It will officially be 5 months since I have entered the blogging community (as of tomorrow) and I just can’t believe it. I feel like time has just gone by so quick and I published my first post just yesterday. I’ve enjoyed my time being in the blogger community and I have learned quite a lot in the short time that I’ve been blogging. In honor of it being 5 months, I will discuss 5 things I’ve learned in 5 months. These things could be tips that are helpful for newbie bloggers who’ve just started blogging, or maybe things that more experienced bloggers learned themselves when they first started blogging.

1. Don’t worry about the statistics. In the few months I’ve been blogging, I’ve gained a little over 100 readers and I’m so thankful for them. With that being said, I don’t always look at the stats. I even made a post about why that is. It can be hard not to pay attention to the statistics with WordPress sending notifications about different accomplishments that you’ve hit. I’m not saying you shouldn’t celebrate those accomplishments. You definitely should. It’s just about not going overboard with checking your stats every single day. Being a new blogger especially, you may get impatient because your numbers aren’t soaring like you want. But that’s the thing…you’re new. It takes time. You have to be patient. Just keep doing your thing and with time your numbers will slowly soar. Even the smallest amount will seem the biggest.

2. You may not 100% be satisfied with your layout. I started blogging with no ability to get a premium account (this is still the case). With that being said, I’ve had to deal with the lovely few layout options that WordPress gives you (which are not that lovely but are very few). There are websites will beautiful layouts that you can use (if you don’t mind purchasing a layout) but not being premium also means you can’t upload the theme. So, I’ve had to work with what I got. Mind you, I’m a little picky when it comes to things like this so if you’re more easy going and like simple straight to the point designs, then you might like the options that are available to free users. But for me, they’re not the best. The design I have now was not my first and I can guarantee it won’t be my last. I was able to change to a design that I can do most of the changes, but there are a few (very minor) changes I wish I could make that I’m unable to due to me not being premium. But I guess no one is ever really 100% satisfied with something for long right?

3. Promote, Promote, Promote. It is so important to promote yourself and your blog. Promoting is what helps you get those numbers that you want. I used to only have a twitter but now I have a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bloglovin for my blog. I even created a Ko-fi. Twitter seems to be the best for promoting in my opinion. I also learned that you need to do a lot of promoting..like a lot. I use every hashtag I can fit of every account that retweets bloggers. It’s so important to get your stuff out there. If you don’t then how will people get to see you and your talent?

4. Actually commune with the community. Talking to other bloggers in the community is so important as well. I’m still struggling with that one, but hoping by next year that I’ll become better at it. It’s always important to have a sense of community and getting to know others who like the things you do won’t make you seem so alone. Plus, we’re all in this together right? (high school musical was life btw) Everyone needs that support. I feel bad because I don’t always have time to sit and read everyone’s posts that I follow. Reading, sharing, commenting on people’s posts not only help them out but it can help you out as well. It’s a win-win for everybody and who wouldn’t want that?

5. Make sure you save your post. It’s a sad moment when you have to learn this lesson. Learning this lesson means that you’ve had a moment where you wrote a wonderful post (or started on one) but wasn’t ready to publish it yet. You think it was automatically saved, but something happened and now it’s all gone. Just like that. Now you have to start alllll over. Listen, these things happen and they’re a pain in the ass. Always make sure your post is saved because if not, then you might end up in tears and regrets. Another thing I want to squeeze in this point since I’m only doing 5 points (technically this could make 6 but shh) is the use of being able to schedule posts on here. This feature is heaven sent and available whether you’re a free member or not. During my little time as a blogger, I have learned to take full advantage of scheduling my posts and the importance of it when you don’t have time to make a post every day or every other day.

Well ladies and gentlemen, these were my 5 in 5. Let me know how long you’ve been blogging and something you’ve learned either when you were a newbie blogger or what you’re learning already being fresh into the community!