Becoming a Blogger

It’s June 2020. I’m a full time working mom of two kids under 5 years who’s full-time mom-ing because of COVID-19. I have NO social media presence. (Well I have some accounts, but I only follow and silent-creep on other folks). And I’m deciding to start a blog NOW?! Now that the blogosphere is adequately saturated? Now that we’re in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic?! And not just a blog but a “LIFESTYLE” blog?! And with the intention of making some $$#?!

I’ll pause here for your eyes to roll back forward.

Yes. I’m going to give it a go, and I’m going to document my blogging journey with the hopes that it turns into a if-I-can-do-it-so-can-you story. My plan for now is to post weekly (or fortnightly?) what I did to start and grow my blog, and every month I will post an earnings and expenses report. All the while I’ll also also be writing “Lifestyle” posts: mom-ing during a pandemic, mom-ing while working, living in a multi-cultural household, health and fitness reviews and tips (I’m no guru, but you could say I was VERY into fitness pre-kids), and a bunch of other sheesh until I figure out a niche (the niche might end up staying “Lifestyle” – and yes, I realize having no followers to start makes this the definition of a pipe dream. Let me stare down that pipe.)

Ok. So here goes – Post #1.

What I’ve done to set up my blog so far:

• Decided on my blog and domain name: Pirates & Missionaries (a reference to my maternal family lineage). This took me WAY longer than it should have.
• Chosen and set myself up on a hosting platform: I went with AWS, but all the blogger gurus out there recommend Bluehost for the most part. My guess is Bluehost pays out better for affiliate marketing sales than Amazon. I’ll change this in the future if that ends up being the case (and if I actually get enough traffic for it to make a difference)
  ^^UPDATE: Turns out Amazon doesn’t have an affiliate marketing program for their web hosting services. So *that’s* why everyone recommends Bluehost!
• Chosen and set up a free WordPress.org theme for my blog: I really wanted to buy a cool theme (found some cool ones on Etsy) right off the bat. I had aspirations to be a graphic designer once-upon-a-time, but the penny pincher in me decided to go with a freebie first. I’ll change up the theme to something I like better if I start getting some traction on this sucker.

What I’m in the middle of doing now:

• Learning how to format pages and get the site structure set up via WordPress: Y’all, I know photoshop, I know Illustrator, I know Dreamweaver. I know a bit of Final Cut Pro, and I know a bit of whatever Adobe’s editing software is. In comparison, WordPress is NOT an intuitive interface to navigate. It took me an hour (in 5-7min spurts #momlife) to figure out how to edit the top menu..JUST the menu…on the f***ing home page, and I had to watch an (excellent) Youtube video (also in spurts) to friggin’ figure it out. I have a feeling this will take longer than I thought.

What I’m going to do next:

• Sign myself for affiliate marketing programs: I’ll do Amazon and do a little research to see what else pays off for bloggers.
• Set up a Pinterest account: So I read on a few different blogger guru sites that Pinterest is a GOLD MINE. So I’m going to try generating traffic that way + SEO shiz. I’m very reluctant to go the Youtube route even though I’ve heard if done right, this generates a ton of traffic, too. Why? because I don’t want to put my face on the TV, ya know? I got co-workers and stuff, and I’m a fairly private person so…no.
• Write a few more blog posts.

My goal is to get 100 page views in my first month. I’m not sure yet if that’s crazy or not ambitious enough. We shall find out together!

Wish me luck, y’all!