We’re celebrating 17 years of blogging!
Happy 17th KERFday!
Today is my blog’s 17th birthday! I was recently on a Zoom video call and told the person that my site was “16 or 17 years old, I lost count.” Then I looked it up and 17 years!
Some of you have been following me since those early days. You probably remember bowls of oatmeal with a dollop of peanut butter floating on top before I went to my PR job, the RD days when I wrote blog posts between classes, the Great Harvest days, the BERF days.
If you haven’t been here for a while, check out:
By that 10th anniversary post, I had written 6,844 posts. As of today, that number is 7,935 posts, plus 382,493 comments and 265,000 photos shared. OH MY GOD!
In honor of turning 17, here are some thoughts/fun facts/reflections on blogging as a teenager.
17 years of blogging
Variety is the key
For me, writing about a variety of topics is a key component to keeping things interesting. Regular readers know that I go through phases based on what’s going on in my life. I went through two big baby phases, a lot of Home Neat Home phases, and a few entrepreneur phases. What I love most about my blog is that I’m not limited to a niche topic. Experts would tell me that’s hurting my traffic, and they’re not wrong. So it’s a good thing that maximum traffic isn’t my end goal. But writing about the topics that are on my mind means that I’m writing creatively and not forcing the writing or boring myself, which I think creates the best experience for the reader.
Build a lifestyle, not a business
When I started my blog in 2007, I was just looking for a creative outlet. I had no idea it was possible to make money online and scoffed at the idea of doing so when my dad mentioned the possibility of putting ads on my site. (He encouraged me to look into it and I’m glad I did.) Of course, over time, generating income to cover my hosting costs and maybe some grocery shopping became a little more appealing.
A few years ago, I listened to a podcast interview for another blogger who started around the same time I did. By now, she had dozens of full-time employees working for her and a fancy office. For a split second, I felt a pang of jealousy at how much money her site must be making to support those things, but then I realized that going into an office every day was exactly the lifestyle I didn’t want. What’s always been most important to me is being able to put my creative energy and time into something that can help or inspire others while also making money to support my family. I’m eternally grateful for the flexibility this job offers, allowing me to greet the kids when they get off the bus each day or take a trip when the invitation arises.
Learning to pivot
Over the years, I’ve changed direction and diversified in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. When my ad network contract with Foodbuzz ended. When brand sponsorships shifted from blogs to Instagram. When I joined Beautycounter. When I created Digital clutter and flourishing. When Beautycounter closed. And so many other things. Having diversity of revenue, platforms, and revenue channels means that when something fails, often something else rises. Who knows what will be next!
Blogging has become much more complicated, but also much easier
A contradictory sentence? Adding the above branches has certainly complicated things. My blogging friends and I often reminisce about the days when we “just had to blog” three times a day. There was no social media and such, but in many ways, things have become much easier. I used to take all my photos with a Canon Mark II that I haven’t touched in years, now that iPhone cameras are so great. Apps like Asana and YNAB have made tracking and bookkeeping tasks very organized. Canva is the best app/website EVER INVENTED!
Flexibility is always the top priority
Gone are the days when I would come home from an event and stay up an extra hour to write a post about it. Because I value flexibility more than anything else, I work at least a month in advance on seasonal or evergreen content. And then I write more urgent posts the week of the event or the week after. I also have the best virtual assistant in the world, Hillary, who helps me behind the scenes in so many ways, so I can take time off to travel or if my kids are sick. (I wrote this post in 2018 when I was thinking about getting back into more real-time posting.)
Relying on friends from the blog
Conversations with other bloggers are always very inspiring. I appreciate it. Ann, Brittanyand Teri For their willingness to share ideas and resources over the years. In my early days, I was part of a group called “KABU: Kick Ass Blogger Union” (haha) and we supported each other rather than competed. The best colleagues are open books. We all do things a little differently, but we all learn from each other.
Stay true to yourself
^^ This super cheesy quote really sums up everything about running a blog for almost two decades. At the end of the day, you have to do what you want. Not everyone is going to like you, and that’s okay! You can’t worry about what other people do or impose their style on you. You can’t worry about what trolls are going to say because all you do is mistakenYou have to be genuinely you.
Thank you
Thank you for following our family’s story. Thank you for coming to read posts, click on links, leave comments, and write personal emails and private messages. The times you reached out to me meant a lot to me. Thank you, KERF family <3
