Welcome to the Second Quarterly Report of Food, Booze, & Baggage. This marks 6 months of blogging for little ol me. The last three months have been very up and down. I think I’ve made some really great progress, but I still feel that I have a lot to learn and I’m still in the figuring it out stage. Improvements with reaching out, socializing and commenting, but struggles with writing content and getting posts finalized. You will see below I’ve decided to add a new category to my report, design. As I mentioned in this post about “why I started this blog”, learning new skills is an important part of this space for me. So, I’m going to include what I’ve been doing in that area as well. My biggest stumbling blocks are how to best invest my time and balance the “what I should be doing”, “what needs to be done”, and “what I want to do”.
Technology
- Got a DSLR camera…now I just need to learn to use it. I’ve used it for this post and this post.
- Got a Mac, which doesn’t really impact the blog but I was very excited about it 🙂 It does help me squeeze in a little work some mornings because I don’t have to wait forever for it to boot-up. Plus, I can do better screen shots!
- Started emailing response comments instead of commenting on the page. I feel like there are pros and cons to this. I can’t remember to go back and check posts for new comments, so I don’t expect anyone else to either.
Future Goals
- Move to a Genesis Frame Theme
- Learn more about coding
- Install better commenting system
Social
- Started an Instagram account.
- Made progress with commenting and engaging with other bloggers.
- Found some great link-ups that I enjoy participating in: Humpday Confessions and Travel Tuesday.
- Placed two ads: Found Love Now What (March) and The Nectar Collective (April).
- Won an ad space on Megan’s Blog (Megan Joy Jaunts) in April, which was my first giveaway win!! Woo-Hoo!
- Participated in my first giveaways, as part of Megan’s sponsorship. The following is the increase of the included social media accounts during the run of the giveaway:
- Bloglovin: 34 to 58
- Pinterest: 20 to 50
- Twitter: 75 to 107
- Started using Buffer to schedule posts for Twitter.
Future Goals
- Start Google +
- Continue to grow Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram
- Continue to search out new link-up opportunities
- Continue to work on connecting and promoting other bloggers
- Look for other sponsorship opportunities
Blogging
- Completed the Let’s Fly Away Series, checking off #4 on the 101 list.
- Finished my Spring Clean Your Beauty Routine Series: it was an important topic to me and I’m really happy I shared it.
- Stopped posting on a “regular” schedule, with the aim of posting 3 times a week but not on particular days with particular topics. While, I completely understand the logic behind the schedule posting it just was not working for me.
Future Goals
- Work more on writing and developing voice
- Look into joining a blogging network
- Work towards banking posts
- Do more with childfree topic/connection
Design
- Completed these Skillshare courses (I’ve completed all of the sessions but not all the projects):
- Basics of Photoshop: Fundamentals for Beginners by Meg Lewis
- Learn the Ins and Outs of Illustrator by Brad Woodard
- Beyond the Logo: Crafting a Brand Identity by Courtney Eliseo
- Reign Repeats: Create Perfect Repeat Patterns in Illustrator by MaJo Bautista~this one had so much “extra” training material for learning Illustrator. She goes through every tool on the left tool-bar. It’s a great class for learning about Illustrator not just patterns.
- Photoshop for Blogging: Creating Collages by Erin Lizardo~Not much new material than what I already learned in the class by Meg. One great tip was the GuideGuide extension which makes creating a grid so easy! It is good to take classes on the same program from different instructors, because there are so many ways to go about tasks in the Adobe programs, it is nice to learn the different approaches.
- Illustrate Your Day: An Intro to Symbol Design by the Noun Project~ I want to go back and do this project.
- Basic Geometric Shapes: Illustrate a Series of Icons or Badges by Dominic Flask~ Another one I want to go back and work on.
I have a few other classes started but not completed, I will share those next time, along with those I complete from my very long “want” list. 🙂 All of the above classes are membership classes; you can take them if you sign up for the membership without having to pay per class. ***All of the links for Skillshare are referral links meaning if you sign up I get a free month and you can too, I do not have any affiliation with Skillshare, this is an offer to all users.
- Used Photoshop or Illustrator to create graphics such as– 1, 2, 3, 4 but would like to do more.
- Started work on creating a new logo and brand identity for the blog. I’m working through the project steps from Courtney’s Skillshare class.
Future Goals
- Finish logo for blog
- Design several ad badges
- Design button for “Childfree Are We Page”
- Design Social Media Icons
- Have a few pictures taken of me for blogging/promotion purposes
- Continue working on Skillshare courses
Numbers
The new numbers are February 6th-May 7th to make exactly 90 days, even though this post is a few days after. I’ve included the 1st quarter figures for comparison. I’ve also included totals. I’m going to repeat a bit of my 1st Quarter spiel here: I’m excited by every new visitor and really excited about every new follow or comment. I think some of the best advice when starting a blog is: 1. just start 2. don’t compare yourself to other bloggers. This is a way for me to keep track of my progress.
