A year ago today I posted my first ever blog post here on Yours Truly, Katrina! It’s honestly hard to believe that it’s only been a year – this blog has become such a large part of my life that I feel like I’ve been doing this for forever. At the same time, this first year of blogging has brought so many lessons and opportunities, and I can’t wait to see what the future of Yours Truly, Katrina has in store.
Speaking of lessons, here are six things that blogging has shown me in the past year!
1. Analytics & stats matter much much less than the content you put out.
At the start, I thought analytics were everything. As time went on, however, my energy slowly shifted towards content over views, and it really made a world of a difference. I know this is a cliche, but if you are starting a blog, write for yourself, and the views will come. The second I started gearing my blogging style towards writing consistently because I wanted to and putting up the content I was passionate about, my blog started seeing more traffic.
This is probably the one tip I would give to anybody that’s getting ready to start a blog, because it’s much more fulfilling without the pressure of likes/comments/page views.
2. Blogging (or life, really) is what you make of it.
Cue the Hannah Montana song, ya’ll! My high school counselor told me something similar when I was picking out colleges, and I think it rings true for blogging as well. A lot of people asked me how I juggled everything and why I like to keep myself so busy, but the reality is that the time commitment has been entirely up to me.
That’s the good and the bad of blogging. Good, because if you don’t want it to take over your life it doesn’t have to. For example, throughout this first year of blogging I fluctuated in my post consistency, but that’s because I wanted to focus on other things, and that’s totally okay. My blog was there for me when I was ready to start creating content again. The only downside is that inconsistency isn’t exactly ideal for building brand partnerships/a huge following, but if that’s your goal, it’s 100% possible with the right amount of time & effort.
3. Help is around, if you know where to look for it.
Before blogging, I never realized that there are so many other people out there that are just as passionate about writing and helping others as me. Through joining Facebook groups and Twitter chats, I’ve gotten some of the best advice about literally everything under the sun, and that’s all thanks to the blogging community. I love keeping up with what everyone is posting and their life adventures, and it’s great to have a community of people that are willing to help with blogging/college/life questions.
4. There are so many opportunities to grow as a blogger/influencer!
Now, I wouldn’t consider myself an influencer just yet, but if my first year of blogging has taught me anything, it’s that opportunities don’t discriminate. Maybe I’m not one of Dunkin’ Donuts’ brand ambassadors (hey Dunkin’, if you’re reading this sponsor me pls because #KatRunsOnDunkin), but I’ve had the opportunity to write a guest post, publish some really cool bloggers in my #STEMBabes series, and even collaborate with companies in two of my posts!
A lot of posts about the blogging world will say that brand partnerships and things like that will only come to people with a lot of followers, and I’m here to say that that’s just not true. If you work hard and you look for opportunities, you can honestly achieve anything you want, which is one of the coolest things about the blogging world.
5. Writing is something I am truly passionate about.
I talk about being a Biomedical Engineering major enough that to many it might seem like engineering was my “first love”, but in reality it was writing. For a long time my love of writing was something that I placed on the back-burner in exchange for quadratic equations and scientific articles, but this blog really brought out the writer in me in the best way possible.
Blogging motivated me to write, all the time. This ended up also being beneficial for my Journalism minor, because my weekly blog posts were an opportunity to get the creative juices flowing before I had to complete an assignment or write a piece for the school paper. I have written some of the best content I’ve ever written for school since starting this blog, and I don’t think any of it would have been possible if I didn’t have this space to reclaim my identity as a writer.
6. My first year of blogging was life-changing, and I can’t wait for the future!
I really love being a “college blogger” – it has made me realize how important creative outlets are in every day life, and how impactful one tiny action can be. When I started this blog, I hoped that I would be able to help people, but I never really thought it could actually happen. I was so blown away when I got a message a couple of months ago that said I helped one of my friends get the internship of her dreams through my interview tips series that I started crying, and that’s honestly motivation enough for a lifetime of blogging.
Yours Truly, Katrina has given me the opportunity to share a little piece of myself with the world, and hopefully help others through their journeys as well. I am so thankful that I clicked “publish” on that post a year ago, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for this blog!
