One Year, One Blog, One Journey.... Turned Into Many!

Woo Hoo!

Break out the

cow bells and whistles!

As I was turning the calendar page to a new month yesterday, it occurred to me:

August 1st marks one year

since I ventured into the blogosphere!

And I never looked back!

In a growing community with over 133 billion blogs recorded by Technorati since 2002, the blogosphere sees its share of online personal stories, rants, reviews, journeys, you name it ~ all in the name of our need to share.... whether anyone listens or not! 

How it all began....

 A little over a year ago, I was in the local bookstore (no big surprise there!) and ran across a book (another not-so-mysterious event), Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them, that seemed like good reading...

"What the heck - it's summertime, and I have time on my hands.  I wonder what 'blogging' is??" I remember thinking.  And I bought it.  Trifecta! This was "Totally Expected Event #3"!  (I spend a LOT of money on books and magazines!)

Little did I know that its guidance would 

turn my online world upside down! 

I remember reading it cover to cover

in just a few days,

unusual for me.

Armed with a little bit of knowledge (dangerous!) about this thing called "blogging," I decided to give it a go (while I was still in the first pages) opening my very first Wordpress account.  Yes, Wordpress.  However, not having a clue what a dashboard was and how to make it all work right now (read: instant gratification!), I chose (at the suggestion of Bob Walsh and his book o' knowledge) to check out all the platforms he discussed in the book and settled on the Blogger platform for its ease of use. 

Well, as they say somewhere in the deep south (or maybe only in old American westerns?!),  Annie, bar the door!  Before long, I found immediate gratification in the form of my first url and accompanying post.  I timidly tried out this new-fangled blogging stuff.  You can read my first (and very brief) post here, in which I  quietly announced my new project.  I wanted to share my own journey into running, as many of us do ....

Oh, the thrill of seeing that first image, my thoughts on the Internet, and a title to show it all off.  Nevermind no one knew I existed!  Finding readers would come later.....

As I began experimenting with blog posts, I found a second book,  

that I devoured as quickly as the first, also using it as a guide as I thought about, developed, and wrote those early posts.  To this day, Darren Rowse's ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Sixfigure Income is my go-to source (both in the book and online) for all my blogging questions.  A newer edition was released this year... such a great resource!

Fast-forward a year....

and as part of my 1st year celebration, I've taken the Problogger 31DBBB Summer Challenge, along with my SITS sisters. We're tackling a new blogging task each day for 31 days.  Whew!   (We're on Day 15, in case you're wondering!)

As often happens, life got in the way this summer, not affording me the time I had planned for researching, developing, and growing in our online community, but I continue to create new ideas in between all the other stuff and experiment/struggle with all the things we all do as bloggers:  content, readership, post volume/frequency, and the delicate balancing act of  family, work, and life responsibilities..... 

I also wondered how I fit into the

blogosphere demographics. 

Do you ever wonder this? 

I found stats here and here  that might answer some of your questions, and even surprise you a bit. For example,  if you're a woman, according to these stats, you're in the minority of bloggers with 2/3 of bloggers being reported as 'male.'  I find this incredibly hard to believe!  Check out the links and then come back to see how this (first year of) the story ends.....

More blogs,

more blogging,

more journeys........

 

For those who think I'm completely Wordpress Challenged,  fear not!  I did finally wrap my head around that platform, creating my professional blog a few months ago, along with a reflective and oh-so-quiet blog that throws out the occasional question for you to ponder, which you can find here (or on the right margin).  I'm always open to suggestions, though....

I also discovered that my (solo) journey that began a year ago has turned (quite happily) into journeys of many as I'm blessed with new friends, both virtually and in person ~ all of whom I consider gifts from the blogosphere, and of all of whom make me richer in spirit, skill, and commitment. 

Community.  

Thank you for being part of my/our journey

each time you drop in to say hi! 

:-) 

I sincerely appreciate your

kindness, love, hugs, support, 

friendship, knowledge,

and ADVICE!   

I think I'd like to celebrate all week....

Question: 

What resources or tools do you use

(or have you used) to develop your blog(s)?

Happy running, friends.....

Own your journey. One run at a time.