " I will never be ready, so hit that publish button." I am so glad I did. The response I have received since launching my site has been nothing short of great. It lets me know I am on the right path. So, if you are contemplating launching your site, product or putting something out there in general start now. The time is now. Once you do your part the universe will take care of the rest. Don't worry about having everything perfect to start because, to be honest, It never will be.
3. Transparency. The more transparent you are the more organic your followers will be.
Being Transparent is something I strive to improve on. Although, I can honestly say, the more I publish, the more transparent I find my post to be. Transparency is always a challenge to me because transparency means vulnerability. I am a very private person. You know the type that I only show what I want to be seen. So being vulnerable to my readers and transparent was a struggle. But, this blog has helped me learn to share my struggles with the world and insecurities when it comes to being where I want to be in life. Learning to grow and share with my reader's things I am learning on my journey. Giving someone like myself advice and encouraging words to know God has you at the right place right now. It's crazy because the more transparent I am in a post the more my readers connect with me. It’s important to me to be relatable – and to me, the best way to do that is by being open.
4. Numbers don't mean anything in the begging its all about the quality of the content
This is the most important thing I've learned so far in my blogging journey. Numbers don't mean anything in the beginning. Keyword, THE BEGINNING. Now, I know the more website views, subscribers and followers we have bring more money making opportunities. However, when it comes to starting off as a blogger, I am learning content is everything. Brands will not work with you if you don't have good content. If you are so focused on numbers then you can't produce great content. If your focus is set on producing great content your followers will come organically. So always remember content is the first priority then we can focus on the numbers.
5. Don't focus on what every one else is doing!
There are so many bloggers out there or people, in general, doing what you want to do. Not exactly, but you get my drift. So if you are playing the comparison game you will never get anywhere. We all have our own unique journey. When it comes to blogging, what works for that person may not work for you and vice versa. So don't compare. Focus on what makes your blog different. What makes a person want to keep coming back to read your new post. What makes you unique.
6. Celebrate every small victory.. even if its one subscriber a week!
Every small victory counts when it comes to blogging. Heck, if you are getting one subscriber a week that means something. That's one more person who believes in your work and thinks it worth you to send the weekly emails. Sometimes you will get one person that relates to your post and then other times you won't get any. But, when you get that one person, appreciates them and thank them. I always give thanks when someone reads my post. They took time out of their busy day to read something I wrote. Still, amazes me to this day. One new page view, CELEBRATE. I mentioned this last week in my motivational Monday's newsletter.God will not send that big victory unless you start celebrating the small ones.
Overall, the first 6 months have been great. There will never be a prefect time for you launch that blog, start that project, release that product but go for it. No one ever said chasing your dreams would be easy. Getting started is the hard part but once you have that squared away everything else is a piece of cake. Not saying you won't hit some road bumps long the way. The quicker you get started the more you will learn and grow. My brand has grown and is continuing to grow. I still have so much I planned with my site and so much I can't wait to share with everyone. I thank each of you for reading my post, subscribing and sharing my content. Cheers to 6 months!
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