At the end of the day I wish I had more time to commit to the blog and learning design skills. P continues to be amazingly supportive of my endeavors; it truly amazes me how supportive and encouraging he is. I’m trying to do better in balancing my time, and being more focused on the present and enjoying what is in front of me, and sometimes that means having to let the blog slip a bit. I love this space and I’m very committed to continuing to work towards its growth, I just have to find a good balance. I think one of the biggest things that helped me with the rut, I began to feel with the blog, was letting the “rules” go. Do what works best for you; following the “rules” is not a guarantee for success, so therefore not following the “rules” does not mean you will fail either.
Thank you all for your continued support and for being here!!
If you could share just one blogging tip, what would it be?
I love your idea of a quarterly report! So nice to see progress, isn’t it?
Wow! It sounds like you have learned SO much already especially with all those Skillshare classes. I think you’ve already learned the blogging tip I would give, which is to re-evaluate every so often. Most bloggers seem to read plenty of blogs-about-blogging and I’m sure we all soak up lots of advice, but it’s important to use trial and error and find out what works for us. Also, I just switched to a Genesis child theme and I really like it! There has been a BIG learning curve though and I have barely scraped the surface of cool things you’re supposed to be able to do with Genesis. I purchased my theme through StudioPress but it was made by Pretty Darn Cute Designs and I’ve found their customer support to be top notch.
Thanks for the recommendation Alicia! I was definitely looking at going through StudioPress for it. I’m just trying to get a grasp on what I’m currently trying to learn before adding anything new/different. You are so right; trial and error is ok to find the approach that works best for you.
Congratulations on six months! Blogging is so much fun.
Oh, this is such a cool idea! I hardly ever track things in a concrete way like this but love how much growth you are able to see by doing so. So smart!
Wow, look at the detail in all of this! Sorry if I may have missed it, but what are your goals in blogging? I’m intrigued by those free courses! I definitely need to get better at photography! I think as time goes on and you garner more inspiration from various sources, you’ll naturally find your unique voice. I’m not a professional blogger by any means, but if I could give one piece of advice, it would be to network and build a community. I think in turn that will help grow you blog, develop connections with your readers, and make blogging worthwhile- not that it isn’t for you right now, but I think it’s the connections with my readers that make me want to write even more. -Jess L
Your growth has been amazing! You’re certainly doing everything “right” so far. I’m going to check out the Skillshare classes on your list that I have not yet taken.
Yay for winning the ad space!!! I rarely win giveaways but they’re so fun to enter b/c ya just never know! 😀
I love your post. I can completely relate to some of your blogging goals. I don’t have a mac but I would love to get one. Windows is really starting to get on my nerves. I am also trying to not only go to blogs when people leave a comment and comment back but also respond via e-mail instead of on my page. I think it’s more personal and then not everyone on the page has to see your response. I love the idea of a childfree page. I don’t have kids and I don’t really mind when people post about there kids. I mean if I had them I would too. But, when every post is about your kid it can be a little annoying. Especially for people who don’t have children.
Mariah! You’re kicking butt my friend. I continue to be inspired by you and love watching this space grow and evolve. You should be very proud 🙂
I think you’ve had really great growth so far and you should be proud of it! I find Google + the most useless as well really…
Wow, I’m really impressed. I kind of like just being able to come to my little interweb corner and write and post whatever I feel like. It’s so cool for you to keep track of all these things and grow your little corner of the world.
Do what feels right for YOU. So what if other bloggers post 3 times a day and have posts scheduled a month in advance? If that works for them, great; but if that’s not your style, then don’t do it.
There are a lot of rules out there concerning blogging, which is a bit ridiculous – since when do hobbies need rules? I love blogging with all my heart, but it stops being fun for me when I start putting pressure on myself by trying to be more like someone else.
I admire you for putting your goals and achievements on here, that’s so amazing!
Great progress, and you are doing awesome on networking!! I really appreciate all your comments, and love that we are blog friends.
Happy 6 months!!
My only blogging advice is to have fun and engage.
It is so great to have public goals. Thanks for commenting on our travel blog, one of your goals apparently:) I do find that is very helpful to make sure to reply and return comments with other bloggers.
I find Google+ to be the most useless of my social media outlets and use it the less, I find Twitter, Pinterest, and FB to be most useful.
I feel like I “know” you better in just the past few weeks after all the comment responses and tweeting, so I think that was a great step! My advice is that if blogging is a hobby for you, treat it as such. It shouldn’t interfere with your real life and it should be fun. If it isn’t, something needs to change!
I have times where I think o no I have no idea what I am doing and what about the rules but then again rules are so boring!